The Camera Doesn't Lie

Oh, sure it does! When you look at these pictures, you can't tell if the room is a mess or straight out of Better Homes and Gardens. In fact, you can't tell if my home is really in a hollow tree or an alien ship orbiting Earth and looking for signs of intelligent craftwork. But wait. That also applies to you. I don't know if you're even human or possibly some exotic mix of gorilla and butterfly. A gorillerfly. Butterilla? I gotta get my mind back.

I pinned these two quilts in preparation for actually quilting them.

Definition

Quilting, if you don't know, is the action of attaching a quilt top, fluffy stuff in the middle, and back together. Usually a sewing machine is used for this, but hand-quilting is highly respected. Also, there's something called a tied quilt. In this case the quilting is done with small bits of yarn, cording, thread, or very flexible pasta* that simply goes through the quilt and back up and is then tied. Many quilters will actually pay to have their quilt machine-quilted. This is referred to as credit card quilting. I have credit card quilted my three largest quilts as Molly, talented as she is, simply isn't big enough for some things.
Miss Running Water, my Dream Dancer, has made some progress. I believe that everything except her skirt and feet and some little background do-hickeys (that's a technical term) has been cross-stitched. Backstitching is still needed for almost the whole picture.
*Quilting with pasta is not recommended for quilts that you expect to ever wash as it is biodegradable and will disintegrate. Cooking with pasta, on the other hand, can go over quite well.

Gretel Dropped Bread Crumbs

You know how a paper that you handle often gets worn out at the folds? Like a pattern? Like a cross-stitch pattern that takes a long time? Yeah, that. What do you do to avoid losing those stitch symbols right in the crease? Here's what I do (when the brain is operating well): I stitch the creased areas first! The column of stitches down Miss Running Water's skirt is right where the fold occurs. And it goes right down her left boot. You know what this means? That's right! It's gonna look weird.Since her last time in front of the camera, I have completed:

1. the white parts of the shield
2. the shield points
3. the blue line at the bottom of the cape
4. the portion of the skirt in the column

I was having a devil of a time trying to stitch that skirt. The usual way I stitch is to thread my needle with one color and do all of that within reason, mapping it out ahead of myself, until I run out of thread (or get bored). But that wasn't working here. However, I have learned various ways of managing my stitchery. You might notice the faint green threads running through the stitching: those show where the bold lines are in the pattern, every ten stitches. It makes a complicated pattern much easier to follow: it's like marking the major intersections on a map. Then all I have to do is fill in the blocks. Even so, the bold lines on this pattern are easy to lose. So, I went further. If I'm going to fill in the block, I don't want to have to search it out every time I look up. I made a little frame, ten squares across and ten squares down. I place it around one of those blocks frames on my fabric in green. I keep it in place with a cut-up post-it. (This is where I waggle my eyebrows to insinuate how clever I am.)

Everybody Loves Zombies

I think this yarn looks like you took a pack of crayons, left 'em in the car on a hot day, and then colored with 'em. So I'm calling the project Zombie Crayonsox. (Zombie because the "dead" crayons will be animated once you put a foot in 'em.) It's an easy sock pattern that I've had for a long time and never completely used. Same goes for the yarn. Kinda hard to tell which is the ball and which is the sock, huh? Well, I'll be sure and put it on a foot next time.

Forensic study may show that the heel has been turned (yay!) and the mate will begin to germinate soon.The Funky Frogs of Looove quilt is nearing completion. I've been trying to work on the border about 10 minutes every day. The back of the quilt is so eye-searingly pink that a time limit is only in self-defense. I do like it, but I couldn't photograph it. I can't afford to replace my camera.And one of my readers, let's call her Mom (I do!), has asked about Dream Dancer. She's had a little progress in her cape (which is completely invisible to the naked eye) and I've just started working the outer points of her background shield. So, invisible progress is still progress.

Just About Perfect

The Dream Dancer is moving along, albeit at a snail's pace. But the shield is done (well, it looks done because I haven't sewn in the white yet, but let's just humor the nice blogger) and the outside of the cloak is done (really). I've decided that she needs a name. What do you think of Running Water?
And here's the back for Cowboy Christmas. I was going to piece it from stash fabrics because I didn't have enough of anything that would work nicely, but something wonderful happened: at Prayer Quilt Ministry, Applecheeks held up this cloth--3 yards! and said,

"This was donated to the ministry but we can't use it because* it's Christmassy
and it seems to be a shame to cut it up. Can anyone use it? Anyone? Really, I
was hoping someone would be able to put it to some use..."

Now go back and see where I put the *. It was at that point that I ran up and wrapped myself in the fabric, but she wouldn't let go and just kept talking and talking. Boy, that woman is strong!And here's a nice little close-up. I think it's just about perfect!

...but No Whining!

I've been invaded by a slime monster. It resides in my head so thinking has become a challenge. So I will write very little. But here's some pictures.

Arctic Anarchy close-ups.

Arctic Anarchy in full.

Cowboy Christmas top. Worked on it during the Superbowl.

Dream Dancer continues to improve. This shows the blue behind her head has grown. I've done more. Maybe the next post will show a ...ah, forget it. I'm going back to bed. The best part of being sick: not being expected to do anything!

Accountability--14 Letters of Expectation

I thought I'd better get another knitting project on the needles. I don't want to finish my socks and start a harder sock pattern without a nearly brainless knitting job. So here's the Albino Bat. It's really an eyeshade--here's the pdf for the free pattern. Keep in mind that you'll actually upload the pattern when you click the link... if I did it right. Too often the lights go on and off when I go to bed before the Man of the Place. This might work better than a bandana... or a banana, now that I come to think of it.

Getting it started and up to 8 rows during Battlestar Galactica has definitely lost me the title of World's Slowest Knitter. Ah, 2007 was my glory year. No one could knit as slowly as I did. Ah, well, time makes fools of us all...

Also, got a little progress on Dream Dancer. I decided to work specifically on the blue area behind her instead of that cape. Oh, my stars! That cape has got to be the biggest piece of chamois ever depicted in Western art. I had to not sew on it for a while.

And here's the big picture for those who like to get a better idea of what's going on:

Cuddles asked me how I ever get so much done. I suppose it's this blog and readers like her. I have some accountability. People know what I'm working on and ask about it. My mom or my Beloved Uncle Don will regularly drop me an email to ask about something. Or another blogger working on a similar project has a comment to make. Even without that, it's in my face with my Too Many Projects list at the right side of my blog. Accountability. Speaking of which, I've got to go tidy the kitchen.

How to Look Busy, Part 2

This darling sampler was begun three years ago, but the woman whose child it was to be for had the audacity to give birth to a boy. (A boy, can you believe it?) So, it went into the drawer. Now, little Celia Rose is gracing the planet so I have a happy reason to complete it!

So I spent most of yesterday organizing my cross-stitch stuff. I have a large storage bin where I keep my patterns, kits, and fabric. My needles and floss go into a smaller bin that sits atop it. I keep an inventory sheet inside and a duplicate in a file in my desk. When things change, I change the paper. You can see a portion of it in the picture below that features a stack of patterns. I put most of the patterns in page protectors and into two binders: one for used patterns, one for unused.

As I was going through stuff, making notes on my inventory sheet, I found 10 more cross-stitch pieces in progress. Whoa! Some have been barely started, some are near completion, but haven't been worked on during sixteen years of wedded bliss!

Oh, that reminds me of our wedding sampler (unfinished) I have stashed away in an entirely different place. (sigh.) 11.So that's how I organize my projects. I'm curious. How do YOU do it? Are you like Jan, that only ever has one piece in progress? Are you like Cathy, who can't even buy supplies for a new project until the old one is done? Or are you like me: way too many ideas for one person?

And here you will see "Dream Dancer." I started this in 2003 and I got a pretty good start but now Tiny prefers Asian characters. Huh. Well, I like it. Maybe I'll pick it back up.

UFO Population Control:

New rule when I've got 13 (ack!) cross-stitch UFOs (Unfinished Fabric Objects): finish two, then it's okay to start a fresh one. In this way, I'll whittle down the stack without feeling deprived.

Unfortunate development: The updated Inventory sheet did NOT get saved. Fortunately, I printed out two copies so I can go back and put it all in again. (sigh)