I was very close to setting the whole thing aside and starting something else, but I didn't. I'm determined to finish it now! I think I actually like it now! :) Write later - after I get out of the hospital!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Welcome to the Loony Bin!
I worked on "Ellen Birdseye" last night. I was not happy with the linen though. I didn't think it was dark enough. So I decided to over-dye it was a little tan Rit Dye. I dried it and started stitching some more. I still wasn't happy with it, so I dyed it again with some tea and coffee and threw it in the oven for ten minutes. And then I decided it's not the color, it's the linen. It's too thin. It's like stitching on tissue. I don't know why some 36 ct. linens are like that. I ended up crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash. Yes, I did! I got out a piece of 32 ct. Days Gone By linen from my "Glad Tidings" Shepherd's Bush kit and decided to start over. I did the border and the little bird in the corner and finally went to sleep around 1 am. I woke up this morning and I did not like it on the Days Gone By. At all. So I dug in the trash and amazingly my original Ellen was just fine. I rinsed it out and dried it and started stitching on it some more. I think I need to check myself into a mental hospital. How can I obsess over my stitching so much? Why can't I just pick a linen and be happy with it? Why do I do this? Anyway, here's my progress....
I was very close to setting the whole thing aside and starting something else, but I didn't. I'm determined to finish it now! I think I actually like it now! :) Write later - after I get out of the hospital!
I was very close to setting the whole thing aside and starting something else, but I didn't. I'm determined to finish it now! I think I actually like it now! :) Write later - after I get out of the hospital!
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Hah! Your post cracked me up, especially since I'm the same way--and it's developed pretty recently, maybe in the last year. The fabric has to be RIGHT, or I just plain put the thing away and don't stitch on it any more. And it has to be right to the eye, as right to the hand. I'm not fussy about most things, so I like to think that we're just being artistes!
ReplyDeleteThis was the best thing I've read in a long time!!
ReplyDeleteROFLOL!! I tend to get like that when I start a new project. It doesn't feel right for the first few days or so. I'm glad your original fabric was okay! LOL
ReplyDeleteYou know, Nicole, you don't wanna go to that hospital ... no needles and scissors allowed! Isn't it awful when we can't decide what we like? She looks wonderful. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteAw, it looks wonderful! I end up feeling quite indecisive too! Right now, I wish I started something over 1 but I haven't the time to start over. Oh well...
ReplyDeleteHi roomie! Keep your stuff on your side of the room, and make sure to wake me up for dinner time. They're pretty cool around here as long as you take your meds and don't try to act like Angeline Jolie in "Girl Interrupted". I think we're going to get along just spendidly. Did you bring the bootleg DMC?
ReplyDeletevery pretty Nicole!!!! We must all be having that kind of weekend!!! I just had to chuckle!!!
ReplyDeleteYour piece looks great, despite the issues it is giving you!!
Your works looks great despite it's night in the bin, lol. I think we mucst all have times like that, you are not alone!
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! I am exactly the same way as you! :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your start on the original linen looks wonderful! :)
Monica
Oh gosh I'm the same as the rest of you! I've always been a bit anal about having my linen serged (overlocked) but now I'm equally anal about what kind of linen it is and I only like Permin or Wichelt which is basically the same thing. I think what you are using is either Permin or Wichelt and that linen is finer and stiffer than the Zweigart that most people like. I have to tell you I LOVE your original linen and how this is looking. Lots of Love Patti xxx
ReplyDeleteYour post is cracking me up! I think that all of us stitchers go through stuff like that. Best to go to bed and look at it again in the morning. I think that your fabric looks great, by the way, and I think you made a good choice to go back with it. In any event, what would you like me to bring you during your stay in the hospital? LOL
ReplyDeleteWe can tend to get ourselves into quite a knot at times over our choices can't we :))I have no doubt that Ellen Birdseye will look great whatever your choice as it is such a lovely piece. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
ReplyDeleteChrissie
I think it's perfect! We are our own worst critics. Oh how I want this chart!!
ReplyDeleteOh my!! I'm glad that you pick the original piece out of the trash!!! I think it looks just fine~~~
ReplyDeleteYou just made my day with this post, though~ LOL
I love it! And yes, I second guess myself like that as well, so I totally understand! Congrats on your TitD finish, BTW.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, are you SURE you didn't just dream all that, as in a nightmare? It looks fine to me (can you hear the Twilight Zone tune?)...
ReplyDeleteIt looks Great!
Maybe we should build a mental hospital for stitchers? Therapy would include lots of stitching and stashing. LOL.
ReplyDeleteThat has got to be a first! Pulling cross stitch out of the garbage! LOL! Of course I've never put one in the trash. It looks very nice by the way.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, you had me laughing on this one Nicole! I can so relate to your "issues" with the first linen. Sometimes, when we step away from it for a little while, we get a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad when you dug it out of the trash there wasn't a fudgsicle on it, lol! It's gorgeous!
I too think it looks fine! :)
ReplyDeleteI think it looks great.
ReplyDeleteIs that a little butter I see on the side there...?
ReplyDeleteLOL!
It looks great and really what a saying to the piece - to have such an issue with! It's like the tiki doll from the Brady Bunch...you don't want to stitch it, but you must....and it's making you nutso choosing the right fabric.
Enjoy it!
You just suffer from the same mental illness all stitchers seem to have! LOL. I think it looks great, and I'm sure you'll like the finished product. Have a good one!
ReplyDeleteWhat a funny post to read first thing in the morning - - it has set me up for the day :) Thank you.
ReplyDeleteEB looks great BTW.
Well, I don't see anything wrong with it. Good thing it wasn't garbage day :)
ReplyDeleteOh Nicole, I think we all need a bit of therapy in that hospital over fabric choices. It can certainly drive us nutty at times. I think going with your original choice was a good thing. Glad you saved it from the rubbish and it really looks terrific. Stick with it and enjoy the journey!
ReplyDeleteHahahaha--that story is SO what I needed to start my day Nicole. That's hilarious. And I think--no, I KNOW--that I can certainly identify with your looniness. :p
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you were able to retrieve your linen from the trash. I'm always second-guessing myself on my fabric choices!
ReplyDeleteLOL sounds like a crazy day ... I hate it when I can't make up my mind. The progress you have made looks really good though.
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with you! I just did the same thing with my current project, but my fabric is still in the trash.
ReplyDeleteHow funny! I can totally relate about needing your fabrics to be just right! It is really good!
ReplyDeleteThat was too funny, Nicole! But I do the same thing ~ it's insane! The only time I have thrown a project in the trash occurred after a tragic accident with a glass of red wine. And I think Ellen looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about the fabric! I will not work on fabric I think is yucky. But it is very funny that you got up this morning and pulled your EB out of the trash!!
ReplyDeleteChoosing which fabric and color for a certain piece is a big deal!!! It does not mean that you are crazy and if you are, then it looks like most of us are! LOL I think that your progress and the fabric look amazing! I think the color of the fabric is perfect! Just my opinion!
ReplyDeleteThe way you sound is the way I feel sometime too! Maybe you just needed to get some sleep and when you woke up things looked better! It looks really pretty to me here and I am glad you are stitching on it again! I need to get back to stitching too, I have not stitched since Friday but I have the sleepies today. Maybe later!
ReplyDeleteLoL! I just had to stop in here..that fabric and stitching is absolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteare you a Virgo? LOL
ReplyDeleteI am and that means we are very perfect people or strive to be........funny.
Jennifer
http://www.feathersinthenest.blogspt.com/
I know I'm not there in person, but I think your linen looks fine. In fact, if it were any darker it would flush out the floss color, which might I add, is beautiful! You always make the right choices Nicole. You shouldn't beat yourself up. It sounds like you're a bit of a perfectionist, which isn't a bad thing. It means you know what you want and will do anything to accomplish it because you have a certain thought, idea and/or picture in your mind and you are set on that. I'm the same way.
ReplyDeleteI'm dying over your throwing your linen away though. LOL
Take it easy ~ you do an amazing job. I wish I could tap into your mind more. You are very wise with your stitching.
It is looking lovely. Your post just cracked me up. We sure make ourselves crazy with this stuff. I have so many things that I started and stopped working on them just because I changed my mind about the linen I chose. Your piece is looking wonderful though. Are you using the the threads it called for or overdyes?
ReplyDeleteIt is looking lovely. Your post just cracked me up. We sure make ourselves crazy with this stuff. I have so many things that I started and stopped working on them just because I changed my mind about the linen I chose. Your piece is looking wonderful though. Are you using the the threads it called for or overdyes?
ReplyDeleteIt looks lovely and ewe's not looney, ewe's just special!:)
ReplyDelete