Recording Projects

The Stitching Bloggers Question for this month is:

Do you keep records of your finishes? We are so lucky to have so many record-keeping tools at our disposal to record our accomplishments. So if you do, what recording methods do you use? What do you think is important to record when you've finished a design?

When I first started stitching, I had a small yellow spiral-bound notebook into which I recorded information about my projects. Name, designer, who is was for, start date, finish date, and any comments about the project. Since I was mostly stitching with Aida and DMC, I didn't record fabric or thread.

I'm sad to say that I have no idea where that notebook went. It's probably still in the house. It probably didn't get updated once I moved here to DC in 1999. It'd be fun to go back and review the projects I did.

This blog, which I started at the end of 2007, is now the record of my projects. It's incomplete, but it's what I have. I keep the same information as before, plus fabric and thread details.

I would say that I'm a bad archivist, by not keeping a record of my projects, but the job of the archivist is to preserve records, not to create them.

A False Start

How many of you know this story? You have every good intention. You pull out the threads, the fabric, the pattern, and all your stitching tools. You put in a few hours of stitching and decide you have a disaster on your hands. Well, I have one.

I chose a 36 count flax linen to start my Peace 2001 project. The directions called for 40 count and one-over-one stitching. I stitched the lamb's face and ears. I tried stitching the white, but it disappeared into the fabric. I started the brown, and then realized I'd messed up one of the ears. I tried to stitch the yellow following the recommended directions of basketweave rather than row stitching. Then I noticed that I'd stitched too far with the yellow, touching the brown tail at the bottom. AND it was taking me for-ev-er to stitch because, even in good light, I was having trouble finding the holes.

Nothing about this project was making me happy. I don't have time to waste on stitching that's frustrating. So on my third day of picking this up, I finally decided enough is enough. It was time to abandon this project.

False start - March 17

But not completely. I decided what I needed was a different fabric. I traded in the 36 count for a 28 count. I stitched the face again, still one-over-one. I quickly decided that wasn't enough thread coverage, so I went back over the face, creating two-over-one, and voila, I had a project I liked again! I stitched this up in half the time of the previous attempt.

New start - March 24

Life is so much better when I like what I'm stitching. And when I can see what I'm doing.

Muffaletta Pasta

Today when I was rummaging through my refrigerator for lunch, I pulled out a bunch of different things that I wanted to use up. I'm not usually much of a cook, but in a Rachael Ray sort of moment, I managed to put together something that was O.M.G. delicious. It didn't hurt that my concoction contained the Holy Trinity of taste: fat, salt, and sugar. This definitely isn't health food, and there are substitutions that could be made to make it moderately more healthy, but this was definitely tasty. All measurements are approximate, since I was using up leftover bits.

8 oz. medium pasta (I used rotini), cooked and drained
3 or 4 heaping Tbsp of muffaletta salad mix (or 1/4 C diced olives and 1 Tbsp of olive oil)
minced garlic (to taste)
small palmful of diced lunch meat (I used pepperoni)
1/2 to 3/4 C of spicy spaghetti sauce (I used Arrabiata)
shredded cheese (provolone if you have it; I used parmesan)

Cook and drain the pasta. In a small saucepan, heat the muffaletta mix and garlic over medium-low heat until you can start to smell the olives. Add the lunch meat and saute until the meat is heated through. Add the spagetti sauce and just bring to a boil. Mix the pasta with the sauce and serve with a sprinkling of cheese.

Makes 2 servings.

Stash Sale

While looking through my charts for the older and better challenge, I found a bunch that I no longer need or want. I'm selling all of these. $3 for the first chart (includes postage), $1 for each additional chart. (Or $30 for all 36 charts.) Leave me a comment or email me at c dot indc at yahoo dot com if you want any of them.

Some of these have been stitched and have light pencil markings. Otherwise, they're in good shape.

1. Bea & Chris: Table Show-offs (Borders), unknown
2. BH&G: Cross Stitch & Needlework: Heart of my Heart, 1997
3. Classic Cross-Stitch: One & Only: Classic Designs in One Color, 1990s
4. Dimensions: Basket Collection, 1994
5. DMC: Cross-Stitch with Rayon Floss, 1999
6. DMC: Tassles, 1989
7. Gerta Bengtsson: Danish Floral Charted Designs, 1980
8. Graphworks International: Border Collection: Mini Motifs, 1993
9. Heritage Series: Puppy Love Stamp 1986, 1991
10. Hickory Hollow: A Potpourri of Basket Liners, 1988
11. Hillside Samplings: Wedding Sampler, 2002
12. Hutspot House: House of the Lord Sampler, 1987
13. JBW Designs: O, Christmas Tree, 1992
14. Jean Farish Needleworks: Wildflower Botanicals, 1989
15. Jeannette Crews Designs: Musical Alphabet, early 1990s
16. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 101 Christmas Trees, 1997
17. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 14 Little Bows, unknown
18. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 32 Santas, 1996
19. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 35 Cats, unknown
20. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 55 Holiday Motifs, 1999
21. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 74 Snowmen, 1998
22. Just Cross Stitch/Robyn Taylor: Quick [Christmas] Gifts, 1991
23. Just Nan: Red Hat Stitcher Marching Orders Sampler, 2003
24. Lavender & Lace: Santa of Forest (L&L #21), unknown
25. Leisure Arts: #2037: All About Borders: 155 Borders, 1991
26. Leisure Arts: #2359: Fingertip Friends for the Holidays, 1993
27. Leisure Arts: #2467: Tea Time Bread Cloths, 1993
28. Leisure Arts: #2792: 25 Bread Cloths, 1995
29. Leisure Arts: #2929: 36 Easy Bread Cloths, 1997
30. Leisure Arts: #988: The Herb Garden, 1990
31. Leisure Arts: 150 Mini Motifs, 1998
32. Little House Needleworks: Pinetop Lodge, 2003
33. Need'l Love Company: The Herb Garden, 1989
34. Sweetheart Tree: Teenie Tweenie #69 - Teenie Hardanger III, 2003
35. With My Needle: Acorn Sampler Sewing Case, 2003
36. Yvonne Reitsma: Victorian Heart Needlecase, Pincushion, Scissor Fob, and Ornament, pre-1999

March SBQ

For March, Lee asks us:

Do you have a favorite Irish or Celtic stitched piece? If you don't, what about a piece that represents your heritage? Or maybe a family tree style sampler? Think about it, then tell us the story of your piece and show us your photos, if you have them.

I almost didn't answer this month, because I was stumped for an answer. I'm not Irish, and I haven't stitched anything Irish or Celtic. I do have a book of Celtic knotwork because it's mathematical.

The closest thing I have to heritage stitching is my Sister's Kitty piece. I haven't done a family tree sampler, but I did write this meme 3 years ago. Maybe I'll use it as the basis of creating a Tree of Me (Bent Creek).

Lee's Challenge

Earlier this month, Lee challenged us to join her in an "older and better" stash stitching project. I thought, I have some of those charts she's talking about; I should participate.

This is the first project that came to mind. It was time to decide whether I was going to stitch it or purge it. I've had it since 1993 or 1994. I bought it to stitch for my true BFF Jen, whom I've known since Kindergarten. Sadly, with all that backstitching, even if I just did her name, I'd never finish it.


Next I considered this, but it's a dissertation, and I won't finish it in the year time frame we have. I still want to stitch it someday. Maybe when the girls move out of the house and I retire.


This was in the running.


And this.

In the end, it came down to two projects. One that's from the early 1990s and half finished already and that I still finding appealing. (I started this for a child who's now a teenager. Oops.) I've moved this into "active" workbasket in hopes of finishing it too (but for someone else).


And the one I've decided is my official project. I was really in the mood for some spring time stitching, and the Lion and Lamb theme called to me. I'm going to play with the colors to make them more spring-ish and change "Peace" to something else, probably "Joy" or "Spring".

So, what do you think? Is this a good project for Lee's challenge? My start date for the project is March 24.

Sister's Kitty

This month's SBQ is: We like to stitch things for people we love. Show us and tell us about one (or more) of your favorite needlework projects that expresses your love for someone.

I've stitched a lot of projects for my loved ones over the years, and when I thought about this question, the first one that came to mind is a project I did for my sister. The project was titled "Sister's Kitty" and it was a chart in the February 1994 Just CrossStitch magazine. When I saw the chart, I knew immediately I had to do it for my sister. I was still fairly new to stitching. This was a medium sized project on linen. My first linen project. I was living in London at the time and had to mail order the linen from the States because I didn't know where to get the supplies I needed in London. (I tried Liberty's, Selfridges, and one or two other haberdasheries, I think.) It was a big endeavor for me at the time but well worth doing. I'm still proud of the piece.

Image from JCS Feb 94. Mine was framed or matted in red to match the dress.

Why was this piece so special? The kitty's gray - just like our childhood kitty. The girl on the tricycle looks a lot like my sister in her 1976 bicentennial dress. The one in yellow dress looks like me in my dress. It's a perfect representation of a moment in our lives and a lovely piece.

My sister, Easter 1976, in front of my grandmother's house. I couldn't find a photo of me in my dress.