I'm changing my name...

No, not my real name - it will stay Michele with one l (when I was a child I wanted to change my name to Kimberly but my parents declined, and now I'm resigned to Michele). I've been posting and commenting under the name Novice Stitcher since I started this blog, but I've decided that it would be better to use my first name. Not that I don't think I am a novice anymore - I still feel like such a newbie to stitching and especially to finishing. But most people seem to be using their names now, and it seems friendlier to do the same. So as not to confuse everyone, I'll be Michele B., since there are a number of Micheles out here, and I'm amazed to find that I'm not the only one who spells her name with one l. Speaking of my name's spelling, I have a funny story to relate. I talked to a woman with the same name and spelling who said that the reason she only has one l in her name is that her grandmother made her parents promise that she wouldn't be spelling the word h*ll every time she wrote her name!

I decided to live dangerously and I'm stitching the heart on my Teacher Gift with the silk Rose of Sharon. So far no bleeding and it looks really pretty. I'm not sure yet how I will frame the piece or if I can find a standard frame that would fit it and look nice. Where do you get your frames? Do you do your own framing usually or use a shop for it? I've yet to frame anything and I'm getting anxious to see some of my work on my walls.

Now that this piece is coming to an end I need to think about my next project. I'll probably finish up Schoolgirl Lessons but I'd like to try something with color changes soon. I'm definitely going to be a novice stitcher at that, but I won't let that stop me!

Making a Little Progress

Here's how far I've gotten with my Teacher Gift by Tanya. I am so lucky the teacher's name only has four letters, the same as the chart had. I'm about to start on the heart, but I'm still undecided about the floss I want to use. The design is charted for several shades of pink but I think a deeper red would go better with the blue floss I am using for the lettering (Carrie's Threads Indigo). I'd been planning on Crescent Colours Rose of Sharon, so the heart would have a variegated look, but I'm a little leery of it because of the problem of staining the fabric if I have to frog any of it out, like has been happening in my Schoolgirl Lessons. I think I can manage not to frog if I do it carefully, but does anyone think if I iron the piece using steam before I frame it that the color might run? It is the perfect thing for the heart so I really want to do it but am not sure I dare to take the chance. It is hard to see in the picture but the bleeding is on the linen at the top right of the door. There isn't much, but then I hadn't frogged much there! After I get the gift done I will go back to SL, but I'm missing doing something with multiple colors and need to find a new project. I'm beginning to understand why stitchers have so many projects going on at one time!

More questions - I probably don't have enough time to make a tin topper for the Monthly Finishing Challenge (hopefully I'll get back on the bandwagon for the next challenge) but for the future: where is it best to start and end the trim around the sides of the topper so the ends won't show very much? Should it be in a corner or in the back of the tin topper? I keep trying to see where people did this in the pictures of the tins but they are hidden so well I can't tell. Is there a secret I don't know? Any tips would be most welcome. I am so glad for the huge knowledge base out there in the stitching community. I could never have learned the little I do know from books or stitching magazines!

Remember Me?

I could hardly believe it when I looked at the date of my last post and realized how long I'd been away from blogging. I hadn't intended to disappear, but there has been so much going on in my life and that of my family that I guess I needed all my energy to live it rather than write about it. Plus I've barely picked up a needle for much of the time, so there was little to say stitching-wise. While I was "away," though, I was warmed by the caring and thoughtful comments and emails of many of you following my message about my family member's illness. This is such a wonderful community - I think even if I never took another stitch I would want to remain part of it (not that there is any danger of that!) Thank you all for your kindness - it really meant more than I can say.

Things are going okay right now, although the situation is pretty scary - my family member has the same kind of cancer with which Senator Kennedy was diagnosed. The one bright spot is the renewed interest in brain cancer because of his illness; we hope it will beneft my family member in some way, though I'm so sorry he had to be the catalyst for all the attention (I'm from Massachusetts and this is a very big deal here).

I finally think I've gotten back into the stitching groove, though I don't have much to show for this lost six weeks. I didn't get very far with Schoolgirl Lessons; the silk floss left a residue on the linen whenever I frogged even a stitch. I've heard that others have had this problem as well (any suggestions?). It's faint, but it bothers me, so I've been kind of reluctant to spend much time on this piece. Just yesterday I decided that I need a new project, and I remembered that Tanya had recently posted this perfect teacher gift chart (she'd even sent me a copy of the chart when I had trouble downloading it), and although we will be giving my son's teacher a gift certificate to a local restaurant, I really had wanted to give her something handmade as well. So this is what I did last night:I must admit that I have been fretting a bit about this project, even though it's simple, because I know I won't be able to finish it before Wednesday, the last day of school. It is SO frustrating to be such a slow stitcher. I see the quick way so many people are able to stitch things up and I wish I was one of them, but whether it's technique or just the way my hands were made, I am definitely the tortoise and not the hare (and this time, the hare wins!) Many people have wisely said to me that it's the process and not the pace that matters, and I know that, but I can't help but want to turn things out faster. There is, as the saying goes, "so much to stitch, so little time," and I guess I just long to do more than I'm able.

That being said, part of a responsive reading we had in church today really resonated with me:
May we not let awareness of another's talents discourage us, or sully our relationships, but may we realize that whatever we can do, great or small, the efforts of all of us are needed.

So the next time I complain about being the slow stitcher (and I'm glad that blog name is taken, otherwise I would have been tempted to use it), please remind me of the statement I just posted. Those are my words to live by.

I'm so happy to be back among you!

A Quick Hello

I just wanted to pop by and say hello. I haven't been able to do much stitching lately - a close family member was just diagnosed with a very serious form of cancer, so much of my time and energy has been taken up with family issues. I did make a start on Schoolgirl Lessons by LHN; today I will be taking it to my son's soccer game, which will apparently be played despite pouring rain. I wonder how stitching with gloves on works? Guess I'll find out!

I've been trying to keep up with blogs and continue to be awed and inspired by all the beautiful work being created. Reading them has been a nice relief from sadness and stress, so I thank you all for helping me through a very difficult time. I hope to be back to regular stitching and blogging soon.

The World's Thinnest Needleroll

I actually did it - I finished my first needleroll for the Monthly Finishing Challenge. The chart can be found here. I have to say I probably wouldn't have tried making one for quite some time; they looked so daunting, especially the hemstitching. I forced myself into doing something new by signing up for the challenge (even though you don't have to do every one, I figured I might as well see what I could learn to do). I used the clear as a bell tutorial that was posted by Anne S. and she made it so easy to follow that I had very little trouble doing it. I even enjoyed the hemstitching process. Not that this needleroll is perfect by any means, in fact, I have some tips for anyone making a needleroll for the first time. You can learn from my experience!

DOs and DON'Ts for Making a Needleroll:

DO: Make sure you leave enough fabric on the sides of your design so that your needleroll has adequate width to it (see title of this post for the reason why).

DO: Stitch along the edges of your linen first so that you don't lose a good 1/2 inch of fabric on either side due to fraying (see post title again).

DO: Take special care to line up your hemstitching properly along where you will make the French seam, so that the hemstitching on either side meets in the middle properly (at least the seam is in the back).
DON'T: Use your 30 year old sewing machine that can't handle tension correctly (the only tension you'll have is your own!)
DON'T: Forget that you don't have any polyfill so you have to cut up lots of tiny pieces of batting with which to stuff your needleroll.
DON'T: Let your son burst into the house from outside leaving the door open, causing your dog to escape and run crazy around the neighborhood, interrupting your finishing for far too long while you chase him.

If you can follow all these instructions, you'll have yourself a needleroll!

I'm not the only stitcher who made their first needleroll for the challenge - take a look at Kim's gorgeous creation, which she designed herself using motifs from some favorite designers. Isn't it beautiful?

I wonder what challenge will be next...

Now for the hard part...

I finished the stitched part of my needleroll. I like the way it turned out, even if one of the zeroes is a little crooked - it's the fabric, not the meticulous stitching ;--) that caused it. I'm glad I still have about three weeks to tackle the finishing part. It'll probably take me two of those weeks to screw up my courage to try pulling the threads and doing the hemstitching. I just have to keep reminding myself that making the pinkeeps wasn't nearly as hard as I thought they would be, and hopefully I will not only find this to be true with the needleroll, but also that I will enjoy doing it. It makes me feel a bit better that fabulous stitchers like Staci and Vonna have also expressed some trepidation about this challenge.What is a needleroll for, anyway? Is it purely decorative or does it have a function? It took me awhile to find out that bicornus can be used as pincushions, but I haven't been able to find an explanation of a needleroll. Anyone know? Of course, just having an addition to the basket of smalls I am starting is reason enough for me!

My New Blog Header

Some of you probably know that since I began my blog I've wanted to find out how people get such nice headers on theirs, but I've been unable to discover the secret. Yesterday I got an email from Staci's sister, who had taken some of the pictures from my blog and created a header for me! Staci had told her how much I liked the one she did for her, and so she took the time to make me one. I am so delighted with it! She picked the perfect font for my blog title (doesn't it look kind of like floss?) and my projects look great all lined up at the top. I'm so grateful to this talented person whom I've never met, and to Staci for her role in making this happen.

My needleroll is coming along, though one of those birds has been troublesome - I've frogged some or all of it three times! And I'm nervously watching one side of the linen, which I didn't stitch along (my sewing machine is broken) so it keeps losing threads. Hope I have enough left for putting the needleroll together. Of course it could be an excuse not to make it, but I promised myself I would try.

This morning I went to Borders and had coffee and read the British cross stitch magazines, which I enjoy perusing. Nothing caught my eye enough to buy one, but it was fun looking. And Borders had a copy of the Reader's Digest Big Book of Cross Stitch Design, so I got to see all the great designs that are in it. I didn't buy that either, but I have a small gift certificate to Amazon.com that just may end up being put to good use...