Recovering

I think I forgot to show you my Shoe Shop Girl progress.  I worked on a few blocks prior to Bethany's graduation.  I was still delusional about getting it done in time.  I know, it's ridiculous but I do try.

The challenge has been to figure out what shoes she'd actually wear.  I thought the sunflower tennies were inspired.


The hot pink strappy heels were such a pain in the butt.  I get ready to finish up but then I hit maximum patience after something like these.  They are cute, though.  Just like real shoes, cute but painful.

2/3 done.  I managed to miss downloading the last block in the quilt.  It's a boot with a fur cuff.  I guess it's not much of a loss since I know Bethany would never wear something like that.  Now I've got to figure out what to do there instead.  Maybe a pieced block.  I keep thinking words but I think it will come off too cheesy.

Last week was our Quilt Show.  It was exhausting!  I came home with a respiratory infection.  And, a first place ribbon!

I mostly did Sit n' Sew while I was there.  Between chatting with friends, I was able to finish June from Roberta Anne with an "E".  My mom was a tomboy.  I can totally see her as a little girl proving she could spit further than her brothers and Bradley cousins!

While I was waisting away on the couch this week, I went into embroidery overdrive.

For Mother's Day, I got some 100% cotton sheets.  Naturally, I felt the need to fancy them up.  Then I decided to crochet a lace border.  The picture is terrible but it's really pretty.  Rich probably wishes I'd stop with the fancy pillowcases but that's just too bad.

Last but not least, we made a dvd rack.  I got some gift cards for my birthday and we went down to HomeDepot.  It's basically just a box with a little trim on it.  The trim actually cost more than the lumber.  Then, 5 layers of paint.  I should have used primer.  We rubbed a little stain on top to highlight the basket weave trim.

Rich got a little too excited about the stain.  He rubbed some on our headboard too but it looks like a big blob of brown now.  I think I can save it with some off white paint.

Please ignore the wire nightmare that's happening around it.  We just got rid of DirecTv.  We added an antennae which comes with lots of extra wires we haven't dealt with yet...

Ethan is supposed to have a garden in the back yard.  He's growing lettuce, peas, grass and weeds.  It's now more of a bunny refuge.

State Flowers

Finally!  The last of the State Flowers.  I learned a lot from this project!  Most importantly, how to do a proper outline stitch!  Thanks, Chris Y.!

 A list of my grievances:  I wish I hadn't used pearl cotton.  I wish I were more patient with myself.  The End.  Not bad when you consider just how big a project this ended up being.

Although, I'm a big fan of pearl cotton, I think it was wrong for this project.  I used a thinner pearl cotton for the lettering, which was fine.  The flowers got a thicker version that was just too bulky for some of the more delicate flowers.

I probably just need to be patient with myself all the time.  I was hating this project pretty bad when I laid them out to see what I had a few months ago.  Even considered giving up.  It turned out that I still had the most interesting flowers to go.  Adding the last 15 brought a lot more variety and color overall.  Once I squared up all the blocks, they looked 100 % better!

I need a big Atta Girl, for thinking ahead enough to over size the blocks 5 years ago...

Then, I framed them in black to bring out the lettering.  And, now I love it.  I think I'm going to had a 3 inch border in black to finish it off, maybe a fun yellow binding.  Then, I was thinking to quilt it all in a yellow on pointe grid to soften up the black.  Now I love it!

Pretty darned excited!  Now on with the show!  I've got a lunch and nail appointment with my recent graduate/ escapee.