A Work in Progress

I know better. I really do. My "Keep Me" sampler was finished in July and languished in a pile of things waiting to be framed. One night in December, I decided to take a break from writing Christmas cards (which, frankly, were a bit of a chore at that point) and get my sampler ready to take to the framers. Like I needed to spend more money in December. When I took it out, I noticed a smudge on the top that would show when it was framed. I decided I could spot clean it. You know, just a little dab of water on the spot. And you also know how one thing leads to another which caused the overdyed threads to run. A lot. Panic ensued until I remembered the "cure" for this problem. Suffice it to say that "Keep Me" was soaked within an inch of its life and all of the dye came out. My framer helped me pick out a lovely green frame that I perfectly compliments the greens in the sampler and I couldn't be happier to have this hanging on the wall.

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." Douglas Adams Here's my Keep Me Sampler (Moira Blackburn) in all it's wrinkled glory. I finally finished it on July 22nd after having it has a WIP since August of 2004. It wasn't finished in time for Robin's WIP Challenge but I can count it for my sampler guild's 2010 WIP "stitch-along." (Instead of doing a group project as a guild, we are each choosing a project to complete during the year.) After all this time, I still love the colors in this sampler. Here's a close-up of the willow tree that attracted me to this piece in the first place: We had a willow tree near our garage for many years. Although it was a pain to clean the leaves off the driveway, we were sad to lose the tree in a storm and it's nice to have a memory of it. One other thing--this piece is heavy! It has a lot of solid stitching in it and that added weight. The other deadline I missed was a 3 ...

Robin posted a WIP challenge awhile back and I entered. My sampler guild usually has a stitch-a-long, but this year, we are to choose a piece already in our stash (started or not) for completion. My piece for both of these is Moira Blackburn's Keep Me Sampler which was the one I was stitching at the first guild meeting I attended back in 2006. I've done a little more on it since this photo was taken. My mini-goal for the week is to finish the top right (fence, vine, border) with a bonus goal of finishing one of the trees on the right. And maybe figure out if/where I went wrong on the border on the left. The plan is to stitch on this pretty much exclusively until it's done.

My mother had two sisters, one six years older and one ten years older. Neither married and since their parents (my grandparents) both died when I was six, they spent most holidays at our house. Only the middle sister is still alive. When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and later, after Mom's death, my aunt was a great comfort to me. She'll be 91 in a few weeks. Last year, she had some health issues and gave up driving (!), and then several months later moved into assisted living. I try to call her every week. The last time I spoke to her, I talked about how my usual summer plans to clean the house from top to bottom weren't working out well. She reminded me that the housework will always be there and that I should really be using my free time to do things I enjoy. What a wise woman!! So I've taken her advice and I've been stitching, quilting and reading the days away with only small twinges of guilt now and then. I put in a lot of time on ...