Stitching with a Shimmy

Shimmying through life with needles and thread…
May 10th, 2012

What I’m Up To…

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I always feel like I need to keep to a strict schedule on the blog, and then life happens and I fall off the wagon. When this happens, I feel like I’m disappointing you, and me as well, since I love the communication we have through here!

If/when I take a day job (which is looking more and more likely every day), this is only going to become worse. How can I write for others, write for me, update my shops and still crank out designs? Eesh! It’s overwhelming. And don’t forget, teach dance, workout and dance for myself in there!

And yet there is this inner need for schedule. For consistency. For putting very specific types of posts on specific days. It’s like these days my overly logical side is in a tug of war with my creative side – and I can’t get either to put down the rope and work together. Heh. My inner world is a lot like the US Congress!

So for now I’m going to try to ease back into blogging – and TAST, for that matter. The TAST weeks where I managed to stitch improved my creativity immensely, and that’s a good thing. I’m not going to fret if I can’t keep up every week though.

I am going to try to keep up with the Thursday posts about what’s on the design table or embroidery frame, however. That’s the kind of thing I really want to keep sharing with all of you, and your feedback makes my week!

That said, stitching relieves stress. (Unless you add business stress TO your stitching!) Here’s an article a friend passed on to me about how more people are picking it up and why.

Enjoy! (And go stitch something!)

July 1st, 2011

The Fruits of Being Sick

The first results - vintage pastorals

The first results - vintage pastorals

Over the last few weeks I’ve had a horrendous ear infection – it’s kept me away from anything remotely resembling counted work – which meant, no model stitching on current projects.

It didn’t’ stop me from stitching, though, and I got the following embroidery projects completed, along with about 4 thread crochet doilies – yes, I know, those require counting, but it’s a lot easier to rip back crochet work than cross stitch!

As usual, click on the pictures to see them larger (and in their entirety!).

July 21st, 2009

My not-quite-a-UFO pile

I have a box full of “half-finished” needlework. What I mean by “half-finished” may not be what you expect.

You see, what I mean is that the embroidery is finished, but the product isn’t. So.  Half-finished. You see, I hate prep work and “finishing” work with a passion. the prep work has to be done or I don’t get to stitch. but the finishing work — which entails either “real” sewing (and me terrified I’m going to ruin a piece I stitched and love) or more work similar to the prep work (for example, lacing to a board for framing),  or paying someone else to do these things is something I often don’t get around to doing. So, I have a box of unfinished finished objects in my studio that is getting close to overflowing, and none of my own work on the walls or chairs in my house.

Anyway, I noticed last week that the box was getting overly full, and something had to be done. So instead of tackling the main problem – the finishing work — I took photos of the work to share here over the course of the next few weeks. :) Yup. I’m still procrastinating about finishing them.

The first one is a piece that I did to hang in our bathroom, which is supposed to, in the long run, gain a Gothic Castle theme. There’s a shower curtain that is most definitely a UFO and will probably stay that way as well… I’m still considering whether to admit that I bit off more than I can chew with that one. I may go ahead and start a different one in a technique that’s more likely to actually get finished! LOL Click on the images for details.

Remember that I’m a horrible masochist when it comes to needlework. This is done in mostly satin and stem stitch… on cotton muslin, and measures about six or seven inches wide. When you look at the details — all of that satin stitch is done with one strand of DMC floss. I told you I was crazy…

March 20th, 2009

How do you find time?

I mentioned in a previous post that I thought one of the reasons we don’t experiment more is the perception of not wanting to waste time — we’re looking for the quick and foolproof.

My mother's wedding portrait

My mother's wedding portrait

We are all very busy these days – I know I’m busy-er than my mother was – I remember her taking up major craft projects in porcelain and oil painting when I was in elementary school — she went back to work because she was bored. These days I think she’d be diving into the internet to make money from her art, and joining the bellydance troupe…

I work a day job. I teach dance, and I try to design as well as blog and stitch. Sometimes I think the day job gets in the way of my real calling — but hey, it’s still writing! But it does cut into the stitching and dancing time.

What I’ve learned is that I need to pace myself. I get up early enough that I can sit and take a few stitches before I leave in the morning. And I do my chores as soon as I get home so I can wind down in the evening with my stitching/designing and my husband. Like a magazine writer, I blog ahead of time (which is why my weather discussions may be a little off of the actual weather by a few days), taking five minutes here and there to scribble down an idea. Then weekends are for catching up on everything — including sleep! I don’t know how I’d manage if I had kids, too… and yet…

In this busy world, how do you find the time for the things you love?

December 31st, 2008

Making Time…

For art, needlework, blogging… or anything else that’s really important…

Our lives are busy, just in making a go of it – we have jobs to pay the bills, family to attend to, friends who want to see us, not to mention chores that need to be done for health, if not for just wanting a clean house. In short, life takes over. Or rather, we let life take over.

If you’re feeling horribly frazzled, as we often are, especially at this time of year, I invite you to stop for a moment – just a moment, to take stock. That frazzled feeling is, at least for me, generally an indication that I’m not paying attention to what is truly important in life.

I don’t remember where I read it – but there was a book on finishing projects for perfectionists (did I mention that I iz one?-perfectionist, that is, not a book), that said there was a place for perfection – for example, building a piano. It encouraged you to stop, take a deep breath, and ask yourself, “Is this a piano?” If the answer is no, just make sure it’s “good enough,” not perfect. Cleaning is not usually a piano. Attending your daughter’s school concert on time is closer.

Making art, or doing anything you love, is not a piano – it doesn’t have to be perfect. But I would argue that it belongs in the list with doing your laundry – it may not need to be perfect, but it does need to be done. Doodle. Take five stitches on that sampler every day. Just five. Find five minutes to play that Bach minuet on the piano gathering dust in the family room.

Take time, even if only a little time – to LIVE, not just survive.

May your New Year be full of living, loving, and joy.