Thursday, February 12, 2015

Are you tired of hardanger yet? I'm not.

Here's another ornament topper.  It's made from the same piece of 28 count Monaco fabric I've been using all along, and some more threads from the depths of my stash.  These are Caron Watercolors (thicker thread for the kloster blocks) and Wildflowers (thinner thread for the needleweaving), both in the colorway "Pebbles".

I bought this thread when I was living in North Carolina, so it's at least 14 years old.  Actually, I may have bought these at the same time I bought my little Tres Claveles scissors.  I know I got them both from the same great little needlework shop in Raleigh, The Lazy Daizy, which I think is now closed.

another hardanger ornament

This ornament was the inaugural run of my new Dovo Hardanger scissors.  They worked beautifully.

After I finished that, I had to start another something while I continue to ponder the curtain design.

(Aside: I need to just start the curtains, already, because I have become paralyzed by indecision on what design to use.  I do not need to make a masterpiece of The Best Curtains Ever In All Of Space And Time.  They just need to be functional curtains with a pretty hardanger edging.)

Anyway, I was going to make another quick little ornament topper, just for something fast to do so I could use my new scissors again.  Scissors scissors happy happy joy!

I made a square motif in the top left corner of a piece of fabric- I planned to run a border of cable stitch and eyelets, cut (with new scissors!), stitch a single eidelweiss in the center of the square, and be done.

Then I looked at the rest of the fabric piece and thought that maybe it would be a shame to cut up this nice-sized piece of material.  It was just the right size for a medium doily, and it's almost the last bit of the piece of Monaco.

So my quick quest to use my new scissors turned into this:

hardanger doily

If I can make this up as I go along, why am I so paralyzed about starting my curtains??!

I started this last Saturday morning, so that's about a week's worth of intermittent stitching. And I haven't gotten to use my new scissors again.  Pout.

2 comments:

Rachel said...

You and I suffer from the same disease. Perfectionism. I'm taking an online hand-stitching class and haven't even started the first project (3 weeks late) because I simply can't use the design provided and I am paralyzed to commit to one of my own. When you figure out how to start your curtains, let me know the trick you used!

btw -- all are lovely, but that last piece is really amazing...can't wait to see it finished.

Anne said...

You and Rachel are so funny. All the creative work you do is astounding, so I have to struggle with your perfectionism paralysis. I'm glad to say I don't have that problem :-) I can't believe you WHIPPED that last piece out in your spare time..... It is beautiful! I'm hesitating to try hardanger because I have so many other projects that need my attention! Get on with the curtains already, I want to see them!