Just wanted to share my progress on a counted cross stitch piece:

I have been working on this cross stitch piece since the beginning of February, 2008. Not daily, but in continuous blocks of time. It is done on hand dyed cotton fabric (jubilee cloth, 28 count), using all silk threads (some of which are hand dyed as well, with subtle varigations in color), and tiny glass seed beads from Japan (delicas). There will eventually be some crystals added to it at the end (Svarovski). I won't even think about telling you the money I have invested into this project so far, from buying the materials a little at a time, to purchasing a specific stand to hold it up on so that it is easier to work on. I even had Spike make me the scroll rods so I had enough length to hold it taut with a good working area! So yeah, lots of time and money invested into this work of art. It's called "Misty Morning Vineyard" designed by Martina Weber, of Chatelaine designs. It is a part of her "Garden Mandalas" series. The final size of this project will be 19.5 " square. Just to give you an idea of how much time I have invested into this so far, each cluster of grapes took about 20 minutes to do each; with 9 clusters to a side and 4 sides, I have approximately 12 hours invested just in beading the grapes!



Anyhow, here are the pics:




These are a few different views of how far I am now. The very center is heavily beaded and is supposed to represent both a peacock's tail, as well as looking like a bridge from overhead over a pool of water. Pictures don't adequately reflect how lovely this piece really is, and while I personally wish the center was a bit brighter, the outer tiers will be lacy and flowery bowers, with Peacocks and wrought iron looking gates centering each side, and the blue squares will be filled in with flower baskets.

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This morning I took some of the kids to bowling--our senior had a 220 average for 4 games (I think--it might be slightly lower than that but was over 200 for sure), and Bingo had a 73, 115, and 91 score for his three games. Our youngest girl was at Cross Country running a race, and she seemed pleased with how she did, but I didn't ask her how her time was (bad mom-type person!)... I am fussing with the cold/virus that the family had last week--sore throat, sneeezing, body aches, upset stomache--so I am medicated and laying down right now, which is my justification for being kinda out of it. Spike just called to say his homework load is gonna be major this term (what a great example for the kids!) and he is feeling a bit overwhelmed. He should be home in a bit, and we are supposed to be going over to our friend's house for an end of the season cookout. As a side note, we went out with them last night to a bar called "Cutters" and saw a band called "The Well Hungarians" who were very good/highly entertaining. This is high praise from me because they play mostly country with a little rock thrown in for good measure. What I liked about them is they were first and foremost fantastic musicians, with tight harmonies, they did great on their cover songs (did a lot of Eagles, and a wonderful job on Garth Brook's "The Dance"), and their original music was easy to listen to and very professionally presented. I think my favorite song by them was about the "new girlfriend," with the line "what I like best about her is that she's NOT you!." It made me laugh!

Ok, I am gonna try to rest 'til Spike gets home. The kids are downstairs playing video games, and I am enjoying the quiet of my room!