Artsy-Fartsy

So as of two days ago I am officially done with winter quarter!

WHOOHOO!!!

Now I get three weeks off before jumping into another round of crazy.

And so far I'm loving it!

Yesterday I did... well, pretty much nothing. I mean, I did my standard cleaning and housewifery requirements, but beyond that? I pretty much sat on my rear end and cross-stitched. I didn't sleep worth crap the night before, and was therefore pretty much a zombie.

A crafting zombie, mind you.

I grew up in an artsy-craftsy family. Quilting and crocheting and sewing and cross-stitching and embroidery and scrapbooking and ornaments and jewelry and stained glass and painting and all that brouhaha.

And I inherited? Very little of that natural talent.

I can sew.

Ish.

I mean, not in a straight line by any means. And I've pretty much only made napkins at this point. But my goal is to be able to make curtains for my living and dining rooms one day, to make tablecloths and napkins for the various holidays, to be able to make at least a basic block quilt, and to one day, if I'm brave enough, maybe sew a summer dress or something.

For now I stick with slightly crooked napkins.

I also want to learn to crochet. But I don't yet have the patience, so that's on the back burner for the foreseeable future.

BUT!!!

I can cross-stitch.

I mean, anyone can cross-stitch, so it's not like I'm gifted or anything remotely resembling talented.

(And I still can't do French knots to save my life, which irritates me greatly)

But I enjoy cross-stitching. There is something soothing for me in the rhythm and pattern of all those bloody x's. For some people it makes them crazy, but for me it's almost zen-like.

This is one I did a few years ago, when I first got back into cross-stitching as an adult. I love the saying, and use it regularly, so finding it in a cross-stitch pattern was serendipitous I guess!

First time out of the gate

After completing that (quite easy) one, I moved on to a slightly significantly more challenging pattern. Because, you know, why start slow when you can jump from zero to 60, right?!?

My most recently completed one

This one took me a long time to finish, because I ended up putting it down for a couple of years out of frustration (that whole zero to 60 thing). But I picked it up again last spring and just slogged through it, and now it's hanging in my hallway in a pretty black frame.

Now I'm working on this one.

Current project...

Needless to say it's going to take me awhile. My goal was to have the main stitching done by the time spring quarter starts, but I think that may be an unrealistic goal, as right now I only have the pink butterfly, the big white flower, and the little flower above it (and the leaves) done.

Because clearly doing things that are less complex isn't really my style!

After I complete this one, I have a really cool pattern that The Husband's coworker gave me. She actually designed it years ago when she lived in the UK, and usually sells them, but since I'm so awesome she gave it to me for free.

It's a map of Ireland, England, and Scotland, and it's really pretty. The entire pattern is in blues and greens and white, but she includes red thread so you can stitch in your own path when you visit over there, which I thought was a really cool touch.

When I finally go, I will be sure to map out my journey on my cross-stitch pattern!