Angelic Voodoo

Just when I was playing around with Vinnie the Voodoo Boy (you all remember Vinnie, don't you? My close companion in this last year, wrought by none other than Harmien when Mr. Murphy just wouldn't budge from my side last year?), my father came in carrying a big yellow envelope. This is what it contained

Sigh...
And this is what was revealed when I removed the tissue paper:

Double sigh...

Now, Barbara asked me to assist her with something a couple of nights ago, and it so happened that I got to see this sweet, sweet angel before the rest of the world did, with the possible exception of her nearest and dearest. I informed her forthwith that I would not be able to live without such an angel and that I would purchase the design from her fantastic Etsy Shop as soon as I found that old sock I hid somewhere, containing my savings (amounting to a grand total of €1,32, I have since discovered). Then Barbara told me the angel had been calling my name and that it would be on its way the day after.

Barbara, I am so touched that you would have me adopt your baby angel, and she is more beautiful than the pictures promised. If I wasn't afraid of her halo coming loose and poking my eye out whilst sleeping, I would hold her in my arms all night. Instead, I've put her in my (Heidi's) project basket so I can look at her all day long. With Vinnie and Grunge Angel to watch over me, surely nothing can go too horribly wrong?

And now that we're on the subject of things that cannot go wrong: following Barbara's clever instructions on how to assemble this sweetie. I must admit I'm a bit challenged in the sewing department, and so I never dared order any primitive doll pattern, although I have been more than sorely tempted in the past. Even online I have never been able to find a decent description of how to go about it, until I read Barbara's. So if you want to surprise yourself or your stitching friends for Christmas with something crafty but not stitchy, something dolly but not Tilda, this is a perfect alternative! Go and give it a try!
And now on to Soapy Twist. For those of you interested: it contains some talk of stitching :o)

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Soapy Twist; Part 2: The Dawning

Amy has a blog. In it, she wants to share her divorce story as it unfolds, but something mysterious - goodness knows what - has kept her from going all bitchy on the erstwhile love of her life so far. After learning that she will have to face Jane in court again, and after reading the copy of Jane's appeal to the court and shouting 'Liar, liar, pants on fire' (or words to that effect) at the top of her voice for a minute or twenty, after calling best friend Hermione and discussing this prob with her, Amy has decided that she will, in fact, defy this mysterious something and try to be the bitchiest bitch she possibly can, both IRL, in court, and in her blog. After all, for years Jane censured Amy's writing and stitching in the most disgusting way imaginable: checking her e-mails and blog to see if nothing unmentionable was mentioned (unmentionable things like Jane's trans-sexuality; or the fact that Petey has a biological father [shock! Horror!]; or the fact that Petey is not like other kids his age and needs special education; or the fact that Amy is actually a raging heterosexual) and of course correcting her in a rather verbally forceful way whenever she saw signs of weakness in that department. Jane did not take kindly to Amy stitching designs that featured men and women, or any samplers referring to marriage between a man and a woman. Even The Sampler Girl's 'Mr. Darcy' was frowned upon.
After this realization hits her, Amy decides she can bloody well write whatever she wants, wherever she wants, and whenever she wants and she can stitch as many men as she wants. In fact, shortly after making her decision, she goes in search of a freaking huge picture of Colin Firth and runs it through her PCStitch 7 program to turn the pic into a chart, underneath which she simply adds the word, in DMC 321 and bold italics, 'YUM'.

Of Soup, Soap and Stitching

For those of you who are sick of the un-stitchy nature of my posts, I will start by showing a finish. It's not a recent finish. In fact, it's an embarrassingly old finish, in the shape of a birthday gift for my good friend Maria - that I finished last year and only sent this year for her birthday. Ouch.

The little angel is a Casa Mia freebie. The wee sampler on the back is my design, if such humble work can be called a design.

I loved it so much I made one for me as well, in my favourite DMC 221.

You may remember I am a reluctant participant in one of the many neighbourhood RRs that do the rounds in stitchy world. Reluctant because I have no penchant for deadlines - otherwise I think the whole concept of a neighbourhood RR is completely charming. Anyway. This is what happened a couple of nights ago:

This is the lovely Katrina's lovely Neighbourhood. I'm stitching one of the samplers that make up A Most Noble Pursuit: the one by Primitive Traditions that I also stitched for my own neighbourhood (Katrina liked this design so much that she asked me to stitch it for her as well, and I'm very happy to oblige). I'm the first to admit that this is picture offers a rather alarming view. Not only am I tackling it sideways, the piece itself looks like a stitching experiment gone horribly wrong. The thing is: I'm a backward stitcher (which would explain the sideways approach), plus I'm trying to find ways of working in the ends without making an absolute mess of the back. When you stitch in hand, this is not a problem: you just turn your fabric around. Q-snap, hoop: ditto. Not so when you're using an otherwise perfectly serviceable floor stand. If you want to work the back of your stitching, you either need to get rid of the ends without turning the fabric to see what you're doing, or you have to unscrew screws and flip the frame every time you reach the end of your thread. I have discovered that neither of these options work for me. So what I do is, I bring the ends of my threads to the front and fasten off at the end of a stitching session. That's why it looks as if Katrina's neighbourhood has exploded, but it hasn't, really. Oh, and in case you were all wondering and worrying about the November 15 deadline? The house is nearly finished, and it will be ready for the mail on Monday. A round of applause please, for this arch-procrastinator...

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To my surprise, some of you have expressed an interest in the soap series that I have announced. I'm glad to hear that you're interested to read about my woes (also: a little concerned. What does that say about my friends? That they're gloaters?), but it took me a while to figure out a way to go about it. Let me start by saying that I will announce the commencement of my soapy updates with the term 'Soapy Twist'. As soon as you see this term, those of you only interested in my stitching know that they're free to move to another blog, because that's when the stitchy part of my post will be done.

Whence the term 'Soapy Twist'? Why, I stole it. Of course. Well, I stole a perfect idea and modified it. Let me explain. I'm sure by now, the entire world is familiar with a great British actor called Hugh Laurie, although I have to admit that he's famous in the US for all the wrong reasons, i.e. House. Every fibre of my body protests when I see him prancing about with a stick and an American accent, because that is not MY Hugh Laurie. THIS is my Hugh Laurie:

Soupy Twist. Soapy Twist. See what I did here?

So. Soapy Twist it is. Before you consult Soap Opera Digest to read about your favouritest soap, you need to know a bit about the characters, right? Well, a list of characters can be found in my sidebar, with a couple of facts about their lives and how they relate to each other. I've changed the names, but I think most of you will be able to figure out who is who :o) At present, there are only three characters, named Amy, Jane and Petey, but I'm sure there will be more as the story progresses.

This is not a work of fiction. Except for the names, characters, places and incidents are - alas - not the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales are entirely deliberate.

For now, I'm leaving you with this mother of a cliffhanger.

Amy has just heard from her lawyer that Jane wants to see her in court. Again.

A verrrrrrrry loooooooooong stitchy post

A few days later than I had hoped, but here I am with a photographic report of my sippy stitchy birthday celebrations.

A wise man recently told me that the way you celebrate your birthday is a foreshadowing of what the entire year is going to be like. Well, if he's right - and I have no reason to doubt him, because it proved true in the last couple of years - then this year is going to be one happy year for me, filled with love, good health, fun and stitching.

Even though I told my guests that their presence was present enough for me, they all came bearing the most astonishing, thoughtful gifts. And here they are, in alphabetical order of the givers.

You all remember I had high hopes of winning the soul of my oldest friend, Annique? Well, look at what she brought with her and judge for yourself if she doesn't already have excellent taste:

She gave me a beautiful chart by Iris van den Heiligenberg, a lady whose work I have admired for years. With it, Annique gave me the gorgeous Gloriana silks the design calls for, and a small wooden hoop. I like to use these as frames as well.
Yes, yes, I hear you think, but what about the stitching? Did you do it? Or, more importantly, did she do it??? This is me teaching her:

And this is the picture she sent me two days later.

Ladies and gentlemen, a big round of applause please. I think we have a winner! Annique admitted she was sort of twiddling her thumbs the next evening when Santa was finished and she just sat there... doing nothing. Needle and thread beckoned, but she's still fighting the urge. Ah, we've all been there, haven't we? Thinking 'Surely I can't be enjoying this old ladies' hobby?' Annique, sweetheart, give up the fight now, because you will lose anyway :o) And thank you for being there. It really means a lot to me, and I hope you know that.

Next up: Barbara.
As if I didn't have enough reason to nominate the lovely Barbara with the The Blogger Who Makes You Green With Envy Because They Can Stitch, Design, Work, Keep House And Raise A Family Without Seemingly Losing Any Of Their Amiable Qualities Award a while back, it now turns out that she can work magic with wool felt as well. Look at this amazing needlebook she crafted for me!

I love the colours of the felt and I adore the antique lace on the inside. And look at the scissors' fob, including a froglet to ward off the frogs! Thank you, Barbara. As always, I'm amazed at your creativity and thoughtfulness.

Harmien really went out of her way to spoil me on all fronts:

This is a quilted coffee cup she found at an Etsy store, designed (I think) to carry my mobile phone, but really, too pretty to use. I just have it lying on the table beside me so I can touch it every now and then :o)

She also gifted me with some fabulous patchwork fabrics, so many that if I could bring myself to use the sewing machine, I could make an entire quilt! Also, she gave me a skein of Belle Soie silk called Old Crow, which I didn't think was very nice of her, but there you go (Old crow indeed. The woman's freaking five and a half months older than I am.)

And last but certainly not least, she knitted this dishcloth, with cotton Staci sent her only days before. I have a picture of the dishcloth in action (you know, as part of the promote Staci's dishcloths campaign) but I'm not sure Blogger would accept another picture in this post. Maybe next time.
Anyway, Harmien, you really outdid yourself here. You gave me all of my favourite things, and more, because you were there and you are always there for me. Thank you for everything.

Heidi was there too! I had wanted to meet her for the longest time because she has two of the most inspiring blogs you can find in stitchy Blogland, and she always seemed like such a sweet, special person to me. Well, I can now officially teel you that she is all that, and more. It was great fun to meet her husband as well. Heidi brought the most amazing gift: a project basket she made herself, with Blackbird Designs fabric. Look at the picture and weep, for it is beautiful:

Heidi also gave me some threads by Carrie's Creations, which I've used in the past and LOVE. Thank you, Heidi, it was a great pleasure to meet you, and I hope you will join our Sip 'n' Stitches more often!

Mady (who doesn't have a blog but who does have a beautiful gallery over at Cyberstitchers) was not at my birthday party in person, but she was there in spirit. And on Monday, this gift from her arrived:

I have not been able to take them off since. I LOVE Mady's handknitted socks. They're beautifully made and they're warm and comfy, and Mady has great taste in colour. Thank you, Mady, for thinking of me, and for being such a dear friend.

Last, because her name is last alphabetically, is Margaret's gift, which is so beautiful I can't get enough of it. It's here beside me on the table (next to Harmien's coffee cup), and I have to look at it up close every so often, because it is so neat and petite and heart-warming:

Stitched over-one in my favourite colours. And, as you can see, an addition for my sampler wall which I will cherish forever. Thank you Margaret! I can't wait until December 13th, when we have our next Sip 'n' Stitch over at her house.

I realize this is a ridiculously long post, but I wanted to show the world how generous and sweet our stitching community is. Of course, we all know that, but it doesn't hurt to emphasize it every now and then :o)
You must have been wondering about the outcome of my court case, which was due yesterday. Well, I got it on Tuesday, but rather than going into it right here and now, I've decided to go about it in a different way. I'm going to write a soap opera. Now I'm sure if I offered my storyline to any existing soap opera, the soap opera bosses would all be like 'Aww, honey, no. Even soap opera watchers aren't willing to suspend their disbeliefs THIS far.' So I will be offering my soap opera to you, in very small portions, at the end of every post, starting next time. It's going to be a wild rollercoaster ride, so be prepared...

Made with love

On the eve of my 38th birthday, I've done three things I'm really proud of.

1. In the category 'culinary endeavours' (which don't feature often in this blog) (and for good reason) (I think cooking is best left to people who don't make a habit of burning their hair whilst dousing chicken with port wine) (which I have been known to do on occasion) (but since everyone's bound to be expecting pumpkin soup tomorrow and I couldn't find pumpkin soup in a tin I had to make my own): Pumpkin Soup a la Annemarie

With nothing but a little water, a whole lot of pumpkin, a bit of seasoning and some truffle oil. Hopefully none of this will prove fatal.

2. In the category 'selfish stitching is all good and well, but sometimes you have to make an exception': a gift for someone who's coming to my birthday/sip 'n' stitch party tomorrow. She's not a stitcher, but she's frightfully interested in every stitchy thing she's ever seen displayed in my house. My tactic will be to overwhelm her with stitching until she caves, just to get me to stop talking about stitching (which never works, but what does she know?). My success rate is quite high, and so are my hopes of succeeding this time. Anyway, if this gift doesn't do the trick, I don't know what will (she said humbly)


It's Winter Song by Blackbird Designs, taken from this year's JCS X-mas ornie issue. I used the fabric in the background for the backing.

3. In the category 'I don't know why the hay this took me a whole MONTH to finish, but finish it I did'

Fruitful Clusters by The Goode Huswife. Actually, I do know why it took me so long: I enjoyed it so much, I didn't want it to end!

Plans for November:
1. Finish Katrina's Neighbourhood RR
2. Finish Kathy's Neighbourhood RR
3. Work on my parents' 40th anniversary sampler

So you see, no selfish stitching for me for at least a month. Boo.

Hope you're enjoying a lovely, autumnal weekend!