Stitching Focus

After spending days piecing blocks in preparation for this year's crazy quilting activities, I was anxious to start stitching! Now, after three days of adding stitches to this block, I'm a bit frustrated with it.  Thought it might be helpful to some of you to hear my inner thoughts on this as I work. 

Some of my frustration stems from the colors, which I knew would be a huge challenge.  Yet I find I am enjoying the brightness of them.  They are cheerful!  Just a huge change for me, which requires me to think differently than I have before. 

Because I wanted to cover the block in stitching, with the stitching spreading into the surrounding blocks, I think some of my frustration comes from the apparent lack of focus.  The colors for the most part are all the same value and the stitching itself all carries a similar weight, so there is no place for the eye to rest or to attract one's attention.  

The little button motif that I tried to add as a focal point actually needs to be mostly torn out and redone because it is too pale and gets lost among the rest of the stitching.  I hoped that maybe the ribbon flowers would provide some focus, but they are all too much the same color as the rest of the block.  Maybe if I change their position to where the button currently is that would help, and if I change the blue leaves to a dark green.  I think I will add some silk ribbon embroidered leaves as well.   

One of the advantages of me stitching in my "new" sewing room, is that Kitzy Cat is becoming more social just as I had hoped!  She has even been venturing out into the rest of the house, which is something she has not done for the two plus years that we have lived here!  So excited to see so much progress!  She really is a pretty cat, and sweet.  She definitely has a couple of other issues though and despite all my efforts, we have not yet been able to overcome them.  We'll keep trying! 

Kitzy has a magnificent coat.  Which sheds all over everything and then some!  I've had to cover everything she sleeps on as otherwise it would be covered in her thick grey undercoat which comes out in huge clumps no matter how much brushing she gets.  Unfortunately, she has decided that balls of perle cotton make wonderful cat toys, better than her kitty balls and other toys, so now I have to work out a new way to keep my stitching supplies cat hair free! 

I started off the New Year at work and had a lovely drive home on some of the best traffic free roads that I've seen since I started this long commute.  Along the South Platte River, the fog was thick in spots and lay like a lavender blanket along the ground.  I had to stop for a photo with my phone when I saw the huge flocks of geese flying by!  I love how they mirror the pattern in the clouds almost perfectly! 

Yesterday we had our third snow since Christmas!  A lovely day to be tucked inside where it's nice and warm!  Especially now that the furnace is fixed!  I arrived home on New Year's Eve morning (when it was Negative 14 degrees out!) to find that the furnace had quit working.  How grateful I was to call the service company whose label was on the furnace, have them show up when they said they would, had a great serviceman who was honest and quick and got things up and running in no time!  

Even though I have shoveled after each snow, it didn't take long for this latest snow to cover up all the clear spots!

Love those soft pillows of snow covering everything, especially when I don't have to go out in it other than to fill the bird feeders! 

I never did hear back from the winner of the 4th Advent pincushion, so the runner up winner is LoriF! Please e-mail me your mailing address Lori!