{"id":372,"date":"2016-07-06T19:29:28","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T16:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/?p=372"},"modified":"2016-07-19T17:51:55","modified_gmt":"2016-07-19T14:51:55","slug":"why-is-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/?p=372","title":{"rendered":"Why is it&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Why is it that we never seem to get as much done as we planned to do? The first weekend every month, I do a Facebook Event for Christmas ornaments or just about anything crafty that folks want to do. I always have so many things planned to do and never seem to have the time to do<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-382 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/tonttu1-238x300.jpg\" alt=\"tonttu1\" width=\"129\" height=\"160\" \/> them. This month was no exception. The July event started on Thursday because of Canada Day and Independence Day. I figured a lot of people had a long weekend, so let&#8217;s do a long event, right? Right. I started this little guy on Thursday and figured he would be done by Friday. WRONG! He turned out to be quite a difficult little one. 2 reds, 3 white\/grey, 2 blues, 2 greens. And all in a rather tiny 30x45ish piece. I got done backstitching him on SUNDAY. Yep. Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>So, I moved on to the next one, knowing it was a more simple design and should not take me all that long to do.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-380 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/tonttu2-227x300.jpg\" alt=\"tonttu2\" width=\"127\" height=\"164\" \/> I know from past experience that an ornament this size with 8 to 10 colors takes me about 4 hours start to finish. So, if I started it on Sunday, I should be finished on Monday. Easy. Wrong. Somehow or another my precious stitching hours just never materialized this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>These are both kits, which I normally hate. I love the designs though and have been known to buy kits just for that reason alone. I still substitute my own fabrics mainly because I like a little more working room. The fabrics included with these are just barely larger than the openings and I want a bit more so that I can finish these off as ornaments and *then* insert them into the cards. The first one I did was on 16 count Aida, the 2nd one is on 14 count. I like the one on 16 count a lot more. I prefer to have a little bit of white space around my stitching. Don&#8217;t be surprised if you see variants of these in my shops before too long.<\/p>\n<p>I also managed to finish several pieces for the Canadian Honour Quilts project. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-377 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/cgeese4-300x239.jpg\" alt=\"cgeese4\" width=\"189\" height=\"154\" \/>The geese I spoke of earlier are done. I am not sure if this will be on the quilt for the detachment or for the family. It&#8217; an elegant, timeless design from Lynne Nicoletti. Lynne retired very recently, but her charts can still be found in a few places if you are lucky. She also has several suggestions for the colors on the silhouettes. I picked the soft greens as they remind me of spruce trees. This one was stitched on 18 count Aida, which means it takes a long time to see your progress. That is 18 tiny crosses per inch.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The other complex one is the Canada Quilt. I have seen this one used before on these memorial quilts and I fell in love with it. It&#8217;s<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-375 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/canquiltdone-294x300.jpg\" alt=\"canquiltdone\" width=\"183\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/canquiltdone-294x300.jpg 294w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/canquiltdone-768x784.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/canquiltdone-1003x1024.jpg 1003w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 183px) 100vw, 183px\" \/> a wonderful chart to stitch &#8211; using only whole stitches. BUT, it is a solid 98&#215;106 stitches. The original chart did not call for the white blocks or stitching to be filled in. I added those because well, this is a square for a memorial quilt and not the time to cut corners. There are close to 11,000 stitches in this piece!! But, I am happy with it, and I know it will be a great addition to whatever quilt it ends up on.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-379 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/monster2done-245x300.jpg\" alt=\"monster2done\" width=\"148\" height=\"177\" \/><br \/>\nThere are 2 children from this family that will be receiving quilts as well, both boys. I decided I was going to do the Monster Letters from Cross Stitch Wonders mainly because the designs are fun, happy, and bright. I have one done and will be starting the second one this evening.<\/p>\n<p>The 8 point star I mentioned in an earlier post is also done. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-374 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/8pointstar-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"8pointstar\" width=\"135\" height=\"135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/8pointstar-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/8pointstar-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/8pointstar.jpg 704w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 135px) 100vw, 135px\" \/>I didn&#8217;t want to use all black on the two black points so I used the darkest grey I had. It&#8217;s a very simple but effective design and I think the final quilt will be quite interesting. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-376 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderangry-300x280.jpg\" alt=\"spiderangry\" width=\"168\" height=\"157\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderangry-300x280.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderangry-768x716.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderangry-1024x955.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderangry.jpg 1961w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 168px) 100vw, 168px\" \/>I have a couple of others finished as well, so my queue is now down to a very reasonable\u00a01-1\/2 from the 6 I had to do in April. These are all headed to Canada, which has been warning people for several weeks of a postal strike. That event is finally happening this week, so it is watch and see time now. These guys will sit with me for just a bit longer rather than at the Post Office.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-381 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderman1-273x300.jpg\" alt=\"spiderman1\" width=\"155\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderman1-273x300.jpg 273w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderman1-768x843.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderman1-933x1024.jpg 933w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/spiderman1.jpg 1581w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 155px) 100vw, 155px\" \/>I have a Spiderman in progress for a pillow. This one is on 16 count because of the size of the chart. I changed and brightened the colors up on this one and it still looks gloomy to me. I wasn&#8217;t liking it much until I realized this is the older classic Spiderman and not the red and blue version you see in the modern movies. I will return to this one later this month, and hopefully get it done by the beginning of September. This is about 25% done right now.<\/p>\n<p>And of course, I need to get working on the ornaments for the shops. This year, we will be donating 50% of the sales price to Blind Cat Rescue to help them with their ongoing needs. Watch for those going up soon, I hope! The goal is September 1st. So, enough posting&#8230; time to get back to work!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-378 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/minions-246x300.jpg\" alt=\"minions\" width=\"124\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/minions-246x300.jpg 246w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/minions-768x938.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/minions.jpg 1961w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 124px) 100vw, 124px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is it that we never seem to get as much done as we planned to do? The first weekend every month, I do a Facebook Event for Christmas ornaments or just about anything crafty that folks want to do. <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/?p=372\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[8,11,16],"class_list":["post-372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shop","tag-animal-shelters","tag-blind-cat-rescue-and-sanctuary","tag-christmas-ornaments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=372"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":513,"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions\/513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myneedlessong.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}