How Could I Not Know This?!

I am attending the last wedding of '08 this weekend. I say it with some relief, I admit, because the wedding frenzy took a lot out of me. I have, however, had a 3 month break since the last wedding and am ready to trip the light fantastic once again. ha ha ha I did just say that. I have a cute little dress for the cocktail party, cute dress for the wedding, shoes, bag, everything - except the gift isn't finished. Uuugh.

Yep, the blanket I pulled an all-nighter for - NOT done. boohoo. I think I can pull it off. I hope. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to be contemplating a design for a 12x12 white square. I am to bring it to the ladies tea on Friday where it will be sewn into a quilt for the bride. Don't get me wrong, I adore this idea, it's so fantastic and it gives me the warm fuzzies to think of the bride and groom cuddling (G RATED CUDDLING) under the quilt we so lovingly designed and put together. The timing, however, has been CRAP because I've been slaving to finish my knitted project.

I also just had a mental block. I don't embroider - never really tried. My sister was smart and chose a wedding cross stitch pattern that fit a 12x12 square, and while I am a cross stitch pro, I didn't want to steal her idea....so I was lost as to what to do.....a crafter, on a raft, drifting alone in the middle of the creativity sea.

ha ha ha. Finally I decided, after much much googling, to just purchase an embroidery book that may help my crafter's block. I had wanted Doodle Stitching anyways (I asked for that and some other craft books last Christmas, but didn't prioritize them and got one I only kinda wanted. Not that I'm not grateful because I AM, but you know, I had an excuse at least). I busted out my amazon gift certificate and ordered that baby, and rushed the shipping. Excellent. When the book arrived I was even more pleased with my purchase. Patterns abound! Stitch tutorials! Great patterns! I found one and modified it a bit to fit the wedding theme. It's simple but modern and very sweet - originally it was just a wee squirrel and some trees, but I modified to include more trees and flowers and another squirrel facing the first with a heart floating above the pair. I chose colors last night and hauled the project to the office where I hoped I'd fit in some early morning crafting, worried about my time management and the fact that the square needs to be done by noon-ish tomorrow.

Imagine my surprise as I sat at my desk, began stitching, and found the project to be not only easy and enjoyable, but also relaxing. I had traced the design onto fabric with pencil - very low tech, as I originally made an iron-on transfer but abandoned that plan for something a bit simpler. I decided to start with the squirrels and heart since they were the same stitch, most detailed and I expected them to be a challenge. In about 30 minutes, I was done! I plan to resume stitchery on the commuter rail tonight, my fears about not finishing in time now pushed aside. Here's a view of my progress:

Yeah, the squirrels are totally a different size and maybe the heart is just a wee bit wonky, but you know what? I love it. It's cute and fun and kind of funny because the bride is uber skinny - think size 0 skinny, but you have to love her because she's not anorexic skinny and eats tons of food....ok maybe this is why you shouldn't like her? Anyways, it's kind of an appropriate joke because the proportions here are somewhat similar to real life. Hopefully people will make the connection and not be like 'why are the squirrels two different sizes?' LOL not that it would make me feel bad.

Sigh. Best get back to work - enjoy the weekend, it's nearly here!