Partially Redesigned Tunic

Several years ago loose flowing swing tunic tops were a dime a dozen and with my expanding middle aged belly they quickly became my favorite style.  However, today they are getting more and more difficult to find.  I not only love this style because it is comfortable and covers unsightly bulges, but the knit fabrics don't shrink up like cotton tops.  Pretty much every cotton top or T-shirt I've owned shrunk up above the waistline of my jeans displaying my muffin top and underpants, so I had to either use those shirts as rags or donate them to charity, thinking maybe they'd fit a short-waisted child or doll.

I was inexperienced with sewing knits, but found this beautiful fabric in my favorite combination of colors online.  I ordered the fabric first, and then searched high and low for a pattern that resembled what I wanted to make.  I quickly discovered that what I wanted did not exist in pattern form, so I ordered the McCall's EASY stich 'n save M9240 medical smock pattern.  It was close to what I was looking for, and I figured I could make the adjustments necessary to get it closer to my goal.

I did my research on how to sew knit fabrics, bought special sewing machine needles and made sure my machine was on the appropriate settings.  However, I learned that you cannot sew knits without first pinning, then basting, then sewing in small increments.  If you think, "This section can just get sewn without all the prerequisites..." you're wrong.  Knits require careful attention and positioning.  Almost every time the fabric on the bottom layer got bunched up and I had to break out the seam ripper.

Perhaps my biggest struggle was with the pattern instructions.  Not only were there typos, but sections were mislabeled.  The diagrams didn't make sense, the instructions didn't make sense, the steps were out of order...  It wasn't until I just decided to toss the instructions aside that I started making progress.  Common sense served me better in piecing this top together.

In order to get the top more like I envisioned, I had to lengthen both the bodice and the skirt hem.  The black waistband didn't really sit at the waist, but just below the bust of the young, perky-boobed model in the picture.  With me having a middle aged bust, I needed that waistline more down at my actual waist.  I also like my tunics to be as long as mini dresses.

Unfortunately, my adjustments weren't as simple as just lengthening the main sections in equal parts.  As I pieced the top together I discovered that I didn't take several aspects into consideration.

For instance, the dickey between the black V needed to be longer too.  I fixed that by inserting a second dickey above the original dickey.  They both were loose, so they have a draping effect that I kind of like.  I might use this technique in the future.  It not only gives me more control over the draping, but also which colors I want to be front and center.  I purposefully chose a blue piece of fabric since the original dickey was purple.

I also forgot to lengthen the black V frame.  I needed to use that black knit material for future tops, so I didn't want to cut out completely new pieces.  Instead, I just added little squares onto the existing pieces so as not to waste material.  Interestingly, the seams are barely noticeable since the fabric is black and solid.

My other big mistake was the I didn't realize that in the pattern, the black waistband only covers the front, but not the back of the top, so the front ended up being a couple of inches longer.  I'm currently debating on fixing this by either bringing up the hem in the front to match the back, or by taking it apart, cutting the back at the waist, and adding in another black band.  Somehow I ended up with an extra black band, so I already have it.  That fix will take a lot more time, but I think I will be happier with it in the long run.

If I really want to improve on it, and if I have enough fabric left over, I might just make a whole new back skirt that is looser and doesn't hug my butt, expanding the slit.  I also screwed up the slits by not taking the time to measure them.  One is much longer than the other.  I doubt anyone will look at my clothes that closely, but it will bug me.

I figured that if I screwed up something, it would be the sleeves, but I actually did a pretty good job on them.  Since knits tend to stretch and bunch up, any slight variation in length between the sleeves is hardly noticeable.

Though the fabric is tighter than I care for in the rear, the overall top fits amazingly well.  I'm proud of myself, because this time I actually fitted it to my own body at different points during the process.  What a difference that simple task made in the end.  After attempting to sew my last top, I thought I'd never try again.  It was such a disaster.  After years of work, I had nothing to show for it and wear.  All that fabric had to go into the scraps bin.  This latest top, however, can definitely be worn.  Keeping my expectations low leads to much more happiness and satisfaction.

Sorry about the blurry pictures.  I didn't want to spend hours setting up a camera with a self-timer on a tripod.  I'm having one of those days when my dogs need to go outside to potty every few minutes, so I don't have much time to spare on getting this post perfect.  If I have time in the future to take better photos, I'll edit them in.

Neo Gets a Jacket

Of course, most jackets only go down to the waist, but I figure that dogs' butts get cold too.  Amazingly, they don't pee or poop on the fabric because they lift their legs and tails when they do their business, which moves the fabric out of the way. 

I managed to put Neo's jacket together in a couple of hours.  I took his measurements and did some calculations, but I miscalculated how much fabric I'd need for the hem, so this jacket is a bit big.  I had to add more Velcro to the straps to wrap them tighter.  Oh well, at least he's got room to grow into it.  When I made a jacket for Stewie when he was around Neo's age, he immediately grew out of it and I had to make another one.

I picked out a couple of fabrics and laid them on the floor.  I asked Neo which one he liked, and he stood on this fabric.  I didn't even realize it, but both Neo and Stewie's jackets have butterflies on them.  I think they are both Hoffman fabrics.  I've been saving them for quilting, but I came to the realization one day that even if I lived to be 100, there wouldn't be enough days left in my life for me to make quilts out of all of the fabrics in my stash, so I may as well use them for other projects as they arise.

My Latest Sewing Project

I belong to some quilting groups online, and I'm always inspired by what I see.  I want to start working on a quilt, but I have to first finish my current project because it is taking up every square inch of my work space in my sewing room.  I have a certain style of tops I like to wear.  I love flowing tunic tops that drop down below crotch level.  Very few people make jeans nowadays with a high enough waist to cover up underpants, so I try to cover my underpants with long tops.  I also like to cover my butt while I'm at it.

Very few places carry tunic tops anymore, or if they do, they are way too short or way too tight to be called tunic tops.  I don't need stretchy fabric clinging to my middle-aged tummy pouch.  So, I decided one day to just start sewing my own tops since I knew what I wanted.  The problem is that whenever I try to make garments from scratch, the dimensions are way off and the final result is unwearable.  You almost need an engineering degree to design clothing patterns.  I hate having to cut up clothing projects I spent months or years working on only to have no choice but to use the scraps for something else.  Fabric isn't cheap.

So, I needed a professional pattern to work off.  Of course, there were no patterns that fit what I wanted to make, so I had to find something that was close, and then alter it to fit my criteria.  I stupidly thought it was as simple as making the skirt part of the top longer and wider, but then found out that meant I also had to lengthen the lining.  Ugh.  I totally forgot to do that, so I had to tack on little squares of fabric, which looks awful.  I didn't know if I'd have enough fabric to make new lining from scratch and I wasn't willing to order more because I could see that this project was going to wind up being another failure no matter what I did.  I was now in damage control mode.

The pattern I bought had several errors in the instructions and I was struggling to understand what they really meant to write.  I'd read the instructions over and over and stared at the diagrams, but I couldn't make heads or tails of any of it.  I finally decided to just use common sense.

I started making good progress today when I realized that this was too easy.  Something had to be wrong.  Something was always wrong when it came to sewing.  I looked closer at my work and saw that the bobbin thread had run out four pin removals ago.  Argh!  I had to re-pin the seam and re-thread the machine after fixing the bobbin issue.

I went back to work and finished that step.  The next step of the instructions made no sense to me.  I did what they showed in the picture, and then realized that I was supposed to serge the raw edge of the lining before tacking it down.  I didn't want to rip out the seams of the tacking because I had already had to rip out the seams of one shoulder to get it to line up, so I just serged around the tacking.

I was feeling proud of myself for pushing on despite the setbacks, when I stood up and looked down to see that I had accidentally stepped on the tie to the top and ripped it off the garment.  One step forward -- two steps back. 

"Oh well, I can sew it back on really quick," I told myself.

Nope!  Somehow in that one inch of fabric I needed to sew, the thread got bunched up under the foot and my garment got jammed in the machine.  When it rains -- it pours.  I know when to quit.  Time for some oatmeal cookies.

Sunflower Pillow

I completed a pillow made with Dimensions Dramatic Sunflower Needlepoint Kit, which contained presorted wool yarn, full color print on 12 mesh canvas, and instructions.  The design is by Lisa Audit and the finished canvas is 14x14 inches.

I enjoyed the needlepointing.  There were a couple of colors on the canvas that were difficult to tell apart, but the pattern is logical enough to figure it out. I chose this fabric for the backing because it mimicked the colors and shapes of the design on the front:

I had some difficulty re-shaping the canvas after I finished the needlepoint.  Because they recommend the continental stitch, the square canvas ended up more like a parallelogram.  I sprayed it with water and tried to stretch it back into a square on a bulletin board using pins, but after several attempts at that process without making much progress, I gave up.  I think in the future I will always do the basketweave stitch, even if the continental stitch is recommended.

Sewing it together was a fiasco, as always.  At first, everything was going suspiciously smoothly.  It was looking like I might get it done in one sitting and have time to do barn chores and make dinner.  Just when I began feeling elated over my good fortune, I turned the pillow over and saw that the backing fabric got bunched up and sewed down that way.  Out came the seam ripper.  I must have removed some pins prematurely.

Once I re-sewed the fabric down flat with the help of more pins, all I needed to do was double stitch another row around the perimeter of the pillow.  I could do that in one minute.  However, the thread broke.  Cut to re-threading the machine.  Then the needle broke.

I insisted upon being undaunted by all these challenges and worked as fast as I could to fix them.  I was determined to get that pillow done since I was so close.  However, the screw I needed to loosen to change the needle would not budge.  I had to locate some oil, oil it, and then hunt around in my husband's toolbox for some needle-nose pliers.  Once the needle was finally changed, I was on my way, whizzing along the border until the bobbin thread ran out.

Hands in air, I gave up.  I was running out of time to take care of my other responsibilities.  This morning, I put more thread on the bobbin and finished sewing the last row of stitches.  Then I turned it inside out and stuffed the pillow form inside.  Still a parallelogram.  Oh well.

I think the biggest insult in this entire project was when I suddenly remembered while sewing the last side of the pillow together that I forgot, once again, to include piping, lace or ruffles in the border.  This forgetfulness is getting to be a habit with me.  I think black lace would have looked nice, but there's no way I'm going to rip all those stitches out now.

My Amish Quilt

My husband and I recently traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for our son's wedding, and while in Amish country, we perused a couple of quilt shops.  My husband wanted to purchase a quilt for a full bed in our back bedroom.  He was drawn to a beautiful cream and white applique quilt, but I had to remind him of our dog.  Then we debated over a fantastic Tumbling Blocks quilt.  After much deliberation, we agreed on purchasing this one:

This is a Curvy Log Cabin by Rachel Lantz.  We purchased it from Village Quilts at Kitchen Kettle Village in the small town of Intercourse, PA.  Yes, it was very expensive, but handmade, heirloom quality quilts often increase in value with age, so we're considering it an investment.

I normally prefer bright colors.  My husband and I have learned that we each see colors differently.  What I see as yellow, he sees as white.  What I see as orange, he sees as red.  The two colors that have the strongest saturation for me are teal and purple, so I love those two colors together.  I gravitate toward them.  We had seen a purple and teal quilt in another shop, but it was king sized and appeared to be mostly machine sewn.  Most of the quilts available at the second shop we visited had subtle, more neutral color schemes, but this one caught my eye because of its use of batik fabrics.  There were small sections of teal and purple that jumped out at me.

When I first started quilting nearly 30 years ago, I loved the batik fabrics, but could not afford to buy them.  When I first saw this Curvy Log Cabin quilt, it was hanging on a rack.  Linda Wenzler spread it out for us on a bed and it really popped.  I couldn't take my eyes off it.  Every time I look at it, I see something else I hadn't seen before.  Even the white portion has different fabrics of varying whites and off-whites, some solids, some patterns, adding to the dimension.  Just the complexity of the design is awe-inspiring.

I learned so much from Linda.  Her shop sells one-of-a-kind quilts.  Nothing is mass produced.  They may carry quilts of the same pattern, but there is always some variation.  The artists sometimes have small groups of quilters help them piece and quilt the bedspreads together, but the quilts are mostly hand-sewn.  You can view their quilts online.  I had mine shipped to me to avoid finding room for it in our suitcase.  It arrived in a special case with care instructions.

We took a quick spin around the countryside on our way to the airport and came upon many horse drawn carriages, as well as men and horses plowing fields.

The wedding was beautiful.  Now that we are home, I've been getting my ducks in a row to prepare for my total hip replacement surgery.  My daughter is here helping keep things running smoothly around the ranch while I'm off my anti-inflammatory medication in the week before the surgery.  The surgeon promises that I will feel much better soon.  He said that the damage from my arthritis is severe.  While that's not a good thing, it was nice to hear a doctor finally acknowledge all the pain I've been in these past few years.

It's been hard having people ask me to do simple things, and me having to stave off panic attacks knowing how painful doing that one task is going to be for me.  I've actually spent the past couple of years of my life trying to keep people at arm's length so that they won't ask me to do anything outside of my normal routine.  Every little thing has been a big deal for me.  It will be nice to get back to some normalcy and not have to think twice about every action I take.

Two More Finished Needlepoint Pillows

I know what you're thinking:  How many pillows does one person need? 

Well, I don't need them, although they do come in handy propping up my laptop in my lap.  I just enjoy needlepoint.  It's a fairly mindless, easy craft one can do with her hands while focusing her attention elsewhere.  When I finish a canvas, I don't want to litter my walls with hangings, so I make pillows out of them and pile them in the corner of my craft room.  If I ever need to give someone a last minute gift, I can grab one, wrap it up really quick, and claim that I slaved over it for months just for that person. 

Here are my most recent projects...

The 14x14 one on the left is Dimensions Bouquet on Black, designed by Lisa Audit.  This one came with plenty of thread.  It was a bit of a struggle for me to differentiate between subtle tones in the threads, so I needed a lot of light while needlepointing it, but it's the fine details that make it look so realistic.

The 12x12 one on the right is Design Works Blue Floral.  The kit was a birthday gift from my daughter.  This one had acrylic yarn while the other project had thread.  Halfway through needlepointing the design, I realized I had been using the ice blue yarn instead of the light teal in too many places, and as a result, I ran out of the ice blue yarn.  Luckily, I just happened to have a skein of that exact same yarn color that I had been using for knitting projects, so I borrowed from that.  Just for the heck of it, I went over one section with the light teal after finishing with the ice blue to see what it would look like.  My plan was to cover the ice blue with the light teal and make those sections standing with extra thickness.  However, I liked the ice blue better than the teal, so my pillow is a cooler color than was intended with the kit.

It took a long time to get the pillows constructed because I had to order some trim and wait for it to come in.  I ordered a whole bolt of white cord with lip, and an assortment of laces in black, white, and pastel colors.  The whole time I was sewing the Blue Floral pillow together, I kept thinking, "This is too easy.  This is going too quick.  Something's wrong."

When I turned it outside in, I realized that I forgot to include the trim I'd been waiting for all those weeks!  See what I mean about my memory being bad?  I had them sitting right in front of me on the table and I still forgot to include them.  Then, just to add insult to injury, I discovered that I had no 12x12 pillow inserts!  After what happened with the trim, there was no way I was going to order 12x12 pillow inserts and wait for them to arrive, so I dug through my supplies and found some stuffing.  It worked just fine.

I chose off-white or vanilla lace for the big pillow, because there were a lot of shades of cream in the needlepoint.  These are the backing fabrics I chose for each out of my stash...

I don't buy fabric anymore because I went through a phase when I was ordering fabric at online sales much too often when I first started quilting.  Although I'm glad now that I did, because back then I could buy fabric for $3 to $8 a yard, and now it is much more expensive.  

Originally, I just bought purple and green fabrics for a king sized bed quilt I was making at the time, and I kept running out.  It was frustrating to get into a flow, only to have to stop work because of a lack of supplies.  So, I overcompensated by constantly buying fabrics to build up a stash until I needed to dedicate two floor-to-ceiling shelves to hold it all.  I've promised myself I won't buy anymore fabric until I've used what I already have.  

But I do accept gifts of fabric.  My sister-in-law sent me a beautifully coordinated set of fabrics by Robert Kaufman and Gustav Klimt for Christmas this year, and I can't wait to start tackling that quilt project.  We are definitely using quilts I've made in the past right now, because this has been the coldest winter I've experienced since living in Arizona.  Throwing a quilt over my bare feet sure beats struggling to put on socks with my arthritis.  

For those who are interested in what's going on in my life beyond crafts projects, my right hip has officially disintegrated.  The ball and socket are all jagged and I have several torn muscles.  I postponed hip replacement surgery until my son gets married, because I don't want there to be any complications that would prevent me from attending his wedding.  The wedding is in March, I should get my hip replaced in April and be done with physical therapy by June.  We'll see where it goes from there.  I'm anxiously waiting to see if I can ride horses again.

Small Dog Coat

A couple of years ago I ordered a custom dog jacket for my Chihuahua/Min Pin mix through an Etsy store.  Stewie wore it for two winters and it has served us well.  Recently, I saw a pattern for a dog coat and bought it to see if I could make a new one for him myself.  The pattern I used was Simplicity 1239.  The examples are super cute, such as a dog coat made to look like a football and a camouflage dog coat with pockets or saddle bags on the sides... 

Any time that I sew, my goal is to use my existing fabric stash, because I'm pretty sure that even if I lived another 50 years, I wouldn't have enough time to make something out of all that fabric I've bought, washed, and stashed throughout my lifetime believing that "some day" I will make something with it.  After perusing my shelf full of dusty fabrics, I decided to make my dog look like a butterfly...

And I found some bright colored flannel to line the inside of the coat.  The colors match!

My only issue with Stewie's first coat was that it was too short and didn't cover his bum, so I made sure that this coat did that.  Still, I probably could have made it even longer...

I followed the pattern exactly, but the neck turned out to be too tight, and the material is constricting in the shoulders, so I'm going to make some adjustments on the pattern that include the following:

1.  Larger, deeper neckline.
2.  Less hang over the shoulders.
3.  Longer from neck to tail.
4.  Longer straps at both the neck and belly.

It's hard to see, but I sewed a D-ring onto the back to hook a leash up to.  I had fun making this.  It's quick and easy.  I think if I get really good at it and feel confident adjusting patterns to custom measurements, I might open my own Etsy shop selling these creations.  Of course, right now is not the season for it, so I've still got a few months to practice.  I'll also have to find some creations to make and sell that aren't dependent upon it being cold outside.

Two Finished Needlepoint Pillows

I finally did it!  I think it took longer for me to piece the pillows together than it took for me to complete the two needlepoint canvases, but now I have the perfect lap pillows to set my laptop on while working.

The needlepoint canvas on the left is Design Works "Watercolor Floral" 12" x 12" Needlepoint Kit, which contains a 12 count interlock canvas printed in full color, acrylic yarns, needle and instructions.  The one on the right is Design Works "Peacock" 12" x 12" Needlepoint Kit with all the same contents.  Backing fabric, decorative edging, and pillow inserts or frames are not included.  Here's a picture of the backing fabric's I chose:

I'm impressed with my choices, because the coloring, subject matter, and style match the needlepoint images pretty well.  The instructions say to leave one edge open and hand sew it closed once the pillow form or stuffing is put in, but I like to make pockets so that the pillow forms can easily be slipped in and out.  The pillow on the left has a 3" overlay for the pocket, while the pillow on the right has a 4" overlay.  As you can see, the 4" overlay worked out better because the backing sits nicer and doesn't appear to be bulging at the seams.  For my pillow forms I used Acanva Home Collection 12" squares.

My life got turned upside down recently when my oldest mare colicked and had to be tubed by the vet, my oldest dog began urinating and vomiting all over the carpet, and I broke my toe on the shower door railing all within a few minutes of each other.  All that served as just one more reminder (or three) that time is of the essence and I have to get down to business and complete these various projects when I've got downtime and when I have two legs and two arms (and enough digits) to get the jobs done.

Intermission Explanation

I know I'm long overdue for a post.  How is it that sewing together a couple of needlepoint pillows can take several months?  Let me count thy ways...

I did get new eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses from my new optometrist, and they work great for every day wear, but what I really needed for fabric arts and crafts projects were powerful reading glasses so I picked up a three-pack for twelve bucks at the local clothing store.  Now I have a pair next to each sewing and serger machine.

So, for the most part, my eyesight problems have been corrected, but now I find myself struggling with cognitive issues.  For instance, I could not, for the life of me, find the right sized pillow insert for these 12x12" needlepoint canvases.  The websites selling them said to always buy the next size up, so I checked out the 14x14" pillow inserts, and the reviews said they were flat and recommended that you buy the next size up, which was 16x16".  So, I bought that, and it was way too big.  I tried adapting to the large pillow insert by cutting out a 18x18" square of fabric, but could not figure out how to attach it smoothly to a 12x12" needlepoint canvas without gathering the fabric, so I ordered some 14x14" pillow inserts, which were still too big.  I went through the same rigmarole until I finally bought the 12x12" pillow inserts.  Don't listen to what anyone says in those online reviews.  Trust your own instinct.

Now I'm in the process of cutting that 18x18" square of fabric down to a 14x14" square of fabric, leaving room for hems, because the fabric is very lightweight and frays easily.  Somehow, some way, I always manage to do my math wrong and when all is said and done with the hems, the square is still too big.  You know the old saying of cutting it twice and it still being too short?  Well, I cut twice and it's still too long.

When I work so hard only to make a mistake and have to do the process again, I tend to walk away from the project either because I have to get on with my life, or because I need a time out from it.  That tactic wouldn't be so bad if I could return to it the next day, but usually some other problem or activity commandeers my time, and before I know it, several weeks or months have passed and my project is collecting dust on my sewing table.

The serger intimidates me.  I had my first thread breakage the other day, and it took me hours to get around to reading the threading instructions and watching a video on how to thread it.  The actual threading repair only took seconds, but learning how to do it seemed to take all day because I had a learning block.  As soon as I started reading the instructions, I fell asleep.  I know that my fear of the serger thread breaking again is a big reason why I keep avoiding finishing the pillows.  I think, "I can finish this pillow in an hour.  I know exactly what I need to do.  But what if the serger thread breaks and I have to re-thread all four threads through the machine?  Then it will take days to get the pillow done."

And that's the point in my thinking process where I start looking around for something more urgent to do.  Besides the intimidating serger, I also just don't trust my brain.  Every time I make a mistake, I'm like, "What the heck was I thinking?"

Then I look in the mirror at myself like I'm a stranger.  "Who ARE you?  You're not the intelligent young woman I used to rely on.  This isn't rocket science, you know."

It's scary when you can no longer do something that you've done a dozen times before because you're over the hill and you brain is slowly dying.  I have stacks upon stacks of fabrics and patterns waiting for my attention, but if I can't complete a simple square pillow, I doubt there's much hope that I will be able to construct some clothes.

I've been anxious about summer coming, because that was when I was in the most pain and the most crippled last year, but it turns out that the heat had nothing to do with my pain levels.  I suspect that my pain levels had more to do with stress and the lack of support I'd been receiving from doctors in resolving my pain and immobility.  Pretty much all I've been dealing with lately is stiffness and a lack of flexibility, but the pain is mostly gone since the steroid injections.  So, the leg pain and the eyesight issues are no longer getting in the way of my craft projects.  It's mainly my cognitive functioning and my inability to concentrate on something for more than a few minutes without getting interrupted.

After my oldest dog passed away, I thought my time would be freed up, but within a few months, my next oldest dog started going downhill and developing health problems that require a lot of my attention.  She is now at the end of her life, and just when I thought my time would be freed up once she passes, my youngest dog developed a health problem that is going to require a lot of my time and the vet's time.  I'm going to have to be taking him in to see the vet every few weeks, and that's going to get to be both time consuming and expensive. I'm planning on switching vets, because my current one is in the habit of leaving me alone in an examining room with my dog for an hour while she chats with her staff.  She clearly has no respect for my schedule.  I just can't figure out how I can be so unlucky as to end up with three dogs with special needs.  I've owned dogs my entire life, and up until these last three, they were all pretty low maintenance.  Now my life revolves around the bladders and bowels of dogs.  Usually, when I am on my way into the sewing room to finish the pillows, I get sidetracked by a dog accident on the carpet.  By the time I'm done scrubbing the stain out, I've either forgotten what I was originally going to do, or I've run out of free time and have to move on to the next task.

So, those are the reasons why it has been so long since I've last completed a project to share on this blog.  As usual, I have high hopes that things will change soon.  Unfortunately, they rarely do.  Until next time...

Needlepoint Projects in Progress

It seems that I like working on needlepoint canvases, but I'm not so keen on finishing the canvas by sewing it into a pillow.  Right now I've got two finished needlepoint canvases and started working on a third.  I've got pillows waiting to be covered, I've picked out matching fabrics and lace, but can't seem to get a big enough block of time to actually sew the finished product together.  I know what to do.  I've done it half a dozen times before.  I just seem to be suffering from a little sewer's block when it comes to these projects.  Here are some photos of what I've got so far...

One of my biggest challenges with needlepoint as of late is my eyesight.  When I complete all the sections of needlepoint, I start noticing stitches I skipped that reveal raw canvas, and I have to go back and do one stitch here, another stitch there...  It's very time consuming.  I got tired of tucking in heads and tails, so I ended up just stretching the yarn long distances across the back of the canvas to get from one missing stitch to another.  Very unprofessional of me, but who cares?  It's going to be hidden inside the pillow, right?  These are just for me.  I'm not planning on entering any contests, so all is good.

Oh, and I've got an appointment scheduled with a new optometrist next month.  Hopefully, they'll be better than my current dentist who called me in today to fill some cavities, and then told me to go home because I didn't have any.  There was a miscommunication between the dentist and the assistant and hygienist.  And before that I had requested a female hygienist, and someone switched me to a male hygienist at the last minute without my permission, so I had to pitch a fit to get the one I requested.  They also called me while I was sleeping early in the morning to try to move my appointment up earlier in the morning when I had specifically told them the only time I was available was in the mid-afternoon.  The list goes on and on with those people, so I'll be switching dentists soon too.