Friday, May 14, 2010

Moonlit Garden Framed, finally!


Well, I finally got the frame made for this piece and everything put together the other day. Since its been so long since last I posted, I had another finish so went ahead and framed that one also. So, here is my rendition of Moonlit Garden by Blackbird Designs, and Rose Hill Plantation by Little House Needleworks:


Whatcha think? I decided to go with a 'carved' look for the Moonlit Garden frame but wasn't at all happy with the quality of the molding. (I'll just never buy it again.) I had the suggestion, from Patti, I think, about the color it should be--oaky--and chose English Oak stain. Several coats of clear and it was finished. By the time the frame was completed and dry enough to put the stitched piece into, I had Rose Hill finished. Went ahead and made that frame, used my old stand by molding and Rosewood stain, and framed them both on the same day. I'm definitely going to have to learn to cut mats for my pieces--they just look so plain compared to what all of you guys are putting on your walls.

Forgot to mention that I changed up the fabric color--used Vintage Examplar light, and changed all the colors to Crescent color cottons, except for one DMC she used. That was one color I couldn't find a substitute for since I don't have all the CC colors. I enjoy the look of the overdyes. Don't those 'roses' look like the 60's hippy flowers?

While waiting for the frame for Rose Hill to be ready, I started stitching the LHN piece that previewed at Nashville Market, Needle and Thread. The scissor fob is stitched and tonight should see the finish for the larger piece. I did not buy the mattress that went with this piece--I'm thinking more along the lines of a box top, if I can find one the right size. Maybe use beads to make little bun feet, and then put the scissor and fob inside. Just a thought.

The weather has been crazy here but not as crazy as it's been in other parts with all the tornadoes running amok. We get hot weather, then cold weather. Sun and then rain. Last night brought tornado warnings, (a blast from the warning horn) thunderstorms and high winds. Had several storms blow through here last night. Seems like we've had some kind of rain every other day this week and most of last week, too. Positively creepy, though I must admit to liking the nights when we had frost warnings. I am NOT looking forward to the hot summer.


I've had something on my mind for several months, and it's really been bothering me. Have you ever lost a friend and not known why? No argument, no disagreement, just silence where once were phone calls, letters and emails exchanged on nearly a daily basis? No explanation, just . . . . nothing. I had a wonderful friendship with this lovely person. We talked on the phone almost every day, sometimes more than once a day. We exchanged emails, notes, letters, packages often. Then, for some reason, I became 'persona non grata'. Phone calls were not answered, or returned. Emails not returned. Letters not answered. I did get a Christmas card with just her signature on it. I feel like I must have committed some heinous crime but for the life of me, don't know what it was. I never gossiped about her. Never shared any secrets she shared with me. If it wasn't for her continuing to add pictures to her album, I would have thought she died. I really hate to give up on her but it's now been something like 6 months, and nothing. Last time I wrote her, I requested that she return something she'd been working on for me, and that hasn't been done either. (It was a Lorrie Birmingham kit, a needle book in a heart shape, for my daughter-in-law. I didn't think I could do the hardanger.) My heart hurts over the loss of this person and I don't know what to do anymore. In doing this in this way, it did bring home to me something that I did to someone else. I had an email buddy that I stopped writing to, for no particular reason. I have since re-established that friendship and apologized for the hurt I caused her. Nothing like having it done to you, eh?


So, there you have it. I've got it off my chest. It's why I've been so slow in posting, having so much on my mind. In other news, my eldest son just shared with us that his wife is pregnant, about a month along. It will be his first child and he's grinning like a baboon! They already have names picked out, can you believe that? I was still picking and choosing at the hospital after he'd been born. And here is what else I've done in these last few weeks. He picked up this water color at a yard sale last year. I did some cleaning on it, fixed it up a bit and framed it for his new apartment.


Not sure what will be next for me. Maybe I'll just go back and finish the Shepherd's Bush halloween piece I was working on before I got sidetracked. I have been saving my pennies to pick up LHN's Virtues chart--I really like that one.

Stitch on, my friends! Thank you for all the comments you leave, the encouragement you give! It is all much appreciated.

12 comments:

Deb said...

Both your pieces look wonderful. The first frame really compliments the colors in your piece and I love the added scroll work at the top of the second. Very nice. It's always a wonderful feeling to get something framed.

And about your friend - perhaps something is going on in her life that you don't know about. The best thing may be to directly confront her if you can, but hopefully she's just had a lot going on and it's nothing that you can do. In any event, if she's not near, write her a letter and tell her how you feel. It's worth a shot anyway.

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

Both pieces are beautiful! The frames are just beautiful and the job you did on your son's watercolor is lovely. Congrats to him on the pending birth of his son or daughter!

Good luck with your friend.

ohiofarmgirl said...

I finished Moon lit Garden but I still have not framed it. It must be an odd size...was hoping to frame it myself.
Sorry about the loss of your friend or friendship. I had this happen to me last May and I have only had one phone call since then and it wasn't very pleasant...you might be lucky that you have heard nothing. Blessings, Dianntha

Nicole said...

Beautiful finishes Debs!! Congrats to your son on the new baby - how exciting for everyone! :)

I'm so sorry about your friend. I agree with what Deb said. You just never know what may be going on in someone's life. I hope it can all be worked out!

Lots of hugs - stay safe with all that crazy weather up there!!

Poussy Stitches My Love said...

Oh hello my friend! That of beautiful paintings(boards)! I like frames(supervisions)! They are magnificent, I like houses embroidered(exaggerated)! But frames(executives) are completed! I kiss(embrace) you and says to you goodbye

Sharon said...

Both pieces look fantastic!

Siobhán said...

Beautiful framing! Congratulations to your son, too. :)

The friend thing... oy. I have had that happen, fairly recently. In my case, I know that things happened in that friend's life, but she withdrew and stopped e-mailing me. I did answer e-mails when I got them but when looking over our friendship, I realized that it was pretty one sided, with me doing the commiserating and listening and when things happened to me, I was pretty much ignored or it wasn't commented upon. I've since seen that she's friends with mutual friends on FB but not with me, and I have no intention of 'friending' her. Last year, though, I cut ties with three women who were very snarky over some good things that happened to me. It was all jealousy on their parts, and I understood it, but felt they should have been happy for me as I had always been for them. I left the group we were in together, explained it was time to move on to the non-snarky friends, and just said nothing to the snarky threesome. The owner of the group--one of the snarkies--did ask a mutual friend about it and she apologized to her, but never to me. After a close friendship of 11+ years, it spoke volumes to me. It also hurt like words can't express. Maybe you should e-mail and say that you miss them, are hurt by not hearing from them, and just do whatever you need to do to make yourself comfortable with the fact that you tried everything. Hang in there.

Jeanne said...

Your framing is really nice Deb - it is so expensive to have it done so I admire what you have accomplished.

I'm sorry you have been hurt by a friend - seems most of us have at one time or another. I think I would email to ask her why..ask if you've done anything to offend her as you never meant to. It's likely the friendship may be over, but at least maybe it will put to rest the reason why. Some people are just very thoughtless and don't value friendships like they should. Or like someone else said, maybe something bad has happened in her life and she has withdrawn or soemthing.

Brigitte said...

Oh Deb, your've got two wonderful framed pieces here. Great choice of frames!
Sorry to hera about this sudden stop of your friendship. This has happened to me as well. I'd go with Siobhán - do whatever you feel you must do and if you can't sort it out, just move on.

Susan @ Real Girl Designs said...

{{{Debs}}} - I'm sorry I missed this post earlier.

I agree with what Deb said about perhaps something going on in her life. From my personal experience, I've had times in my life when I've withdrawn from all friends, because of what was going on. I re-established the friendships where I could, but in some cases, I lost friendships forever, and that was entirely my fault, and I regret some of the choices that I made in my life that ruined those friendships.

I am glad that you heard from your friend; I hope any hurt feelings have been resolved.

If it happens again, I suggest you send the person a note (via snail mail) - I find that a note in the mail goes a lot further than perhaps a phone call, or an e-mail - a note seems to imply that you put more effort into it (not necessarily the case, but you have to sit down and write the note, and then go to the post office to mail it etc.)

More {{{hugs}}}

John'aLee said...

This same thing happened to me when I was in junior high school. My best friend practically lived over at our house. And one day I showed up at school and she told me she never wanted to talk to me again. No reason. And just like you, there wasn't anything I could figure out that I had done wrong. Nor would she tell me. I was devastated to say the least.
About 10 years later I heard she committed suicide. I realized then, there were deeper problems that I had no idea about. Maybe it is the same with your friend.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I can feel your pain!

Adana said...

Debs that plantation piece is just smashing. You do such nice work and your stitching and framing is better than ever.

About the friend thing. I understand it on so many levels. I've tried several times to get in touch with a couple of friends that I spent some quality time with a few years ago, to no avail. But I've also been on the other end of it when things in my life were so crazy that I couldn't even open emails (that's why I have 3000+ in my inbox that are unread). I realize that you can try to explain to people what you're going thru with family members with health issues, a dying parent, a daughter who has just lost a baby, looking for a new house and still trying to go to work, keep food in the fridge and clean clothes in the closet. I'd have given anything a couple years ago to find the time to just sit and stitch a bit, but I was so stressed it would have looked disgusting. I hope things get resolved, just know that it may not be about you at all, she may just have to figure some things out, just let her know you're there when she's ready to pick up where you both left off.

Congrats to the happy couple, grandma again. I know how happy that makes you.