The Home Stretch

As I begin stitching my very last pattern from the Joys of My Garden Leaflet, I ponder the intelligence of  purchasing leaflets with more than one pattern in them.  It shouldn't happen.  Sadly I have several more with MANY more patterns to them.  Why do I do this?  Isn't one pattern at a time enough?

Well, no.  I'm a pattern, leaflet, graph hoarder and I cannot help myself.  I did rid myself of kits and leaflets and such that I won't be stitching because some of those patterns were picked up on a whim without even looking at them (I shake my fist at you yard sales!!).  I still have several more I need to give away because I know they won't ever get stitched and I don't remember ever wanting to stitch them, they were just part of a pile of leaflets that were a dime apiece and I got a "bulk buy" price....shameful....just shameful.

Seems to me I should have called this the 2013 CLEAN OUT YOUR STUFF Project, or 2013 Do What You Said You Would Project. Or I could throw it all out and start over.  That won't happen, but it was an idea, which makes me giggle just a little.  I could give it all away, but why?  There actually are patterns in the basket and binders I want to do.  For me, the main point of this project was to teach myself to DO.  Not stare longingly at kits and patterns and think "some day".  I'm seriously glad that I did this.  No more UFO's are hiding shamefaced in dark boxes.  It's nice to be able to rummage freely and not feel that pang of guilt for not completing something. That was really annoying.   

Last year at this time, I had a really LARGE glass mixing bowl that I was using as my ORT (old ratty threads) receptacle.  For thousands of years I have wondered what I could do with those little pieces of threads, yarn and such and FINALLY, it came to me, I could use it as stuffing for my biscornu!  The one I made which is shown in the "making" stages from Biscornu Booty turned out beautifully and may I also add that using those cast offs as stuffing was a brilliant idea!

Most of the yarn in this bowl is from the BCA Chickie Bags I made last year for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  What you cannot see is the incredible amount of cross stitch floss on the bottom, but that is alright since the point here is to show you the ridiculous bowl I was using...should have been making cookies with it, but I stuffed it full of yarn instead!

I cannot gush on enough about how perfect those little pieces were for stuffing.  The biscornu is shaped perfectly, it was easy to shape and as you can see, it really is a very pretty biscornu.

 This is side one.  This was sent to a young woman in Kamchatka, Russia.  Even though, TECHNICALLY, we only live 1,500 miles from each other, it took six weeks for my little biscornu to get to her!  (NO, I cannot see her house from my back yard)

The best part was this was her very first International Package. Amazingly it arrived in one piece and not destroyed by travel.

Apparently she and her mother just sat at the table staring at it when it first arrived. She calls it "My Precious"  This is side two.

So my point here, or what I thought my point was, is what to do with the little threads, snippets, yarn pieces and such that one would normally gather up and toss, or create a fun game of it like It's Daffycat has done.

And no, I couldn't leave it alone....I HAD to figure out a jar or something else other than my mixing bowl. That bowl is back with the others ready for mixing ingredients for yummy things like my Key Lime Cookies...delicious they were, and all who had one or five praised the gods that I could bake as if I were truly blessed and then they threw themselves to the ground to grovel at my feet, crying out "OH who art so far above us, wilt thou please create MORE delicious delectables??!!" I said,  "No, I have things to do." And went about my business.

So there I was, in the pantry looking for a special jar or something specifically for my left over bits when I spied a Sapphire Gin bottle.  OOOOOOOO, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!  I found the glass cutter we had used last year to cut tops off of bottles (there is a very cool ritual that goes with that I might share some other time), and made my gouge to remove the top of the bottle.  Once I had the cut bottle, I ran carefully back to Nerd Central Command to figure out how to soften the now super sharp edges.  A small piece of fabric folded over some raw cotton batting, Gorilla Glue and TAH DAH!!!!

Currently it is full almost to the brim with what I have been working on since December 2012.  I've had to cram it down a few times since the threads like to be fluffy.  

It is a wonderful 16.5 cm tall, and really pretty. There is nothing on it that say "booze" or "gin", it just has fun pictures of "botanicals" used to make the gin. I seriously recommend everyone try this. Seriously, if you want a special jar that is unique to you, find that crazy bottle, cut the top off and there you have it!  Let's not forget that recycling is fun.  

You can sand the sharp edges with sandpaper, or do something similar to what I have done.  I even thought of getting some of that dip it! rubber stuff to put around the top, but I don't have any of that on hand and we ARE trying to be thrifty after all. 

There are four months left of the 2013 Leaflet Project and I'm curious to see how much more I can get done!  I'm sure you are all on pins and needles for the last of Joys of My Garden....I know I am, ha, ha!

Until next time.....