Endless possibilites with Fibres, & a videogame mention

I was going to try and post at least once a week here, oh well. I have been posting a bit more regularly on my tatting blog -- link is to the side. Life is seeming so disjointed for me at the moment. I did finish another video game. I think this brings me up to about 24 or 25 % of games finished. This one was Final Fantasy XII. In general, I love the FF games. For me they have a great deal of replay value so I really get my money's worth out of the game, especially since I usually buy used games.

While wandering around tatting blogs to get ideas and inspiration from other tatters, I have discovered some very interesting sites on embroidery and crazy quilting. Just what I need, more UnFinished Objects or UFOs. However looking at the crazy quilts, this looks like a possible way to incorporate some of those other scattered projects into a coherent whole. A way to use those purchased materials - yarns, threads, ribbons etc - in one piece. I had never tried a crazy quilt before because it looked like so much work. But looking at what they are doing with them nowadays, it is incredible. I've already started scavenging through my supplies, and racking my brain to see what I might have on hand. I have a list of people that I hope to hit up for nicer scraps of materials. It still looks like a lot of work, but it doesn't need to be a whole quilt. Throw Pillows, Christmas Tree Ornaments, Wall Hangings, Christmas Stockings and more ideas if I keep reading those blogs.

I did buy a dictionary of embroidery stitches earlier this week so I could learn some more stitches. I've done crewel work, cross-stitch, and other embroidery projects over the years, but they have all used the same basic set of stitches, maybe 10 different stitches, 20 if I'm being generous. I thought that made me somewhat accomplished at embroidery. What a laugh, this book has 234 different stitches. 72 are for needlepoint alone. Now instead of somewhat accomplished, I will place myself at rank amateur. I don't see this as a bad thing at all. It gives me permission to not be perfect, and then all the things that I get the joy of learning how to make. The possibilities have left me unable to start at the moment. I'm finding myself wanting to design and make a lovely needlepoint sampler, showing off all 72 stitches. Not realistic at all is it? Plus 3 of the stitches are just 3 ways of making the same stitch, so now we are down to 70 stitches. Still not realistic to expect to get 70 stitches into one sampler and have it look planned and coherent.

So, trying to be realistic, trying to be sensible, I have dug out my sampler kit, looked over it and will work on finishing it. I've only had it for 25 years now. I've never counted it as unfinished though, it has always been a long term project.