Trying too hard

I needed some hand work to take to a LQG meeting on Wednesday evening.  I sorted thourgh my stack of gelatin prints and found a likely candidate, sandwiched it, and took it along to add hand quilting.  Luckily, I also took a doodle cloth to test out various quilting threads to use.  Tried an overdyed #12 perle, #12 silk perle, and a variegated tatting cotton.  Ble-e-e-ch!  After much frustration, I realized that I'm just trying too hard to make things work, and I really need to sit back and let the inspiration come.  This is so hard for me, but it's  a skilll I really need to develop.  So, as I was falling asleep, I had a sudden idea about another one of the gelatin prints--and actually remembered it the next morning.  So that is in progress, but it promises to be a long time in production.

Then, Thursday evening, while discussing an entirely different thing with a friend, I had an idea about how to fix the piece that is shown in the last post.  The quilting just doesn't show enough to influence the design.  So I plan to add dark purple seed beads along some, but not all, of the quilting lines, to accentuate them.  This, of course, meant a trip to the bead store.  Too bad!

Most of my work, right now, is hand work.  There were two events this week that called out for some hand work, so, as well as the gelatin prints, I sorted through a box of old counted thread embroidery projects, that I found in my store room. (Not cross stitch!) This fairly large box once held a fortune in evenweave linen fabric and a healthy collection of overdyed cotton floss.  This floss is a specialty thread that is no longer manufactured, so is even more valuable now, than it once was.  Over the years, I've sold off most of the fabric, and a fair bit of the thread, but kept anything that I had once started to work on ( my UFO's).  At one time, I was very good at counted thread work and even won awards for it.  I also taught the techniques, specializing in counted thread ethnic embroidery techniques.  This was a big part of my life that I had to give up when my hands and wrists just couldn't take it any more. Well, there were two half finished tray clothes and a small Christmas ornament--not started, left in the box.  Sad remnants of over 20 years of loving and dedicated work.

Okay! Enough of that!  One of the tray clothes has 18 separate motifs, of which 15 were done!  Well, they're all done now, and only the hemming remains.  I need to read up on hemming before I start, as it's been quite awhile!  The other tray cloth is about half done.  The pattern I had in mind didn't really work out well--which is why it's not finished. So, simplify the pattern, and I should have it finished in a few days--once I get to it. The Christmas ornament can wait until fall.  We'll see how my hands take to this.  I'll have to pace the work and make sure that my beading projects--which have a deadine--get priority.

My hope is that I find I'm able to do the work, if I pace it well.  So far, I've been too "into it" to pace well, and the pain is coming back.  If this works out for me, it will be like coming home to an old friend.