15,656 stitches that I could only tell a few people about… now I can tell everyone! *does a BIG happy dance* Without further ado, I present one half of Sara Butcher’s Libra! (click left)

When I put the last stitch into the first half of her I wanted to pop her out of my stand and bolt across the street and give her to Kathie. Of course, I’d have wrapped her in something since she was a present… whatever I could reach on the way out the door… a dishtowel, one of the girls’ princess dressup dresses – heck, I’d have ripped the pillowcase off of one of the pillows on the sofa – that’s how excited I was. But, no… I was going to wait. Well, then the plans for her celebration changed and I decided that I just couldn’t wait. I may get some abuse from the others for giving it to her early, but I really couldn’t wait anymore!

Did she like it you ask? Um, well… she kind of sniffled a bit and stared at it lots… and has dashed off home with it. I’m sure she’ll be a’bringing it back being as she’ll want the other half of her angel stitched at some point. I did show her the floss box she’s seen many-a-time but didn’t notice… and she also got a kick out of the chart and said that I had to share the picture of it with with y’all. (click right)

I don’t see what’s so funny about each line being it’s own color since I park when I stitch and I like rainbows. *coughs* I will add that this is the chart where I created the term “confetti quagmire.” I define it as a block of 10 where over 50% of the stitches in the block are single stitches of a unique color. There are several said blocks of 10 in this chart. They give amazing detail to the piece but are quite the chore to stitch! But, it’s all worth it because the recipient knows the effort that went into it.

If you’d like to see the progression pictures, you can check them out here.

How did this end up being called the “Peanut Butter Project?” A bit over a month ago, we were up north in PA (Pennsylvania for anyone not familiar with US state abbreviations) visiting family and, of course, I was working on Libra. In the 30 seconds it took me to get up to go into Mom’s kitchen to refill my water glass, one of my nieces got up from the kitchen table and grabbed my stitching. I wiped off what I could, but she managed to get her lunch caked into the holes of the fabric really well. Fortunately it wasn’t on the stitching, but I was still really upset and when I managed to sneak upstairs, I did cry. Jenni assured me that Orvus would do the trick and she was right! One soak and all the peanut butter disappeared! I was doing a happy dance in the laundry room! Orvus reminds me of Iocaine Powder from The Princess Bride because it’s colorless, odorless and dissolves completely in liquids. *giggles*

It’s late and I need to get some sleep… I have gobs left on my RR to stitch!

Happy Birthday, Kathie! *HUGS!*