May the Fourth // Wookie cross stitch

I love the original three Star Wars. I mean the nickname of one of my children is Wookie which shows a level of devotion unseen in most fan-clubs (I jest...sort of). The nickname came about because when she was an infant, she didn't really cry she trilled like Chewbacca and now it's stuck. I had promised for her birthday to create something fitting of her nickname but kept putting it off (her birthday was months ago). Knowing that May 4th would soon be here (and quickly pass away again) I was determined to make something Star Wars themed. She already has an "I Speak Wookie" embroidery hanging on her wall (and I have my eye on a "Wookie of the Year bobble-head doll from our local bookstore), so I needed a fresh take on the wookie motif. With that in mind, I set out to create this Star Wars inspired mini-quilt. It's not quite finished but I just had to share.

I used the left-over scraps from the Stars baby blanket (Liberty Kevin from Jones and Vandermeer) and pale blue satin-ish strips (not pictured) from a dress that I made the girls a long, long time ago (in a galaxy far away). It was a bit awkward using these two together as they tended to slip against each other and not line up properly so I ended up pinning A LOT, which surprised me considering it's size.

The cross stitch portion measures 5 x 6 and the strips were 2 inches wide and who knows how long. I began by having multiple colors as pictured but then, after experiencing some trouble with the binding I ended up ripping out the quilting and cutting off much of "frame." I had originally played around with lines in the quilting - diagonal lines shot out from each corner (like the Millennium Falcon going into hyperdrive) and rectangles framed (like the windows of the Death Star). Leftover grey minky was used on the back and I plan on using random cream colored ribbon to hang it.

I used cross stitch for the first time in years. It was so relaxing and so. much. fun. This project turned out so much better than I had imagined, even though there are a few little flaws I'm willing to overlook them because I love the overall project. The feeling of accomplishment and pride was so different than the deflated, let down feeling from the Lily embroidery, even after all the little human errors that I made. I am so chock full of ideas and feel so eager to get each project rolling. I already have plans for at least two more cross-stitch/mini quilt combos.

Lily of the Valley // embroidery

Have you ever completed a project and felt totally and completely deflated? It's remarkably similar to the just-finished-a-book phase where you can't start another book because that would be almost cheating because you're still living in the book world and couldn't possibly move yet.

That's the exact feeling I experienced when I finished this project (although to be totally honest I'm not entirely finished, not yet). I had high hopes for hanging this embroidery on the wall so that I could cross an item off my bucket list.

Years ago, I wrote a list of things to do and one of the items is make something to hang on the wall, photography doesn't count. I had originally intended for this project to fulfill that goal. Alas, it seems not to be so. It doesn't look quite right in a frame and seems oddly small.

So although I have finished the embroidery project part, I am still deciding how to display it. I have a few choices: I could make a mini quilt to hang on the wall, which would fulfill the bucket list item. I could make a pillow, which seems more desirable given our utter lack of pillows for the couch, but more expensive as I would have to buy a pillow insert. I already have fabric and batting so the mini quilt seems more likely, but I can't be sure until I'm suddenly overcome with the urge to actually finish.

Yes, the blue water soluble pen is visible in this photo but I assure you it's gone now

Once I've completed whatever this embroidery is destined to be, you can be sure I'll share it. I'm actually quite intrigued as to what it will become. A lot of my projects are like this - just about completed but not quite. It must be related to the finish-book-syndrome, but instead it's finished project disorder. I love starting new projects, but tend to loose steam. It might be due to a slight edge of perfectionism about my person. I want all these projects to turn out exactly how I imagine them and if they're not quite up to snuff I'm completely dissatisfied with them (it has a lot to do with comparison too, which is completely unfair, to both/all parties). It's a character flaw to be sure. One that I hope to get the best of so that I can actually use this work. Because it really is quite lovely. Or so I am inclined to think.