Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Bored.

My dear stitching friends, I am just totally bored with Mystery IX... most especially with Part 10. I put a lot of time in on it each time I pick it up (about four hours), yet the progress is so slow. Sometimes I don't mind repetition when I am stitching. And, I know the repeat motifs in Martina's designs are her hallmark. But I am not enjoying it this time, because to be honest, I am not very impressed with the outcome of this mystery. It just isn't coming together yet. Maybe it will? There are two more parts to go after this. But I find the center to be too busy for the rest of the garden, and the yellow in the triangle veggie gardens just sticks out a bit like a sore thumb. I don't quite get Martina's vision on this one yet. Maybe it will be more obvious after Parts 11 and 12. Ah well, thanks for listening.

Q. If you were to come across a sampler chart that caught your eye and
appealed to you, would you or would you not stitch it if it had a
morbid or "creepy" saying on it? If not, why?


A. Yes, indeed I would. I submitted this question to Renee a few months ago when several readers were commenting that they felt the verse on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow is too morbid. I just love it. After all, many of the older samplers were made during a time, or were at least reproduced after a time, when life spans were short. Accepting one's mortality is a healthy thing, after all.

New DVD Release Tuesday was a day late for us this week - fun ones, Nacho Libre and Monster House

Daylily: Purple D'Oro

Stitched on today: Women of the Mayflower and Mystery IX

20 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Carol, know how you feel. I love your lilies each day too, they do brighten up a dull day.

Tried to email you earlier and it has come back, would you like to try me....

kathhintz at xtra dot co dot nz

Annemarie said...

Carol, I'm so sorry you don't seem to be enjoying this Mystery very much. But you know, I've had a good look at it, and I'm sure part 11 (or 12) will add a bit of oomph to the empty and 'bland' spaces that seem to be there now. It'll be okay!
As for the creepy designs: I agree with you wholeheartedly. I also like the Tombstone Angel series, don't you?

mainely stitching said...

I get sort of a kick out of the gruesome sayings on Kathy Barrick-Dieter's designs. I love prowling through old cemeteries for the same reason.

Sorry that this Mystery is a bust for you. The rest of us are enjoying watching it come together, if that's any consolation.

Anonymous said...

You only can decide what to do with your mystery project. After all, cross stitching should be fun, no? If it doesn't meet your tastes anymore, and you would rather stitch on something else, why not? after all, the piece is not going to selfdestruct after the months end... you can still decide after you've seen part 11 if you still wish to put all those hours in it...it's all up to you and whatever you decide will be the right choice. Ann.

Unknown said...

I'm sorry you aren't enjoying your stitching right now. To me that means put it down and work on something else for a few days! I'm really enjoying your progress on your sampler and I love all the blues and greens in it. I'm sure it will be worth all the effort in the end!

Barb said...

Maybe you just need a break from the Mystery Sampler and go on to something you enjoy more. You can come back to it later and mabe it'll go better for you. It is a pretty piece but it's no fun to stitch something you don't enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Mystery IX looks great even though you can see the repetition, and I too would probably be bored at this point. You're 3/4 of the way through this part though, so keep at it.

Unknown said...

To answer your question, yes I would, morbid or not if it appealed to me I would definitly stitch it.

lena-lou said...

I think this mystery design will all come together for you in the end. I do marvel at how you do these designs as I know I would do the middle then that would be it.
As for designs with morbid sayings, for me, no!! I would change the wording if I loved the design enough. I do accept I'm going to snuff it one day but like happy things around me that make me smile.

ollie1976 said...

Sorry to hear/read that you're not enjoying Mystery-it's absolutely beautiful in my opinion.
-Jen

Unknown said...

I'm sorry you are having such trouble with this piece, I love watching how quickly it has come along and admire you for all the work you've put into it so far!

How you're feeling about this one reminds me of how you were feeling when you were doing the buildings in the last one - such a large section and so repetitive but somehow you managed to get them all done. Good luck with this one :)

Anonymous said...

Keep at it, Carol! I think that you've felt this way before about pieces, but eventually they do come together and you are pleased with the end result. Hang in there! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm sure the "empty" parts will be filled with the last two parts. I can understand that you are bored with it (I would too!) but you kept up with it for such a long time so don't give up now! I love watching you progress anyway. :)

Cathy said...

I'm always impressed that you can stick with the mystery samplers. I'm doing one right now and am totally unsure as to whether or not this is for me. What if I don't like it at the end, and I've spent all that time stitching it? I think this one is lovely, by the way. Hope it gets more enjoyable with the next part.

Anonymous said...

As for the morbid sayings go . . . Remember that often these samplers were the only thing left after a woman died to mark that she had lived. In this day and age with photos and email and whatever else you can think of, it is much easier to make a "permanent" mark.

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Well Carol, all I can say is: you've already gotten farther than I would have EVER gotten on the Mystery stitching. I just could not stitch something that is as repeated as her designs are....but I'm sure you will find the inner strength to pull yourself out of the doldrums! I've looked through all your projects and you always have such beautifully finished and high quality stitching....you're an expert stitcher!

Now as far as the creepy sayings go: I LOVE THEM! That is what drew me to VoHRH and HoHRH because of that morbid verse! Love it!
:o)

Nicki said...

[[[hugs]]] Carol. I'm sorry you're not enjoying this one. It is quite different to some of the others and I know how slow the Chatelaines go. Have you added the beads yet? That makes a lot of difference to the design and colours. And the last two parts could change it dramatically too. It looks very pretty in the photo :)

Anonymous said...

That's such a shame you're not enjoying it...that's why I've never signed up for a mystery. If I'd paid so much to kit a design and then didn't really like it I would be really upset. FWIW I think your mystery looks lovely though. Perhaps it will come together for you when the rest of the design is released?

Von said...

I can understand why you've gotten bored with this Mystery, Carol. I know your determination will see you through tho. Hope the next couple of parts bring this design together for you. :)

Michelle said...

I know how you feel on this one too. I hope that the last two parts will make this all make sense. Your PL is looking so pretty...you seem to just be zooming along on that one. Looked at your WIPs in your sidebar, glad to see I am not the only one with a whole bunch (at least you have some of yours crossed off!) And I love the morbid (memento mori) phrases on designs!