Stitching and Perfectionism

I received a kit to make a tassel from my secret stitcher this past Tuesday. It called for a mini Tatool, a frame to make tassels on. Well, I knew I had a tatool, but when I found it discovered it was not a mini, but a full-sized one. So, I adjusted the pattern, added a different metallic thread and more beads from my stash, and made a tassel twice as big as the directions called for.



I learned several things.
1) When you are not going to cut the loops on a tassel, it does make a difference if your loops criss-cross each other on the loom. The tassel is nice and drapey, but the loops are all tangled on the bottom.
2) I should have followed the directions and used tape on my loose ends. There are several extra loops that do not add any beauty to the tassel.
3) Making tassels is fun! I think I will be doing this again!

Still no progress on stitching the temari I am working on. I do believe I know why I am dragging my feet on this one, though. Believe it or not, it is perfectionism! Me! Who knew.

I'm not happy any more just throwing stitches on to a ball, to see what they look like. I want them to turn out gorgeous, and I just don't have the skills to do that with this pattern. Of course, if I don't get busy and practice, I will never develop the skills either, so I'm between a rock and a hard place. I am going to have to follow the advice of www.flylady.net and set my timer for 15 minutes, and just do it. I can do anything for 15 minutes! And if it doesn't turn out gorgeous, oh well, I will have to try again.

While procrastinating, I pulled out a UFO that I started in 2007. It is a personalized sampler from Nouveau Encore that I have been in love with since I got it. At one point I had even put away all the fibers, but then had pulled them out again. Evidently, when I pulled them out, I forgot I had adjusted one of the blues, so I stitched some with the wrong color. That will have to come out. There are 12 pages of pattern, and I am done with 4, so I am at least 1/3 of the way done. The main problem is that it will be boring for you while I stitch this, because I will have nothing exciting to talk about, unless I get down to counting letters. There are at least 10 different alphabets: 87 letters down, at least 173 to go!

This pattern is what I have instead of the French Alphabet Sampler. That one cost over $200, (for the pattern!) and you had to submit your order at an exact time to be accepted, and then it would take months to get the final copy. I decided that was too many hoops to jump through, even though I loved the pattern. The last orders were accepted in September of 2009, so I'm not sure it's even available any more.

One additional incentive for me: if I ever get this done, I can start on one of my Chatelaine patterns. The Holland Tulip Mandala has been calling to me for a long time. Of course, once I get done with my current temari, the temari obsession may take over again!

Who knows what may happen!?