Friday, November 16, 2007

Paradigm is Lost

Well a lost cause that is.....see my lovely motif above? I finished that last night and as I was happily stitching away, thinking, wow I'm really getting a lot done tonight, I may even get this motif completed, but hmm, its just not looking quite right, now is it? I pulled out my picture of PL and looked again at the chart and no its definitely not right, this motif is supposed to be square, not oblong-ish looking. Hmm, again. Time to start counting linen threads. So I started to count linen theads, not the easiest to do, at night, on 40 ct fabric and lo and behold I started to realize my problem! This is a 40 count from I count from left to right and but only a 36 count when I count from top to bottom!!! No wonder my motif came out with such a wonky shape!

Definitely not Zweigart fabric here, which made me remember the mysterious unmarked bag that it came in. All the linens were marked Zweigart or Permin, except for the odd mysterious random piece that were just marked with the size of piece inside the bag. Well you can imagine my choice of language here, not blog-worthy at all.

I'm so disappointed, not that I have so much stitched, but this was the fabric that I had so lovingly tea-dyed and was so pleased with the outcome....and meanwhile what am I going to stitch my PL on? At first I thought, oh well, what does it matter, its PL and the motifs don't have to be square to matter. But then I started looking at my size of fabric and got out the measuring tape again and calculator and since I started 2 1/2" down from the top, I don't have a long enough piece of fabric for PL with 36 ct from top to bottom. And yet more choice unblog-worthy words......

So I'm giving up for the moment, checking out, crawling under a rock and feeling very sorry for myself. PL has got the best of me right now.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

How very very disappointing on tis most wonderful piece. A stitching pal has done this and it's gorgeous IRL. Why not try to leave off some of the motifs nearer the bottom and make this your own special piece. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

P.S. I had to unstitch and restitch a Quaker sampler that I had done a fair bit on because I turned the chart the wrong way. I was stitching with "A B C" across the top and it should have been "A" in the bottom left corner and "B" above it etc.

Jennifer said...

How annoying! But it's not entirely a lost cause. If that stitching is all you've done on the whole piece, why not frog out the border and the letters and use the motif you stitched in an ornament or pincushion finish?

You can use the rest of the fabric for smaller pieces where it won't make much of a difference if the thread count is a little off, and restart PL on a different fabric where it will fit.

Anonymous said...

Oh what a shame. That is just so not on. I wonder what the fabric was? Can you remember where you got it? It definitely sounds like you should complain.

I hope you find the perfect piece of fabric to restart PL.

Anonymous said...

Aargh, how incredibly frustrating for you!!! I can well understand how you're feeling right about no, but please step away from the rock, we don't want you hiding under there!! You'll figure it out, Paradigm will be yours...

Christine S said...

Oh, what a bummer! ((hugs))

Anonymous said...

Oh Wendy dear it must be the week for it!!!

I agree with some of the other suggestions - use what you've done for something small and restart - it's such a beautiful piece :)

Julianne said...

Wendy,

I'm sorry to hear about your fabric woes. I remember how happy you were with the outcome of the tea dye job. What a rotten thing to have happen. I hope you have some other projects that will soothe your stitching aches and pains.

Barbara J said...

Poor you. That must have been a bummer. Gotta be be glad you realised now than much later. You know Wendy perhaps you could cut out the motif an applique it to a small pouch or something, so not all is wasted :)

Kendra said...

Oh what a complete bummer! I would have issuing some not-blog-worthy words, too.

I like sweet pea's idea...use the motif for an ornament or other small...that way ALL that stitching is not lost...???

Hopefully you can find some other fabric you like and get it started again.

Carla said...

oh no!! I'm so sorry about the fabric :(

Kelly said...

Hmm.. I didn't understand most of that, but it sounds like a real bummer! I hate when I realize so far into something I've made a mistake!

stitcherw said...

Oh now, how frustrating and disappointing, it was looking so lovely. Maybe you could do a little less of the pattern towards the bottom so that you'd have enough room to finish it? It seems such a shame to give up on it when you have the fabric just the color that you want. Good luck with it,
Sue

Kathy A. said...

Well, darn. Wouldn't that just rot your socks off!!! Don't let it get the best of you. Find a new piece of fabric and give it another shot. We will all keep you motivated. [[[[[[[[[Hugs}}}}}}}}}}}]

Anonymous said...

How aggravating! At least you can use the motif for an ornie or something, but still.

Sherry said...

Can't you find a way to stitch around it as it is? It looks fine to me but I know how an off count can throw things out of whack.

Annemarie said...

I can't believe this has happened to you, and I'm awfully sorry. I think I would have ripped the fabric to pieces as soon as I found out. Unstitching is the most awful thing in the world, especially because the motif looks so good! I agree with Sweet Pea's comment. Good luck :o)

CJ in OK ;-) said...

Not all is lost. It's sounds like you gained a good amount of knowledge from the tea dying process. A very beneficial skill to have. If you love the fabric just cut off the stitched on portion, add a label to the fabric noting the uneven weave 40/36 and the perfect project for that fabric will come along one day. You may have lost that PL plan but you may find a new and possibly better plan.

Dani - tkdchick said...

Awww Wendy how horrible!