Spring fever blahs!

The season is officially over and my employees have headed for Northern climes (Macy to Virginia and Marcia to Virginia).  I've got a bad case of the do-nothings; so I have been rewatching DVDs of The West Wing, only rarely being interrupted by a customer.  (NOTE:  In Vero we have a "dead" period between when the season ends and school lets out.  Then business picks up again, thank goodness).   I haven't been able to make myself stitch.  Finally, Friday afternoon I grabbed a canvas that I had been eyeing all winter.  I put it on stretcher bars, though only 1/2 of the design shows since the overall canvas is 8"x20".  I don't like to work on stretcher bars that long, so the ones I am using are 8"x12".  I selected silk 'n ivory for the blue background and silk lame for the design.  Last week I had a customer buy the same canvas and request some stitch suggestions.  I kept a copy, so I'm all set to get started stitching.  I did in the upper right-hand corner, though the blue matches the background so closely that it is hard to see the stitches.

The canvas is Be Merry by Associated Talents.  It is part of a series they do (Joy, Be Jolly).  The border design contains the same repeat of patterns so my stitch guide will work for all 3.  And they make a nice grouping.  Of course, I like the play on words--that's why I selected the Be Merry (for those of you who may not know--I'm the Mary!).

I decided that I would stitch the background in basketweave  since there are going to be so many textures in the different stitches used for the design.

So cross your fingers that my stitching enthusiasm continues! And next time, I'll have a picture of the canvas on the stretcher bars so you can see the basted left end and also the fact that I always stitch "in the gutter".