Rude Begets Rude

Gentle Readers...I haven't posted in THREE MONTHS! Horrifying! Knowing such, I asked a friend and fellow stitcher to help me out. She did and we'll refer to her as Name Withheld to Protect the Stitcher...this is so very well put that I wish that I had written it!


Rude Begets Rude

I was asked to be a guest blogger for this episode - and I really didn't know what I would write about until something eye-opening happened this weekend. I'll start from the beginning - so bear with me.

I am fortunate enough to be able to stitch with some wonderful friends and talented ladies on the weekends, and it is an honor when they bring in finished pieces, or works in progress for show and tell. So Saturday, we had five pieces that were shown. Pieces that were remarkable in their fibers, their execution, their finishing, and mostly as testaments to the love of needlework. Each project was deserving of comment and compliment and there were ooh's and ahh's aplenty. With one notable exception.

So-what do you do? Ignore it? We mostly do Don't rock the boat, be the bigger person, turn the other cheek. But we didn't on Saturday. We devised a plan to hurt.

In talking of the plan we were laughing and joking, and really didn't mean it to be mean...but that's what it would have been. Mean. And I am ashamed to say that until someone spoke up, I didn't see that I was planning to be just as rude and hurtful.

Needless to say, sanity has been restored -but it has left me wondering. When someone is rude, how do you handle it? Is it rude to tell someone that they are being rude?

Miss Manners would probably fall back on the "if you can't say anything nice...keep your mouth shut" line, but that does not work in this type of group. We are peers in our unique group. Needlework is more than just a hobby for us; this is an expression of our art. And while we each have enough of a sense of self not to need validation, we do look for appreciation and recognition from our peers.

Why do we choose the projects that we do? We find something in the design that speaks to us. From the whimsical to the heartfelt to the awe inspiring. What speaks to me is not what speaks to you - that's cool. It's like love - not everyone can love a bubble-butt with a lazy eye.

Every project I see, I learn from. From use of colors and textures, to interpretation of design and execution in finishing. These pieces are part of the needleworker. Whether it's a charted piece or a painted piece, we give time and energy to our working of the piece. So, as a fellow needleworker, if I could find NOTHING to say (like that would ever happen), I would celebrate the work, the time, the energy, the joy of completion of the needleworker. All pieces are wonderful because they continue the heritage of needlework.

So I think I feel sorry for the person who has nothing to say. You are missing out on the best part of these groups - celebrating the art: of the craft, of each other, and of ourselves.

An Artist is Born! (cough, cough)

Today I took a painting class. That wasn't the really stunning thing though. The really stunning thing was finding out that I qualify for Senior status. Oh yeah, me. As if. I'm sorry, I'm not being mean. There's nothing wrong with being old, older, elderly or ancient. However, I have it on good authority that I'm MIDDLE-AGED!!! Now I find that 50 and older means you can take SENIOR CITIZEN CLASSES at Continuing Education places! Well, okay, I won't complain. It's NOT like I GOT A SENIOR DISCOUNT or anything because I DID NOT! I was NOT offered a senior coffee, a ride from the parking lot, a helping hand across the road nor a cookie. I WAS made to SIGN IN at the senior center as a non-member (phew!) and forced to donate 50 cents because of my non-member status. Okay, they didn't force me but those little old lady eyes scared me into it! Anyway, onward to the class. I'm sure this is furthering my education in art so I learned to paint following one of those guys that shows you how this works on his canvas and you replicate it on your own. What I found out is that: 1. Being a JUNIOR senior is fun (yes, I came up with that idea myself, again, see paragraph one.) 2. Senior citizens have sharp senses of humor. 3. Guys hang out at these places, giving us old ladies a sense that there could be men in the future should our spouses leave us high and dry. 4. I was the only one who had to exit the room quickly at one point because I was laughing hard and I was NOT wearing Depends. I'm not saying anybody else WAS, I'm just saying that I feared for my underwear! 5. Having a day where somebody else is in charge of the teaching is a really good thing! 6. Yes, I will do it again. If you see badly painted canvases entering the shop, I can tell you one thing - they're NOT mine! Stitch on!

Where did the time go?

Dear Stitchers,

Hope you weren't holding your breath waiting for a post from me! After all I noticed it's been 6 months so you probably figured I stuck myself with a needle and never recovered. SO not true! Life got in the way or something like that.

But here I am to tell you ... ARGH! I have too many projects to stitch! (Take a deep breath Theresa. You can do this. You must do this. All these stitchers are depending on you to show them the way!)

Let's put it this way. I'm in the midst of Rainforest Crunch with my ANG Chapter...well not really the midst. I think I'm on the 4th block. Last night I realized it's going to be a really tight fit because some smarmy shopowner took it upon herself to take the 11" piece of canvas that wouldn't sell when you need 12". Then she forgot to take that into account when she started 2" in and 2" down. (sigh)

Next, I'm on star #2 of Oh My Stars. One of the girls in the group (okay, woman but doesn't girls sound better?) - FINISHED HERS. How unfair is that? We just started in February supposedly. I mean not to be rude but come on! It's just not polite to make your local shopowner look like a loser. ;-)

Next I'm still STITCHING THE "THING" of the month and the ad for it is coming out this WEEK or so in Needlepoint Now. I guess that should make me finish them, right? I'm happy to say I think I have 2/3 of the 11 pieces done. What's 2/3 of 11 anyway? Okay, maybe a little less than 2/3. Whatever.

So saying, NO PICTURES TODAY. You don't want me to repeat my computer problems to you. Let's just say I have all that kind of thing going on too. I suppose I could take pictures with my phone and then figure out how to upload those but that would require more thought processes than I can handle today.

Today I'm trying to price all these new canvases that just found their way here. Good night, it's 3/17 and these are from the January market! And I have MORE orders not here yet. Don't ask ME what happened. Soon I'll have to start calling and asking what happened to my order. After all, June is just around the corner and I'll go there and not order all over again. Yes, I said "NOT ORDER". I say it before every market. Then I go and see all that beautiful stuff and something shuts off in my head and...there I am again.

Enjoy your stitching and don't even THINK of gardening yet!