“Go back to knitting!” Sorry. I’ve got the stitching bug now and I go where my fingers lead me.
Minor progress on the latest sampler – another panel from TNCM. This one I decided to do voided style (the original had no background). Instead of using cross stitch or long-armed cross stitch for the fill, I’ve opted to do a grid like mesh, worked in one strand of the same DMC floss that I’m using for the two-strand outlines. I’m not sure how I’ll handle the top and bottom. I’m thinking of being non-traditional, and instead of extending the fill a couple of units past the design’s base area, terminating it a unit or two inside the design, so that the grapes “overflow” their background.
The next decision is whether or not to continue this entirely across the cloth, or apportion my space differently. The piece of linen I’m using is rather large and long. I may decide to just go horizon to horizon, with no outer framing edging, and insert the lines of my quotation in between a series of strip patterns of various types. If so – do I use the same typeface for all of the words, or do I use different ones for each line. Decisions, decisions…
String-Or-Nothing 
Great blog! Cannot believe how much work you have done on your house. Actually, I can. We own a 50-plus year old house. Loved your use of Sajou letters