TRAVELING IN UNKNOWN REALMS

Boy, doesn't that sound fancy!

Especially since I'm only sitting right here in my living room.

But in fact, I feel like I am indeed traveling in unknown realms, as I blunder my way towards a huge project I'm considering.  I haven't yet said what it is, but it's something that most people have already done long before they reach my age.  It's not my intention to be cagey about it, but at the moment all I'm willing to say is that it's going to take a long time--if I even take the plunge--and it's likely to use up all my energy for a very long time.  Months, if not more.  Sorry to be mysterious, but until I've decided, "I'm in!" I just don't want to disclose it.

Alas, I can hardly think about anything else, and that's pretty limiting.

But that's not the only unknown realm I'm traveling in.   In an effort to keep some creativity going despite the distraction of the Big Project, I've been working on very small textile pieces, all of them punch needle embroidery.  Today I was attempting to design a 2.25" x 4.25" piece that I want to use to decorate a fleece jacket.  I want to embroider something that will cover up an ugly logo that's currently on the left front side of the jacket.

Design is always an Unknown Realm for me.  Always.

This was my first idea:

NOTE: I should give credit where credit is due here and say this is closely based on a tangle called "Pearl in Balance" by CZT Hanny Waldburger.***

And my second idea:

And then i played around with the first idea:

I really liked this one, but unfortunately it doesn't fit in the allotted space. Darn.

This doesn't fit either.

So then later this afternoon I decided to pursue the first idea and see if I could turn it into a pattern.  I spent the last hour or so doing just that.  I want the motif to be slightly to the right of center.  All punch needle embroidery is done backwards, so a pattern needs to be reversed. 

Here's the resulting pattern.  Now the big question is:  Can I actually pull this off, or is it just too detailed? 

In reality this is 2.25" x 4.25"

The bottom line is I don't know if I can make this work, and won't know until I try punching it. 

Which brings me right back into the Unknown Realm, where I am eternally a rank beginner (just as I am with the Big Project) and where everything is an experiment.  Just like life.

Life is 'trying things to see if they work.' (Ray Bradbury)

*** The Pearl in Balance tangle stepouts are HERE.  Thanks to Hanny Waldburger!