NeedlepointCategory Archives

Failed Exchange

As has happened to me a couple of times in the past, I have been a partner in a failed stitching exchange. I never heard from Claudia whether or not she received the squares I sent to her for Round 13 of the Fair and Square exchange blog. Sadly, nor did I receive any squares from her. Her blog hasn’t been updated in a couple of months either, so I hope everything is OK. I know she was planning her wedding, so my hope is that she just got busy and that it’s not something more serious.

Thankfully, one of the volunteer replacement stitchers, Corinna (doesn’t blog), has stepped in and graciously agreed to stitch replacement squares for me. In the meantime, the exchange coordinator (Jill) said I should go on and feel free to share my finish pic since neither she or I have heard from Claudia at this point.

Design: Celtic Knot (May 2007 freebie)
Designer: Ink Circles
Fabric: 32-count Natural linen
Fibers: Soy Luster (Purple Haze, Easter Egg Candy, & Heliotrope)

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the monthly open stitch class at my LNS, so I’ll be heading over for that. We always have such a great time, so I’m looking forward to it. I’ll probably end up spending most of the day working on catching up on my Plum Blossom Kimono class piece while I’m there. I missed the first session of the class last month and really need to get caught up before the final class session next Friday. Since the kimono is designed by Margaret Bendig who is also the teacher for the monthly open stitch class, this will hopefully be the perfect chance to catch up.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Until next time …

10 July 2009

Cross Stitch, Needlepoint

3 comments

canvas, Exchanges, Fair & Square, kimono, Margaret Bendig

Project 1, Check

Woo Hoo! I’m only four days into my new 25 project challenge and I can already mark one off the list. I finally got around to stitching an ornament kit that I received a couple of years ago as part of an ornament round robin. This piece was a lot of fun to stitch and took no time at all.

The design is called “Christmas Joy” and is from Little by Little Design Co. This design appeared in the 1998 Just Cross Stitch magazine ornament issue. The design is also now available for purchase individually.

The original piece called for DMC fibers and 35-count Dark Espresso linen from R&R. When Nancy kitted this for the round robin, she used Vikki Clayton’s silks in place of the DMC. She also included a piece of her own tea-dyed 36-count linen. I think it all looks really lovely together.

As I promised earlier in the week, I have a couple of other photos that I want to share that are of a project stitched by Lorraine, one of the ladies who comes to the monthly open stitch at my LNS.

Lorraine visited an art showing at a local gallery a couple of years ago. The artist created his works by using small squares of varying colors and textures to make up the overall appearance of the piece. I know I’m doing even remotely doing justice that what he does, but I’m just not sure how best to describe it.

Anyway, after seeing the show, Lorraine was inspired to do something like this on a needlepoint project. She found a cross-stitch pattern for a Harlequin that she really loved (Mystic Stitch’s Black & White Harlequin) and used it as a basis for creating her own needlepoint masterpiece made up of smaller squares of varying colors, textures, and stitches.

After roughly two years of stitching, Lorraine recently finished the piece which she affectionately referred to as her “thinking project”. Here is a pic of the whole piece followed by a close-up pic of the face which shows the detail the project involved. As always, click to biggify:

It’s been a joy and simply amazing watching Lorraine as she worked on this piece. I can’t even begin to imagine undertaking such a task at my age and Lorraine is in her mid-80′s! I definitely want to be Lorraine when I grow up.

Until next time …

25 April 2009

Cross Stitch, Needlepoint

2 comments

A Challenge & More Photos

After being inspired first by Missy Ann last week, and again by Annette yesterday, I have decided to put myself on another stash diet challenge. I won’t be purchasing any more stash until I finish at least 25 projects.

Here are my rules:

No stash purchases (exceptions outlined below) until 25 stitching projects have been completed. This includes charts, fabrics, canvases, scissors (gulp!), etc.
Effective start date: Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Exceptions:
1. Open orders (Lizzie Kate ABC Lessons [LNS], three remaining charts for Lizzie Kate’s Boo Club [LNS])
2. Letters from Nora “M” when it is released (pending I like it, of course )
3. Class kits (already have a couple lined up for this summer)
4. JCS ornament issues (Halloween & Christmas)
Fibers needed for any of the projects I’m working on during the challenge are permitted, but any fibers not immediately needed for a project are not.
I should have more than enough needles to get me through my 25 projects. In the event something should happen and I don’t, purchasing needles is also allowed.
Trades are acceptable – based on already owned stash

I’ll be adding a new tab along the top of my blog to track my progress for my 25 project challenge. As I finish pieces, they will be added to the list. My sub-goal is to really try and get some more of my WIPs knocked out as well. It would be great to not only curtail my stash spending a bit, but to also make some progress on getting my WIP pile down to a more manageable level.

Some of you who have been reading my blog for a while may remember that I did a variation of this challenge last year. That particular challenge was to not start any new pieces until I had finished 10 of my WIPs. So, in many way, that challenge was a bit easier than this one is going to be because 1) I didn’t have to curtail any stash purchases, and 2) I didn’t have to finish nearly as many projects. I decided to push myself a bit further this time so that it wouldn’t be quite so easy on me. Wish me luck!

As promised yesterday, I do have some more photos to share. Since it’s been so long since I updated my stitching-related photos, there are still more even that what I’m posting here today, so I’ll try and get the rest up in the next day or two. The ones I’m sharing today are of some new stitching goodies I got. As always, just click on the image to see a larger view.

Bunny Thread Drops:

My friend Cindi gave me these as a belated birthday gift. She actually gave me two packs, but I only photographed one of them. I think they are absolutely adorable.

New Scissor Fob:

The fob was made by my friend Cindi. I purchased the little cup charm and letter beads when I went to Disneyland for my birthday. I just handled them off a few weeks ago to Cindi and asked if she would make them ointo a fob for me. I think she did an amazing job! As soon as I got it from her on Saturday, it went right on to my Dovo Centennial scissors. I know she peeks in on my blog from time to time, so if you see this, thanks again, Cindi!

Speaking of Cindi, I also snapped pictures recently of a couple of her finished stockings. She did the needlepoint toppers and then sent them off to the finisher to be made into the actual stockings. They are simply stunning and these photos do not do them justice. Check out those tassels, too. WOW!!!

Well, I guess that’s it for this update. As I said, I do have a couple more pics to share, so be on the lookout for them in the next couple of days.

Until next time …

21 April 2009

Cross Stitch, Needlepoint

2 comments

Wow, it’s been a while!

Sorry for not posting in a few weeks. Life has just been a bit busy and when it wasn’t, I was playing with my new Wii. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it, especially with the Wii Fit. I have to be pretty careful with what I do though because I am currently dealing with a small tear in the medial meniscus of my left knee. It happened recently when I was running on the treadmill.

I went through a round of x-rays and an MRI before getting my actual diagnosis last week. As for treatment, I’m waiting on the approval from my HMO for the physical therapy the orthopedist ordered. My orthopedist did clear me to get back to gentle walking (no more than 3mph), cycling/spinning, and swimming. I can’t do anything that requires bending my knee more than 45 degrees though which lets out several of the activities on the Wii Fit.

Of course, the downside to the injury means that my half marathon in June is now off. My orthopedist said that it would just be too much too soon with the meniscus tear. He said that doing a half marathon isn’t out of the question forever, but is definitely on hold for now until we can get the meniscus issue resolved.

Anyway, due to having said new Wii, I haven’t gotten in nearly as much stitching time. However, I realize it’s been a while since I’ve really posted any stitching photos, so I thought I would share a few updates on the projects I’ve been working on lately. As always, you can click on the images here to see a larger version of them.

Just Peachy Santa
Design by Libby Sturdy (Just Libby Designs)
Canvas
Fibers: Anchor, Caron, Rainbow Gallery
Progress as of April 17, 2009
Click here to see a finished model

Sophie Stocking
Design by Shepherd’s Bush
Fabric: 18-count natural linen (stitched over 2)
Fibers: DMC #5 Pearl Cotton
Progress as of April 10, 2009
Click here to see a finished model

Acorn Hill
Designer: Little House Needleworks
Fabric: Vintage Maple Sugar by Lakeside Linens
Fibers: Belle Soie silks
Progress as of April 18, 2009
Click here to see a finished model

Saturday was the monthly open stitch class at my LNS, so I headed over for that and had a good time. We have such a wonderfully diverse group of stitchers who all get along so well. I definitely look forward to it each month.

While I was there on Saturday, they had a finished piece from local designer Margaret Bendig on display. I was in awe of the beauty of the piece. I love counted canvas pieces, especially when they are geometric like this, so this design “spoke” to me immediately. I learned she would be offering the piece as a class later this summer, so I asked the shop owner to put me on the list! I don’t remember the exact name of the piece, Plum something, but here’s pic of it:

Designer: Margaret Bendig

I do have a few other photos that I wanted to share, but I think I’ll hold off on those for a day or two. I don’t want to overwhelm a single blog entry with a ton of pics.

In closing though, I do want to share the link for a blog I discovered this weekend. It’s called “The Making of an American Sampler”. The blog is written by a woman who has embarked on a mission to stitch a sampler of the Gettysburg Address to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. She began the piece on Lincoln’s birthday, February 12th, and hopes to finish it by Independence Day on July 4th. She is calling the project “272 Words” which I think is brilliant! Here is a link to her blog:

The Making of an American Sampler

Well, that’s it for this entry. Until next time …

20 April 2009

Cross Stitch, Misc., Needlepoint

3 comments

Stocking & 101 Things Update

I’ve gotten in some stitching time on my new needlepoint Christmas stocking I bought last weekend. I’m really loving how Santa’s coat is looking. I’m stitching it with Black Cherry Gloriana silk. I’ve also done a bit of work on the first area of trim about his coat. I’m doing it with a silk ribbon with a bit of pearl cotton padding underneath to help it stand out a bit.

Here’s a pic of what I have finished thus far. As always, you can click the image for a larger view.

This weekend also marked the end of round 1 of my 101 Things in 1001 Days challenge. Even though I didn’t get all 101 things accomplished, I did manage to complete 60 of them. At first I was stressing out a bit about not finishing it, but then I decided that since I was sidelined for quite some time with my spinal surgery that I was going to cut myself a bit a slack.

I’ve started putting together a new list of 101 Things. I’ve added a link for it in the tabs at the top of the page. I still haven’t quite finished it, but the vast majority of it is done. I actually made item 101 on the list the task of actually finishing the list.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

sig

11 January 2009

Needlepoint

2 comments

I Finally Got Sucked In

As some of you may remember, I decided to give needlepoint a try back in February 2007. Since then, I’ve actually finished several canvas projects and really have come to discover that I really do enjoy it. It’s much different than my first love (cross-stitch), but it is a nice change of pace every now and again.

Once I started doing needlepoint, I vowed to myself repeatedly that I would never let myself get sucked into doing a Christmas stocking. They are generally very expensive and extremely time consuming. Well, so much for that theory. I finally gave in and got one.

Today was the monthly all day stitching group at my LNS. When I walked through the door, I saw a sign announcing all hand-painted canvases, cross stitch charts, kits, and fibers were15% off this week for their anniversary sale, so naturally I started looking around the shop. I mean, I had to, right?

For some inexplicable reason since I was NEVER going to stitch a stocking, I glanced up along the wall where all of the stocking canvases were hanging. As soon as I saw one particular design, I knew I was in trouble. It had a Santa AND bunnies! Here is a pic of it. (As always, feel free to click on the photos for a larger view.)

(Note: There really isn’t a weird line running vertically through the canvas. That’s the seam of my drop-leaf table.)

To give you a rough idea of the size, it’s 16.5″ from the bottom of the foot to the top of the cuff. It’s 13.5″ across the bottom of the foot at the widest point. I’m still not sure yet what I’ll do up in the cuff area (pencil drawn across the top above Santa), but I definitely want to personalize it with my name.

On the upside, given how expensive hand-painted stocking canvases can be ($300+), this one was very “reasonable” $66 after the discount. Since Diana had all her fibers on sale as well, I decided I might as well go ahead and kit it up to take advantage of the reduced prices. I have to admit, it was LOTS of fun going around the shop with our resident teacher finding all the yummy fibers I wanted to use for it. Here’s a list of the fibers I selected followed by a photo of them roughly placed on the canvas where they will be used.

Pure Palette Soy Luster Shadows Periwinkle (for the sky)
Rainbow Gallery Crystal Braid CR01 (for the snowflakes)
Gloriana Black Cherry (for Santa’s coat & hat)
Kreinik #16 Braid 009 (outline of all portions of Santa’s coat)
Pure Palette Soy Luster Solids Indian Sunset (Santa’s coat lining on right side)
Pure Palette Soy Luster Solids Shade Tree (green border on Santa’s coat, gloves)
Pure Palette Soy Luster Solids Robin Hood (green & yellow border on Santa’s coat, gloves)
Pure Palette Soy Luster Solids Sunflower Petals (green & yellow border on Santa’s coat)
Burmilana 3601 – white (fur trim of Santa’s coat and hat, bunny tails)
Burmilana 3686 – light gray (Santa’s beard)
Kreinik #16 braid 3250 (Santa’s staff)
Rainbow Gallery Rainbow Tweed RT35 (Santa’s bag and staff)
Rainbow Gallery Rainbow Tweet RT40 (Santa’s bag)
Rainbow Gallery Angora RA06 (Brown bunny on left)
Rainbow Gallery Angora RA05 (Brown bunny on left)
Rainbow Gallery Angora RA02 (white tummy on both bunnies)
Rainbow Gallery Cashmere H09 (pink ears & noses on both bunnies)
Rainbow Gallery Angora RA19 (Bunny on right which I’m making gray)
Rainbow Gallery Angora RA10 (Bunny on right which I’m making gray)
Sundance Beads Size 11 Colors 172, 16A, 11A (wreaths around bunny necks)
Rainbow Gallery Frosty Rays Y217 (ground snow)

I will also be using various DMC floss for things like the toys in Santa’s bag (yes, there’s another bunny there!) and Santa’s face. Since I pretty much have a full set of DMC already, so I didn’t have to buy any of those.

After I got home tonight, I took a bit of time to sort through and organize all of the fibers. I put the various flosses in Floss-A-Way bags and then put everything onto a metal ring to keep it all together and organized as I start working on my stocking. Here’s a pic of how it looked once it was all put together.

Even with all the shopping I ended up doing while picking out my fibers, I actually got a bit of stitching done as well. I briefly worked on my Sampler Gameboard by The Drawn Thread, but spent most of my afternoon working on Just Peachy Santa (finished model) by Just Libby Designs which is another canvas project.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! For those of you who will be returning to work on Monday after an extended holiday break … !!!!! Since I worked all during the holiday break, you’ll get no sympathy from me.