Happy Dance!

I fixed my point driver so The Cranberry Sampler is framed and so is Bands of Pearle, which was my birthday present from my stitching alter ego, Laura. I haven't picked out a spot for either of them yet, because it will require rearranging my dining room and living room. So they may just sit propped on chairs for a while so I can admire them.

I wish you all could see them close up. I love whitework so much, but my photography skills are just not good enough to do them justice.

I've been moving right along on the Red and Black II. The black isn't as boring as I thought it would be, but the red adds so much ooomph that I can hardly wait to get to it. Maybe that's what is motivating me.

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The Cranberry Saga Continues

Have you ever noticed how certain stitches look like a 8 year old made them? (and I'm not talking about those 19 century 8 year olds who were stitching massive samplers) That's how I feel about four sided stitches, especially in whitework! Not to mention they're boring after the gazillionth one! And that would only be half a gazillion if I could count and didn't have to frog! By the way, frogging used to refer to the 'rip it, rip it' thing. Now it reflects the way my eyes bug out after all that unstitching!

(I laid a piece of blue paper behind it for the photo, just to enhance the design, since it doesn't photograph very well.)

Anyway, I've moved on the to the buttonhole bars and satin stitches in The Cranberry Sampler. And, as expected, those four sided stitches don't loop so crappy now.  And don't contradict me, even if you think they do! I'm not doing them over.

Here's a better view of the circular trellis that I mentioned last week. You can see it best in the light green leaves. It reminds me of a whirlpool.

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Heaven: A Weekend of Stitching

Well, my annual stitching vacation is over. :(  Two of my long time stitching friends were here for four wonderful days. We've gone way past just being stitching friends, but that's how it all started over fifteen years ago. We all live in different states now, but we try to get together once or twice a year to catch up and STITCH!

My dear husband escaped to visit his brother for the weekend so it was just the three of us and my two spoiled rotten pugs. Let's just say that Lester and Otis got more attention than they deserve. So it was a SES fest...stitch, eat, and sleep. I, of course, worked only on The Cranberry Sampler.

Laura and Vicky aren't quite as anal retentive as I am so they worked on several pieces. Laura's were all gorgeous samplers. Vicky's projects ranged from needlepoint ornaments to a "Quilted Garden" by Blue Ribbon Designs.

The putti ('the little nekkid men' as a friend of mine calls them) are intentionally left undecorated on the right. A lot of this band was left to the stitcher's discretion. I tried to follow the stitched model as closely as possible because I don't really have much imagination.

The clothed ones on the left are done in detached buttonhole which I enjoy once I get in a rhythm.

The center floral motif was also stitcher's choice of stitches and colors. I used satin stitch, Montenegrin, trellis, and Roman stitches. It was quite an experiment.

The current band is huge and will probably take quite a while, but it is the last one in color. I am anxious to get to the whitework sections so hopefully, there won't be a lot of frogging for the next little while!

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I Love a Challenge But This is Ridiculous!

Recently, one of the Facebook stitching groups that I follow started a once a month WIP stitch-in for those pieces that you really can't seem to get going on again. Most of the folks in this group have waaaaaaay more UFOs than I do.  That's not saying a lot since I generally work on only one project at a time until it's finished. However, occasionally I start a piece that is so involved or difficult or frustrating that I have to put it down to ensure that I don't pull all my hair out. "Margret Gatis" by Scarlet Letter is one of those pieces.

Make no mistake, I love the sampler. I love the various stitches and the colors. I use the sewing motion and work in hand rather than on a frame which, over time, has led me to stitch by feel to a large degree. I can just tell when I've picked up one or three threads instead of the usual two threads.  But stitching over three threads is tedious, time consuming and hurts my brain. You have to actually count threads and the vertical thread concept* is useless as a counting mechanism. Even more confounding is the fact that some bands on MG are stitched over two threads and some bands are over three threads! It makes the chart confusing and I have to constantly remind myself that each square covers three threads. And don't even get me started on satin stitches motifs with angles and turns over three threads!

Anyway, I chose MG as my WIP for this monthly exercise in futility. Thank heavens, it's only one day for whatever time period one can handle! I worked on some satin stitch motifs for a few hours then had to pack it up. The frogs were starting to scare Lester and Otis!

And now I'm back to the challenging, but stunningly beautiful, Cranberry Sampler. Although I'm in random stitching hell right now on this one too. The directions are pretty skimpy and leave a lot of the stitch and color choices to your imagination. I tend to follow the model stitcher's choices with a few exceptions. And there's nothing like a mountain of double running stitch to make you skip that last cup of coffee. You can't afford twitchy fingers when trying to keep a smooth and straight line going.

* as explained by Carol Leather, needlework designer and teacher

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I Want a Day Off!

Okay, this is one of those days where I can't find the motivation to do anything but stitch. But I feel guilty for not doing something 'productive' so I haven't even picked up my stitching. I am such a goon. I deserve to do what I want to, right? Actually, I did go to the grocery, so I think I'll count that as my productivity for the day.

Here's where I left off last night on The Cranberry Sampler. By Monday, you'll be able to tell how self indulgent I really am!

On another note, did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?  Did anyone actually look at your wish list? Somebody looked at mine and I got these precious Pineapple Scissors from UncommonScissors.com.

I haven't decided on a fob for them yet, but you know I will! Feel free to browse my shop for a treat for your new scissors or to spruce up your old ones!  There are some new fobs and counting pins available, like this one in my favorite color combo. Lime Cobalt Beaded Scissor Fob

and Small Lime Cobalt Counting Pins for Cross Stitch and Needlepoint

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Football and Stitching

I just love bowl games and playoff season! I get so much stitching done, especially while watching games in which I have no personal interest. Now some of you may ask, 'Why watch them?'. Well, I love football. I spent many Sunday afternoons as a child watching football games on TV with my dad. I knew more about the NFL than any other kid in elementary school. Daddy played football in high school and at NC State after his stint in the Navy during WWII. He even played in the Gator bowl way back when! Anyway, it was something we enjoyed doing together. The first fall after he passed away, I found myself picking up the phone to call him to talk about a game I'd been watching before I realized I didn't need the phone to talk to him.

Now I use the TV as a radio while I stitch. I still get excited about big plays and sometimes I have to frog because of it, but thatt's okay. So this week, I've made significant progress on The Cranberry Sampler.

It may not look like a lot, but that vine is a killer. It's done in Montenegrin stitch, which is not a problem when stitched in a straight line, but the diagonal portions require a lot of concentration. And for some reason, the sequence was not intuitive for me. It is slightly different with every directional change and I didn't really get into the flow until I was almost done. Then the base of the flowers (which aren't stitch yet) is filled with Trellis Stitch, another one low on my list of personal favorites. It similar to detached buttonhole, but harder to make consistent and not nearly as much fun. The fun part was the queen stitches in the leaves on the vince, but I ran out of them too soon. But all those stitches are what make these antique style band samplers attractive to me and I love the process. So I persevere!

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Another Year, Another Big Start!

Well, the big Christmas rush is over and I'm still working on ornaments! But only because I like to have a few done before I start the Panic later in the year. Actually, it's kind of fun once the pressure is off, but you're still in the mood. And I'm working on hardanger ones, so I don't have to worry about color changes.

I stitched this Charland Design from my stash for my husband for Christmas. Of course, the frame wasn't done in time, but it's hanging on the wall now.  It's a little frou-frou, but hey, it's sweet!

But I started my first project of 2012 right before Christmas just in case I had some time to stitch (what a joke) while visiting my family. Since we got back I've really enjoyed working on "The Cranberry Sampler" by Needle's Prayse. 

  

I've made more progress, but haven't take a picture today. There's a huge whitework section at the bottom that I can't wait to stitch! In the meantime, I'm meticulously working on a diagonal montenegrin band! Talk about the need to focus...

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