February Comes to an End



Have several WIPs that I have been working on, a couple of finishes and some new starts.

 

 

My first finish for this month is a Biscornu.  I decided to use the materials from the Stitchy Box that I received.  It is my first attempt and I have to say it was not as easy to get the thing sewn together as everyone would have you believe.  Not for me anyway.  It turned out fine, but I would not give it to anyone as a gift as it is pretty pitiful.  I will try another one and perhaps I will get better!

I am still working on this Dinky Dyes Berry kit.  It is my travel project  because it is the perfect size to carry around and only has a few colors.  It is coming along, but I am anxious to finish it.

I had another little finish this month.  My Daughter in Law has chickens and is always bringing eggs.  It is great.  I did not photo it once I got it in a frame.  It is a 5 x 7 by My Big Toe and was a lot of fun to stitch.  Did not take long.

Another WIP is this Budha for my sister to give to her brother in law.  I was hoping to finish it by the end of March.  I have become obsessed with other projects so I have to really use some discipline to get it done.  It is a kit.

 

 

I continue to make progress of Books Reading Books, my HAED project.  I am almost finished with Page 4.  Slow going but I am still liking it.

 

 

 

And last but certainly not lease is my latest obsession.  I started Gardens of London by Chatelaine and just can't put it down.  So much fun, so many different silk threads, different specialty stitches, love it.  It is going to take forever, but so far I like it.  

It is difficult to get a good photo of all the detail and specialty stitches.  There are also hundreds of beads that will go on this project once the stitching is done.  I can't wait.

 

 

And, as practice for the large Gardens project, I decided to do a Mini Mandala.   I am doing Mini Mandala II B.  I decided that since I was using this for practice I would use all DMC and a piece of evenweave that I attempted to dye a grey color.  I am enjoying it, but it sure does make a difference when you do not use the special threads!  

Hmm, wish I could get a better photo

 

That is a little better, but the part that looks white is actually shiny silver.   This is a good practice piece for me even though I am coming up on some pretty intense back stitching.

Have been clearing out years of stash and found a group in Florida that teaches kids needlework.  So, I am sending off a huge box of kits, notions, fabric and the like to them this week.  It dawned on me that I will never live long enough to do all the projects I have and that my tastes have changed drastically in the past few years so it is time to purge!

That is it for this month

thanks for visiting

Roughly Week Two of 2015

Now that I have reached a new part of the Books Reading Books chart and the colors have changed, there is considerably more confetti stitching. I am thinking that a page a week is too optimistic.  I seem to be able to do about 100 stitches an hour when the confetti is heavy.  I am sure there is an easier way with all the thread changes, but I find I get very confused if I try to have too many thread colors going at one time.    I am definitely making progress and still hope to finish this by the end of the summer.  I am enjoying the fact that there are no fractional stitches, no blended threads and no back stitching.  Started on Page 3 today.  Should be interesting to see how long it takes.  I do love seeing the design take shape.

I have also made considerable progress on the Celtic Welcome Friends project.  The 14 count seems really large!  I would not say I am half way finished, but would like to finish this by the end of January.   I have another gift project to go in its place so I need to get it done.  I am very pleased with how this is coming along.   I am thinking I am going to add some beading to it.  Not quite sure, but there are some places where some little beads would be appropriate I think.

Part 3 of the Lizzie Kate Things Unseen sampler arrived this week.  I am going to slow down on this project I think.  I  moved it to a bigger frame so I can stitch with both hands.  The jury is still out on the Qsnap. 

I am enjoying this project but am looking forward to completing it for some reason.  I have never been fond of samplers so that may be the issue here. 

I am wanting to do a quick finish so I kitted up Teaching is a Work of Heart by Lizzie Kate.    I have some waiting room time coming up so I made this a traveling piece since it is small (3 x 5 or so).  I will be doing it on a 28 count evenweave in Mushroom from my stash and using the Weeks Dye Works threads that are recommended.  I should have used DMC from my stash, but it is only 6 colors so not too bad. 

I added two more things (both kits) to my 2015 box.  One of from Lenarte and is called Quartet of Penguins.  It is only about 3 x 5 or so and is one white linen.  Should be really quick.  Will probably start it as another traveling project since it is small.  The other is a kit by Glendon Place and Dinky Dyes.  It is a learning piece that teaches how to sequence a fiber with 5 distinct colors (the words on the kit, not my words.....we will see how well I learn it).  It will also be my first experience with silk threads and some more basic help with using variegated thread.  All in preparation for my Chatelaine that I am anxious to start.

 

And speaking of Chatelaine.  I make minimal progress on the Christmas Tree Mandala so I am not going to post it.   I did a little outline stitching while waiting at the dentist office....not enough to write about.

I got frustrated with the Biscornu from Riolos so it is in the "probably never be finished" pile. 

I did make a small start on another Biscornu using the thread that I dyed myself that I will share next week. 

Thanks for visiting.