Sunday Update January 27, 2013

I did lots of stitching today!  It's getting late, though, so I'm just going to do a quick update on the three projects I've been working on this month.

HAED's Angel with Iris by Nadia Strelkina is a continuing WIP, but coming along nicely.  She's still my husband's favorite.

HAED Angel with Iris by Nadia Strelkina

Wisteria by The Silver Lining was a new start last weekend.  I still love stitching on black, and I may do a series of these lovely flowers on black Jobelan.  This one will look better when I get to the major part of the flower.

Wisteria by The Silver Lining

Finally, I got in 3 hours on HAED's Foregone by Marta Dahlig today.  It's the first time I've stitched that piece in two weeks, and she'll be on the floor frame until I start And They Sinned in February.  I'm looking forward to seeing the lady, since it's been all drapery so far.

HAED's Foregone by Marta Dahlig

Sunday Update January 13, 2013

My big news tonight is that my sampler, Gigi R's Belles-Lettres D, is on its way to Jill Rensel in Utah for framing.  It's in the UPS system and should arrive at her studio on Tuesday.  She's made a couple of preliminary suggestions in our e-mail exchange, and we'll discuss options once she has the piece in hand.

Gigi R's Belles-Lettres D

Stitchwise this week, I worked on HAED's Foregone by Marta Dahlig.  I'm enjoying stitching this one on 25 count Magic Guide, 1 over 1 full cross.  I have about 4,400 stitches done, but so far it's all dark drapery in the background.


Approx 4,400 stitches done



Foregone by Marta Dahlig

Tonight I put Foregone away and will be working on HAED's Angel with Iris by Nadia Strelkina on the floor frame this week.  I also plan to do some beading on Mirabilia's Midsummer Night's Fairy, hoping to finally finish her this month.  She's been a long-time UFO.  Finally, I plan to start stitching Wisteria by The Silver Lining on black Jobelan, and since that's a smaller piece, I'll work that on my Q-Snaps and lap frame.


HAED's Angel with Iris



 

Mirabilia's Midsummer Night's Fairy



Wisteria by The Silver Lining



2013 - First Sunday Update

This is the first Sunday of 2013, and I think it would be a good habit to do blog updates each Sunday evening.  Here's what I've been up to stitchwise this past week.

I started HAED's Foregone by Marta Dahlig at midnight on New Year's Eve and worked on that this weekend as well.  Here's a picture of my progress so far with about 1800 stitches in.  This section is all dark colors, including black, dark brown, and deep plum.

HAED's Foregone by Marta Dahlig - first 1800 stitches

I've also been trying to select a framer for Gigi R's Belles-Lettres D that I finished on December 30th.  The first quote threw me into sticker shock, but I've come to realize that if I want such a large piece framed really nicely by someone who knows how to handle cross stitch, it's going to be expensive.  I now have two quotes I'm consdering and hoping to hear from one other source before making a final selection.  Here's the piece in question, which has a stitched area about 28" x 22".

Gigi R's Belles Lettres D - Waiting for Framing

I did receive the first page of the HAED BB Freebie SAL QS The Literate Dragon by Randal Spangler, but I have my rotation full for January and will probably start that sometime next month.  I'm really enjoying stitching Foregone, so I want to continue work on her, as well as HAED's Angel with Iris by Nadia Strelkina.  In addition, I will probably finish beading Mirabilia's Midsummer Night's Fairy and start Wisteria by The Silver Lining this month.  Those four will certainly keep me busy!

HAED QS The Literate Dragon by Randal Spangler - Probably a February New Start

HAED Angel with Iris by Nadia Strelkina - WIP

Wisteria by The Silver Lining - January New Start

Mirabilia's Midsummer Night's Fairy - Awaiting Her Final Beading

A Stitching Update, One Last RAK, and a New Year SAL

Earlier this week I'd burned my finger when I over-filled my teapot with boiling water, so I didn't get quite as much stitching done as I wanted, but I did get some work done on HAED's Angel with Iris by Nadia Stelkina.  Now that I've got the Mark 2, I'll be working to keep the progress even across the piece, rather than working on the page that fits in an 11"x11" Q-Snap.  To that end, I'm working the tops of pages 10 and 11 right now, so here's where she stands.  As you can see by the threads, I'm working a lot of confetti!

HAED Angel with Iris by Nadia Stelkina

As for the HAED All Hallows Exchange, I did one final round and received Aimee Stewart's Past Present Future.  This is rather different from most pieces I've chosen, with bright color and an abstract design.  Yet I'd been drawn to it and added it to my wish list after seeing another stitcher's fabulous WIP of that design. 

HAED Past Present Future by Aimee Stewart

A new Facebook Group called The Stash, Stitch and Honking Rakateers Club has been set up to continue the fun started with the All Hallows Exchange.  A SAL is planned to begin January 1st with stitchers doing new starts of charts received via the All Hallows Exchange.  Though a final decision isn't needed until the end of the year, I will probably start this one.  It's the smallest of the new charts I've received this month and probably has the least amount of confetti, too. 

On a final note, I hope that anyone reading this who lives on the East Coast gets through Hurricane Sandy unscathed.  I used to live in New York and know how bad such storms can be.  My prayers are with you!

Frogging Project Completed and a Present on Its Way!

As mentioned earlier, my major project this week was to finish frogging over half a page of HAED's Eternal Promise (retired version) by Matt Stewart.  I'd started that on 25 count Raw Dublin Linen using a 3x1 tent stitch.  While I loved the design and fabric, I'm really a true cross stitcher and did not care for the tent stitch nor the bulk of the three threads.  I am very careful to finish the threads tightly on the back, and this confetti-filled project was not easy to reverse stitch.  However, I did finish it this morning and am pleased to say I now have a fully frogged fat half yard of Raw Dublin Linen ready for another project.

HAED's Eternal Promise (retired)
Over half a page stitched 3x1 tent

Fully Frogged Fat Half of Raw Dublin Linen

 



















On the left is the stitched part I frogged.  On the right is you can see the needle marking the place where I had done the reverse stitching.  Happily, not one thread of the fabric was damaged! 

In other news to share, my Mark 2 floor frame from Hearthside Craftworks shipped from Canada on Tuesday, with an estimated arrival in 10-14 days.  That means I may have it by next weekend!  I ordered it with 4 sets of scroll rods, figuring that was a good number of projects to keep in rotation.  This is certainly a wonderful birthday present, and I love that my husband is so supportive of my stitching.

The first two pieces to be put on the scroll rods will be HAED's Angel with Iris by Nadia Strelkina and HAED's Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, both of which are WIPs.  A third set is earmarked for a new start, Golden Kite's The Turtle Dove by Sophie Anderson.  I have not yet made a final decision on the fourth set, but I do have many wonderful charts in my stash.  I think I'll get some stitching done on the first three, then make up my mind, as there's no hurry!

HAED Angel with Iris
by Nadia Strelkina

HAED Sistine
Chapel by
Michelangelo

GK The Turtle Dove
by Sophie Anderson



Closing September

With the re-build of this blog, I figured I'd follow the lead of Cindy Manock, who consistently updates her blog once a week.  Maybe that will keep Blogger from punishing me for being inconsistent in my posts!

Before I continue, let me thank those who expressed sympathy for my reverse stitching of Eternal Promise.  I will say that I consider that a long-term project.  Stitching with 3 strands on 25 count, even using the tent stitch, created a very heavily padded back due to all the confetti in this piece.  Several other projects are ready in the wings before this fabric is needed again, so I pick it up and do some frogging when I'm in a rare mood to do that.

John on vacation in San Juan

This past week has been one of planning rather than stitching.  My birthday is October 24th, and I'd teasingly asked my husband last week what he was going to get for my birthday.  He grinned and said, "Okay, you've obviously got something in mind.  What are we getting?"  I told him I wanted to get a floor frame, and he asked how he was going to know what, where, and how to make the purchase.  Now it was my turn to grin and say, "I can take care of all of that.  You can just take credit and say Happy Birthday."  He liked that idea, just as he likes my stitching. Isn't it nice to be married to someone for over 40 years who appreciates your hobbies?

I'd really done my homework on the floor stand I wanted and selected the Mark 2 by Hearthside Craftworks.  After discussing particulars with Helen, I placed my order this past week and should have my new workstation by my birthday.  It will work with my recliner and everyone I've been in touch with who has one absolutely loves it.  This will certainly put my stitching mojo on hyperdrive!

 The first piece that will be set up on the Mark 2 is HAED's Angel with Iris by Nadia Strelkina.  I started this piece in January 2011, and she's been stitched off and on since then, with 8 of 42 pages currently completed.  I've been stitching her using a K's Creations Z Lap Frame with Clamp which holds an 11" x 11" Q-snap nicely.  That was good for learning to stitch 2-handed, but now that I know I can do that, I really want her to be displayed on a larger scroll frame rather than all bunched up to fit the Q-snaps! 

I haven't really taken a picture of her since I finished page 7 and ironed her out.  Now I'm afraid to iron her again until I get a new iron.  Mine's getting old and we have hard water that occasionally leads to rust spots.   

As you can in the picture to the left, the fabric for the lower part of the pice is all bunched up in the Q-snap cover.  On the right you can see an earlier version of the full design off the Q-snaps.  What a pleasure it will be to stitch with the full width of the piece visible, rather than just a small window!



2419 Love's Messenger



My last stash purchase of September was a new release Golden Kite chart titled Loves's Messenger.  This is the smaller version at 200 x 249 stitches, but has 199 colors, of which 80 are solid and 119 are blends. 

In case anyone's interested, Golden Kite is having a 25% off sale on their site, and a few new releases such as this one are specially discounted.  The website link is http://www.goldenkitestore.com/ with the latest new releases listed at the bottom of the main page.

Gigi R's Belles-Lettres D

Finally, some notes on the coming week.  I do have one sampler I'm working on, Gigi R's Belles-Lettres D, which will not fit on my new frame.  This one is 36" wide, and I opted initially to purchase a crossbar that will fit up to a 30" frame.  All of my other pieces and those I plan to stitch in the near future will fit that size, and I can stay situated in my recliner where it stands.  So until the new stand arrives, I'll be concentrating on that piece, and maybe even getting it near to completion! 

That's it for now.  I hope you all have a great week in stitches!