Marguerite's Stitching Niche

Updates on a variety of projects

2011-11-20T09:54:00.001-06:00

It's been a long while since I posted and for a long time I had no progressto post about! It's been a very busy few months between work, my TOPSwork, and taking an online class in Excel at the college. However, Ifinally got my stitching mojo back and have worked on a fewprojects.

Firstly, this is the new SAL from The Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group (ofwhich I'm a moderator). It's called "The Great Escape" and thedesign is by Abi Gurden. As you can tell by the name of the group it'sall done in specialty stitches. Everyone chooses their own fabric and threadsand the variation in choices and the creativity on the group is amazing! You can see a picture of the finished product by going to the home page of thegroup click here The StitchSpecialists. I'm using a piece of 28 count Cashel and it was a solofrom Silkweavers way back when. The thread is from Threadworx and I'llprobably do most of the owl in this color, I'll think of colors for the otherparts when I get there! The picture is Parts 1 through 5.

Next is a long time UFO, now a WIP I guess! It's agood project to work on if you're feeling tired or stressed, canvas is moreforgiving that fabric! It's called Reflecting Pools and is by Laura J.Perin. The original design was in blues and I changed to the rose/mauveshades you see here. I'm using a variety of threads but mostlyWatercolors, Wildflowers and Waterlilies from Caron Collection. There isa bit of a shadow in the picture, it's not really darker on the right handside.

Next is another Tree of Stitches! The design is by AbiGurden and was the previous SAL on The Stitch Specialists. I think I mentionedin a previous post that my daughter-in-law took a shine to the first Tree ofStitches I did, that one all in greens, and so it is now residing in London,England. (See previous blog posts for pictures). I decided to stitch it againbut this time make it a blossom tree in my favorite colors ofpurple/rose/pink. The thread is from Threadworx and I've used threedifferent colors so far, one for the trunk and two for the blossoms. Theeyelets are in progress and being done in Splendor silk. The fabric isanother one from Silkweavers, I do regret the demise of that company as theyhad some beautiful fabrics.

Last but not least is The Victoria Sampler design (see blogpost below) which is in progress but I haven't worked on it in a while. Ihave all the boxes done around the border and have started on the design in thecenter. While I was feeling so tired I didn't want to attempt some of theintricate stuff and so I thought I'd do the easy cross stitch part! WhenI have a lull in the above three projects I'll pull this out again, perhapsover the Christmas break when I have two whole weeks off work! There aresome distinct advantages in working for a college that closes :-)

Latest project

2011-09-04T08:34:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to share my latest project. I subscribed to this Cyberclass a few years ago but never got around to stitching it. Yesterday I dug it out and set it up and put in the outside round of Klosters last night. VS Cyberclasses are very detailed and fun to stitch. I also have Tea Party waiting in the wings!

Tea and Stitches by Victoria Sampler

Finished The Treasure Box!

2011-09-02T20:05:00.001-05:00

I finished this the other night and really enjoyed stitching it. This is The Treasure Box from The Drawn Thread, one of my favorite designers. It's about 6" square and so not a large design and was quick to stitch and I learned a few stitches along the way!

Now I need to choose another Drawn Thread design to stitch. This was done as a SAL on the Yahoo Group TSSDrawnThreadSAL which is a spin off group of The Stitch Specialists, see link on left side of blog.

Milestone for The Stitch Specialists

2011-08-22T17:47:00.000-05:00

On November 9, 2010, a Yahoo Group was started which we named The Stitch Specialists. The owner is Abi Gurden and I agreed to be a moderator with her. She had this wonderful design called The Tree of Stitches which she wanted to do as a stitch along on the group. As of today we have over 300 members, 304 as of this writing. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that we'd have so many people who fell in love with this design and wanted to join us. The creativity of the members as they chose their fabric and threads for this design is amazing. I just wanted to say a big congratulations to us!! I believe her latest design, The Great Escape, is going to be just as popular, can't wait to start stitching it!

Here's a link to our group The Stitch Specialists. You can see my finished Tree of Stitches a little ways down this blog.

The Treasure Box

2011-08-21T15:50:00.001-05:00

This piece is by The Drawn Thread and is called The Treasure Box. We have a Yahoo Group for Drawn Thread designs which is a sister group of The Stitch Specialists, I chose to do this piece. This is about two weeks' progress.

Peaches and Cream Hardanger

2011-08-21T15:33:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I finished this piece by Summer Louise Truswell of Truswell Designs. It's called Peaches and Cream and was a limited edition kit. I just got around to doing something with it and my LNS Stitchers Workshop made a box for me, Mr. Dugan does great work! So here it is after all these years.

Tree of Stitches Finished!

2011-08-21T15:00:00.001-05:00

I finished my Tree of Stitches last night and here it is! This design is by Abi Gurden and was done as a SAL on The Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group.

Our next SAL will be The Great Escape and will start in September. Go to the group home page to see a picture of it. I think it's going to be as popular as the Tree, if not more so The Stitch Specialists.

This Yahoo Group was started last November and I'm one of the moderators. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we'd have almost 300 members by this date, only two more to go! Everyone has loved this design and the color variations that members have chosen are fantastic. Each member chose their own fabric and colors. I went with traditional greens but we've had blossom trees, and winter trees, and multi-colors! So much creativity.

Stitch Specialists new design released!

2011-08-07T16:53:00.000-05:00

Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group

I'm so excited! The Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group just went past 250 members! Abi Gurden, our list owner and designer has just released her newest design, The Great Escape, and it's going to be as great as the Tree of Stitches which members have been stitching for the past few months. The group was formed last November and as you can see it's grown and has been very popular.

The designs are available to members to stitch as a stitchalong, with parts released every two weeks. Click the link to see a picture of the new design on the home page, we will start stitching this one in mid-September. The Tree of Stitches s one of my WIPs and you can see progress pics in previous blog updates.

2011-07-31T10:04:00.000-05:00


Tree of Stitches by Abi Gurden

Here's my progress on the Tree of Stitches through Part 14. Only one part left to go! There's a cute owl in the middle and a little rabbit on the ground and those parts will be released on August 5th. As I've said before, this has been a wonderful design to stitch and the people on the Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group have made some amazing variations to this tree. The fabric and thread choice has been left up to the stitcher and some people have done multi-colors, blossom trees, a whole host of colors, and they all look beautiful.

The fabric in this picture looks a little strange in color! If you go down through my blog you will see a picture I scanned that shows the color better. It's actually sky color, a very subtle hand dye. I purchased it from the Blended Needle quite a few years ago and thought it would be perfect for the tree, it's 32 count. However, if I were to stitch this design again (and I may just do that!) I'd choose 28 count fabric because that allows for a wider variety of threads to choose from, particularly #8 Perle which was a little thick for the specialty stitches on this count fabric.

If you're interested in joining in with the fun and being part of the Yahoo Group it's not too late! Just follow the link down the left hand side of this blog. Abi's designs are wonderful and she has another great one in the works that will be released to the group in the coming weeks.

Finished!

2011-07-27T15:38:00.002-05:00

Bring out the brass band I've actually finished something! This is Scherzo by Whispered by the Wind. It was my "in between" project and was such a joy to stitch. I used #844 Mandarin Bamboo floss from Rainbow Gallery on Confederate Grey Cashel.

I will now get on and work on the next part of The Tree of Stitches, part 14 has been released. Only two more parts to go after this one, what a pleasure this has been to stitch as well. Our Yahoo Group has grown to over 230 members as more and more people hear about this design. Follow the link on the left hand side of this blog if you're interested in joining in with us. I should get Part 14 finished tonight and then I'll post a picture.

Tree of Stitches - progress through Part 12

2011-06-27T14:08:00.001-05:00


Tree of Stitches by Abi Gurden

I stitched part 12 of the Tree of Stitches over the weekend. I decided to do a scan this time because taking a photo didn't seem to be showing the correct colors and I think the scan shows the fabric color better. I did the latest part in two colors to show the stitch in more detail.

I've also added some beads to one of the parts, the top left, but they don't show up too well on the scan. I need to go through my stash and see what I can find for beads for the other parts, or else I'll have to visit my LNS.

This design is a SAL through the Yahoo Group The Stitch Specialists of which I'm a moderator. Not too much further to go!

An "in-between" project

2011-06-12T10:07:00.000-05:00

While waiting for the next part of Tree of Stitches to be released, I was looking for something simple to stitch. I wanted one color of thread and just cross stitch, nothing fancy. It seemed like all the projects I had on the go had a zillion colors or required concentration, something I don't always have a lot of at the end of a working day.

So, I found this design from Whispered by the Wind. It's called "Scherzo" and the model shows it stitched in an overdyed thread. I chose 28 count Cashel/Confederate Grey and #844 Mandarin Bamboo floss from Rainbow Gallery, which is a solid color, not overdyed. I just love this color of fabric, it's one of my favorites. The floss I'd had in my stash for a while but had not tried it and it's a dream to stitch with, it just glides through the fabric. I'm really enjoying this project.

This is one week's progress, more than 1/3 and less than 1/2, but I don't think it will take too much longer to finish.

Tree of Stitches update

2011-06-03T19:18:00.000-05:00

Just popping in to give a quick up date. This is the Tree of Stitches through Part 10. There are a couple of sections that have beads, I haven't put those on yet. It's starting to look more like a tree!

I had fun at my LNS last weekend pulling more threads for this design. So far I've used silks, metallics, silk perle, cotton overdyes and silk overdyes. It's been fun pulling it together.

Tree of Stitches

2011-05-29T10:01:00.000-05:00

This is the Tree of Stitches by Abi Gurden that is a stitch along on the Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group that I co-moderate. I've now done through Part 7 and I need to catch up and do Parts 8-10. This is a very fun stitch and I'm doing each one in a different thread. I've used silk, silk perle #12 (Subtlety from Rainbow Gallery), Kreinik metallic, and cotton overdyes. I went to my LNS the other day and picked up some more threads and hopefully now have enough variety to finish the project.

Day & Night by Long Dog

2011-05-29T09:53:00.000-05:00

This is a WISP (Work in Slow Progress) but I did put in a few stitches since my last update. As you can see, not too far to go!

Socks!

2011-05-29T09:50:00.000-05:00

I got it into my head that I really must learn to knit socks. I've been knitting all my life it seems but had never knit a pair of socks. I'd no idea how to do a heel flap or turn a heel but I was determined to learn. I bought some self striping yarn (no, I didn't do all those color changes!), I watched a very good video on Knit PIcks and went from there. I didn't use a pattern, just the video and it's all straight knit and purl. Here's the result.

Not too bad for a first try. However, these socks have set off a whole new addiction....sock yarn! It is so pretty and wonderful to knit, I've now got quite a stash :-)

Celtic Cardigan

2011-05-29T09:43:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I updated my blog and it's also been a while since I did any knitting on this project but I've made progress since my last post. This is the back of the cardigan and the lower part was very easy and quick to stitch. The yoke is taking a little longer because each row is different and you can't make mistakes or the stitches won't cross properly. However, I like the way this is turning out.

This is a picture of the yoke section a bit closer up.

I probably won't work too much on this during the summer but you never know! Depends how the mood strikes.

Knitting

2011-02-09T15:30:00.000-06:00

The other thing that is occupying my time is knitting! I love to knit, especially in the winter. I purchased the yarn for this cardigan last winter but didn't get to start it before the hot weather set in again.

Celtic Cardigan by Oat Couture

The yarn is by KnitPicks, Swish DK, color Clematis Heather, 100% Superwash Merino Wool. It is a dream to knit with.

Progress as of February 9, 2011

February update

2011-02-09T15:10:00.002-06:00

Today is my second snow day off work inside of a week, very unusual for this neck of the woods. So, I'm taking the opportunity to update my blog which has been sorely neglected over the past few weeks.
First is my progress on Day & Night, the end is in sight! Most of what is left are small motifs and shouldn't take long.

Tree of Stitches -- Parts 1 and 2

The other stitching I'm doing is a design called Tree of Stitches by Abi Gurden. This is a tree that is done in different specialty stitches, the threads and fabric are of the stitcher's choice. It's an SAL on The Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group and we'll be doing one stitch every couple of weeks. So far we've done the trunk in cross stitch, then some of the foliage in Symrna stitches with French knots. The fabric is some blue cloud hand dyed, although it doesn't really show up on the photo. Can't remember the names/colors of the threads, I'm just pulling them out of my stash as they strike my fancy!

Tree of Stitches -- Part 3

Returned from England

2011-01-02T15:31:00.001-06:00

We've just returned from a very lovely Christmas in England, first one on that side of the pond in 36 years! We were joined at my mother's by my brother and our son and daughter-in-law and had a very nice Christmas Day with a few fresh snow sprinkles to make it officially a white Christmas!

We had a nervous journey out because the snow was forecast but we got lucky and the slight bit of snow and ice we encountered in Amsterdam only delayed us by about 40 mins. We don't fly into London airports and Humberside airport is only 20 mins. from Mum's house. The roads had been cleared since the "big" snow (15" for Grimsby is a BIG snow!). We even managed to make a trip down south to Luton and the Ipswich area without too much trouble, so overall we were lucky. Our journey back was uneventful, thankfully and we arrived home late on New Year's Day.

While in England I managed to knit myself a scarf but that is the only needlework I took with me, I'll post a picture when I dig it out!

I'm also happy to report that the framed wedding sampler for Michael and Julie made it to England safely! It fit (just) into the one very large suitcase I have, that I haven't taken over there for a few years. It had to go in diagonally, on it's end and I wrapped it in multiple layers of bubble wrap. They went back to London on the train and carried it, that journey was also successful! The wooden box for my mother (see previous post) also made it intact and she liked it.

Happy New Year everyone!

Progress on Day & Night by Long Dog

2010-11-26T12:39:00.001-06:00

I've been working quite a bit on Day & Night and coming to the end of the most time consuming section. There is only one large motif to do now (on the left next to the house) and then it's just the border and smaller motifs. I'm on a mission to finish it!
Further down this blog there is a picture of what this will look like when finished, you can see not much farther to go!

Framed in a box

2010-11-26T11:57:00.000-06:00

The box was custom made at my LNS and I love the way it turned out! The design is Sweet Violets by Heirloom Embroideries which I finished in 2009. This is to be a Christmas present for my mother.

Wedding Sampler finished

2010-11-26T11:34:00.000-06:00

On October 23 I finally finished Michael and Julie's wedding sampler. They were married on September 4, 2009, and it had been a while in the making! The heart at the top was a challenge with bullion stitches and ribbon embroidery that I'd not done before. The poem is a custom, I didn't include the words as charted. It is now framed but it was difficult to get a good picture and also because it is so long! This is the best I could do to try and not get a reflection.

I now have the problem of getting this framed piece to England! I've just tried fitting it in our suitcases and it's going to be a challenge to say the least! I don't think carrying it is an option (too big), and so if we can't get it in the case then may have to go with a special box but don't really want to do that. So, fingers crossed that it makes it across the Atlantic in one piece!

Long time, no post!

2010-08-08T09:05:00.001-05:00

Gosh! Has it really been that long since I updated this blog. How time flies as you get older! I see that my last post also coincided with when my summer work hours started and my stitching, and computing, time got messed up. My stitching time has been limited to weekends for 2-3 months, during the week I've just been too tired to sit down and do anything but read in the evening, and that makes me fall asleep :-)

Anyway, I've FINALLY got a picture of my WIP. This is Day & Night by Long Dog. It's a very colorful design as you can see and easy to stitch. The only problem is that the chart symbols are VERY tiny and I'm having to enlarge each section, not something I normally have to do. Other than that, so far so good!

You can see a picture of what it will look like finished further down this page. We go back to regular 8-5 hours on August 16 and hopefully then I will get some time to stitch on weekday evenings.

Altengamme is finished!

2010-05-13T11:12:00.001-05:00

As I said in my last post, I ripped out the bottom border and redid it. Didn't take as long as I thought it would and I put the final stitches in this on Tuesday night. So pleased to have this finished and now I need to get it mounted on foam core so I can have it framed.

Last night I pulled out another long time UFO, Day & Night from Long Dog Samplers. I was very tempted to start on Quakers and Quilts but decided to give this UFO a try first.

This is what that one will look like and I'll post my progress when I've taken a picture. At the moment I've done the top border and 3 motifs down on the left border, and one on the right. Long way to go!

Good news and bad news

2010-05-06T08:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally finished Altengamme last night, whooo hoooo! That's the good news. It's finished BUT I am going to rip out the bottom border and do it again. I made a one row counting error on the left, fixed it (sort of) and figured I wouldn't notice and it would be OK. Well, I got all the way over to the right hand side and decided that it does bother me. No one else would probably care or notice but I decided it would always bug me and so I'm going to rip it out and do over. It shouldn't take that long to do but it will delay taking a picture of the finished product.

So, stay tuned......

Altengamme update

2010-04-10T16:42:00.001-05:00

As you can see, not much further to go! After tonight, I won't be able to stitch on this until the 18th, when I get back from the conference and convention I have to go to this week. It's possible I could get something done Wednesday night, we'll see how tired I am! I should finish the started motif and perhaps do another one this evening. Also, I think I'm going to run out of the green thread so I'll have to make a run to the LNS. I thought when I picked up the last one I'd got enough but I can't see what I have left being enough to finish.

An interim update

2010-04-08T10:52:00.001-05:00

I've been trying to find time to take a new picture because I've done quite a bit more since this picture was taken. Well, it's been a crazy week one way and another, although I have got a little bit of stitching time in. I've now finished that last large diamond and have done 3 "satellite" small motifs since this picture was taken. There's not much left to do now, relatively speaking, but I'm not going to be able to stitch on this for a whole week starting Sunday because of travel. I think I'm definitely on track to finish this by the end of April....whoo hoo!

Still plugging away!

2010-03-27T09:40:00.000-05:00

I've now moved over to the bottom left and I completed this diamond and the two small motifs to the right. The small triangle is the start of another motif which will be along the bottom border.

As you can see, I've started the next triangle. I was working more on this one last night. While it is centered under the motif above (which is the way it's supposed to be) I discovered it was one stitch closer to the small diamond under the rose flower. After counting and counting I remembered that I had to make an adjustment further up in the design, but because it's been a few years I'd forgotten. Anyway, it's going to have to stay as it is, no one will know but me :-) As I've mentioned before, lots of chart errors on this design, and some are more challenging to fix than others, but with the random placement adjustments won't be noticed in the finished piece.

Not much further to go now, finishing this is now my top priority!

Finished another motif and row

2010-03-21T09:17:00.000-05:00

Another motif is done and it completed the row. This was a nice and easy one although again there were errors. I hope I used the correct colors because the flower centers had two different symbols, half were for green and the other half for rose, I just did what I thought looked best!

Now I've gone back over to the left hand side to work on the diamond, this will be the last big row and then all that's left is small motifs along the bottom and the border.

The end is in sight!

Finished another motif

2010-03-17T18:32:00.000-05:00

I finished another motif last night, this is the last of the large ones. There were some major chart errors in this one. A large chunk of the red "flower" was missing, on all four of them. Some of the errors don't look obvious until you finish and then take a critical look at it.

I've now moved to the right and I'm doing the last circle motif. I started this last night and it's moving pretty quickly. It shouldn't take as long to do as the last two. I think I'll then do a bit of the border and move back over to the left hand side.

The end is in sight!

Here is the one I just completed side by side with the previous motif.

Still stitching!

2010-03-11T09:15:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated. I took this picture last weekend and am just now getting around to updating my blog. I have a determination to finish Altengamme but I think it will take a while, however the end IS in sight. I've finished the motif that was shown partially completed in the last photo, and also the very small one under the diamond. I've now moved over to the right to start on the next large one you can see partially done. I've actually worked quite a bit more on that since the photo was taken. I will take another photo at the weekend but for now this is it!

Weekend away

2010-03-01T13:49:00.000-06:00

I haven't done any stitching since Friday night. I had to go to a meeting out of town over the weekend; left Saturday morning and returned Sunday evening. By the time I'd unloaded my car, fixed dinner, and caught up with what had been going on at home in my absence, it was 8:30 p.m. and I was too pooped to stitch!

Anyway, I'm still working on the large motif you can see partially done in the last picture of Altengamme. I have finished all the green on it though and I have 2-1/2 of the rose colored sections to do. Should have that done in the next couple of evenings I hope.

I'll post another picture when there is something to take a picture of.

Working on Altengamme by Martina Dey

2010-02-23T18:19:00.001-06:00

Started thinking yesterday what to stitch next and I've settled on Altengamme by Martina Dey, which has been a long standing UFO, can't call it a WIP! My first progress pictures of this were taken in March of 2005, so that's almost 5 years since I started it. My life got busy and I got sidetracked with other projects, and that's the way it went.

Anyway, I found the project very easily but then I couldn't remember where I'd stashed the chart and threads. After looking in several places I found it and set it up. It takes extra wide rods and my husband made me a frame for my GripIt which accommodates 36" rods. Did I mention this is one LARGE project!

So, after much setting up I finally got down to stitching last night. I do hope I can stick with it this time. It's really a very easy stitch, only two colors, but oh so large! There's also quite a lot of chart errors but being a symmetrical pattern they are fairly easy to spot.

So, here's a picture of my progress and also one of what it will look like finished. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Wish me luck!

Quaker Diamonds -- It's Finished!

2010-02-22T18:15:00.001-06:00

I finished this last evening while watching the Olympics. Wasn't quite sure what to do with myself afterward. I'm just thrilled with this finish, it's every bit as nice as I thought it would be. It was very easy to stitch and I couldn't seem to stop, always saying "just one more motif and then I'll quit for the evening."

I've ordered Quakers and Quilts and will stitch that as a companion piece, it uses all the same colors. Now to figure out what to stitch while waiting for that order to come in!

Quaker Diamonds mid-week progress

2010-02-18T10:09:00.000-06:00

Since the last photo update I've now finished the large diamond (bottom left) and filled in the bottom left hand corner. Now moved back up to the diamond under the 'N.' I've been able to do a little more stitching than usual, staying up later watching the Olympics. Stitching keeps me awake so I don't miss anything! Will post a progress picture this weekend if I remember. I have to go away the weekend of the 27th/28th and so I'm hoping to finish this before then. We shall see!

Not much further to go! Progress after 4 weeks

2010-02-15T12:45:00.000-06:00

This is my progress after 4 weeks of stitching on Quaker Diamonds, not much more to do now! My goal was to finish in six weeks, maybe it will be less. This has been the most enjoyable project to stitch. I've ordered the Quilts and Quakers which I will do as a companion piece, it uses all the same color threads.

Quaker Diamonds - 3 week progress

2010-02-07T13:40:00.000-06:00

Still moving right along on Quaker Diamonds and enjoying stitching it. The large diamond is going to take a while but should be finished soon. I'm going to stitch quite a bit today while watching the Super Bowl.

Quaker Diamonds - progress after 2 weeks

2010-01-30T17:32:00.000-06:00

I'm having so much fun stitching this design and it's growing very fast. I'm now 1/3 of the way through after two weeks of stitching. At this rate should be done by the end of February but we shall see!

Worked on Quaker Diamonds

2010-01-24T08:24:00.002-06:00

Last night I worked on the large diamond near the top and made good progress, should finish that today. Will be stitching this afternoon and watching football......go Saints and Colts!

Will post another progress picture at the end of the week.

Quaker Diamonds progress

2010-01-23T08:58:00.004-06:00

This is my latest project and I am absolutely LOVING stitching this design. This is Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor and the large picture is the finished design from their web site http://www.rosewoodxstitch.com/catalog.php?item=165&catid=31&ret=catalog.php%3Fcategory%3D31.

I started stitching last Saturday night, January 16, and this is my progress as of Friday 22nd. So, even though I can just stitch a couple of hours in the evening you can see that it's a quick stitch.

There are LOTS of color changes and to save time I purchased some more #24 needles and keep a needle with each color threaded. Using the pinhead stitch for starting is also helping to keep it neat. Sometimes you have to thread up for just one stitch. I'm going to do the larger diamond next which goes in the center top. I am using the recommended threads as pictured. These are 3-stranded Valdani threads and I'm using all three strands on 28 count Cashel/Fairy dust.

Evening Star by Heritage

2010-01-18T08:29:00.003-06:00

Yay!! It's finished, it's finished! Anyone who has ever done a Heritage design will know how tedious they can be sometimes. Lots of "skinny" cross stitches and lots and lots of backstitching, so much that they need a separate chart for it! Anyway, it is now finished and I will try and get it framed soon.

Sampler of Stitches by The Drawn Thread

2010-01-18T08:25:00.003-06:00

Well, it took a couple of years of on and off stitching but I finally finished Drawn Threads "Sampler of Stitches." This was a series of 9 individual charts and used many, many different stitches. We did this as an SAL on the Friendly Stitchers Yahoo Group.

Sweet Violets by Heirloom Embroidieries

2010-01-18T08:16:00.002-06:00

This is Sweet Violets by Heirloom Embroideries. This was a nice quick and easy finished and very enjoyable to stitch.

2009-03-16T18:47:00.002-05:00

Here's the Belanger square, my 6th one. This was a nice quick stitch and very easy. This square is unblocked at the moment. This is the first one that knit up exactly 12" x 12" without blocking.
Now to decide which one to do next!

Dana Hurt square

2009-03-09T15:18:00.003-05:00

Finished the 5th square of the afghan. I left this on hold while I went to England and finished it up over the weekend. Pretty easy knit and I just did twisted stitches without the cable needle for the 1/1 twists. Seeing as there are six of these every other row this saved a lot of fiddling with the cable needle.

Going to England!

2009-02-11T17:29:00.002-06:00

I'm going to England on Friday to visit with my mother and will be gone for two weeks, so the blog won't be updated with new squares until I get back!

I've almost finished the Dana Hurt square but I don't think it will be finished before I leave. I'm not taking this project with me. I've bought some Wool of the Andes from KnitPicks and I'm going to knit a couple of cable scarves, something easier to follow than GAAA!

Will update the blog again at the beginning of March.

2009-02-03T16:57:00.002-06:00

Finished the 4th square last night (Feb. 2nd). Had a couple of false starts with this one. I messed up the yarn overs and ended up with a mistake I didn't notice for a few rows. I tried to fix it but it wouldn't have it so I ripped it back, probably about 10 rows. Anyway, after that it went pretty quickly.

This square would have ended up much too long if I'd done all the rows it called for. I cut it short by about 1/2 a repeat (10 rows) and it blocked perfectly to a 12" square

On to square #5!

GAAA - Ginger Smith square finished!

2009-01-29T19:38:00.004-06:00

Here is the 3rd square of the Great American Aran Afghan (GAAA). Finished on Wednesday, January 28th. This is a slightly modified version. The original called for stitching each section in columns then picking up stitches and knitting the next column. I hate picking up stitches and that method didn't appeal to me! So, I decided to stitch all at once and where the stitches were supposed to be picked up and knit together with the next column I did a twist stitch with moss stitch in between. This made this square a very quick stitch, much quicker than doing it the original way I'm sure.

Finished square #2

2009-01-26T16:00:00.003-06:00

This is the Hanna Burns square. I think it's also called the "DNA Square!" Interesting pattern to do and not too hard. Finished this square on Saturday, January 24th.
I'm now working on the Ginger Smith square, which got off to a rocky start! Once I figured it out it's not too difficult. I'm making modifications from the original which took some working out. Will explain more when I've finished it.
Also working on Morioka's square which I started when I got disgusted with Ginger Smith!

First GAAA Square

2009-01-14T08:17:00.002-06:00

Here is my first completed square of the GAAA (Great American Aran Afghan). It is by Barbara McIntire. I chose a simple one for my first, or so I thought. I had it all finished and then noticed one of the cables was crossed the wrong way! Thankfully it was only about 10 rows down and so I ripped and re-knit. Hopefully this one is correct. If not, so be it, LOL!

Great American Aran Afghan

2009-01-13T19:18:00.003-06:00

This is my next knitting project. It's the Great American Aran Afghan, or GAAA for short. It's a collaboration of 20+ designers who each designed a square. I'm knitting this in the Plymouth yarn recommended and will post a picture of each square here as I finish it. The first one I've almost finished, it's by Barbara McIntire and one of the easy ones! I actually finished it but then noticed an error (cable crossing the wrong way) but luckily it was only a few rows down and so I pulled back and will have it finished tonight hopefully.

Updating the Blog!

2009-01-13T18:58:00.004-06:00

Well, as you can tell, it's been a long, long time since I've updated this blog. This is primarily because this is a stitching blog and I haven't been doing any stitching to report on. I still haven't done much stitching but I have been knitting. So, I guess this is going to become a stitching and knitting blog.

I have finished a knitting project! I've been working on a knitted afghan for years, too many to even think about! It was a UFO for quite a long time. I'd pull it out, knit until I'd finished a panel and then put it up again. Well, then I became involved in wanting to do the Great American Aran Afghan (GAAA) and I was determined that I couldn't start that until I'd finished the UFO afghan. So, here it is! Finished at last. It's knitted in 5 panels. There is a knit stitch at each end of every row and so when it's sewn together you can hardly tell and it looks like one piece.

I'm really very pleased with the way it turned out. The yarn is just a basic acrylic/dacron that I bought from Target years ago, do they even sell yarn any more!

Stitching Update

2008-03-30T11:01:00.004-05:00

Yet again this blog has been neglected and this is my first post of the year. Not much to enter and so that's probably why! I've been steadily working again on Altengamme from Martina Dey. I started this chart about 3 years ago and went great guns for a while and then it got put on one side while I did some model stitching and worked on other projects. I pulled it out again a couple of weeks ago and have finished 4 motifs in that time, the three diamond shape and one medium circle, plus a few of the little ones, and some of the border. The picture shows the left hand large diamond partially complete but I finished it last night after I took this picture. It is my intention to work on this until completion but we will see. . .

I'm also working on an RR with Friendly Stitchers and so I'll have to leave this for a while to stitch that piece.

Kitten Update!

2007-12-09T17:36:00.000-06:00

I do wish kittens would stay kittens but they do tend to grow! They are nine months old now and still full of beans and jumping all over the place. Like most cats they like boxes and here they are trying to get into the same one. They have one each but one is always better than the other of course. They are still very affectionate with each other, which is nice.

Knitting!

2007-12-09T17:31:00.000-06:00

Knitting is one of the reasons I haven't done too much stitching lately! I love to knit, and I especially like to do Aran type knitting. I have been working on a 5 panel Afghan for quite a while and I'm on the last panel.
Also, when I went to England in October I took all the materials to continue stitching on the Sampler of Stitches, everything that is except the actual piece! So, with no stitching to occupy my time I took myself off to the local knitting shop. I picked up some baby yarn and a pattern and knitted a baby jacket and blanket. I then picked up some more yarn when I was in London and I'm knitting myself a long cardigan, with cables of course!
I'll need to get my digital camera out to take pictures of those, can't be scanned like stitching!

Evening Star by Heritage

2007-12-09T17:28:00.000-06:00

I've also worked quite a bit more on The Evening Star train for my husband (see earlier picture), although it's slow going! I'm working on the backstitching, and believe me it's work! Not only were there 1/2 height and 1/2 width cross stitches in the piece, it's also a challenge to get the backstitching in the right place. There is a separate backstitching chart (which helps) but it's still slow going placing the stitches. I can only do so much at a sitting before I have to switch to something else. I probably won't publish another picture until it's finished, I guess I'm over half way through with the b/s.

Sampler of Stitches update

2007-12-09T17:23:00.001-06:00

Still moving along with the project, albeit a little slowly. Some of the stitches are a little tedious but on the whole I'm enjoying it. I've changed the thread, or number of strands, on a couple of the stitches. I'm working it on a finer count linen and sometimes the stated thread/strands was not working out well.

2007-09-13T15:11:00.000-05:00

Gosh! Didn't realize it had been so long since I'd updated this blog. Things have been busy and haven't been doing too much stitching. However, I do have a couple of WIP's to share.
This is Evening Star by Heritage. All the cross stitching is finished and I'm working on the backstitching. I'm going to leave a few things off that Fred doesn't want on there, and I may even rip out the partial border and leave that off too.

This one is Sampler of Stitches by The Drawn Thread. I'm doing this as a Stitch Along on a Yahoo Group. The charts are sold separately and this is three of them. I just have one more stitch to do on Part 3.

Rainbow Bridge - Finished!

2007-07-04T09:50:00.001-05:00

I put the last few stitches in this piece on Monday night. It's The Rainbow Bridge by Sue Hillis. It's dedicated to our three cats--Cindy, Smokey and Boots--who we've lost over the last two years.

More Kitten Pics!

2007-06-12T14:53:00.001-05:00

I've put a few more kitten pictures into my Photobucket album. DH has taken about 250! No, I won't be uploading all 250 but I'll pick out the best. There are others here http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v105/UKMaggie/Kittens%202007/

Sampler of Stitches update

2007-06-12T13:55:00.000-05:00

This is progress on Sampler of Stitches. I've put it on hold until I receive the special threads. The gaps are motifs that use those. Think I'll go back to Rainbow Bridge in the meantime

Needlework Finish

2007-06-02T17:06:00.000-05:00

I actually managed to finish a UFO. It's "Home of a Needleworker" from Little House Needleworks. It's worked over 1 on 32 count linen using DMC threads. The design measures 6" x 3" finished. Now I can get back to stitching The Drawn Thread "Sampler of Stitches" if the new kittens will let me!

New Additions to the Family

2007-06-02T17:02:00.000-05:00

We adopted two kittens last Wednesday, May 30th. They are litter mates, a boy and girl about 9 weeks old, and I got them from the animal shelter. They are so cute! They are as yet unnamed but we have plenty of suggestions going round in our heads.

Stitching Update

2007-05-28T14:02:00.000-05:00

Got back from England on May 25th, had a great trip! Managed to start the Sampler of Stitches from The Drawn Thread and got quite a bit done. The gaps are where I didn't have the thread, I've just placed an order, so I'll go back and catch up with those bits later. This is a lovely project to stitch. The stitches are fun and easy to do, I love doing spot motif samplers.

Moved photo album to Photobucket

2007-04-24T10:25:00.000-05:00

I'm in the process of moving all my stitching pictures to Photobucket. Unfortunately it would appear that Club Photo has gone under without any notice! I'm doing this a little at a time and so they are not all there yet, and I do need to do updated scans of my current WIPs. I've had the Photobucket album for quite a while now but just used it for posting pictures on message boards. So, all I have to do is expand that somewhat. Here's the URL http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v105/UKMaggie/ and I hope that link works. My member name is UKMaggie.
I'll keep you posted!

Links to Stitching Album

2007-04-23T08:20:00.000-05:00

I have removed all the links to my stitching albums because there's a problem with my photo hosting site. Nothing seems to be working at the moment and I'm looking for a new hosting site. I may revive my Webshots album which I haven't used in a while.

I'll be going on a trip home to England May 2nd-25th and so I'm busy this week getting everything in order for that. I need to sort out what stitching projects I'm going to take.

All for now!

Long overdue post

2007-04-09T10:15:00.000-05:00

I haven't been reporting to the blog lately, mainly because there hasn't been much to report! After I finished The Black Dahlia it was difficult to know where to start on the WIPs. So, I kind of dabbled around with a few different things. I worked on And They Sinned for a while and then had a yen for Hardanger! I pulled out the wallhanging I've been working on forever; completed one of the squares and I'm half way through another. There are five squares altogether and I'm on the 3rd.

I then jumped back to The Rainbow Bridge, it's coming along nicely and I'm almost to the rainbow at the bottom.

I've also been knitting the cable stitch afghan which has been on the go for eons! It's worked in five panels and I'm working on the 4th. It will be a full size (twin size) afghan when finished.

So, lots of different things done but no finishes. That is unless you count the small Hardanger project which took a couple of evenings to complete. I'm teaching this at my EGA meeting and had to stitch it first.

Lots of travel coming up in the next few months, we'll see how much stitching can be done!

The Black Dahlia

2007-03-08T11:43:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of The Black Dahlia. This design is by Vilma Becklin of Examplar Dames and will be available as a limited edition. It is stitched in Vikki Clayton silks, premium and regular.

Finished Model Stitching Project

2007-03-03T12:58:00.000-06:00

On Thursday night I put the last stitches in the model stitching project I did for Examplar Dames. This took me 6 weeks from start to finish and it amazed me how quickly it stitched up. I'll post a picture when I get permission to do so. The name is The Black Dahlia and it's stitched in black and red Vikki Clayton silks.

Now to resume personal stitching....

2007-01-23T08:31:00.000-06:00

I've suspended my personal stitching for a while. I have completed another section on the Rainbow Bridge which I've got to scan in. I've taken on a model stitching project for Examplar Dames which has a tight deadline and is quite large, so I'll be stitching on that until it's finished. It's stitched in Vikki Clayton silks and you can see discussion about it on her forum here http://tinyurl.com/2nyr8j

2007-01-11T10:06:00.000-06:00

The Rainbow Bridge is coming along and is working up fairly quickly. I've been working on this pretty consistently, with a little bit of time out for some knitting. My intention is to finish this before I get back to one of my other WIPs.
Still missing little Boots and it's strange being cat-less. Hope to remedy that when the opportunity presents itself.

The Rainbow Bridge

2006-12-19T09:23:00.000-06:00

On December 9th we lost our little cat Boots, he had a cancerous tumor. We also lost Cindy on February 14th, 2006, and Smokey on February 22nd, 2005. In memory of them I'm stitching The Rainbow Bridge and I'm going to give it to my vet.
The design is by Sue Hillis and I'm stitching it on 32 count hand dyed lugana that I got from The Blended Needle a few years ago.
The picture is my progress as of December 19th. I started this on Thursday, December 14th, 2006.

2006-12-06T19:31:00.000-06:00

Finally finished the sampler! This is the Mystery Sampler as featured in the Gift of Stitching Magazine. The design is by Yvonne Horn of Papillon Creations. It is stitched on 40 count Ricamo/Ivory linen using DMC threads.
I changed the center motif somewhat but otherwise it's done as is.

Almost done!

2006-12-04T10:45:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm almost done with the Mystery Sampler, don't have a new photo at this time though. I've finished all the main stitching and the border around the center. I'm now undecided as to what to do in the middle. I'm not sure if I'll do as is with the alphabets & peacock, or just do the peacock and my initials and date! Will decide in the next couple of days and will hopefully finish this piece this week.

2006-11-24T18:24:00.000-06:00

After finishing Fairy Grandmother, I started stitching on the Mystery Sampler from Papillon Creations. This design is featured in the Gift of Stitching Magazine over 5 issues. I started it back in February but life got in the way and I'm just now getting back to it. It is stitched on 40 count Ricamo/Ivory with 1 strand of DMC.

My Latest Finish

2006-11-23T12:22:00.000-06:00

Design Name: Fairy Grandmother
Designer: Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum, Lavender & Lace
Copyright: 1997 Told In A Garden

Here is my latest stitching finish. I completed the last bead on November 21st, 2006. I started this project in January 2005 but have been waylaid along the way! It is stitched on 32 count hand dyed Lugana from Silkweaver which came in a Fabric of the Month Package in September 2004. I altered the design by omitting the brown foliage.