Updates on a variety of projects

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

Firstly, this is the new SAL from The Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group (of which I'm a moderator).  It's called "The Great Escape" and the design is by Abi Gurden.  As you can tell by the name of the group it's all done in specialty stitches. Everyone chooses their own fabric and threads and 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 the group  click here The Stitch Specialists.  I'm using a piece of 28 count Cashel and it was a solo from Silkweavers way back when.  The thread is from Threadworx and I'll probably do most of the owl in this color, I'll think of colors for the other parts when I get there!  The picture is Parts 1 through 5.

 

Next is a long time UFO, now a WIP I guess!  It's a good project to work on if you're feeling tired or stressed, canvas is more forgiving 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/mauve shades you see here.  I'm using a variety of threads but mostly Watercolors, Wildflowers and Waterlilies from Caron Collection.  There is a bit of a shadow in the picture, it's not really darker on the right hand side.

 

Next is another Tree of Stitches!  The design is by Abi Gurden and was the previous SAL on The Stitch Specialists. I think I mentioned in a previous post that my daughter-in-law took a shine to the first Tree of Stitches 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 again but this time make it a blossom tree in my favorite colors of purple/rose/pink.  The thread is from Threadworx and I've used three different colors so far, one for the trunk and two for the blossoms.  The eyelets are in progress and being done in Splendor silk.  The fabric is another one from Silkweavers, I do regret the demise of that company as they had some beautiful fabrics.

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

Latest project

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!

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.