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 :-)