Bargello Symphony Redux, Part 4.5

Here is my current progress on my sister’s Bargelo Symphony. I’m about halfway through part five, and still have so far to go. It’s the background stitch, the Victorian step stitch that’s the biggest part of what’s left.

I had some anxiety about the colors of the step stitch. I tried another color combination, but instead of easing my anxiety, it gave me a stomachache. Nerves are a much more tolerable form of anxiety to manage than stomach pain. As long as my sister is satisfied, I can let my uncertainties pass.

Time for the next motifs of part five and the little bit of step stitching. 😀

Happy Stitching!

Stitchier

Typing “stitchier” will get you a “that’s not spelled right, or something” red line. Stitchier, stitchier, stitchier. March isn’t half over yet, and I’ve already stitched more than last year, so stitchier it is.

Here’s what I’ve been up to–Oh, wait! I forgot to share this last year–

 

This is Just Nan’s Gingerbread Jingle Mouse, stitched on 32-ct gingerbread fabric (I want to say Picture this Plus?) with recommended DMC fibers. I stitched it for a friend for Christmas. It’s so freaking adorable. You know how sometimes you stitch a gift and don’t want to give it away? Yeah, that. I gave it to her, but it wasn’t easy. OK. Now for 2015 stitchier stitching.

Last December I was in AZ, and visited the Attic Needlework shop in Mesa. Yes, it’s as wonderful as you’ve heard. It was more wonderful than I expected, honestly. I relieved them of much stash when I was there. The Just Nan mouse above was one item that left with me. Another was this Rovaris pendant, which I stitched in January.

 

I completed the stitching fairly quickly, but I haven’t assembled it yet, because it went missing twice. The first time was in my stitchy trash can (gasp!). The second time was because I have too much stash. I rediscovered it yesterday. I’ve got to get busy with the assembly.

Next came Leaping Cat by La-D-Da. I stitched this over one over one on 40-ct. Light Exemplar as an experiment. There are counting errors that I learned to accept, though I wouldn’t have on another project. It was just too small and confusing to find the errors.  I love it anyway, so the experiment was a success.

 

What this project needs is an image that gives perspective. Trust me, it’s small. The framing was unexpectedly expensive. It deserves the extravagance.

I did some work on a WIP, too. Going to Market by Dimensions. The mother and child are walking to market, waiting for the background stitches. I’m stitching this over one on 32-ct. It’s challenging, but much easier than over one on 40-ct. linen.

I have strong magnifying lenses I clip to my glasses.

 

I also finished the January design of A Year in Chalk by Hands On Designs. I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t wait to stitch it. I haven’t decided how to finish it. I don’t plan to stitch every month. I have March on order at my LNS. They are very cute designs.

 

I’ve also been working on a bigger project–Bargello Symphony by Loretta Spears. I’m not stitching this in the original colors. My sister saw my original Bargello Symphony and asked me to stitch it for her, but not in pink, as she doesn’t like pink. She ultimately decided on taupe and cream colors. My sister once asked me to never stitch anything for her, which, OUCH! But really, better to know beforehand, yes? I got over the sting quickly. More stitching time for presents for me. 🙂 When she asked me to stitch her something I was surprised and flattered. It’s really important to me that she likes it. I’ve been sending her progress pictures.

 

Fabric on the stretcher bars!

 

First stitch!

Part one (of six) complete.

 

Part two complete.

I have to wait to complete the third part. The instructions say you only need one spool of metallic, but I used it up already. Maybe I cut the pieces too long. I don’t know. But I’ll be able to complete part three when the spool comes into the LNS, as I had to order it. It’s so weird to be stitching this again. I never expected to.

I hope you’re warm and dry. Happy Stitching!

MIA

I haven’t been stitching much this year.  I’m in a major slump. I think it’s been close to a month since I’ve stitched.  Here’s a couple of WIP photos I took in February, I think. The lighting was horrible. So was the weather in January and February, am I right?

272 Words WIP

Going to Market WIP

Going to Market WIP with clock

I received this Olde Colonial clock for Christmas so I can insert Going to Market. I hope it’s as lovely as I imagine. Looks like it probably will. 🙂

I hope you’re not in the slump I am, and are having a grand stitchy time. Happy stitching! 🙂

Final sharing from 2013

It’s time to clean up the hanging threads of 2013 and make sure I’ve shared everything I’ve meant to share. I’ve been a neglectful blogger this year, so I have a few pictures I haven’t yet posted.

Bone Appetit from Lizzie Kate’s Halloween Thrillogy. I finished this a few days after Halloween.

Later in November, I got Pieta framed. I took a quick picture to show my father before Christmas. He was traveling for the holidays, so I’ll be sending this off to him shortly. I never did get a better picture than this. Dad joked I should take a picture with my phone. I thought it was a good suggestion. That one wasn’t better.

After I sent Wendy her ornament, I started working on ornaments for myself that I’ve wanted to stitch for a very long time–Brightneedle’s “To Thee” stockings from JCS Ornament issues. I stitched them on 28-ct. Country Cream Vintage linen. I used all DMC for each ornament.

           

To Thee Love, from the 2004 JCS Ornament Issue, and To Thee Hope, from the 2006 JCS Ornament Issue.

                     

To Thee Peace from the 2003 JCS Ornament Issue, and To Thee a Very Merry from the 2008 JCS Ornament Issue.

I rotated the colors in Peace to give her a pink dress instead of pink accents. For A Very Merry, I added the year and moved around the eyelet stitches above the year to fit. I also had fun with the eyelets. Many of them are off center.

Finally, I made progress on 272 Words by Primrose Needleworks. I’m not quite done with the first page. Instead of GAST Nutmeg for the text, I’m using soot by Nina’s Threads, which I ordered from The Thread Basket.

That does it for 2013. I’m going to participate in the Sampler World Snoot Parrots SAL 2014 on Facebook, so I’ll have another WIP very soon.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year.  Happy Stitching! 🙂

UGH

So much for consistency between dyelots in DMC floss. I ran out of floss while stitching. Off I moseyed to the craft store. I recommenced stitching. The next day…

I find it’s easier to notice when the image is smaller. It took the boy a while to discern the difference. He agreed that once seen, it can’t be unseen. I’m tossing it in the naughty pile. If I were to frog, I wouldn’t frog the tail (who cares if a tail is darker?), but if I frog, I fear it could lead to more stitchy misadventures. I’m not in the mood. I have other things to do, and a series of unfortunate events have robbed me of enough stitching time.

Onward.

Happy stitching! 🙂

Pieta, pt. 16

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Fourteen pages done. Go, me! In the wrong light, a photo won’t really show the progress. It does here (mostly), so this pic’s the winner. Ding, ding, ding!

Progress stats, according to Terri Reckoning (tm  ):
Completed rows: 183/235, or 78%
Completed pages:14/16, or 87.5%  It’s actually 89%, because the design isn’t a square.
Completed stitches: 39024/42300, or 92%

   

Before/After

Happy Stitching! 🙂

Pieta, pt. 15

Twelve pages! I’m thankful for progress pics. Stitching row after row of one color makes it easy to lose perspective on how much you’ve stitched, more than “regular” stitching. If that makes sense, you might be a stitcher. 😉

Progress stats, according to Terri Reckoning (tm  ):
Completed rows: 183/235, or 78%
Completed pages:12/16, or 75%  It’s actually 78%, because the design isn’t a square.
Completed stitches: 35140/42300, or 83%

   

Before/After

Happy Stitching! 🙂

Ready for Beading

I’ve finished the stitching on all six parts of my Patchwork Garden Pincushion Ball. Now I have beads to attach before assembly.

Page three, stitched on 28-ct. DMC white linen.

Page four, Raspberry Light Jobelan

Page five, Meadow Mist linen. This is my favorite color combination. J’adore.

Page six. White linen again.

I hope it’s not too fiddly to assemble.

Happy stitching! 🙂

Pieta, pt. 14

Another page complete! It’s like I never put this down for a whole year. I took a couple of progress pics along the way with my phone–

                  

She looks like this now–

Progress stats, according to Terri Reckoning (tm  ):
Completed rows: 62/235, or 52%
Completed pages:11/16, or 68.75%  It’s actually 72%, because the design isn’t a square.
Completed stitches:33078/42300, or 78%

Over 3/4 complete! I can see the end. The next three pages are very uncomplicated, so when I pull her out again, it shouldn’t take as long as a typical page.

     

Before/Middles/After

Happy Stitching! 🙂

Busy, busy stitcher bee

No bee stitching, though. 😉

On July 3, the 150th anniversary of the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg, I began stitching Primrose Needleworks’ 272 Words.

I decided I didn’t want to stitch the text in the nutmeg color of the chart. I found a color I liked at the LNS, but they didn’t have enough, and what they did have was from two different dye lots. I’ve taken a chance at another color. We’ll see where this takes me…

I’ve also been working on Patchwork Garden Pinball by Twisted Oaks. The original pattern has six pieces that spell out GARDEN. I didn’t want that, so I found and modified some motifs in books I own. Way to make those purchases pay off! I was really enjoying it. Then I started 272 Words, and then it was the SAL weekend on Facebook’s  Cross Stitch SAL group. I worked on Pieta for the FB SAL.

This was stitched on 28-ct Raspberry Light jobelan. It doesn’t show up well with a pink background. It’s pretty. You can take my word for it.

This was stitched on 28-ct. Meadow Mist linen. I’m also going to stitch two parts on white linen.

I’m really enjoying this project. I hope you’re enjoying yours. I’ll be posting a Pieta update soon.

Happy stitching! 🙂

Pieta, pt. 13

That was fast. You know, for someone that puts a project away for months at a time. Like me.

I present to you Pieta with 10 pages completed:

Progress stats, according to Terri Reckoning (tm  ):
Completed rows: 62/235, or 52%
Completed pages:10/16, or 62.5%  It’s actually 65%, because the design isn’t a square.
Completed stitches:29072/42300, or 69%

      

Before/After

Happy Stitching!

Rest Stop

I got a bit of burn-out, and a bit of startitis, while working on Going to Market, so we pulled over to a rest stop. I can’t actually start my project of choice just yet. I’m waiting for my LNS to call me about a couple of frame jobs I dropped off last week to go pick up the necessary perle floss to begin. I could start without it, but I don’t want to.  I’ve been working on Pieta in the meantime (progress pic to follow).

Here’s the current state of Market–

Happy Stitching! 🙂

Going To Market

This week I worked on a new start, Going to Market by Dimensions.

I love Julia Cairns’ art. I had her calendar two years in a row. I bought this kit many moons ago because it reminds me of the year the husband and I lived in Antigua; our honeymoon busman’s holiday. I want to put it in an Olde Colonial clock when I’m done.  I’m pleased to have completed the little man and his bowl.

The kit comes with 14-ct Aida. Stitching them one-over-one on 32-ct. linen will make it an ideal size for the clock. I don’t know the name of this linen, but I saw it in my LNS while looking for someone else and I knew it would be perfect for this design. I’d looked at other fabrics, but never quite felt any were “just right” until I saw this one. I love serendipity, don’t you?

This kit has some blended needles, so I’ve been improvising with DMC. The background is charted for mostly blended needle half stitches with three and four strands of floss. I’m considering using one strand for the three-strand symbols and two strands for the four-strand symbols. I”m going to experiment a bit to see whether using two strands over one is too tight. Stitching is full of excitement!!

Now I’m itching for stitching something else, like a small. Poor Pieta! 😉

Happy stitching! 🙂

Pieta, pt. 12

Patience. I can has it!

You know that non-yelly piece of parenting advice that suggests that you withhold fun privilege A from a child until they’ve accomplished icky task B? I’ve had frustrations with this in the past, because, boy, can a kid sacrifice A in order to avoid B, you know? Sheesh, just do B, and we’ll all be happy. But, nooooo. I tried this tactic on myself recently. Since I’ve had difficulty motivating myself to stitch on Pieta, I proclaimed there would be no stitching on anything until a page of Pieta is complete! I was very strict with myself. I’m impressed I didn’t abandon this plan in favor of stitching whatever I wanted. I waited TWO weeks before I started stitching on my. Can you imagine no stitching for two whole weeks?!? Neither could I before it happened. She looked over my shoulder from my stitching stand, and I gave her virtual raspberries. I looked through kitted project after kitted project, and didn’t lose my resolve. Finally, after TWO WEEKS of no stitching, I started up again.

This sort of patience is not normally in my wheelhouse, believe me. I didn’t imagine it would take me that long to return to stitching Pieta. Or, if I did, I certainly didn’t imagine I would wait that long to stitch anything. It’s more my style to tell myself stitching is supposed to be fun, so get busy stitching whatever it is I want. What a surprise. Anyway, here is the current progress pic:

It always amazes me how seemingly random stripes of gray start to actually look like something as a page fills in. I made a point of “touching bottom”, since the page I was working on doesn’t reach that far. That was thrilling. Remember “touching bottom” in the pool as a kid? Yeah. Same feeling. Sweet memories. I’m also really satisfied to have her entire left side solidly stitched. It was a joyful celebration thinking that I’ve now completely stitched more than half of the pages. Seriously, you’d’ve thought I was this close ( || ) to being done. When I realized just how far I have to go, I started looking for my fainting couch. Turns out I don’t have a fainting couch. Time to go shopping, I suppose. sigh

Well, stitchers, I’ve earned the privilege of starting anything I want. The excitement is palpable, believe me. 😉

Progress stats, according to Terri Reckoning (tm  ):
Completed rows: 62/235, or 52%
Completed pages: 9/16, or 56%  It’s actually 58%, because the design isn’t a square.
Completed stitches: 26,865/42300, or 64%

   

Before/After

Happy Stitching! 🙂

Time to See the Doctor

I’ve been working on a little Doctor Who piece for the boy. I got it from wee little stitches on Etsy.

I had fun filtering it through Instagram, and I’m sort of having fun posting from my phone. The screen is tiny (like the wee little stitches)!

I’m just doing three doctors, though you can get all eleven. It’s so cute and pixel-y.

Happy stitching! 🙂

March at the Shores, pt. 18

I’m so close.

I would normally include a picture of the full sampler, but this is my first time posting from my phone, and I didn’t take one. We can see the important parts. Ain’t technology grand?

Oooh, I hope it’s not long before I’m done!

Happy stitching! 🙂

November at the Shores, pt. 17

I’m stunned that it’s been two months since I updated the blog. I’ve been stitching away. No lie. For instance, I finished block 4 of Shores of Hawk Run Hollow in early November.

I have one more block to go. I planned to finish this year, but I’ve been bitten by the Christmas stitching and crafting bug. This will likely be my last update of Shores for the year. It doesn’t help that the final block to stitch is the dense memorial block. Too easy to procrastinate. And then there’s my indecision about a border. Should I, shouldn’t I? Will I, won’t I? What should it be? Do I have enough fabric to frame if I do stitch a border? See? It’s the indecision, not the distractions that are keeping me from finishing. Uh-huh. That’s it.

Here’s the current state of the WIP:

I’ve finished two ornaments. They’re identical. I stitched one for an exchange that I loved so much, I stitched an identical one for myself. I have to wait for the opening day to post it (Very soon, I hope!). I also stitched another ornament, but I’m not done finishing it. I need to decide on a trim. I had another, not Christmas-y, small finish, Shakespeare’s Peddler’s God Bless Those. I bought the kit as a birthday present for myself from The Silver Needle. As soon as it arrived, all others stitching came to a halt. I had to stitch it immediately. Now I need to finish it. I’m heading to craft stores in search of many needful supplies, and will hopefully find a trim I love. That will leave the question of whether to finish it as a pillow or a pinkeep. And, now I see I should have checked Wasatch Needlecraft, as it’s on sale there. sigh

See? I’ve been busy stitching and neglecting my updates. I hope you’re enjoying your holiday season.

Happy Stitching! 🙂

Pieta, pt. 11

So there I was, plugging away on Pieta, when I noticed something. “Boy!” I called. “Come down here!”

Ever the dutiful son (cough), he obeyed. “Look at her. Does she look like a Terminator to you?” He agreed she did, so I gave him a substantial increase in his allowance (cough, cough). I confess my schoolgirl self felt terribly guilty and blasphemous, what with this being the Virgin Mary and all, but the brain sees what it sees. Mine sees Terminator Mary. How about yours?

Terminator Pieta

Lo, and behold, about a week later, no more Terminator Mary! You can definitely see her lower facial outline. I’ve always loved her delicate, beautiful face. Crossing the halfway point on this project was as exciting for me as if it was a finish. When I crowed to the boy, he told me to hurry up and finish her. He’s grounded until he’s forty. 😉

Sing with me!
Halfway done, halfway done, I’m halfway, halfway done!
Catchy tune, don’t you think? I may have missed my calling as a pop lyricist.

Progress stats, according to Terri Reckoning (tm  ):
Completed rows: 62/235, or 52%
Completed pages: 8/16, or 50%  It’s actually 52%, because the design isn’t a square.
Completed stitches:23260/42300, or 55%

 

Before/After

Happy Stitching! 🙂

September at the Shores, pt. 16

I thought I published this over a week ago! I don’t know why I didn’t. Synapses were not firing properly.

I finished another block of Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. I stitched block twelve this time. I want to finish it by the end of the year. We’ll see.

I was looking forward to stitching this block. The bird makes me smile. I kind of wonder why the sun has eyes and a nose, but no mouth. I don’t think he’d look good with a mouth. Maybe it’s a simple as that. Only two more blocks to go. You can be sure I’ll save the memorial block for last.

Here’s the full WIP picture:

Happy Stitching! 🙂

Dr. Seuss at the Shores

One fish

Two fish

Red fish

Blue fish

…

Seahorse

Happy Stitching! 🙂