Stitch Class September

Stitch class this month was today, which is also BFF-N's birthday, so first the card for her.

The front. This was an experimental piece. I have a background stamp of cupcakes by the same artist as the main image here (also the same artist responsible for the cupcake-tower stamp I sometimes use), which I stamped with watermark ink, heat-embossed with clear powder, then ran through the dry-embossing "happy birthday" folder. I matted that with a sage green. The center horizontal panel got the folder treatment, but not the watermark/heat-embossing treatment, and was also matted with the same sage green. The cupcake was stamped with two colors of VersaMagic chalk ink on white card stock, cut square-on-point, and then matted with the sage green. The heat-embossing didn't work as nicely as I had hoped; maybe a touch of color in the embossing powder would have helped.

And the innard, where the sentiment square-on-point was also run through the embossing folder, then matted with the same sage green as the card front.

BSF-T (that's Best Stitching Friend) had a finish today:

This is her Mary Wigham, done on a much finer count that my own MIA Mary Wigham, and a most beautiful piece. Congratulations, GF!!!

I worked on Margaret's Monochrome Madness again. Here's MMM at the end of last month's session:

I started by frogging a bit of that green block I finished last month and then re-stitched the off-by-one-thread mistake I'd make on the last row. It's the green block at the top right corner of the (incomplete) center medallion. I also added a bit more (almost finished) to the block to the right of the green block.

 

And started stitching the border:

There's another section of border that will be stitched around the outside of this one.

10:30PM Update: Hannah Beeby is done. And getting a back.

Stitch Class 1208

Once again I worked exclusively on the piece affectionately known as "Margaret's Monochrome Madness."

Progress at the beginning of class today:

And at the end of class:

Now complete is the greenish colored block to the right of the center block. Unfortunately, I made a placement error in the top row, and it's obvious I'm going to have to do some frogging and re-stitching next month. I also added to the center block.

Yes, it looks like I'm getting close to a finish, but there's still a couple of rows of motifs for the border yet to be stitched.

April 2012 Monthly Stitch Class

Today was the monthly open stitch class at my LNS, Needlepoints Ltd. As usual, I had no idea which piece (or pieces--I've been known to stitch on more than one piece in the course of a class) I'd pull out until I actually pulled one out to stitch on. I'd had tentative plans to work on the piece lovingly known among its stitchers as Margaret's Monochrome Madness, and that's the one I chose to work on again this month.

Progress as of the start of class:

Detail shot of the area I chose to work on this month, start of class:

Detail shot of the area after class:

As you can see, I finished the left block and started and finished the Utah-shaped block.

I also stopped by the LSS, Stamp Fever, before stitch class because the first Saturday is Card of the Month day. I learned another new technique, this time in the card base itself rather than stamping/coloring techniques.

The front (above) and the inside (below).

Progress

Here's the current status of "Dazzle," designed by our LNS's teacher, Margaret Bendig.

It's Official!

I'm number 202 on the TUSAL list! Unfortunately, I think that means I need to find a moment or three to put the link in my sidebar, as well as keep track of the New Moons, since that's when we're supposed to post our TUSAL progress. Well, it gives me an extra reason to make sure I keep up with posting this year.

It's the beginning of a new year, and a lot of folks on assorted message boards and in various blogs are setting new goals. So what are mine for this year? I'm going to try to blog more, and post more photos of cards and stitchery. I've also decided to join my dear friend Terri in her goal to spend our monthly stitch class time working on pieces for which we're likely to need the teacher's assistance. Today before I left for class I hunted down a piece that's been languishing since before the LNS moved to its new location (a few doors down from an older location!). "Dazzle" was designed by Margaret Bendig, our class' teacher. I didn't think to take a progress pic before resuming this piece today (January 8). The center motif and 3 of the dark-green-and-shiny-stuff arms were done when I set this piece aside. So today I completed the 4th of those arms, as well as the light-colored motifs, and have begun the next segment at the end of each of the arms. For those of you familiar with DMC numbers, the dark floss and the middle value are in the 520 series of sagey greens; the lightest green is a Rainbow Gallery Mandarin floss (made from bamboo). And the canvas is a light sagey green.
I certainly won't be limited to counted canvas pieces in this endeavor, since I also have Margaret's "Spot Sampler" started and have an Ellen Chester class piece suffering neglect, both of which are primarily counted cross stitch.

Needlework!

The most recent progress picture of Mary Wigham, taken nearly a month ago at the LNS' All-Day Open Stitch Class:
This is being stitched on PTP's "Heritage" in 32-count Lugana with overdyes primarily from my stash, 1 strand over two.

The birth piece for my younger niece's older son's son:
This is "Blue Jean Teddy," which is what the mother requested for the layette, and stitched from a kit with the kit floss but with an overdyed fabric I pulled from my stash, 1 strand over two on 32-count Lugana. I personally despise pictures shot on an angle like this, but I was having a terrible time with reflections on the day I photographed this one.

And the wedding piece for my older niece's older son and his wife:
They all get the same sampler, done in the color(s) of their choice. This one is done in a hand-dyed red by ThreadWorX and DMC 304 (for the personalization and quote), on 25-count white Lugana, 2 strands over two.

Finally Done!

No pictures yet, since I finished it about 7 Sunday night, and haven't washed it either, but the birth piece is done.

Saturday was the All-Day Open Stitch Class at my LNS, where I've been working on Mary Wigham, partly because she calls and partly as a relief from the Obligation Stitching. Well, I made a counting mistake in the motif I was working on and Terri and Margaret (the teacher) searched for a half an hour or more, trying to find it. Then Terri looked some more after our lunch break. Then Melissa took a turn at it. And found it!!! Many, many thanks to all three for their efforts! I had to frog only a half a dozen or so stitches to fix it.

Stitch Class Today

This is it was the regular monthly class, and I chose to spend the whole day on Hannah Beeby. Here she is so far:

Hallowe'en Stitch Class

I decided to concentrate on a Hallowe'en piece for my LNS' Fifth Saturday All-Day Open Stitch Class yesterday. Here's the current progress on "Smell My Feet," from last year's Just Cross Stitch Hallowe'en issue:
This is a companion to the "Something Wicked" piece I finished on the cruise earlier this year, and is stitched on the same hand-dyed fabric (Monster Mash from Picture This Plus) with the same floss changes I made to the other piece. Eventually there'll be another boot and the words "Trick or Treat" stitched onto this one (and the border completed). And there's another companion piece, "Toil and Trouble," that I bought yesterday and ordered another fabric for (because of the colors in T&T the "Monster Mash" won't work).

We also have the schedule for next year's classes, and I'll miss the very first one, because that's the day the Capitals will be playing the Kings at Staples Center.

What A Weekend!

The big news, of course, is the Angels' sweep of their (historically) single greatest nemesis, the Boston Red Sox. And the beauty of this one is that the winning game was a late-inning comebacker at Fenway.

The monthly stitch class at my LNS was yesterday, and boy, did we laugh a lot and hard!! Three pieces of mine saw some progress: Hannah Beeby, Beatrix Potter, and "Smell My Feet," the ornament from last year's Just Cross Stitch Hallowe'en issue. It's by La D Da and is a companion of sorts to "Something Wicked," the witch's boot piece I finished on the cruise earlier this year.

Here's Hannah:
Here's Beatrix:
And here's "Smell My Feet," which is being stitched on the same fabric as "Something Wicked," Picture This Plus' "Monster Mash":
I also uploaded all my FanFest pictures to an album and labeled them.

Godspeed, Discovery!

And best wishes to you on your 25th mission. Today's NASA Image of the Day really rocks. If you don't already have that widget on your iGoogle, head on over to the NASA website for a look-see.

And in more mundane matters: today was the first of the new "Fifth Saturday" all-day open stitch class at the LNS and I made a little progress on three Quaker samplers (Hannah Beeby, Beatrix Potter, and Mary Wigham) and on Margaret's Monochrome Madness. I have pictures of the Quakers, but for some reason the MMM picture is corrupted. Oh, well, maybe next time.

Here's Mary, with the upper left half medallion finally complete and the next half medallion, down the left side of the piece, started:
Here's Hannah Beeby, with the tan stitching done today (after going to a slightly darker shade of Anchor floss).
And here's Beatrix Potter, with a bit more progress in a half medallion on the left side:

Rocking Day!

Stitch class today totally rocked! A truly wonderful surprise: Melissa's and my dear friend Terri joined our all-day open stitch class today!!!!! My face still hurts from all the laughter, but what a good hurt it is!

No progress on Margeret's Monochrome Madness this time, nor any on the Ellen Chester class piece from June, but I did get a bit of stitching done on my three in-progress Quakers: Beatrix Potter, Hannah Beeby (I love love love the colors Terri is using for this one!!), and Mary Wigham (which Melissa just re-kitted for a re-start, and I love the overdyed flosses she chose, very muted, very faded-samplery).
Here's the current progress on Hannah Beeby:
There are three colors used in the chart for this one, but so far I've only chosen two, of which only one has yet seen any use.
And the current progress on Beatrix Potter:
Beatrix is a true monochrome in my version; I'm using two shades of the same color.
And Mary's current state:
I'm stitching Mary as a polychrome, from overdyeds I pulled from my stash. And this half medallion seems to be taking forever.
I anticipate lots of laughter during the Fifth-Saturday class later this month and am hoping for lots of cancellations for the rest of the classes this year, to shorten the waiting list for Terri.

GTG in Alameda

No photos for later blackmail, if you can believe that! But saw the Gidget of Whiz again (for the first time since CATS Las Vegas), and met in person on-line stitching buds 'chelle and RaphaelRay. Made a bit of progress in my newest start, the Mary Wigham Ackworth Quaker. 'chelle is even more enjoyable in person than online, an absolute delight! RaphaelRay (Jill) brought along some pieces to share with us, and is quite the bunny nut, like another bunny nut I know and love. AnnaMarie isn't a part of our little online community, but is also a stitcher of Teresa Wentzler projects and brought along her in-progress "Stretch" and her recently completed "Tradewinds." Needle in a Haystack is a very nice shop, in lovely downtown Alameda, which is chockful of Victorian and Craftsman-style buildings.
Edited to add: I also picked up a few more possible threads for the counted canvas project, since my LNS doesn't carry these.

Godspeed, Endeavour!

NASA Image of the Day is a shot at the T+11 seconds mark. And, of course, there'll be more shots on the NASA website, and rockin' cool video on the NASA channel.

In other news, I got the call from my LNS that my Mary Wigham fabric arrived, so I cut my morning bike ride short and picked up my fabric!

And the 2009-2010 hockey schedules have been released. I'm baffled that the Caps will be in my area to play the Kings but not the Ducks. Seems silly to me. But on this California visit they'll also be playing the Sharks. Can you say "road trip"? Hello, Bay Area!!

Stitch Class Today

It was the monthly all-day open stitch class today. The first project I worked on was the piece from the Ellen Chester class we took at the end of June:
Eventually this will be a ship, which will eventually be made into a scissor fob or something along those lines. Then I made a little more progress on the Hannah Beeby Quaker:
This is over one fabric thread with one strand of DMC (for now; there'll be some Anchor used later), on 25-count Lugana "Vintage Country Mocha." After that, I did some test-stitching for the Beatrix Potter Quaker and completed one half-medallion and got a fair start on another:
Beatrix is being stitched with plain ol' DMC, one strand over two threads on 28-count Lugana, an overdye I've forgotten the source of. And after lunch I put in some time on "Margaret's Monochrome Madness":
I worked first on the far right segment, and put three rows (I supposed they're technically columns, since they're vertical and not horizontal) and then started the block on the far left.

Half the Year!

Gone already!!

So far this year, I've completed: two Quaker Quarterly Exchanges and a graduation sampler. Still in progress are: a gift, Margaret's Monochrome Madness counted canvas, the class piece from last weekend, and Hannah Beeby. Still languishing are: a Curtis Boehringer Wildflower of America (it's been so long, I've forgotten which one is started!), a Drawn Thread Garden (I think it's Wildflower Garden, but again, it's been a while), and TW's "Carousel" (which piece I'd actually begun with the intention of entering it in last year's county fair!). And my fingers are aching to begin Mary Wigham and Beatrix Potter (both are Quaker pieces and I'm not sure of the history of the Potter piece, nor why it's called "Beatrix Potter").

I'm still waiting for the fabric for Mary, which I had my LNS order from Picture This Plus. And I have a piece of fabric at home that I could use for Beatrix, but it's 28 count and I'm not sure I want it that big. Decisions, decisions.

It's a holiday weekend here in the US, but I have to work tomorrow. On Saturday the BFFs and I are going to the facility formerly known as NAS Los Alamitos for the Independence Day celebration hosted there. Any stitching this weekend will be on projects at home.

Progress Pictures

Today was a follow-up get-together at the LNS for "Margaret's Monochrome Madness," and about half the class was able to make it. One woman is very nearly done with hers! It's done in a variety of pale aquas on like-colored canvas and is really lovely. I managed to get three more areas stitched in mine, along with another one started. The image below is the close-up of the three finished and one started boxes.

This image is the whole piece in its current state of progress.
Tomorrow is our Ellen Chester class, so another whole day of stitching, this time counted cross stitch. And this time BSF Melissa will be there! We missed you today, my friend!

Progress on MMM and a New Start

I really love it when BSF (Best Stitching Friend) Melissa and I can get together at our LNS for some drop-in stitching, and today saw us there again. Melissa did a lot of floss-pulling and floss-tossing for a couple of projects, while I completed one more of the boxes in "Margaret's Monochrome Madness" and started another. Here she is, hard at work on her "Mary Wigham" Quaker repro. Eventually we'll both be working on this one, but I'm waiting for my fabric to arrive at the LNS from the hand-dyer, Picture This Plus. Hop on over to her blog to read about her fabric and fiber choices. Mine will be on PTP's "Heritage" on 32-count Lugana, and I'll be stitching over two with one strand, with an assortment of overdyed flosses pulled from my stash.
And here's the latest completed box on "Margeret's Monochrome Madness":
It's the box done in diagonal blocks with an overdyed fiber very similar to a perle coton. This one is Caron Collections Wildflowers "Rye."

My new start is a piece Melissa, our stitching bud Terri, Melissa's buddy Tracy, and I are doing as a stitchalong. It's another repro Quaker sampler, "Hannah Beeby." Mine is over one thread on 25-count Lugana "Vintage Country Mocha." I'm using plain old solid-color DMC floss for this one, although I had to make a change to a slightly darker shade when I started stitching and realized that the 3013 would be way too light. Melissa and I agree that the 3012 works much better!
The quarter is there not just so that you can tell how tiny the stitching is, but is also a needle magnet put together by a wonderful lady who also is a fellow stitch-class student, fellow MMMer, and fellow Surf City 5K participant.

Sadly (for me, anyway!), Melissa will be off to visit Tracy later this week, so I'll be missing my BSF for the next couple of weeks. We'll see each other again for the Ellen Chester class at our LNS later this month, and then she's off again, to visit Nick in Detroit! The store will definitely be quiet for the next several Saturdays.

Update!

Three-day weekend! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NASA decided to keep Atlantis up another day or two after completing the Hubble service mission, hoping to land at the Cape instead of the more expensive Edwards AFB, so instead of getting to (finally!!) see an orbiter landing I headed down to Garden Grove for the Strawberry Festival Parade with the BFFs. I parked a little less than a couple of miles away and rode my bike (Orion) over there. Got a bit sunburned once the June Gloom In May burned off. The parade was dreadful, with really horrible gaps in it. Granted, it'll never be the Rose Parade, but this was beyond pathetic. Rode back to where I'd parked the van, loaded up the bike, scrawled a brief passage in my ride journal, then the BFFs and I had lunch at the unspectacular Hometown Buffet. After that, I headed over to the LNS for some drop-in stitching with BSF (best stitching friend) Melissa. After the store closed, Melissa, the store's owner, her chief clerk, and I had dinner at Mimi's.

I finally finished all the "sashing" stitches which divide the piece into 38 segments (we call 'em boxes), so now I just have to fill them all up with the various stitches and fibers.

I've also finished the stitching on the latest Quaker Quarterly Exchange piece, and have the finishing-finishing to do this weekend.

Latest Finish and Current Project

My most recent finish is the most recent Quaker Quarterly Exchange (number 17, although I haven't been participating that long). This was done on 32-count white Lugana with Weeks Dye Works "Peoria Purple."
And my current "away" or "travel" project, a counted canvas piece designed by Margaret Bendig, a teacher at my LNS.
Margaret's original name for this piece is "Patterns Galore," but this version, this class, is called "Margaret's Monochrome Madness," and each of the dozen or so of us have chosen different colorways based on the overdyed thread each of us chose. Mine is based on the colors and tones in Caron Collection's Waterlilies "Rye." Eventually I'll have a final count of just how many different fibers I will have used in this piece. There's also a companion piece based on the center motif. Each block contains at least one specialty stitch, and some contain combinations of specialty stitches. This is my progress after 3 class meetings, two afternoons spent on my own in the classroom at the shop, 2 of the monthly Saturday Open Stitch Class sessions, and quite a bit of time on the cruise in February.