This month's discussion topic is: "What is your favorite way to finish ornaments and/or smalls?" I haven't stitched or "finished" any ornaments or smalls in a LONG time --- MOST of what I stitch is medium to large and intended for a frame or some sort of hanging banner. However, when I DID make ornaments, I usually went the way of flat-folds or pillows. ~~~~~WIPs~~~~~ What I stitched on in November: I decoded that I wasn't making a lot of progress in rotational stitching where I alternating projects daily. Instead, I decided to settle on a project week, more or less. I don't know if this resulted in more progress but it made me feel a little more positive about my stitching. 1. Fox & Rabbit's Patreon "Temperature Chart" for the year 2023. Stitched on 28 ct. "Star Sapphire" Gobelin (although it looks more pale green than "sapphire" to me) using DMC floss. I'm stitching the day's low on the left side of the hearts and the high on the right side. All temperatures are based on the recorded highs and lows from an online "past weather" temperature chart for near-by Bowling Green, Ohio (we don't have a reliable outdoor temperature thermometer for our home so I'm assuming same ZIP code, similar temperature, although that isn't totally accurate). I am pretty much keeping up with the days, waiting until I have at least five days of temperatures charted to stitch each session. I spend the rest of the time on the border and the hangers. The picture below shows temperatures through November 20 and the border finally stitched out...  2. Fox & Rabbit Mystery SAL for 2023, "Royal Gardens". Stitching on 32ct Lugana "pale green" (this isn't an accurate color in this photo) using Threadworx Overdyed Floss 1048 "Woodland Green". I have finished the January installment (sans border outlines and two areas of backstitching) with two major stitching errors that I will have to fudge around (because I didn't notice them until several rows of stitching and was NOT going to frog weeks worth of work to "fix" ). I have started on the borders, parts of which were in the January, March, and June pattern releases. Since I have so much of the pattern in hand (through November with the final December installment due this coming week), I am setting the borders on each side and then trying to finish the stitching in the center of the pattern, from left to right, top to bottom. I hope that this approach will result in better progress and allow me to account for the stitching error in installment one. As a result, I have the majority of the April installment (on the right) and about one third of the February installment (on the left) complete. That medallion on the left is giving me major headaches and I was frogging more than stitching last night, but I think I've got it sussed out now... Fingers crossed!  3. A Charity SAL from A Steady Thread. Stitched on 28-ct even weave, antique white, using Sulky 12 wt threads. Don't ask me why but I really liked the look of this one and so I started a new piece! AAARGH! All blackwork, but I decided to play with color here. I have done parts of the wreath so that I can place the ornaments, and done the stitching on three of the four ornaments released so far.  This is a bear to stitch because the fabric I chose is a very tightly woven 28-count even-weave and I'm having a terrible time counting! So there is a lot of fudging going on here and I sure hope that the ends of the wreath connect at the bottom! 4. Stitchonomy SAL for 2023 "Kingdom's of Life". All I have finished so far (the frame, the bacteria and the plants) were shown in previous posts. I am doing some color editing on two installments before I proceed. No progress this month. ~~~~~ A COMPLETION!~~~~~ I finished the Stitchonomy Halloween 2023 SAL! Stitched in DMC (two strands) on the kit 14-ct AIDA (a sort of brownish olive green), with charms from the kit added. All it needs now is to be hemmed and hung as a banner... Need to search my stash to see if I have a suitable hanger...  ~~~~~ To sum up my November stitchery progress:
I may have one more completion in 2023, with another piece close to completion as well, assuming the holidays don't put a hitch in my stitching plans. Keeping my stitching fingers limber --- and crossed! |
