2012: A Year of Challenges - week 4

And this was a week of challenges! Not only did I manage to complete a Stash Buster piece and a Crazy quilt Journal Challenge/Bead Journal piece (the latter of which had overtones of the Color Palette Challenge!), I finished Take-a-Stitch-Tuesday - Week 4's challenge, the Cretan Stitch!

Oh, and I did a Finish It Frenzy too --- I lined the insides of the three needlepoint "cases" I have stitched from Stitch & Zip by Alice Peterson Co: Paisely Jacobean, Zen Bamboo, and Coffee Break:


Paisely Jacobean and Zen Bamboo both got green felt liners while Coffee Break got maroon (as close as I had to the brown psuedo-suede backing).

And after all that, I got in a little more stitching on "Sewing with Mama!" (the doily under the tea cup, some detail on the pin cushion and some detail on the draping behind the sewing machine --- all in cream so it isn't very distinct... and even less distinct, the detailing of the ruffles on the red-and-white pillow sham in a very pale grey brown.):

And started on the remaining Stash Buster Club piece on my table: Beach Mat Frame. Not a lot of progress here (I'm using sock yarn and it likes to catch on the raw edges of the canvas) and, given how the corner squares are turning out, I think I may rename this something other than Beach Mat...

Also, my threads and fabric for Kimono-Revisited arrived this week...

The instructor calls this the "Electric Blue" combination (based on the colors in three skeins of ThreadWorx) on blue congress cloth.  We "students" are supposed to play around with thread choices (but since stitching is supposed to start in a week, I'm not sure I will be able to accomplish much in that area. I have searched my stash and don't really "see" any threads that will work with these and am not confident enough to expand on the color range... And since there is no LNS close to me, shopping online is likely to be a blind (and pricey) experiment. with high probability of failure..).

Of course, I had forgotten exactly what I ordered from the instructor so I did order some navy DMC and equivalent Kreinik for purposes of outlining (either DMC or Kreinik, not both). You can see them here, in the lower left of this photo (Not sure why the congress cloth changed color --- same place, similar time, same flash). The ones he recommended for outlining in this colorway are the medium blues on the right:

I suppose these can be added to the mix... Any comments?

Take A Stitch Tuesday 2012 Challenge - Week 4

Cretan Stitch! This is one I have never done before and although the actual stitch isn't that complicated, it took me a couple of redos before I figured it out...


It's stitched in GAST "Forest Glade" which looked green in the skein but not so much in the stitch.

I think I've made a decision about how I'm going to treat this band sampler too... I calculated it would be over 8 feet long if I tried to just go on as it is so, instead, I'm going to cut the fabric at the end of each month (which should be roughly 11" long, finish each piece as an 8.5 x 11 "page" and make a stitching book from it. Not only will it be less unwieldy, it means I can change out fabric now and then so I don't have to worry about having enough of this Jobelan for the whole challenge.

IHSW January 2012 - Well, I wasn't exactly a "hermit" stitcher

this past weekend, what with the Toledo Symphony concert Friday night, but I did stitch almost all day Saturday and a good portion of Sunday and got two completions chalked up to "International Hermit and Stitch Weekend"! The first was my CQJC2012/BJP2102 crazy quilt block, which I posted yesterday.

The second was the December 2011 Stash Buster project called Nana's Afghan (think Granny Squares in needlepoint!). I didn't make it full size as I really didn't need an insert for a tote or the like, so I downsized it to roughly 5 x 5 and will put it in the needlepoint ornament-to-be pile!

It is truly a stash buster as I used the same DMC flosses I used for the two pyramid socks (posted here and here)  in this monthly challenge...

Only one more project left to be kitted up and stitched in Stash-busters and I'll be caught up, at least until Ms. Perry sets another challenge before us! SO it's back to "Sewing with Mama"!

Crazy Quilt Journal Challenge 2012/Bead Journal Project 2102 - January

Here it is:
Lots of acknowledgements required here. First of all, the colors chosen were from the Color Palette Challenge being made by Judy Laquidara over at Patchwork TImes, based on the color palettes developed by Vicki Welsh at Field Trips in Fiber. I chose my fabrics, all cotton, form my stash based on how that palette looked to me on my laptop --- of course, I found out two weeks later that some called what I thought was purple maroon or burgundy... oh well, it's my eyes, right?

I assembled the crazy quilt base using the Block #1 grid from Sharon B at PinTangle. I enlarged the pattern so it would result in a 6 x 6 block, as required by the CQJC, and transferred it to a piece of white craft felt which became the piecing foundation for my block.

Seam embellishments all came from my stash except a piece of pale blue lace (it looks white in the photo) which I found at Hobby Lobby (It appears I don't have a lot of lace in my stash!) and a length of lime green sparkly ribbon I acquired from my local stamping/scrapbooking shop.

Maybe participating in the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge influenced me but most of the embroidery stitches were based on the first three weeks of that challenge: Buttonhole stitch, Fly stitch, and Feather Stitch. I used a chain stitch to "connect" various areas of the piecing. Threads used were all DMC: 311 (dark blue), 550, 554 (two shades of purple) and 907 (lime green).

I then embellished the lace and some of the stitches with seed beads (Mill Hill 02031- clear lime green and 02069 opaque purple, and a generic white opaque luster bead) and couched a string of decorative crystal bead edging along the strip of lace.

It needed some balance so I stitched and beaded a "copy" of the motif in the light purple fabric over to the right in the dark purple fabric.

I did all the embellishment "in hand" --- I learned something from this block --- leave enough extra on the piece so I can use a hoop next time!

2012: A Year of Challenges - week 3

Well, the challenges are being managed pretty well, even with two interruptions to my stitching schedule: My husband's Master Gardener Appreciation DInner Thursday Night and a concert by the Toledo Symphony (Friday night) which involved driving to and from the Museum of Art in the first real snow storm of the year (I don't want to ever do THAT again!).

By the way, the Toledo Symphony "ROCKS". The concert was heavily Rome in theme (Roman Carnival Overture by Berlioz,  The Pines of Rome by Respighi, Spartacus Suite by Khachaturian and something REALLY modern called Circus Maximus by Corigliano). Joining the symphony were the Bowling Green State University Wind Symphony and the Toledo Glassmen (a drum and bugle corps), all of whom were stationed in the aisles and in the balconies around the museum's peristyle. WOW!

Anyway, back to stitchery. I did work on "Sewing with Mama" and got four more colors of backstitching, straight stitches and lazy daisy stitches done:

And I put together a 2009 unfinished finish (Coeur de lettres) for Finishing Frenzy:


The pillow finished 11 x 7 inches and is backed with a thin wale deep purple corduroy.

Also finished was my TAST2102 - week three stitch: Feather Stitch, previously posted.

And I tossed (and selected) floss for my CrazyQuilt Journal/Bead Journal piece and intend to start on that this weekend while I participate in the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend! Just what I needed, right? ANOTHER challenge for 2012. But this is an easy one because I'm doing WIPocaplypse 2102 anyway, my husband is going to to of the university's basketball games this weekend (GO! Falcons) and besides, there's three-four inches of snow on the ground so what else would I be doing?

So I'm thinking I need to get up off this chair and go stitch!

Take A Stitch Tuesday 2012 Challenge - Week 3

The Feather Stitch. I got right on this one and while I can do the basic feather stitch, I had trouble deciphering some of her more complex arrangements. Want to play with that a while, but later... This is where I am now:

Stitched in Gentle Arts Sampler Thread: "Green Pasture".

Take a Stitch Tuesday 2012 Challenge - Week 2

Here is the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge for week 2 - the buttonhole stitch:

I used Gentle Arts Sampler thread "Shutter Green" (7003) for this study in basic buttonhole stitches. This is the stitch I know best of all we shall do this year, probably, but I always have trouble keeping it balanced, evenly spaced, etc. Hopefully I learned how on this one.