Resolutions

I realize that February is a little late to be making resolutions. Mine have been bubbling around in my mind for quite awhile though. When I took a short stitching staycation over Martin Luther King Day weekend I was vaguely aware of them, but they weren't actually codified. And if I don't write them down, I can't hold myself accountable. Good thing that the resolutions aren't as difficult as last year's! Basically, my idea is that after a year of stitching for others, I will take this year and stitch mostly for me. I am finally going to stitch a wedding sampler for myself and my husband (I've stitched four since we got married, all for other people); I am going to work on the First Day stumpwork pattern I got out of Inspirations; and I will try new techniques as I see fit, without any pressure to accomplish specific projects. Basically, it will be a year of play. And to balance myself, I will also expand my charity work and make at least 12 blankets for Gabriel House, as well as baptismal bibs as I am able to.

I am succeeding so far and it is fun. Over that long weekend in January, I actually started my stumpwork piece. Each of these leaves took 1.5 hours. I needed magnifiers to do this work--something I haven't needed in the past--and light. The light in my apartment is not good enough, so I went rummaging through my drawers and finally found the Beam and Read. My mother sent this to me a few Christmases ago. I read Mary Corbet's positive review of the lamp, but I had never used it. It is now my new favorite stitching tool because you can focus a very bright light easily wherever you want it and it doesn't disturb others the way a strong overhead light does. It is fantastic. I couldn't have done these leaves without it. This will be my Colorodo project because it needs great blocks of time.

I also started prepping my sampler, which is derived from Moira Blackburn's Time and Season sampler pattern. I wanted to alter the middle to hold our wedding information. I started charting it out on graph paper, but was frustrated in a few minutes, so I looked for apps to help me. I tried out a few, but Stitch Sketch was the one that worked for me. I still need to learn a lot more about the program, but it is powerful and relatively easy to use. The best part is that it converts your pattern to PDF so that you can print it easily for stitching. I did the whole pattern in one color so I can choose the colors later, but the app has the whole range of DMC colors to choose from. It is nifty

Of course, it still took me all day to chart this information, but I was able to move the motifs around and chart our our names and wedding date with much less frustration than if I had to use an eraser. While I was doing so, I also got to know the inconsistencies of the sampler pattern better. For example, the center motif is not in the exact center of the pattern. That is something that would have thrown me while stitching if I hadn't discovered it while charting.

What was less successful is that I decided to baste out 10-stitch square intervals on my fabric to help with accuracy when I stitch. I worked another 3 hours on that and I have about 1/4 of the horizontal lines done. I think that is all I will do. I can't stand the basting--especially since I need to wear magnifiers to see the 32-count fabric. This will be my Rhode Island project, but I still have to stretch it.

These will be this year's major projects, but I hope to do some small ones as well. I already have a new idea for another painted and embroidered landscape, and I am working on a little project adapted from Inspirations # 84. I should have that one done by next week.

By the end of last year, I was starting to feel uninspired. All the stitching I did for wedding, birthday, and Christmas gifts was fun, but it was also burdensome. The pressure to have things done on time got to me, even though most of the Christmas presents had been stitched the previous winter. This year, there will be no deadlines. We'll see how it works!

 

 

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Resolutions new and old

Happy New Year!

 

I did pretty well on last year's resolution projects--finishing 4 of 6 projects plus a slew of other projects that weren't on the list. Let's take a look at what I did, and my resolution projects for 2014.

 

2013

1. I finished the sampler I resolved to do last year.

 

2. I substituted coasters for the Christmas towels I wanted to do and finished them.

 

3. My nephew LOVED the pillowcase we gave him for his 6th birthday.

 

4. I did NOT do a Christmas ornament for Christmas cards this year. I just didn't have an inspiring idea.

 

5. My Brazilian "WELCOME" is hanging on the wall!

 

6. Finally, I started the partridge in a pear tree from Inspirations 67, but I didn't even finish one leaf. It is still outstanding that I will work on a little at a time.

 

2014

1. This year I resolve to play with new techniques and design rather than pushing myself to complete big projects.

 

2. I will finish at least 3 crazy quilt blocks (and try new techniques on each of them).

 

3. I will submit a project to the Piecework literary needlework competition (due in March).

 

4. I will embroider a Brazilian sampler.

 

5. I will design a Brazilian Christmas ornament and try to write up a pattern for it. (I have a great idea in mind already and am excited to work on it!)

 

What are your stitching goals for this year? Do you make needlework resolutions?

 

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Taking stock

When I began this blog with the new year, my goal was to write one post a week and hopefully have at least my mother and husband read what I wrote. Now, six months later, I've written 41 posts and had over 3500 hits on my blog. Never did I think that would be possible. Thank you!

 

On New Year's Eve, I also made a list of projects to accomplish this year. I think that unlike my writing, I am woefully behind in my stitching! Let's take stock.

1. I wanted to finish a sampler meant as a Christmas gift. This I did and it should be framed by the time I get back to Massachusetts in August.
2. Christmas towels. I wanted to make some for some special people. I forgot about this goal. I'll have to get busy on it!
3. The pillowcase for my nephew is still being designed in my head, but I want to start it soon. I think I may resort to finding a coloring book to help me with some of the motifs I want to use, but I have a poem for it and I know I will use a combined crayon and embroidery technique. Once the crazy pumpkin is done I will start it.
4. Embroidered Christmas card. I've been thinking a lot about this goal lately. I even thought that if I could finish the Partridge in the Pear tree this year (see goal 6) that I could use that for our Christmas card. That is not a practical idea though. Neither is the first design I had in my head. My newest idea is to use some poinsettia patterns designed by Maria Frietas and arrange them in a wreath. THAT I can do. I will start that in August or September.
5. I have made lots of progress on my WELCOME. It will definitely be finished this year.
6. Partridge in a Pear Tree. UGH! I DID start this, but didn't even get half a leaf done. I will make progress on it before year end, but it will not be done this year. Maybe it can be next year's Christmas card.

So, I have made some progress on my resolution projects, but not enough.

 

Of course, I HAVE done other things. I stitched a second sampler that will be given as a gift, I embroidered a multitude of baby blankets, I am half done with my crazy pumpkin, and I am about half way through my Blumen Needle Brazilian project. In addition, I've finished several small sewing projects. Not too bad since I work full time and travel between Boston and Denver every other month.

 

If I concentrate on my resolution projects during the second half of the year, I think I will make a lot more progress.

 

Thanks for sticking with me! What do you hope to accomplish in the next six months?

 

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Plane projects

I flew home to Massachusetts just prior to Memorial Day. For my flight back in February, I packed a stump work project for the plane. I thought that because the pieces were small, it would be easy to work on my tray table. Was I ever wrong! the pieces threatened to go everywhere, there were too many thread colors, and the light was too poor for that type of intricate work. I had given up by the time my beverage came.

 

This trip I resolved to do better. A few weeks before I left, I started a monotone sampler on 28-count linen. It was a straight forward pattern, so I decided to stop stitching and save the project for the plane. It was perfect. I worked about quarter of it during my flights. The fabric holes were big enough to see in dim light and it was contained enough that I didn't elbow my neighbors even though I was in the middle seat. Plus my sewing kit was much simpler. Here you can see it. I carried a tin with my floss, scissors and needles, and kept it, my hoop, pattern and fabric in a woven envelope my mother once gave me. Perfect!

 

 

Only one problem. I stitched so much of it, I got a little addicted. When I found out that my stitching shop in Massachusetts would be closing in a few months, I decided to stitch faster so that I could finish it and bring it to the shop for framing during this trip. It is a gift, so I can't show it all yet, but needless to say, it is at the framers along with another sampler I finished last month--one of my resolution projects.

 

Unfortunately, this means that I've been in Massachusetts for two weeks and haven't yet stitched on my WELCOME. That may be coming home with me so that I can finish it up before Hoops and Needles closes for good. Ellen, the shop proprietor, says that she may still keep framing on the side. She does the best work around, so I am encouraged, but want to finish the WELCOME as quickly as possible. Besides, my husband has a blank wall ready to hang it!

 

One additional comment about my travels. I sat between a man and a woman on my first flight, and as I often find when I stitch in public, the man was the more curious of the two. Men inevitably say something like, "no one does that type of hand work anymore" and it always takes me by surprise. In this case I was wondering who might have done the hand work that he was recalling, but as I was thinking up a suitable reply he said something that really threw me. After watching for about 30 minutes, he declared, "I guess I could take up something like that if I were faced with a long prison term and could really concentrate on it." Wow! Good to know he is prepared for anything! He looked like a nice man though, so I don't think he will be taking up stitching soon.

 

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A WELCOME update

One of my resolution projects for 2013 is to finish my Brazilian embroidery WELCOME. To encourage myself to work on it, I keep it in Massachusetts to stitch when I visit my husband. Not only do I not have to carry it back and forth, but my husband enjoys watching it come together. To see where I left off back on January 3rd, you can follow this link to my last posting.

 

I was back in Massachusetts February 1-18 and here is my progress. As you can see I have finished the flowers on the three letters which I had worked the greenery on in December (C, M and the final E) and stitched all of the first E. I even started the gold work on the O. Let's look more closely.

 

The first E is composed of a profusion of greenery done in buttonhole stitch, alternating satin stitch and detached lazy daisy stitches along stem stitch ribs. The flowers are made of bullion and cast-on stitches. Eventually, I will sew beads into the centers of the bullion "violet" and cast-on daisy and pearls onto the blue dots along the leaves. Each of the letters has a row of pearls that will fancy them up.

 

I have the most work left to do on the C. The daisy is made up of bullion-tipped lazy daisy stitches and filled with turkey work. Interestingly, the yellow and purple of this flower come from the same variegated thread (Iris 019) which I cut apart to use the purple and yellow sections separately. The turkey work loops will need to be cut and brushed out and then trimmed. It will make a fuzzy yellow center. The blue stamens on the "creeping flowers" look creepy to me. I don't mind the color, but the Lola thread I used is too think. One of my finishing jobs will be to find an Iris-weight substitute. I think it will look better with a lighter-weight thread and perhaps beads at the end of each stamen. The printed stars are meant to be stitched with Krenik ribbon. I have seen it done and don't like it. I think I will sew on some beads, but my bead stash is in Denver, so that will have to wait to find the right beads.

 

I think the M may be my favorite letter so far. I love the reds and pinks against the green and gold. The rolled rose buds turned out particularly well. The other roses are the same Bossa Nova Roses that are on the L. They consist of 13 overlapping bullions pulled tightly around each other. By pulling them in tightly, they force the first bullions upright. Each flower stands a full 1/4" above the surface of the fabric and took two full lengths of thread to complete. Although this is the most complete letter. I see some places that may need extra gold work. I have to wait until the piece is washed and the blue lines are gone to make a final determination.

 

 

The flowers on the final E are each composed of 5 overlapping cast on stitches. They will sport beaded center eventually. I did the first flower 4 times before I finally got it right. They are simple, but getting them to lay just right took a little time.

 

 

Finally, I've begun the gold work on the O, but the gold thread was shredding again, which made the stitching slow. I will need a second spool in order to finish the O and W.

 

 

While I wish I didn't have to go home yet, I have run out of 4 of the 6 threads I've been using for the greenery, so I guess I couldn't have made much more progress on this trip. I expect to finish the W and O on my trip home in April. After that, I will take the piece back to Denver to wash, prep and do the finishing work, before bringing it back to Massachusetts for framing in June.

 

 

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A New Year, A New Project (and some old ones too)

It is not surprising that so many stitchers' New Year's Resolutions revolve around finishing up old projects. Last year my mother resolved to knit through her stash of donated yarn. She didn't quite make it (she has A LOT of yarn) but the church knitting group benefited from a lot of finished garments and blankets.


Like most stitchers I have unfinished projects that were supposed to be done this year and projects that I have been waiting to start for over a year. So, here is my list of stitching that I want to accomplish in 2013. I probably won't finish it all, but we will see next year how well I've done. Maybe publicizing my list will help me finish it.

1. There is a sampler I started last June as a Christmas present. Maybe I am just early for 2013.
2. Christmas towels for next year's Christmas gifts.
3. A pillowcase for my nephew before he is too old to be willing to use it.
4. A Christmas tree that we can photograph and make into next year's Christmas cards.
5. A Brazilian embroidery "WELCOME" by DK Designs. My guild did this 2 years ago, but I was stymied by the metallic thread that outlines the letters. I brought it to my husband's house to work on when I am in Massachusetts. I will have to work on it regularly to finish it this year.
6. Finally, I have all the threads (I've had them for a year) for a "Partridge in a Pear Tree" that was featured in Inspirations issue #67 a few years ago. It is a stump work piece with a lot of detached buttonhole stitch. I love detached buttonhole, but haven't done much, and I haven't done much stump work either, or any silk work. It is all new territory for me and I am excited to try.

So there's my list. It isn't my complete list of unfinished projects, nor the complete list of projects that I've been thinking about starting for several years, but it is ambitious enough for me.

Good luck to all stitchers out there with their own project lists. May you have good stitching in the New Year.

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