WIPocalypse Projects

 I realized I could add lots more WIP's to this list, but I decided to work on the ones that I really want to get done this year.  (WIP-works in progress)  The above is a project I started with my local guild last year.  It is called the Agecroft Sweet Bag by Catherine Jordan.  The pattern is from NeedleArts, the Embroiderer's Guild of America's magazine March 2011.  I have not gotten much done, but that is about to change!

 Solar Flare by Ro Pace.  I love this piece!  I got sidetracked from finishing it last year because of Serpentine...

Illinois canvas with my hand-dyed threads.  I almost pulled this from my list as my dh does not like the piece.  Also, I will need to dye threads and do the background for this piece.  But I enjoy working on it and want to see it done.

Box Top of Ukrainian Nyzynka by Phyllis Maurer..  I am very close to finishing this.  It looks like cross-stitch in the pictures, but it is a running stitch done on the back of the piece(in black), then "flowered" with all the color.  It is supposed to be reversible, but mine is not!  My stitching is less than perfect on this piece and I am not sure what I will do with it when I am done.  A small purse?  A box top? I do love the piece and hope it will be done soon. 

Double Fan Doubled

I got my Double Fan Doubled done-all of them!  They need another layer in silver, but I hope to get that done tonight.
Also, I will post my WIPocalypse pictures tomorrow.  At least, that is my plan.

Journal 21 2011

Every year I vow I will art journal at least once a week and every year I fail. My friend Cheryl is thinking of trying to do a page a week in 2012 and I am thinking of joining her.  But the other day I realized that I have done some art journaling every week.  My Journal 21 is where I play with my watercolors and try to write one thing about the day.  I also write my to do list here.  It is truly a journal of my year, things I have done and wanted to do.

Another Finish!

OK, it is just a Mill Hill bead kit, but I got it done and I am posting it!!!  It was a gift for my kids' music teacher,  but it is a little late for that.  I think I will just give it to her at the next lesson.

Waffles in Corners Complete

I finally did my four corners and managed one Double Fan Doubled.  Will I get done before the New Year?

Tiny Bit of Love Progress

Gay Ann Rogers is going to post a picture on her website( http://www.gayannrogers.com/ ) on Christmas Day of a new heart she is designing.  Thought I would post a picture of mine that I hope will be done for Valentine's Day.

This Year's Christmas Ornaments

I finally finished these three ornaments for my tree.  Two were supposed to be pins, but I don't wear pins.
All are Mill Hill bead kits.  Holiday Tree Snow Charmer is the snowman.  Next is  Kris Kringle and then my favorite, Joyful Angel.

I, like a crazy woman, joined the Crazy January 2012 challenge.  The idea is to start 15 new projects on the first 15 days of January.  Hey!  I could have  done 31  new projects!  But when I finished these three Mill Hill projects, it made me realize that this challenge is not so crazy.  I do finish things and I have gotten close to 15 done this year.  (I don't count things as done until they are framed or finished into something. That is why I haven't listed my Promise of a Mystery as finished yet.)  I may have to change my definition of finished for this challenge, but we shall see.  I hope to list them on a sidebar today.

Almost done with the Border

After doing some major ripping last week and waiting for replacement thread, I finally have a photo of my progress for Sepentine by Ro Pace. Most of  the silver waffle stitches between the darker blue crecents had to come out.  I miscounted them all!  (Except for the first 3 I put in.)  Boy, was I frustrated.  The silver ribbon could not be reused and I was busy with holiday baking.  But they are done.  I did realize that I started all my borders wrong, but that does not bother me as I cannot see it.  Ro may comment on it when I send it in for evaluation, but I am not ripping those borders out!

A Tiny Bit of Love

Stitching time has been very limited as I have been busy making toffee, fudge and peanut brittle.  I have several more batches to make, but my dh is working on my kitchen.  (Yeah!)  It will look fabulous when done, but I can't cook while he is working...So I did some very neglected housework and plan on stitching tonight.
I have not been doing 12 stitches a day on Tiny Bit of Love by Gay Ann Rogers, but I hope to change that this week.  I also found that my Cityscapes need some basketweave or tent stitch around them so I can finish them as ornaments.  (Thanks Pat from http://www.needleartnut.blogspot.com/ !)  I have tried finishing before, but want to attempt it again.  Will keep you posted.

Ornament Exchange

This is the ornament I took to my EGA's ornament exchange.  It is a design by Karen Buell that my SIL gave me.  It stitched up quickly and I was able to finish it myself.

Speaking of finishing-the lady who does my finishing normally is Arnetta Flower out of the Quad Cities in Iowa.  If you want her phone number, send me an email so I can give it to you.

Finished Cityscape Hearts

Well, I finished both hearts.  I have been busy with Christmas programs and haven't been able to do much stitching.  Hopefully that will change next week and I can get working on Serpentine again.

15 Minutes on a Heart

After removing my mistakes, I continued stitching on this heart.  Some days I did more than 15 minutes while on others, I did not work on it at all.  Still, it is coming along. 

Rip, rip, rip

I am still trying to get Serpentine finished.  I am so glad we have an extension!  I keep having to rip out and redo the last border.  Some things just require lots of concentration on my part.  Must be my small mind.

By the way, the Santa I put up is a design by Janet Zickler Casey that my son stitched.  It is the Candy Cane Santa through Shining Needle Society.  Cute, isn't he? 

Mistake

I had to take my boys to youth group and so I have an hour or so to stitch.  (I try to get up and walk around a little.)  I thought all was going well until I realized that I made my last building too long.  It has a building in front of it so I need to do some reverse stitching.  Could I leave it?  Maybe.  But I think I wouldn't be happy in the long run.  So tomorrow's  15 minutes will be frogging.... 

This Week's Progress

I have made some progress on my black Cityscape.   And I have only done 15 minutes a day!  Hopefully I will have a progress report on Serpentine soon.  I am getting bogged down on the border.

Here is a list of the colors I have used for Serpentine.
All Kreinik is #001 Silver
ThreadWorkx- 1015 (but  I may have chosen a different overdye if I had seen all my colors laid out)
Soie de Paris-114 and 3333
Finca perle cotton- #8  #3810(lt blue),#2615(purple),#3822(dk blue)
                              #12   #3810,#2615, #2606
                              #16-Either 3810 or 2606
I have my beads, but I am uncertain which one I will choose.  Having to order everything online makes a huge difference.  Also, the Finca has different tints and some are quite different within color numbers and sizes. 
Also, I think it would change the piece to put a light purple (2606) inside the dark blue crescents (3822) instead of the light blue (3810).  Moved the purple color out more, although there is still another woven border on the edge of the piece..
Changing the Kreinik would be fun too.  Mine is very shiny because of the silver, but I wonder if there would have been a different Kreinik or metallic that would have worked better-something in light purple?  You do need #8,#4 and #1/16.
Hope that helps everyone!

Cityscapes Heart-Black

This is the stitching I was able to do on Saturday.  It doesn't seem like much, but being on black congress cloth I have a difficult time seeing where my needle is to land.  I am trying to limit myself to 15 minutes a day on the piece although I find that difficult.  Why?  It is fun to see the buildings to develop and I want to start a Gay Ann Rogers heart...

100 Flowers has Arrived!

My package arrived from Gay Ann Rogers with 100 Flowers.  I loved this piece since the first time I saw it in the EGA National Seminar brochure.  But, sigh, I cannot start on it yet.  Serpentine is not done and it has a due date.  I will look through my stretcher bars and make sure I have the right sizes and I may frame it up as a Christmas gift for me...Maybe those of us who got the piece could start a yahoo group SAL.
To see a good photo of the piece go to http://www.gayannrogers.com/ and look at the E-week sales.  I believe it is under samplers or early morning sales.

And for those who asked:  I will try to post my colors for Serpentine next time I post progress on the piece.

White Cityscapes-Finished

I finished my Cityscapes Heart by Betty Chen Louis yesterday.  Now on to the black one!  Will wait for a sunny day to photograph it.

Serpentine-Almost Half of a Border

I did not realize how big this piece was until I started working on the border.  Once I get my waffle stitches in, I will count the border as half done.  Why?  Because it makes me feel like I am making progress.  If not, I just feel like I am going in circles with all the crescent stitches.

Squaredance-Framed

This is my framed piece Squaredance by Orna Willis.  It was a Cyberpointers workshop.  Lots of fun and great colors.  I can also say I finished my local EGA challenge.  Yeah!

12 Stitches a Day on Serpentine

I have managed to stitch a little every day on Serpentine.  I try to do at least 12 stitches a day.  The braided fan is difficult for me and I need to rip out the one I started. 

A Slightly Different Waffle

I tried the silver #16 Kreinik in the center with the Perle Cotton on the outer edge.  I am not sure what  I like best.  My dh says to leave them both in.  Perhaps he is right.

Waffle in the Corner

I finished a waffle stitch in one of my corners.  The piece calls for Kreinik 16 braid and then the smaller #4 Krieinik.  I think it needs purple in the corner, but I'm not sure I like this. It is #8 perle cotton with the #4 Kreinik.  I think I will try the wider silver braid in the next corner with the purple where the silver currently is. 

15 Minutes a Day-Cityscapes

I forgot to post this over the weekend.  But I did stick to 15 minutes a day and got a fair amount done.  I am resisting starting another project until I get Serpentine finished.

Can You Help?

My local EGA had their biannual needlework show yesterday.  My dd worked the show with me and had her eye on this piece that one of the gals was selling.  My dd thought it was gone, but found it in the trash can and rescued it.  It needs some work and it looks old.  Can someone point us in the right direction for repairing and cleaning this?  (Sorry for the bad pictures.  It is raining here and I wanted to get this posted.)

All It Needs is Beads

I finished my last Promise of a Mystery.  Hopefully I can find the right clor of bead  in my stash to put in the  crescents...

Freida Pretty Purse

I have started another Pretty Purse with some fabric I bought while on vaction in New Mexico.  I think she will need beads, lots of beads.

I did some work on Serpentine, but not enough to show a picture.  Hopefully by tomorrow it will show some progress.

Cityscape Hearts-Beginning

Ann at Stitch Gay Ann Blog suggested stitching 15 minutes on our Gay Ann Rogers stash. I thought it  was a great idea except I did not have any 8 inch stretcher bars to start a piece on.  But I did have Betty Chen Louis's hearts framed up, one black and one white.  I have started stitching for 15 minutes a day on the white one.  My reasoning for starting something new is that I am very close to finishing my Promise of a Mystery and I do want to see how much I can get done in 15 minutes a day.  I will try to post my progress weekly.

Braided Fan

 I managed to put in one braided fan in my piece this morning.  It was difficult to find the proper holes.  It is less than perfect.  I hope with more practice, I will improve.

Back to Serpentine

I am trying to be diligent in my stitching on this piece.  Because I changed the colors, I want to do one corner before I stitch all the crescents.  I know my Kreinik silver choice will work.  I am worried about the purple....
Someone in Cyberpointers mentioned doing it in pinks and oranges.  At least I believe that was her color choices.  I think it would be stunning!  I would love to do it in reds....Could someone loan me some time?

Promise of A Mystery-Ran out of Thread

 I was working on my border when I ran out of Kreinik #12.  Thanks goodness my LNS is getting some in later this week.

I did not do the couching stitch that Sue Reed suggested.  I did a satin stitch in my overdyed thread. 

Serpentine -A Few More Stitches

I am enjoying this piece although it has been challenging.  I need to contact Ro Pace and get an extension.  There is no way this will be done on time....

Way Behind

I am trying to catch up with Cyberpointer"s GCC Serpentine. I will have to ask for an extension for this one. Don't even ask about Softly Feathered.

I Want to Start a New Project but...

I need to finish Promise of a Mystery for my EGA meeting in October. My dd wants to know what I'm going to do with this one.

I have no clue, but I think she is hinting that she likes it.

An Experiment Gone Wrong

I was trying to dye some threads for Softly Feathered, an ANG Cyberpointers group correspondence course. I like the colors, but the threads are not solid. I will have to find another project for all my new threads.

Serpentine Progress

I have been working on my projects, I just have not been able to post any pictures. I like how this is coming out but I need to pull the blue into the next section.