Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010
Thanks to the Dec 26th snowstorm, I finished this in 2010! I love the finishing touch with the beads & how they bevel up just a tad.
There has been great discussions lately about what part of the piece folks prefer: starting, middle, or end. Each has good & bad points but I lean towards preferring starting. I love the designing & planning of threads. Many times I’m so anxious to get to the next piece that I don’t get the just completed piece finished (put in a frame, etc). Hopefully, we’ll be able to shovel out soon & go purchase a frame – don’t know where to put it yet!
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter
This was a Christmas present to my brother, John in 2007. It is Judy Dubrow’s Octagon Square Creation & was a project in Sept 2006 for our Mainline Stitchers ANG Chapter. I added the outer wide border to fill in the opening of the box. It looked manly enough for my brother & functional. It can hold whatever he wanted!
And, our Christmas Tree for 2010. This year I’ve got my needlepoint ornaments on it that I’ve blogged about over the last few days. Each year I select different ornaments. Merry Christmas everyone!!
Faced with 2010 running out of days, I decided to use straight stitches on the inner portion of the border. Initially, I stitched them at an angle like the outer border but it was too heavy-looking compared to the open black area (you’ll have to take my word for it because the picture really didn’t show it well enough to post). So, I slept on it, ripped it out, & switched directions to minimize the effect of stitching in that area. The threads kind of fill in the shaft between the canvas threads making the white stitches less prominent. And, it worked up quickly so I can get to the last border!!
Quite by several accidents, I find myself really liking this variation on the SOTM. I used a different color family for this portion of the outer border by accident than I think the directions called for. And, instead of stitching both inner & outer portions, I completed the outer portion first. The outer portion used even less couching than called for by alternating every other row – worked out perfectly: 4 in the longest thread, 3 in the next smaller, then 2, leaving 1 small cross stitch in the corners. I like how it looks in the darker thread with white showing through.
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010
October had a lot of couching which I found quite time-consuming. And, I think I got my Family A, B, & C out of order for this month but it looks fine. I see November has more couching as well. But, we are coming to the end soon!
As I’ve mentioned, for our ANG Chapter Project this year, we are doing samplers. Last night we had a sampler “Show & Tell” at our monthly meeting. Folks brought in a wide variety of samplers such as miniature, wedding, couching, stamped cross stitch, & historical ones. We didn’t stitch at all but had fun looking & talking about the individual histories of the dozen or so samplers people brought to share. Good time!
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Bookmark, Melita's Adaptations, Melita's Other Completed Pieces
For our ANG Chapter Project, we are doing samplers. I found 2 speakers from the Delaware Valley Historical Sampler Guild who gave excellent presentations & “Stitches for All Seasons”, a booklet with 7 different samplers on the Stoney Creek website.
It was a discontinued item & I didn’t find out until after the newsletter was sent. And, because Stoney Creek is not the designer, they could not make more copies. However, they were gracious enough to provide 6 of them at no charge & said, “Hope you enjoy them.” And, I went on eBay & found 7-8 more copies of the book.
I did not realize that the samplers in the book would be based on 28 or 32 ct (our group prefers 18 ct). So, I calculated the sizes if done on 18 ct (Summer Butterflies: 7&3/4 x 10&1/2, Spring Flowers: 7&3/4 x 10&2/3, Winter Wonderland: 7&2/3 x 11, Autumn Leaves: 7&3/4 x 11&1/8, Christmas Love: 7&3/4 x 11, Friendship: 6&2/3 x 13&1/8, Hearts & Waterlilies: 7&1/8 x 12&2/3). I reminded folks that the threads suggested would be thinner than what you’d need for 18 ct. Except for the Butterfly sampler, they should up nicely on 18 ct canvas. I have learned a lot! And, the threads recommended are also not longer available. They are mostly a DMC flower thread – never heard of it!! But, everyone seems willing & able to handle the adjustments. Phew!
I really liked the Hearts & Waterlilies Sampler but didn’t want to stitch the full sampler with so many other open projects. So, I selected the bands I liked best & placed them on 18 count Aida bookmark. I love it!
FYI: Stoney Creek is mainly a cross stitch store but not entirely. For example, there are 3 lovely pieces called Faith, Hope, & Love. And, Love (http://store.stoneycreek.com/love-p8646c20.aspx?Thread=True) was taught at the Stitching Jubilee seminar last year in Lancaster, PA and features several stitch techniques including Queen Stitch, Lazy Daisy, Twisted Straight Stitch, Rhodes Heart, Long Armed Cross Stitch Variation, Smyrna and Four-Way Tied. Faith features Long-Armed Cross Stitch, Smyrna, Rococo Variation, Four-Way Tied, Rhodes Butterfly, Long Tail Daisy Stitch and Star Stitch Variation. And, Hope features Leaf Stitch, Vaulting Fan Stitch, Large Angel Stitch and Star Stitch.” Thanks again Stoney Creek!
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010
I got Sept SOTM done! Coming along nicely. I like that turning the corner technique. Just hope I’ll find the instructions when next I need them. Actually, I’ll note that here!
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2010/feb.php
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010
The August SOTM eyelets are done but I can’t see what’s wrong with the second “incorrect” eyelet example. In the first “incorrect” example, I see it wraps around but the second looks the same as the correct one to me.
I was almost finished with the eyelets & then put it aside for the chapter newsletter, making the Kissing Pillow kits, & another project. I’ve been working on a baby gift but I can’t blog about because I don’t want the mom to see it. As soon as I finish the second one – for her too, then I can reveal them! Where does the time go? We’ll see how much of Sept I can get done – it looks like a lot of stitching.
Filed under: ANG Stitch of the Month, 2010
The piece is coming along nicely. I thought I was done & then realized I had all the Smyrna crosses to do. So, I am pleased to have finished July’s stitching although I am still playing catch up! At least I have started the August Eyelets in August. And, I think it’ll work up quickly.
Yesterday, I really enjoyed the weather & a relaxing afternoon outdoors at a riverfront bar, listening to a live band, watching baseball, eating & drinking with a bunch of friends. I have taken on a lot of projects, including project chair & newsletter for our chapter & haven’t been able to find time to stitch. But, I have almost everything in place for our Sept/Oct/Nov ANG Main Line chapter meetings except putting together the packets for the Soldier Kissing Pillows to distribute at those meetings. I’ll have time at my mom’s house over the Labor Day weekend to do that while my brother & husband golf. So, yesterday was a nice reward for my efforts. Today, I will get back to stitching as soon as I am done here!
