Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Pansy Secret Garden by Laura Perin
I finished Laura Perin’s Pansy & loved seeing it come to life. It would be interesting to see this stitched with some silks. Before I take it to the framers, I want to stitch a companion piece. I have the threads ready to go. However, I have a few other pieces have to get done first. Hopefully, it’ll be done before next spring!
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Color Inspirations by Orna Willis
I think I should explain that we had 2 photos to select from. I selected 1 of the 2 most difficult pictures of the 15! The combo of different greens is challenging for me to do. But, going out of my comfort zone was intentional. And, I think I included all the colors. I found the overdyed green Edmar thread in my stash that I loved for the wallpaper after I had stitched the top portion or else I probably would have placed the Edmar under the 2 rows of Rhodes. By the way, the Edmar was in a thread package I had purchased from Orna’s Etsy site! She is an excellent teacher and I learned a lot from her demonstrations of French Knots, Jessicas, and laying threads!
Here’s the final piece (photo on the left & stitched piece on the right).
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Color Inspirations by Orna Willis
A very productive day!
I stitched a little more after class.
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Color Inspirations by Orna Willis
What a great class at Orna’s studio today. All those threads right in her own home! All you need to do is google her name to find her blog, Adorn, to see pictures of her studio & our class set up. Here’s my picture & my interpretation of the picture in materials I had around the house.
My stitching in the afternoon after selecting threads:
And, what I did after dinner! Looking forward to day 2.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Recently, I have playing with Jean Hilton stitches to understand them. How they work so I can adapt to pieces I’m working on. These came from Jean Hilton’s Stimulating Stitches (infinity symbol, raccoon eyes, leaf, curved leaf, nautilus) (page 13).
The double fan doubled also from the same book (page 37). However, there is no explanation of how to make the opening in the middle. So, if anyone can share any insights, I’d appreciate it!
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Or Nué Star Lily with Brenda Kocher
A little over 2 years since I’ve finished the class & I finally found the right frame! It’s such a cute design & it was an interesting class. So glad Brenda was able to join us that day! It makes me want to find the other design she gave me for organizing the class – that was such a wonderful surprise!
The fifth clue in the Stitching Games 2015 run by stitcherie is “topsy-turvy”.
I actually found a motif called “Topsy-Turvy” in Jean Hilton’s Stimulating Stitches which is a crescent that “wraps around on itself and then keeps on going into a tail”. However, I couldn’t use it exactly as she designed it on this piece. So, I took the crescent concept & with some creative thinking, which she encourages on practically every page, I created my own exotic crescent. It took me several attempts to get the coverage and roundness that I wanted.
And, one way or another, a future clue will tie into the Sprats Head, Chicago Variation (also from in Jean Hilton’s Stimulating Stitches) – in the form of a cross between example C & D to make a circle & balance this pattern on the right!
Filed under: General comments
The colors of all the threads just popped as you walked into the shop. And, Kathryn & Jennifer were very helpful about local Richmond, VA sites that we could enjoy in the rain that was determined to stay around all day. What a bright place to be on a dusmal day!
I really wasn’t going to buy anything until the a. bradley trunk show called to me. There, among some very cute designs, was “A Christmas Story” Leg Lamp canvas (one of my husband’s favorite Christmas movies) and a Rolling Stone’s T-shirt. We already have a “A Christmas Story” Leg nightlight and I knew I could live without 9″ x 13″ pillow to go with it. So, I selected the Rolling Stones T-shirt (my husband loves his T-shirts and the Rolling Stones) – it is perfect for him. Finally, a non-golf related canvas for him. It won’t get done by his July birthday but I could try for Christmas!
No more road trips! Who am I kidding? At least none are scheduled at this time.
Filed under: Golf
I finished it while on vacation but wanted to be home before putting it in the leather holder. I was worried about cutting so close to the stitched border. And, the shape doesn’t look right for the opening but it must be!
It was the right size & a little tricky but I managed ok. And, Bill loves it!
Melitastitches4fun's Blog 
Filed under: General comments
No studio or office for my stash. But, my 5 foot 5 inch tall (36″ wide) cabinet (pictured below), 5 drawers (15.5″ x 19.5″ x 13.5″), 5 bags (2 large totes, 3 small totes), and a bin are now reorganized (charted projects, ground material (painted and colored 14 or 18-count canvas/perforated paper/vinyl/linen), bars, bags, threads, tools, finishing materials including objects such as boxes/coasters/ornaments/frames/rulers/snow globe). Most of my storage containers came from The Container Store (what a wonderful place). I had done this a few years ago but couldn’t find stuff easily. It took me 5 days but I’m done! And, happy to get back to stitching!
Thanks to Linda (in my ANG chapter) for the idea of binders with top loading sheet protectors. I got ones that hold up to 70 pieces of paper not that many hold that much but it allows threads to fit with instructions for small projects (of which I have a few). Now, I will actually be able to find things! It was an eye opener to see how many projects I want to stitch. I think road trips in the future may have to be focused on purchasing threads for projects I already own. Of course, my husband reminded me that I should try to “shop at home” in the one drawer & one bag already filled with threads before buying more!