November IHSW: Tornado Warning, Power Outage and a Finish

Hey Blog Buddies,
Here in Illinois we had some pretty severe weather yesterday.  There was widespread property damage, some injuries and even some deaths due to the storms, and my thoughts are with those families.   A little before 1:00 yesterday afternoon the sirens went off here and the loudspeaker told us to "take shelter NOW."  Evidently there was a tornado on the ground nearby.  We had one heck of a storm for about a half hour, lots of rain and high winds but no tornado here.  We lost power right away, though, and didn't get it back until 9:00 this morning.  (Many people are still without power.)

Well, before the power outage I had been in the middle of trying to finish-finish my little Tudor Tassel ornament.  When DH went out to get some spare batteries for our emergency lights, I found the window with the most light coming through and continued where I had left off on the ornament.  It wasn't what I would call "stitching light," but beggars can't be choosers.  When he came home and saw what I was doing, he told me he thought I had a Problem.  I quite agreed.  At around 4:00 I was this close (picture a thumb and forefinger a hair's width apart) to finishing, but what little light remained was almost gone, so I reluctantly stopped.  After the power came back on this morning, I was able to finish it and take photos, so without further ado, here is the saga of the Tudor Tassel.

I started stitching this ornament back in August and posted this progress pic:

 

The above piece, finished, looks like this:

This is a Victoria Sampler design,

from the 2010 JCS Christmas Ornament issue.

It's very, very cute, but I think of it as

a product of the Evil Genius of Thea Dueck.

First off, I don't like doing wrapped bars.

I know, they give a more delicate, lacy

look than woven bars, but still.

And this is only one of three sides to the ornament,

so three of these need to be made.

 

I've had this kitted up for three years.

I was reluctant to even start it

because I thought the finishing would be very tricky.

 

For those of you contemplating making (and finishing)

this ornament, I highly recommend getting this publication:

 

This leaflet had two pages of finishing instructions,

complete with photos, which left

nothing to the imagination.

I believe there was only a short paragraph on

how to finish the ornament

in the 2010 JCS Ornament Issue.

And of course, there are directions for

three more adorable tassels here!

Once I had read and reread the finishing instructions,

I actually was encouraged to try finishing it myself.

 

So I had my three sides stitched and

was ready to cut out around the hardanger bottom.

 

Oh no!

Oh yes.  I was careless and the first thing I did

was cut into the blanket stitch.

Arrrrrrghhhhh!

But it's nothing that a little ripping,

Fray Check and restitching won't fix, is it?  (sigh)

The whole project was very fiddly from start to finish,

and cutting into the blanket stitches didn't help.

 

So, blanket stitch repaired,

here are my three stitched pieces.

I flipped one over face down to show you the

fusible interfacing called for in the instructions.

Not certain that the fusible interfacing would stick,

Thea also recommended that you sew it down.  (I did.)

By the way, the seams have an overlock zigzag,

per the instructions.

 

On to the finished product...

I have to say, this ornament

is much cuter in person than any photo.

I got a little carried away with the bead strands--

they turned out quite a bit longer than I thought they would.

It's hard to see, but there are three strands.

The ornament is hanging from a pencil,

and I'm standing in front of my garage door,

taking a photo with my free hand.

If my neighbors thought I was nutty before, they're sure of it now.

I tried out many spots in front of, and inside of, the house,

before hitting upon this one.

 

 

Yeah, I know, not as good.

That last one is on my Halloween tree,

cleared of ornaments on one side to showcase The Tassel.

Yes, it's still up, and yes, I have a Problem.

 

Can you tell I'm really excited about this finish?

And no, just in case you were going to ask,

I'm not going to start any of the other tassels

any time soon.

 

That's it from here.

To check out what the other Hermitters

were doing this weekend,

click here.

 

Hope you all had a great weekend,

with better weather than we had in Illinois.

Thanks, as always, for visiting!