May Stitch from Stash... and a Finish

Hey Blog Buddies,

Mel from Epic Stitching is hosting the Stitch From Stash SAL this year wherein the goal is to keep to a budget of $25/month or less for all your stitching purchases.  I'm happy to report that, for the first time this year, I spent nothing during the month on stitching supplies!  I worked on several WIPs, one of which was Needle Delights Originals' Winter Logs, which is now finished (woo hoo!):

 

 I stitched the optional border in Watercolours Quicksilver.

I knew that I wanted to use a gray for the border,

and this had the subtlest variegation.

Since there's a lot going on in the piece,

I didn't want the border to look too stripey.

Kreinik metallic braid was used in several spots,

including in the backstitching separating the four quadrants,

to give the piece a subtle glimmer.

It's hard to see in a photograph.

Here are some close-ups,

to give you a better idea of the texture of the piece:

And now for something completely different,

I also had a new start from stash.

I've had this little chart kitted up for a couple of years now.

I just love that funky bird!

DH says he's a ham radio bird

because he has what appears to be an antenna on his head.

Here is my start.

I'm using 35-count WDW Straw linen and almost all of the

recommended NPI silks, 1 over 2.

It's quite a shock to the eyeballs going from

18-count canvas to 35-count linen! 

Well, that's it from here.
Hope you all are enjoying your spring
(or autumn, as the case may be).

Thanks for visiting!

May Turtle Trot Update

Hey Blog Buddies,

The Turtle Trot, in case you're not familiar with it, is a stitch-a-long hosted by Claudette at BAP Attack wherein the participants choose 10 WIPs at the start of the year to work on at their own pace, often slowly, sometimes not.  We report on our progress on or about the 10th of each month.  I threw in that "or about" to give me a little leeway 'cause it's the 11th today.

So, on to the progress updates!

This is what Needle Delights Originals' Winter Logs looked like last month.  I was a little behind my schedule.

Here it is this month.  You'll notice that I belatedly decided to add the optional border.  It's a wee bit busy, but adding the border will make it the same size as the other seasonal log designs, and I intend to stitch all of them!  (The intervention didn't work...)

Here's Debbie Stiehler's Autumn Pumpkin Patch as of last month.

I wasn't happy with my progress on it,

so I promoted it to the Vitamin Designation (once-a-day).

 

 And here it is this month.

The Vitamin Designation is working!

 Photos of the project as a whole can't show detail

and are very boring, so here are a couple of close-ups.

The partially completed section in the middle of the photo

is stitched, as you can see, with metallic ribbon

that is couched down with orange DMC as is it laid down.

(That's not the tricky part!)

 After all the ribbon is couched,

the sections between each ribbon are

backstitched with two strands of embroidery floss.

Light green and dark green are alternated.

Those little holes are very hard to see!

But it makes for an attractive section.

Last but not least here is Ink Circles' 99 where I left off in March.  I had just finished frogging a good part of the second bottle on the second row, and believed I had fixed the problem. I was blissfully unaware that the neck of the bottle was lopsided...

...a fact that I discovered after I had stitched most of the bottle on this go-round!

Here is my progress this month.
Yes, I did fix the neck on that second bottle!

I worked on only three of my Turtle Trot projects this past month, 
but I'm happy with the progress on them, even the "bottles."

That's it from here.
Hope everyone in the US is having a wonderful Mother's Day,
and everyone else, a fun weekend.
Thanks for visiting!

Flowers from my Needle

Hey Blog Buddies,

How is your May going?  I hope you had a good weekend and enjoyed the spring weather.  Or the fall weather, if you're farther south!

I attended a workshop on Saturday hosted by my EGA chapter and taught by Nancy Buhl, who designs canvaswork pieces under the name From Nancy's Needle.  She is a wonderful teacher, and I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. 

The piece in the photo above was taught, called Flowers from my Needle.

I chose a slightly more autumnal colorway.

 

There was a very nice turnout--we had over 40 stitchers.

 

There were over 40 fabulous gift baskets, too.

In addition, everyone got a door prize.

 

Here is where I'm at with my piece.

It is a simple, small piece that I don't have to think about very much.

There are no laid threads.  I love it!

I wouldn't have needed to go to a workshop to figure this piece out,

but don't tell anyone.

I would love to just keep on working on this piece until it's finished,

but sadly it will have to join a throng of other pieces

on "the back burner."

The pile on that burner is getting dangerously high.

For the past few days, I've been working on

(gasp!)

a cross stitch piece.

It's one of the Prairie Schooler Christmas Strawberries.

I hope to get this one finished today

so that I can get all three of my stitched strawberry pieces

to the finisher, who I hope to see this evening.

I'd better get cracking.

That's it for now.

Thanks for visiting!

Hey Blog Buddies,
Today a friend and I had the good fortune to attend the Hinsdale Embroiderers' Guild needlework show--and what a show it was!  This guild is celebrating its 50th anniversary.  It's one of the oldest, if not the oldest guild, in the state.  It started out as a needlepoint guild, but they have branched out into all areas of needlework, quilting and even knit and crochet.  Here's a very small portion of what we saw:

 

This is a Libby Sturdy needlepoint design.

There were lots of her designs there--she is a member.

  There were lots of quilts.

 This is all done in beads!

Ribbon Embroidery

Hardanger with pulled threadwork

This canvaswork chocolate box was super cute!

 Crewel

There were several large cross stitch samplers.

Another canvaswork piece--love the lacy look!

A very cool owl done in surface embroidery

Pulled thread done on canvas!

I actually have the chart for this gorgeous piece (canvaswork).

Must start on it soon...

There were several knitted pieces.

 These canvaswork-backed chairs were an original design...

 ...as was this quilt!

 And of course, blackwork.

If you're in the Chicagoland area this weekend,

do yourself a favor and go see this show.

It runs through tomorrow, May 3rd.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Thanks for visiting!