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I love it all: embroidery, canvaswork, quilting, crochet. So much to do, so little time.





Friday, April 10, 2015

April Turtle Trot

We had some very severe weather in northern Illinois yesterday.  A little town northwest of Chicago was totally destroyed by a violent tornado.  At least one person died and several people were injured.  My thoughts go out to those families.  In our area, fortunately, all we got was rain.

Stitch-wise, it's Turtle Trot time once again.  For those of you not familiar with this virtual SAL, we all picked ten WIPs in January to work on, and we post before and after progress pics on the 10th of each month.

Despite the classes, workshop and new starts that happened in the last month, I did get some time to work on a few of my TT pieces.  I have to start out with Ink Circles' 99:

 Last month's photo.

Regular readers of this blog know that I finished this piece a couple of weeks ago.  Here it is framed, but I'm afraid that my framer and I did not do a good job on this one.  She will usually let me know if she thinks that something I pick out does not work.  The piece just looks like a dark brown blob on the wall.  The frame is dark brown but appears much lighter in the photo than in real life because it's reflecting the flash.  I think the reflection of the glass (yes, there is glass there) is contributing to not being able to see the stitching, too.  My plan is to first remove the glass, then if that doesn't work, I will go to a lighter-colored frame.  Gold maybe?  I didn't choose to mat it because the piece is large and I don't have all that much wall space, but a light-colored mat would probably have done the trick, too.  (Just a tip for those of you stitching this piece on the "ale" linen.)

Next, I wanted to stitch something that I hadn't worked on for a while, so I chose Laura J. Perin's Nordic Panel.
This is where I left off in February.

I did the next band
and extended the borders
almost all the way down.
I have a love-hate relationship with this piece.

Here's a close-up of the band I stitched.


Next up is Needle Delights Originals' Summer Logs:
Last month...


 ...and this month.  This piece is just so much fun to stitch!  It has no metallics, ribbons or anything to be laid.  No open canvas where you need to avoid carrying threads.  Even the border is simply a two-row repeat and is very zen.  But all the different stitches do make it look textured and interesting.  I think I'm going to be a little sad when this one is finished.

Lastly, I chose another piece I hadn't worked on in a couple of months (and because July is just around the corner!), Plum Street Samplers' Liberty Inn:


Here's where I left off in February...


...and what it looks like now.
The lighting isn't the greatest in this photo--
as I mentioned before, it was very stormy yesterday--
 and the piece looks much prettier in real life.
Once I uploaded the photo to my computer
and finished cropping, etc., I noticed
that two small motifs have one stitch missing!
(That has already been rectified.)
I like this piece so much,
once it's finished I may leave it up all year,
not just in the summer.

Well, that's it from here.
To see what the other Trotters have been up to,
go to the BAP Attack blog.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Thanks so much for dropping by!

13 comments:

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

I love your finish of the bottles on the wall...I'm sorry you are not happy with the results though...
I love your counted piece. So bright and cheerful! and your PSS piece is amazing too!

EvalinaMaria said...

Congrats on the finish (looks lovely) and on a great progress.
Evalina, This and that...

Julie said...

How sad that you are not happy with the framed bottles....hope you can fix it and be happy with it.
The canvaswork is gorgeous.

Tiffstitch said...

Great finishes and progress on the others. I'm sorry to hear 99 didn't work out as planned and I hope you can find an easy solution.

Linda said...

Wonderful progress on all of these pieces. 99 is gorgeous but I do agree that it needs a different colored frame.

Linda

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous work ♥

Melody said...

Your pieces are lovely. I'm sorry you are not happy with the look of your 99 bottles. I hope you find a change to your liking. I like the logs piece very much. Also, I am sure Liberty Inn will be a great finish also.

Yes, the storms in Illinois were scary the other day.

Rita said...

Congratulation to your finish. I hope you will find a frame you like.

Anonymous said...

OHHHH I like the 99 bottles. I understand about the glass and reflection...it's tough to photograph. The Nordic Panel is delightfully colorful. And I, too, love the Summer Logs. But my favorite is the Plum Street Liberty Inn...really great! Nice work on all!!!

Meari said...

Sad about Fairdale. As of the last news footage, two people have died and about 15 injured. Rochelle was hit also. I drive through Ogle County during my commute. Luckily, I was still at work when the winds and most of the heavy rain came through. When I drove home, it was blue to the west and black with gray clouds to the north and northeast (I was going north).

Your stitching is beautiful!

Faith... said...

That was very sad news about Fairdale. Luckily all we got was the storms and some wind - no tornadoes! I love your Nordic Panel it is so pretty and colorful!

Brigitte said...

Your Bottles finish is looking great, I also love the frame and so sorry that you are not happy with how it's framed. But there is often a difference between the picture and real life.
Nice progress on your TT pieces.

Carol said...

Those storms sounded so horrible, Pat--I'm glad your community was safe. We don't get tornadoes here for some reason (maybe it's too hilly?) so I just can't imagine...

I'm sorry the frame isn't working for you--I bet removing the glass will make a big difference.

I just love your Nordic Panel WIP--what joyful colors :)