April's Rotation

Hey Blog Buddies,

There's been a bit of stitching and some sewing (say what?) since my last proper update in March, and I've got a bunch of stuff to show you.  Let's take a peek.

First up is a finish!

Barbara Ana's Funky Bird.

She suggested finishing this as a ditty bag,

but I'm going to do a small framed piece.

He looks like he's been eating

a lot of those flowers, doesn't he?

Here is Needle Delights Originals'

Spring Logs.

It was half done last time we checked.

Actually, I'm a wee bit farther than this,

but this was a good point to take the photo.

I'm on track for a June finish.

I picked up Kay Stanis' Copper Illumination, too!

Here's where I was at last year.

And here's where I'm at now.

I was humming along, doing a little each morning,

then I took a break for my small trip.

And I haven't picked it up since.

Here's a close-up of the hyacinths.

They're double beaded, first in black,

then the purple goes on top

in a somewhat haphazard fashion.

It's still doable to finish this by the end of June,

but I'm setting aside a 10-dollar bill

just in case this challenge project remains stalled.

Since my morning stitching slot was vacant,

out came Prairie Schooler's I.

At first I thought Indian corn 

was an odd pick for the letter I,

but when I tried thinking of "I" words,

all I could come up with was

idiot, imp, ink, interstate...

maybe ice cream.

I think Indian corn is perfect.

I took a quilt class(!) last week,

sponsored by my quilt guild.

I liked the pattern,

Plum Street Quilts' Shadowplay.

This is my modest start.

It should look like 3-dimensional blocks

when it's finished--
hopefully, some time later this year.

Since I finished a project, why not start a new one?!

I've had this pattern in my stash for years.

Joseph's Coat by Lois Caron.

I'm doing it on white congress cloth,

and it's about four inches high.

The 18-count canvas that was provided

would have made the piece
way too big for an ornament.
(Congress cloth is 24 count.)

Carla asked about the Easter finish

on my last blog post, specifically

did I follow any kind of tutorial

(I'm assuming for the rick rack).

The instructions I used

can be found at A Spoonful of Sugar.

That's it for today.
Hope April is going well for you.
Thanks for visiting!

A Taste of Honey

Hey Blog Buddies,

Within the past week or so I've had a few finishes, 

and I've taken some other projects to the framer's, 

so it's time for a little show and tell.

First up, my two(?) or three-year project, 

Prairie Schooler's Alphabet. 

These letters always seem to take more time

than I think they should.

H has not been my favorite letter thus far

because it was a little repetitive.

On the other hand, once I stitched 

one of the bee skeps, or got started

on the flowering vines, I was able to use

what I had just stitched as the chart!

The H is also one of those problem letters

for those of us stitching this project as

one gigantic sampler.
Most of the letters are a uniform size
(70 x 100 stitches).

The H is larger, so I had to make the buds

opposite each flower smaller, and

chop off the ends of the bees' wings

on the top of the piece
in order to make it the
same size as the other letters.

But it's done!

I think the whole piece,

even though it's obviously unfinished,

looks so much more impressive

than the individual letters.

I'm putting this project on hiatus for a while.
I have to make some progress 
on my chapter's challenge piece,
Kay Stanis' Copper Illumination.
Wish me luck.

Next is my blackwork project,
Blackwork Journey's Wandering Star.

Here's where I left off...

Here it is finished and framed.
It's hard to tell from the photo,
but I chose a light purple frame
to try to bring out the purple quadrant
in the upper left.
I'm a little disappointed in the result,
but it is what it is.

Next up is Hands On Designs'
Underwater Basketweave.

This is what the model looks like.
It was my ANG chapter's February class.

I decided I wanted a sunnier colorway.
This was a fast and fun piece.
This will be finished either as a box top
or a small picture.
It's only about 5" x 5".

Speaking of small,
you've already seen
Permin's Two Horses on this blog,
but now it's framed.

The whole piece, including the frame,
is only about 6.7" by 7.2"
DH thinks the top (brown) mat
makes everything look too dark,
but the stitchers at my Guild said "No way."
What do you think?
The lighting has washed out the piece just a little.
It's somewhat darker all around IRL.

Finally, I have a new start to show you.

Barbara Ana's Funky Bird.
It's a fun piece.

Here's my start.

Well, that's it from here.
Hope your March is going well.
Thanks, as always, for visiting.

The 2017 List - Part 13

I've finally reached the end of the road

with my 2017 to-do list.

Here are the last two.

It's hard to see in the photo, but the bottom tree is done in hardanger stitches.  This is an old design, from the 1990's, and I may have a hard time finding the two gold tree charms that you see in the bottom third of the piece.  I can always stitch a couple of trees in, though.

The name of this piece is Funky Bird.  

Obviously, both projects are kitted up and ready to go, but I can really only handle four to five active WIPs at once.  The ones I'm working on right now are the Prairie Schooler Alphabet (G is proving to be quite fiddly), Spring Logs (needlepoint), Wandering Star (blackwork) and my small quilted wall hanging.  The quilt should be my next finish.  Something on this extensive list should hop in to replace it, but I do have a lot of cute valentine designs in my stash, and February is just around the corner...

That's it for a little while.

Hope you had a great weekend,

and thanks for stopping by

and staying with me while I

meandered through this crazy list.