My Trips to the Framer

My framer reopened a few weeks ago, and I had five finished pieces that had been just waiting for that day!  I decided to take them in one at a time, however, because we've been having a lot of protests in the area and, quite frankly, I figured it would be bad enough to lose one piece, let alone five!  They (father/daughter framing team) understood.  But my pieces are all back home safe and sound now, so here they are:

The first piece that I had framed was Spring Robin

by Widgets and Wool Primitives.

I didn't get it in time for this spring, but I'll have it next year.

Next up, Rainforest Birds, my Charley Harper piece.

My framer actually took this piece home with her
one night for safekeeping.

I can't say enough nice things about these people!

This is my "Covid" piece that I designed myself.

I just took a quote that I liked,

and added some motifs from a

folk art embroidery book that I've had for decades.

I did it the hard way,

scratching the chart out on graph paper by hand

since I don't have any cross stitch software.

This is my favorite piece;
they couldn't have found a more perfect frame!

Pandora's Box, a freebie from Blackwork Journey.

The photo doesn't do it justice.

Last but not least, I decided to double-frame
this needlepoint piece.

The canvas is by Eye Candy
and the design's name is self-evident.

I was really surprised when I went to pick it up
and they said, "No charge."

I do give them a lot of business, but I wasn't expecting that!

These folks are the best!

And finally, a small pillow finish...

...from the Little Dove's Year series of monthly patterns.

What do I have in the works now?
So glad you asked, because I have more photos...

I'm actually done stitching this one,
but it still needs to be pillowfied,
hopefully before July.
Little House Needleworks, Freedom

Plum Street Samplers,
Serial Bowl Collection, Lesson Two.
Here's another future pillow.
Once I've finished "painting" the house,
there's a huge bowl of flowers on the roof,
and a large swath of grass on the bottom,
so I've got a bit more to go.
There are five charts in this series,
and they all come with over-dyed threads,
but the suggestion is to use one strand
because if you use two strands you might run out.
I do use two strands and
I've had good luck so far not running out,
except with the red in this piece.
I was able to stitch all the letters except one,
and believe me, I used every scrap of thread.
Since the kit is five years old,
I figured I might not be able to match
the color, even with the same thread.
So I pawed through my stash first and,
lo and behold, I found an almost exact match
with a different color from a different manufacturer.
And since both threads are over-dyed,
no one, not even DH "the color guy" as I call him,
can tell the difference.
So you might keep that in mind
if you run out of an over-dyed thread in the
middle of a project.

This is a workshop that I took through my 

local ANG chapter last year,

Jennifer Riefenberg's Pumpkin Patch.

There's a lot of laying of threads involved

which I'm not fond of

so this will take a while, I think.

This is one of the 35 projects in the book

"Splendid Samplers to Cross Stitch" by Chris Rankin.

It's called Caribbean Sampler in the book;

I call it Southwest Sampler.

I love the rainbow bands between the squares.

Last but not least, this is my start on

And Heaven and Nature Sing by Kathy Barrick.

I usually like to stitch seasonal pieces

closer to the season, but since I'm using

the called-for silks, summer stitching it is

because silk catches on my dry, flaky fingertips

in the winter and drives me crazy crazier.

The linen photographed blue

(and a lovely blue it is)

but in real life it's light gray.

And the wreath is stitched in 

two shades of green.

That's it from here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pandora's Box

We have a finish!

Pandora's Box,

a freebie from the very generous Elizabeth Almond

of Blackwork Journey.

You know how you notice things

after you take a photograph

that you didn't notice

while stitching a piece for months on end?

Well, I've just noticed that

the first and last whitework squares in the top row

are not outlined like all the rest are.

So I think I'll outline them before

this piece is framed.

I'll have lots of time to do that

since who knows when "nonessential" businesses

like my framer will be allowed to open.

Anyway, here are some close-ups...

I do love this piece, but I had to do a lot of

thinking with each new square.

I will be happy to get back to some

good old mindless cross stitch!

And there's nothing wrong with that!

That's it for now.

Thanks for dropping by...

and hang in there!

Stitching While S.I.P.

Hello, My Fellow Shut-Ins!

Of course, the S.I.P. in the title refers to sheltering in place, which most of us are doing right now.  So while I have a captive audience, I'll take this opportunity to show you some finishes and also what I've been working on lately.  Let's start with the finishes...

I love the robins on this pillow.

March is the month when you start to see them again

around these parts.

From Heart in Hand's Square Dance series.

Jeanette Douglas taught this class last year

at a retreat in Bloomington, Indiana.

I just recently got these two pieces back from the finisher.

About five years ago, Plum Street Samplers 

came out with a series of Sampler Lesson bowl fillers.

I, of course, bought all the charts (with thread).

This is the second one that's completed.

And yet another March pillow.

This is from the Little Dove's Year leaflet.

In the chart, the fourth sheep was on a hill

that was floating above the ground.

I decided to extend the hill downward

and backstitch the month over the cross stitching.

Now for the WIPs...

I'm close to a finish on this Charley Harper piece.

Just a couple of sections on the large bird and

a small piece of the background need to be stitched.

The name of the piece is Rainforest Birds.

I'm getting close on this one as well.

This is a freebie (!) from Blackwork Journey

entitled Pandora's Box.

In addition to the blackwork motifs,

there are boxes with cross stitch,

pulled work and pattern darning.

This book is from 1995,

and I came across the cover piece on Instagram.

It was love at first sight.

There are a lot of enablers on Instagram!

I found the book for sale on Etsy,

and started kitting it up right away.

Here is my start.

It was somewhat of a challenge.

The book was in perfect condition,

but the printed chart was so small

as to be unreadable.

So I enlarged it on my copier/printer.

The model was stitched with Anchor yarn,

which doesn't necessarily correspond to DMC colors.

I matched colors from my fairly large stash

of DMC floss to the photo as best I could.

Finally, the chart did not have every tenth

line bolded, and no stitch count was given.

So, after manually counting and

marking every tenth line, I was ready to go.

I know that two empty boxes

are not very exciting, but just wait.

Here is my final WIP, Spring Robin

from Widgets and Wool Primitives.

The chart was gifted to me by Averyclaire

a couple of years ago.  Thanks, K!

The fabric is 20-count "Summer Sunset" Lugana.

So what is on my staying-at-home horizon?

More small pillows, of course.

I have a very fun painted canvas

that I plan on starting when

Rainforest Birds is completed.

And after that, who knows?

Thanks, as always, for visiting.

Stay well.

Goodbye, 2019

It's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I'd scoot in here before the end of the year/decade to catch you up.  The stitching never stops here at Southpaw headquarters, so here is the latest update.

Finishes

A trio of pillows made an appearance.  First up from the

Heart in Hand Square Dance series: December.

Not my best finish (or photo), but there it is.

This one turned out a bit nicer:

Be Merry from Chessie and Me.

The fabric that it's sitting on is the backing.

Finally, just in time for January,

another one from the Heart In Hand

Square Dance series.

Those designs are so stinking cute,

I love them all!

WIPs

You may remember this start

from my last post:

Well, this has gotten some love...

and

You'll notice that I added a finish date here.

The last time I did that on a project,

I had to rip it out because I was 

a little overconfident

in my speed as a stitcher.

But with this project, I think it

should be finished in

the first quarter of 2020.

We'll see.

This is In All Things be Exceedingly Diligent

from Needle Work Press.

This was going to be the start of my blackwork piece.

The framework that you see there is

the four-sided stitch (a pulled stitch).

The ground was 32-count linen.

But as I arrived at this point,

I recalled all the problems I had

with my blackwork project on linen last year.

It's a little too diaphanous to hide

even the shortest thread carried where

there's no stitching.

Did I learn nothing from that project?

Apparently not.

So I decided to trash what I'd done and start over.

Those are a lot of four-sided stitches,

but I needed to cut my losses.

Here's where I'm at now.

I have just a tick more of the four-sided stitches completed

than are shown in the first photo,

and three of the areas are filled in.

This is 32-count Jobelan (an evenweave),

and it's working out much better.

The design is Pandora's Box from

Elizabeth Almond's Blackwork Journey.

It incorporates not only blackwork and pulled work,

but also cross stitch, Assisi (a type of cross stitch),

and pattern darning.

There are two sets of instructions:

one for Aida and one for evenweave.

Yes, she even specifies evenweave!

And it's a free pattern!

She is one of the most generous people I know.

(Well, I really don't know her, but I know of her.)

She has all sorts of free charts on her website here.

Check it out, if you're interested in blackwork.

My Charley Harper piece has been

a bit neglected.

It's a little hard to tell right off

what's been stitched on a painted canvas,

but I've got one flower, two birds

and the tail of a third bird stitched,

as well as a bunch of the basketweave background.

A lot of needlepointers of my acquaintance

would not choose the basketweave stitch

as the background,

but I actually enjoy doing it.

It's very Zen.

Last but not least, here is

a January design from Prairie Schooler's

A Prairie Year leaflet...

The chart shows the clock at 11:45,

but I figured that that was still December,

so I changed the time!

This is on a fabric called Molino,

and the reverse of the fabric is a

variegated light blue.

I'd never seen anything like that before.

Weird!

I'd show you, but there's no sun today,

and the colors are not photographing well at all.

This is actually a little more purple than it looks.

Alrighty then, we are all caught up.

Molly wants to wave a paw at you

one last time this year...

From the looks of things,

she will not be awake at midnight to greet 2020.

Have a safe and happy New Year's holiday.

We'll chat again next year.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hall of Shame

Certain stitching bloggers from time to time "show off" their UFO's, whether for a challenge, a SAL or other reasons.  I had mentioned mine a while back, and thought that I would catalog them here, in hopes of (shaming myself into?) finishing one or more by the end of this year.  I probably have fewer than some, but more than others.  I do find, however, that my UFO's seem to have one thing in common:  they are all, except two, from either a class or workshop that I once attended.  So here they are, all 14 16 of them (I just found two more as I was going through my stash), from the most recent to the oldest...

1.

Austin Patch, a 2017 workshop given by Tony Minieri

through my local ANG chapter.
This is Tony's model.

I've got a good start on it, haven't I?

2.

This one is Fire and Ice by Toni Gerdes,

another 2017 workshop hosted by my ANG chapter.

This is Toni's model that she brought

for our inspection.

This is what I was able to finish in class.

The stitching is fun and easy, but the silk thread

needs to be ironed before using.   (sigh)

3.

This trio of ornaments is from the

2016 Illinois State Day workshop hosted by

my local EGA chapter.

These were the three colorways

and you needed to pick one for your kit.

I felt that I needed to support my chapter by attending.

That's all I'll say.

Here's my start.

That's a practice motif on the lower right.

4.

This was a 2016 boutis workshop held after

a regional EGA meeting.

The finished needlebook is beautiful.

Here is my start.

Yes, there are stitches on that fabric,

you just can't see them

because the thread matches the fabric.

5.

This is very sad.

This is my challenge project for my local

ANG chapter this year.

The deadline is the 4th Saturday in June.

As you can see, it will be a

very cute, 3-sided Christmas stand-up.

One day.

I have not worked on it at all since last June,
when it was chosen by the members
from the three projects I brought to the meeting.

I've thought about it a lot, though.

There's still time, but I may end up

paying the $10 penalty for not finishing.

This is where I'm at.

It's been sitting around since 2016.

6.

This is called Dresden Doodle.

It was a blackwork workshop taught by

the redoubtable Marian Scoular in 2015.

Each participant received a large piece of

fabric with the design drawn on.

Then we were given a variety of "diaper" patterns,

and told to have at it.

 Here are some of Marian's stitched models,

three showing various Dresden designs.

7.

This was another 2015 workshop, this one

taught by Ellen Chester.

Participants received the wooden carry-all,

with instructions and materials for a pin cube,

needle roll, pipkin, ruler cover and scissor case.

I did stitch and finish the pin cube!

I've shown it here before, but you don't

mind looking at it again, do you?

None of the other pieces

have even been started.

8.

This was a 2015 cyberclass on

reversible cross stitching.

I think I was confused about the half cross stitches,
so I put it aside.

Here is what I've stitched so far.
And it is reversible.

The material provided is very nice.

Looking at these now, I think

I should just finish them up however I can.

I have enough material for

four little coasters.
They won't take long to stitch.

So what if the back isn't perfect.

9.

This project really fell into my mental dustbin.

I had it listed under "Kitted" instead of "Started"

in my cross stitch app.

But rummaging through my stash

I did find that I had stitched a wee border

for one ornament.
It's kind of hard to see.
The wavy lines may be due to the
flecks of metallic thread woven into the canvas.

This was a class from my ANG chapter.

If I finish it, I'll get another pin for my nametag.

But on the other hand,
 I may already have enough pins on my nametag.

However, I'm not quite giving up on this one yet.

10.

This was a 2014 pilot class that I took through

my ANG chapter.

We were given the middle and the right trees

to stitch and give feedback to the designer.
All required feedback was given.

The one on the right is done.

The middle one is not.

11.

This is Elizabeth Almond's 

wonderfully generous 2014 blackwork freebie called

"Save the Stitches."

I fell in love with it back then.
Yes, it is huge.

I don't have a photo of anyone's finished piece.

12.

Ah, the Little Bee Eater by Trish Burr.

This was a needlepainting class

that I took at the 2014 Nordic Needle retreat.

Since then, I took another needlepaintiing

class with Tanja Berlin.

(I did finish that piece.)

I plan to rip out what I started

and do this one Tanja's (better) way.

Honest, I do.

13.

This is from the 2011 EGA Indiana State Day.

The piece is Ruby of the Forest by Marsha Papay-Gomola,

who is a wonderful teacher with a great sense of humor.

Take a class from her if you get a chance.

I swear, every single year I say to myself,

I need to get this guy finished up.

I've got all the padding done,

and a lot of the stitching on the bird.

Those were the only tricky parts.

The finished size would be a small ornament.

I can do this.

14.

This was a 2011 workshop hosted by

my EGA chapter.

My start is on the left.

As I was examining it today,

I find that it will finish to an odd size (5.3" square).

I have a 4x4-inch box.

Maybe I can eliminate some of the borders

and make it fit into that box top.
It's a plan.

15.

This is a workshop that I took at a
2010 EGA regional seminar.

Here is the teacher's model...

Yes, it's supposed to be a nametag, but it's
almost 5" in diameter which, to me,
seems too big for a nametag.
We did do most of the tricky parts in class,
and it wouldn't take long to finish stitching,
but I'm not sure how I would want
to use this piece, if I ever finished it.
Hmmm.

16.
And finally, last but not least...

This is truly my oldest UFO.
It's a dresser scarf that I started
around 2000-2001, before I started keeping records,
using one of the patterns from the hundreds 
in this cool folk art embroidery book
that I bought back in the day.
I'd give you the title--I still have the book--
but am not sure where it is right now.

Unfortunately, when I peeked into the bag 
to check which colors I had been using,
I saw that the red is an overdye: Buckeye Scarlet.  Uh-oh.
Someone wasn't thinking when she chose her colors!
Not being able to wash a dresser scarf is not a good thing.
It's probably the end of the line for this one.

Well, that's it, I think.
If you've stuck with me through
all my thinking out loud, congratulations!
We'll see which, if any, I finish
by the end of this year.
My deadline piece
should be at the front of the line--
and it has the most left to do
(after Save the Stitches, of course).

Hope your projects are going well.
Thanks for visiting!