Leap Year List - July Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

How's your July going?  We finally got some much-needed rain here overnight, and now it's really hot and steamy. Good weather to stay inside and stitch!

We've reached the halfway point of the year, and of the eleven pieces that I wanted to make progress on back in January, six are finished and two are active WIPs.  Here are the three that have been sadly neglected...

From the top:

Kindred Spirits by With My Needle;

Save the Stitches by Blackwork Journey;

Chicago Collage by Lynn Deininger.

Of these three, the top one, Kindred Spirits,

has been calling to me very softly.

I have five sides of the pin cube stitched,

so if I can finish that, maybe I can get going

 on the other small pieces in that group.

Notice I'm not saying anything about

the other two WIPs UFOs.

But, anyway, here's what's been going on since last month...

Tanya Berlin's Blackwork Horse looked like this last month.

I was hoping to finish it...

...and I did.  He's one of the 12 pieces I'll be taking

to the Lake County (IN) Fair this year.

Wish me luck.

I wanted to start (and finish) the "A"

in Prairie Schooler's Alphabet this month, too.

I didn't quite make it.

This block is about 40% finished.

Maybe next month.

I was working on another PS project,

so I can blame that for

my lack of progress on A is for Anchor.

This is where I was on A Farmer's Almanac

back in May.

Now, the barnyard has animals!

I'm doing this on 25-ct lugana over one,

and all that green just about did me in!

And yes, there is even more green to the left of the path.

The linen color is blue, similar to the first photo.

And I started and finished this, too:

La-D-Da's Summertime Roll-Up.

It will get finish-finished into a cute needleroll.

Last month I sketched out the pattern for 

The Missing Piece by Jennifer Riefenberg...

This month I got some outlining done...

And we have two additions(!) to the rotation...

This is another one by Needle Delights Originals.

This is my start.

I think I've done the only easy part.

And finally, last year I took a workshop

taught by Kay Stanis, Copper Illumination.

I haven't worked on this in over a year,

but the good ladies of my ANG chapter

chose this piece as my "challenge" for next year.

The vote was between

The Missing Piece (the smallest one),

Ripple Rotation 2 (probably too "easy"),

and Copper Illumination (the winner!).

This is where I'm at.

I have until the end of next June to finish it.

I forgot there were so many beads (all the flowers).

All I could think about was the blank piece of

copper that needs to be sculpted into a tulip.

If I don't finish in time, I'll owe the treasury $10.

I'd better start saving my pennies.

That's it for now.

Thanks for dropping by.

Leap Year List

Hey Blog Buddies,

Hope your holidays were happy and fun.  Thank you so much for the nice comments on my end-of-year recap post, and throughout last year.  They make my day.

Happy Leap Year!  I've seen quite a few leap years (more than 10, less than 20, heheh), and in my experience, major life events tend to occur during leap years.  My parents' wedding, my birth, our wedding, the adoption of our first dog, and the purchase of our current house all happened in leap years.  Maybe I just have too much time on my hands to be coming up with this trivia?!

Anyhow, I thought I would call my rotation a Leap Year List this year.  It's a catchier name, and I don't usually stick with a strict rotation anyway.  I just stitch what I'm in the mood to stitch on any particular day.  Eleven projects that I'd like to focus on made the list this year, some old, some new.  Let's start with our old friends:

  Dawn Chorus by Long Dog Samplers.

Still haven't fixed that tree, so it's currently at a standstill.

Save the Stitches by Blackwork Journey.

Hopefully including this piece

will inspire me to get going on it.

The formerly neglected A Tree by Itself

by Rosewood Manor.

I worked on it most of last month and

I'm still working on it!

Here's the photo I took at Christmastime.

Notice the treetop with no trunk next to the

rabbits at the bottom left.

Now it has a trunk and flowers.

I count each completed motif as a mini-finish.

Woo-hoo!

Here is Autumn Logs by one of my favorite designers:

Kathy Rees of Needle Delights Originals.

I have done a lot of her pieces,

and have quite a few more in my stash.

This is my ANG chapter's SAL.

Anticipated completion date:  end of June.

Kindred Spirits by With My Needle.

This is the workshop I took in Shipshewana, IN,

in October.

It's true that most of these are smalls,

but taken together,

it's a good-sized project.

I showed these four sides of the pin cube a while ago.

This project has been neglected ever since.

This one is brand new (to me):

The Song They Sang by Carriage House Samplings.

I bought the chart a few weeks ago,

and it just elbowed its way onto the list

(and I even started it!).

The verse starts out:

"It was early, early in the Spring..."

so the drab colors are appropriate for how it looks here in March.

Can you tell that this is my new favorite?

I'm so fickle...

This was an ANG class that I signed up for but missed

because I was out of town at said 

Shipshewana workshop.

The design is by Jennifer Riefenberg.

I haven't started it yet.

It's not huge, but it's tricky because

I have to transfer two designs

onto the canvas: the puzzle pieces and the

overlapping rectangles containing the various stitches.

This one will need some study

before I'm able to start stitching it.

This is a rare (for me) painted canvas:

Chicago Collage by Lynn Deininger.

This has been kitted up in my stash

for at least four to five years.

I have a stitch guide by a third party (not Lynn)

which is complete gibberish to me,

so I'll have to make my own stitch decisions.

I think that a lot of the areas 

will get the tent stitch/basketweave treatment.

Here's another one that hasn't been started:

Blackwork Horse by Tanja Berlin Designs.

Transferring the design to the fabric

will be a challenge with this one.

I won't elaborate here but, trust me,

you'll hear about it down the road.

This one has a deadline, too:  end of July.

I had actually planned to start the

Prairie Schooler Alphabet on January 1st,

but I decided that postponing that start

would be the prudent thing to do!

I have all the charts, and they

keep beckoning me.

So, to satisfy my desire for a PS project,

I plan on starting this one:

It's a much more manageable size,

and I think the verse is very appropriate

for this leap year, too.

Instead of starting the PS Alphabet on January 1st,

I did the sensible thing and finally put some

stitches into this one:

Angles by Debbie Rowley.

I finished the Spratt's Head stitches

--I love that name--

in the upper left corner (Area 1).

For the longest time all I had

was the one blue Spratt's Head stitch.

Area 2 contains the large upright

rice stitches on the diagonal.

Area 3 is made up of four Amadeus stitches.

They are a kind of Rhodes stitch

for those of you not familiar with them.

Only 79 more Areas to go.

Seriously, the chart is 105 pages long

with two additional fold-out sections!

But it contains detailed diagrams of

all the nutty stitches that make up this piece,

so I'm not complaining.  Much.

This is my ANG chapter's challenge project.

If I finish this piece by the end of June,

I'll get rewarded with a tote bag.

If not, I'll owe the chapter's treasury $10.

Gotta get busy.

I have a couple of smaller projects

that I'd like to finish this year, too, namely,

Eastern Bluebird by Tanja Berlin

Yes, the bird is actually finished!

I have to be in the mood to do

the last blossom and all those leaves, though.

and 

Ruby of the Forest by Marsha Papay-Gomola.

This one is from 2011.

Both of these were EGA-sponsored classes.

That's part of how I get into trouble.

And you know that  later on this year, 

something new will

come along and catch my eye

that I'll want to start right away.

It always does.

Wishing everyone a happy,

healthy and stitchy New Year.

Thanks for visiting!

Three Finishes!

Hey Blog Buddies,

How's your December been going?  Here in the Chicago area, we've been having very mild weather, courtesy of El Nino.  We've only had one snowstorm in our area that accumulated on the ground, and that's long gone.  I swear the grass in our yard is greening up!  (I hope it doesn't start growing again...)

Anyhow, I finally, finally finish-finished a couple of things that have been stitched up for weeks.  I always have a very hard time talking myself into putting the finishing touches on a project, even if I have all of the materials to do it.

First up is Plum Street Samplers' Serial Bowl No. 3.

Can you tell that I haven't glued down

the end of the chenille yet?  Sigh.

Next, we have

LHN's  Oh Christmas Tree.

I have a few quibbles with this one, too,

but I won't start whining about it.

The main thing is, it's done

and hanging on my tree.

Last (and best, in my opinion)

is the canvaswork scissor case

that I had been stitching on and off for the

better part of this year.

It was an untitled, painted canvas

from Lynn Deininger.

Ta-da!

And, ta-da!

I can't decide which is the front

and which is the back,

because both sides have their charms.

This piece was quickly and expertly

finished by my friend Averyclaire.

I love the beads that she added

at the top!

And with three finishes,

don't I deserve a new start?

Of course I do!

This class was taught at my

ANG chapter's meeting last Saturday.

The chart is Ho Ho Ho by

Deb Bee's Designs.

I actually hadn't planned to start this piece,

but I'm in a Christmas kind of mood now,

and I probably won't want to

work on it after the first of the year.

Here is my start.

It's not that big;

I may finish it by the end of the month.

(Famous last words...)

Well, that's it from here.

Thanks for visiting!

March Madness

Well, this is my version of March Madness, anyway.  Certain bloggers that I know and love have been doing a new start every day since almost forever (I won't name names, Linda and Claudette) but for me it's a little nutty to have four new starts in the space of just a couple of weeks.  Let's review.

This first new start shouldn't even count!  I've had it kitted up for a couple of years and I only started it because I wanted a small travel project.

This is the only painted canvas project that has been offered by my ANG chapter since I joined.  It was designed by Lynn Deininger, a member of the chapter, and will be a scissor case when it's all finished.

Next, I signed up for a 2-day workshop hosted by that same chapter.  Kay Stanis came to teach her Copper Illumination.

This is what it will hopefully look like when it's completed.  It's all silk, beads and metallic braid, with some purl purl (sometimes called Jaceron), and a piece of copper sheeting thrown in.  I wanted to try it because it's so far out of my comfort zone.  Yes, it's a piece of plain copper sheeting, and we were given instructions to create the tulip pattern on it.

Most of the first morning was spent lacing our canvas to the stretcher bars on two sides (something most of us had never done) and basting the design outline in gold silk thread.

This is my progress so far.

But it was a fun weekend and we were all in the same boat.  The End of the Table Gang(?) from left to right:  Julie, Sue, Joyce and Beth.  Becky, our sixth Partner in Crime, is not in the photo because she sat this one out.

I started this next project because I just needed a dose of Spring, and this design makes me smile.  This piece is also giving my brain a little break!

This is Bloom by Art to Heart.  There's one more flower to stitch, and the word "Bloom."  I'm hoping to get this done before the summer solstice (this year).  The linen is light yellow, but I don't think it's ever going to photograph correctly.

Finally, this past weekend I took a class from--you guessed it--my ANG chapter.  There is a trend here.  Debbie Rowley from DebBee's Designs created a teaching piece for our chapter.  It will be offered as a class at other venues around the country, but the chart isn't available in stores.  So, how could I pass up the opportunity, right?

The piece is called Angles and this is the chart.

It's 105 pages long.

Really.

I changed the colors to these.

The light was doing funny things to the colors,
making some way too dark
and others too bright or off-shade,

but basically it's blue, magenta and shades of gray.

Here is my start on the spratt's head stitch.

It doesn't look too bad from this distance!

There are approximately 80 stitches

and/or stitch variations in all.

We went over the first 40 on Saturday,
including the ominous double fan doubled.

Wish me luck with this one!

That's enough madness for this month.

Hope your weekend was fun.

Thanks for visiting!