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!

The 2017 List - Part 10

Here is another small project...

This is an EGA class that I took in 2011!

The designer is Marsha Papay-Gomola.

It's funny how you have to take a photo of something

to notice various things.  For instance, I just now

noticed that there is a second "r" in the word Forest.

Anyway, here is my progress so far...

It's basically what I got done in class.

I had this on my to-do list last year,

and I had high hopes of finishing it.

It's not a large piece.

I never even took it out of its bag.

It's on my list again this year,

but my hopes are somewhat dimmed.

We'll see.

That's it for today.

Thanks so much for visiting,

and I am thrilled that

so many of you are taking the

time to comment.

See you tomorrow!

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!