A Very Stitchy Weekend

Hey Blog Buddies,

Yesterday was Indiana State Day.  "What the heck is that?" many of you may be wondering.  Once a year, the various chapters of the Embroidery Guild of America (the Mothership)  in each state get together for a workshop, lunch, prizes and various other stitchy festivities.  So yesterday, the ladies of the Indianapolis chapter were the hosts for Indiana State Day.  You don't have to be a resident of the state to participate (which I'm not), or even a member of one of the state's chapters (which I happen to be), just a member of the Mothership.

My festivities started on Friday when Averyclaire and I began our Indiana road trip/shop hop.  Our first stop was Persnickety Stitchers in Zionsville, IN.  What a great little shop!  It sells supplies for both canvaswork and linen, and it's well worth a visit if you're anywhere in the area.  Zionsville is also a very pleasant artsy-craftsy little town, so we had lunch there with Linda, another member of our Guild who we ran into (where else?) at Persnickety Stitchers. 

My Haul from Persnickety Stitchers

The top photo shows two charts from The Prairie Schooler.

Bottom photo is a canvaswork piece

from Needle Delights Originals.

Our next stop was Needle Fever which is more of a counted-cross-stitch-type place.  They have tons of merchandise (many items of which actually seemed to know me by name--but I somehow managed to restrain myself).  This is another recommended stop if you're in Indianapolis.  Our last stop before the hotel was Quilts Plus, on the same street as Needle Fever and not too far down.  This shop was another winner, and I recommend it if you're into quilty stuff.  After we got to the hotel for a short rest after our journey, we went to the stitch-in hosted by the Indianapolis Guild.

Saturday morning bright and early at 9:00am (8:00am Illinois time) the workshop started.  It was a class in stumpwork ("dimensional stitching") taught by Marsha Papay Gomola.  I can't say enough good things about Marsha:  her instructions are clear and informative, and she's funny and very encouraging to all her students.  Our project was a little cardinal, the state bird of Indiana.  (What a coincidence:  it's also the state bird of Illinois!)

Here is the stitched example that Marsha brought which illustrates how to get the dimension in the cardinal.  First you tack three pieces of felt onto the design, one on top of the other and each one slightly bigger than the last.  Then you stitch the design on top of the felt, being careful not to pull the stitches too tightly, which would mash the felt down.  The stitch we used on the cardinal was the long-and-short stitch.

The following are some examples of Marsha's beautiful work:

After everyone got a good start on their bird, it was time for lunch.

Eight gals from our Guild attended State Day. 

Karol, Linda, Renee and Joyce were at one table.

Sue, her mom Jackie, Karen and I were at another table.

Why did we split up?  Well, I try to avoid complaining on this blog, but I'm going to do it now.  All of the people with "special diets" (vegetarians, gluten intolerance, carb intolerance) were segregated from the general population (and their friends) and had to sit at this one table.  It was in the far corner of the room.  The Special-Diet Ghetto.  I've never run into this policy before (probably the brainchild of someone on the hotel's management team).  I felt a little like some sort of freakazoid.  If my other "weirdo" friends hadn't been at the table with me, I would have rebelled, and it wouldn't have been pretty.  Just sayin.'  I should add here that everyone at lunch got a door prize, courtesy of the Indianapolis Guild, and we all got cute little goodie bags made by the members of the Indianapolis Guild, filled with stitchy stuff, to-wit:

Clockwise, from top left:

Mill Hill Autumn Harvest ornament (door prize)

Goodie Bag with needle

Stitch markers

Scissor fob

Paper ort container

Pinkeep to match goodie bag

Embroidery floss

After lunch, we had time to go back to the classroom and stitch and get more tips from Marsha about finishing our piece, etc.  Many of the workshop participants brought completed projects for show and tell.  Below is the eye candy.

Here is what our Guild brought...

If you have stuck with me this far,

you may be wondering

"When is this post going to end?"

or

"How did Southpaw's cardinal turn out?"

(I prefer to believe the latter.)

So here is my progress on the cardinal, my newest WIP.

I've lost count of how many I have now....

Averyclaire was the only one from our Guild

who finished the whole bird (minus beak).

I didn't get a photo.

I know, it's not a race.

Hope you're doing fun things this weekend.

Thanks for visiting!

 

Adventures in Plunging

Good Afternoon Gentle Blog Readers,

No, I haven't taken to unplugging toilets in my spare time--that job belongs to DH.  Instead, I am bravely attempting to finish The Uptown Stitcher.  She is the brainchild of Libby Sturdy, a local designer, who is more than a little diabolical.

"What is this?" you may be asking yourself.  Why, it's the outside of a purse.  Let me show you where it goes.

The green basketweave area above is the top half of the "lining" of the purse.  Ms. Sturdy told me and my fellow stitchers (in a workshop long ago) that we did not have to stitch the entire lining, as no one would be able to see it.  She then went on to explain that after we stitched the outside of the purse on a separate piece of canvas, we should unravel (unweave) the canvas and leave the canvas threads that were attached to the purse intact. 

We were then instructed to position the outside of the purse carefully over the outline of the purse on the main canvas and "plunge" (her word) all of the unraveled canvas threads down into the main canvas.  Heheheheheheheeeee!  That is my hysterical cackling.

Here is a peek at the reverse side of the piece, showing the plunged canvas threads in the back.   There are many more still to be plunged.  Once all the threads are plunged, they are all to be woven into the back of the design.  This may be the only time I ever take a photo of the reverse side of my stitching.  Notice how I cleverly used depth of field so that most of the stitches are blurry?  Heeeeeeehehehehe!  More insane cackling.

I have never done this technique before, and it is the main reason why this project has stayed a UFO for 8+ years.  However, I have some very smart and helpful ladies in my ANG group who are giving me pointers and moral support to carry me to the finish of this project--that and lots of California jug wine!

Here are a couple of more reasons for my procrastination:

Her faux fur stole (yes, it has to be faux fur if she is to be a friend of mine and be given a place of honor in my quilting room) is made up of dozens and dozens of french knots, not really that hard to do, but very labor intensive.  But, I'm over half done with them!  The turkeywork depicting lace at the collar, cuffs and hem of her dress?  Completed last weekend!

The design also calls for some free-form flowers to be made out of ribbon and positioned on the band of her hat--yet another technique I haven't yet tried.  But I'm going to be getting help with that from another one of my ANG friends.

So, all in all, I'd say it's looking good for this project to be finished this year.  Don't want to get more specific about time than that!

Thanks for visiting and thank you so much for the encouraging comments you've made.  They make my day.

Snow Removal, Beulah-Style

Greetings Dear Blog Readers,

Happy Ground Hog's Day to you all.  Our little corner of Northern Illinois got its fair share of the blizzard which is moving across the country.  Although we do have a snow thrower, Beulah has decided that she wants to help us with the snow removal.

There she is, eating her way along the pathway to the backyard.  Yes, I know she does not have her coat on.  In her haste to obtain the tasty treat she ran out without it.  Her recent outings have averaged about 60 seconds each, including snow eating.

You can see where she has chomped her way down the path.  We will probably be getting a bill for her services at the end of the month.

With all this snow, there has been quite a bit of stitching going on.  Below is the progress I've made with Rainforest Crunch.

I may be inside stitching for quite a while longer.  DH's snow thrower won't start!! 

If you're one of the millions affected by this storm, stay safe and dry.  If you're in a warm and sunny clime, send me a real estate brochure!

My Current Obsession

Good Afternoon Dear Blog Readers,

Below is a photo of my current WIP, Rainforest Crunch by Needle Delights.  Despite having made a mental vow just weeks before the purchase of this project to work on UFO's only, when I saw the completed piece hanging on the wall of my LNS, adjacent to the packaged instructions, I loved the colorway and knew I had to make the piece. 

"Well, I'll just get the instructions today," I said to the shopowner.  At that very moment, lo and behold, my eyes rested on the 12 Watercolors the piece called for, all tied together with a pretty white ribbon.  "That's just not fair," I thought as I scooped up the fibers and clutched them to my breast.  "Would you like me to cut you a piece of canvas for that?" the shopowner asked tenderly. Heck yeah!  "And do you have 12" stretcher bars?"   Uh... no.  Into my waiting arms they went.  "Let me just grab the Kreinik metallics the instructions call for," she said.  Wouldn't want to leave without them.  But it wasn't really so bad--I had a supply of tacks at home!

You are probably asking yourself why I was in the shop to begin with.  I had ordered a copy of the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Issue, and went there for the sole purpose of picking it up.  It's true.  I swear.

Although it's hard to pick, here is my favorite square thus far:

The piece is working up really quickly, and I'll have it finished in no time.  Then, it's back to the UFOs.  Yeahright.