Leap Year List - March Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

Happy March!  Hope you enjoyed the unusually long month of February.  Even though it was a day longer, it still went by too fast.  But that happens when you get older.

I've been doing my version of one-at-a-time stitching; you'll see the same four pieces that were featured here last month, to-wit:

Needle Delights Originals' Autumn Logs.

This is where I left off last month.

Again, three more logs were added,

but it required more stitching because

the logs are getting longer!

Last month's photo of Rosewood Manor's

A Tree by Itself.

I am finally on the home stretch with this one;

the end is in sight!  Wheeee!

Here is last month's version of

Carriage House Samplings'

The Song They Sang.

I have quite a bit of letters

to stitch on this one...

And finally, DebBee's Designs' Angles.

Here's where I was at last month.

Aaand we have a finish!
I suppose I could have finished any one

of the other three projects with less effort,

but I chose this one to finish instead.

I guess I just wanted to be done

with dealing with all the satin threads.

DH is very relieved that the "devil project"

(his term) is done.

Now that it's finished,

it's time for some close-ups.

...the bargello area...

...one of three double fan doubled stitches...

...those serpentine stitches used up a lot of thread...

...this stitch reminds me of the old test pattern 

that TV stations would run overnight in the early years.

(No, kids, TV programming wasn't always

broadcast 24 hours a day.)

But I'm dating myself.

This is my reworked Spratt's Head stitch,
reworked because I used the first length
of Neon Rays right off the card,
and the creases in the ribbon
just won't relax by themselves, as I had hoped.
You can see them in the large photo above.
One must use either a flat iron
or the water treatment to get rid of them.
I chose water, as I don't have a flat iron.
Easy and free.

I should (might) have another finish next month.

We'll see--no promises.

That's it from here.

Hope your weekend was filled with fun

and some stitching, too.

Thanks for visiting!

Leap Year List - February Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

Happy Groundhog Day!  Both Punxsutawney Phil (the celebrity groundhog) and Woodstock Willie (our local groundhog) predicted early spring this year.  They may be on to something, because we are having a thunderstorm right now!  Near Chicago.  In early February.

But enough of weather predictions.  You're here to see some stitching, right?  Let's get right to it.

I worked on four pieces from my 10-item rotation this past month.  First up is Needle Delights Originals' Autumn Logs:

This is where I was last month.

And this is what it looks like now.

I am where I need to be with this SAL.

(It's kind of slow moving.)

The photos look very similar,

but three logs were added.

Next we have Carriage House Samplings'

The Song They Sang.

This is where I was last month.

Here's where I'm at now.

I've been working on this in the evening,

because it's relatively small and easy.

This is Rosewood Manor's

A Tree by Itself.

Not gonna show the entire project

because I'm unwilling to

deconstruct my Millennium frame

to get the whole thing in the photo.

But this is where I was at last month.

Here it is now.

This photo is a tad misleading

because the motifs to the right

of the largest "tree"

have been there for a while.

The ones to the left of that tree,

on the bottom, are the new ones.

This is going really slowly

considering that it's worked on every day.

But I'm chipping away at it.

Last but not least, here is

Angles by DebBee's Designs,

my ANG chapter's challenge project.

This is where I was at a month ago.

And here it is now.

I am really surprised at how much I have done.

I gave myself a monthly goal of 15 "areas,"

as they are called in the lengthy chart,

so that this would be finished by

the deadline at the end of June.

But I went way beyond that

because this piece is actually addictive.

The only thing that's annoying

is the satin floss, but I'm dealing with it,

and it does give the piece a nice sheen.

So that's it from here.

Hope everyone that's in the path of

the blizzard that's north and west of here

stays safe and warm.

Thanks for visiting!

Last Finish, First Finish

Hey Blog Buddies,

How's your January been going?  Mine is "so far, so good."

I realized that I never showed a photo of my last finish for 2015.  I finished stitching it last year, but it was finish-finished this year.

This is Winter Strawberries by Theron Traditions.

The cost of this kit was subsidized by my EGA chapter.

The finished project is all bundled up in this photo.

If you're wondering what it is...

It's a needleroll.

The project came with a pincushion and scissor fob,

but I chose not to stitch the fob.

You can see it has a pocket for scissors on the bottom.

And if you lift the top flap, you'll find a little needlebook.

Here's a close-up of the pincushion.

All the stitching on the pincushion was over 1,

with the exception of the Palestrina knots on the sides.

This piece was finished to perfection by my friend Averyclaire.

Thank goodness for her, is all I can say.

And now, for my first finish of 2016.

It's Tanja Berlin's Eastern Bluebird.

I'm very happy to have this guy finished!

Working with one thread of cotton floss

was pretty challenging.

I've been very good about sticking
to just the projects in my rotation this month.
I have a few kitted-up projects 
that are calling to me,
so we'll see what happens with those
next month.

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!