Slow Sunday Stitching - July 7, 2024

Hope everyone in the US had a wonderful Independence Day, and those in Canada had a good Canada Day celebration as well.  Happy Birthday to our respective nations!

My church traditionally has had a huge (standing room only) service of hymns and prayers with patriotic music and choirs from all over the area and a local VIP giving a speech every year on the Fourth.   The last one prior to this week was in July 2019 and loosing that service was one of the things I hated the most about the pandemic.   Well, we reinstated that service with a great 'bang'.   And the bells played for it.   We played my favorite version of "Amazing Grace" as part of the prelude and then joined the organ, brass and massed choirs for the closing hymn 'Finlandia" with the bells and brass parts written by our director.   Donald is so talented!   The speaker was one of the Kansas Supreme Court justices.  The service was posted on the Grace Cathedral Topeka You Tube. (Hopefully that link works, since embedding did NOT.)

That's the last thing for the bells this season.   We are on break until early September now.   I'll miss ringing, but it's nice to have a summer break.

I had an opportunity to go to a crafting group this week, and even though I have said that beading is not a travel appropriate project, I took my Mill Hill Santa any way since I figured that a quiet coffee shop had a fairly low 'spillage probability', and indeed no beads went astray.   I am the halfway point on the beading with the rest of the 'snow' crystals and the two types of beads in the tree left to go.

I wish the sparkle and dimension of the beading showed up better in a photo.   I'm really liking this one and it's getting close to a finish!

And I also got the SAL section for July completed for the Birdhouses SAL.  See the changeover post for a close up.  I love the way the gull is eyeing the 'catch of the day' with bad intent.  LOL.

Getting July done necessitated moving the Q Snap.  So here's the piece all laid out.  (Pardon the wrinkles.)   Just two more sections to go (August and September) and I sure hope it meets up in the middle!!!   That's always a concern when you work in from the edges! Everybody keep your fingers crossed for me.

Linking up with the SSS crew.

FINISHED NEEDLEWORK: "BCS #5-1" by Victoria Sampler

 The last of the Victoria Sampler ornaments turned quilt blocks is complete!   This is number 9 of 9, and teaches how to set up kloster blocks for Hardanger cutwork, but does not include any cutting.   There are also Algerian Eyelets and Lazy Daisy leaves with backstitch stems. 

All nine of these ornaments will become blocks for a wall quilt eventually.  For the moment they will be going into the 'under the bed box' to await their turn in the quilt queue.   There are several projects ahead of them, unfortunately.   But I will get to them once I have found the right sashing and border fabric.  I may be at UFO zero on knitting and needlework, but with quilts it's an entirely different case - there are a dozen started quilts at least.   I'm hoping that retirement next year will give me time to work on them.  But for now let's talk about the next project up in the rotation:

Back a couple of years ago when I introduced  the KC Plaza Sewing Bag and gave the history, I debated where to put it in the rotation.  It could have fit into the Historic slot since the overall design is taken from a vintage 1930s sewing bag.   But I had Dutch Beauty in that slot, so I stuck it in the Pictorial slot since I'd just finished Teresa Wentzler's "Millennium" and I wasn't quite ready to commit to another big picture piece at that point.  Well, I now have a full coverage pictorial going with the "Sugar Skull", and a new historic inspired project ready to go in the frame - a new BBD Loose Feathers kit that I'll introduce soon.

To complicate things, in general smalls and ornaments are done as part of the modern slot.   And despite the size of the project, the sewing bag IS the final piece of the KC Historic Sampler Guild smalls.

All of this is just a long winded way to say that I'm moving this project into the modern / smalls slot for the rest of its duration as a WIP starting with ten additional hours in the modern slot in this rotation.

FINISHED NEEDLEWORK: "BCS #3-3" by Victoria Sampler, 2023 Rotation #2, Slot 3 (Modern) complete

 The next to the last of the little Victoria Sampler ornaments / quilt blocks that I've been working on.   This one got a border added so it's squared off to match the other blocks.   It's basically a miniature band sampler and packs a lot into a space just three inches square!  Stitches include standard cross over 2 threads (in #4 metallic, #12 perle cotton and 2 strands of embroidery floss), double running, outline/backstitch, zigzag stitch, french knots, sheaf stitch, Rhodes hearts and half Rhodes, upright cross, satin stitch.  And beads.

I also set up the final block for the next round of the rotation.  I need to get a jelly roll of subtle Christmas type fabric to border these.  The blocks do vary a bit in size and are on two different ground fabrics (linen and Lugana evenweave).  So they will benefit from some sashing / borders.

Slow Sunday Stitching - March 26, 2023

Progress is being made on both the needlework projects.   I got 406 stitches in on the Sugar Skull on Friday.  Teeth are all done, but I'm still working the 'bone' color on the lower jaw, so no picture.   It's in the 'tedious but necessary' class of stitching.   The main rotation project is also in that category.   Lots and lots (and lots) of brown double running in straight lines this week, but hey, it looks like a fountain now!  I love that third dolphin just peeking over the edge of the center foreground in the fountain LOL.  He's so cute!

Seven and a half hours in, so change over soon!

After all the drab colors in both of those projects, I was needing some color!   Plus the sweater is going to be moving out of the 'portable enough to be a travel project' stage soon, so I pulled out an ornament from the stash to use as the current travel project.  I have 15 (😲) of the Willmaur "Heirloom Santa" kits from the 1990s in the stash.   They are on perforated paper with no beads, so unlike a Mill Hill kit, they are good for travel projects.   (ETA, there were a couple of duplicates which have since been donated, really only 13)

I won't do a beaded item as a travel or work desk project because of the probable (almost guaranteed) spillage.   Even using a bead nabber with the sticky surface inside a jewel case, there's just too high a chance that things will go everywhere.   I'm willing to risk it in my own car or house, but not where someone else would be inconvenienced with the clean up!

This is the Canine Santa; it's one of a set of four with cats, horse and wildlife as the other ones in the series.   I have the other three kits as well.   Some of these patterns were 'one off' and some were in sets, but they are all sort of rustic and will look good together on a holiday display of some type.  

I also thought you might want to see my set up when the travel project is needlework.  The case is one of those ubiquitous folios that you get at professional conferences.   This one happens to have the logo of  my old employer, so not appropriate to use at work!   If I'm not working on perforated paper, there would be a medium hoop or small qsnap holding the fabric, which is small enough for the folio to just zipper around and the whole thing slips into my day bag.

A side note.  I always use Floss Away bags for my needlework   I've tried both floss drops and the LoRan and Dimensions thread sorters.   I found I dislike any system that has the thread dangling; once they are in use, I'm always combing them out to try to keep the ends in some sort of order and I think the baggies protect the floss from abrasion to some extent.   

Linking up with the SSS crew (current round up here).

FINISHED NEEDLEWORK: "BCS #1-3" by Victoria Sampler, 2023 Rotation #1, Slot 3 (modern) complete

 Number 7 of 9 (wink with a Star Trek ref - I was a big fan when I was younger) of the quilt block / ornaments that will be going into a Christmas wall hanging.   This is another of the Level One Basic Specialty Stitch kits - this one features Rhodes Stitch.

Before I move on to the 'not counted thread' slot in my rotation, I'm going to get the next one set up, floss sorted and all ready to go when this category comes around again.

WIPGO Update, a finish and some thoughts

 In Feb and March, the same project was called for a couple of the numbers for WIPGO, and in the background, unrelated to my rotation stitching, I completed another Mill Hill ornament kit that has been in the stash for AGES.  1995 "Holiday Sylk Angels - Heather".  Done on white perforated paper with floss, ribbon and beads from the kit.  Finished off with white linen cardstock on the back.

This one was interesting for both the ribbon work and the fact that there are 'knots' or 'bunches' of clustered beads in the hair, wings, and as 'lace' around the bottom edge.   Forcing extra beads into a stitch means that they can't sit flat - so they form a 'bobble' that creates texture or a 'loop' (if you space out the stitches a bit). 

Now that I have two finished projects for WIPGO so far this year, I have a confession to make.  I've been "tweaking" my board so as to not have multiple WIPs in the "modern" slot.  Which rather defeats the random number generator purpose of WIPGO in the first place.  I think I would be better off to just go back to my existing rotation and try to keep a smaller project in that slot for the time being.  All my other slots, especially the historic one, are large and/or complex.  It's nice to have a finish every now and again.

FINISHED NEEDLEWORK: "Shepherd's Bush Garden" smalls set

 This is one of the two sets of smalls that I have been accumulating items for over the years.  The tape case finished today during #24HOCS is the last item, I think.   I did save the left over materials from the needleroll kit that I used for this piece just in case something else inspires me.  But I'm out of space in their box. 

 

 

Some of the other pieces in the set:

 

Scissors Fob - SB design

 

A strawberry - my modification of a motif from the needleroll

 

The entire set - a dragonfly needle minder in the top of the box.  Center top - the needleroll, made into a tool roll, upper right, the strawberry.   Left to right on the bottom row:  Thimble bag, needle case, ort tin, new tape measure cover, scissor fob.  Scissors are green to match the lettering on the ribbon design and have a brown leather sheath that matches an antique leather memorandum folio (far right under fob and strawberry) that that was my mom's with a tiny brass pencil inside. 

Inside the needle case ("Bee" is for beading needles)

Rotation Changeover - 2021 Rotation #3, Slot 3 (modern) complete and restarting the Rotation with Round #4

 

After a short hiatus to get more green beads, the Mill Hill "Winter Nights" ornament is finished.  It was originally designed as a pin, but I don't wear those and do have a Christmas tree.  So I finished it with a simple ribbon to match the sky color and a back of perforated paper.  

This also completes #25 on my 2021 WIPGO board.

You may have noticed that I didn't have a changeover post for the "historic" slot.  That's because I puddled along until I got a page finish on Page T/20.  (That happened back at the end of August actually.) But I didn't get the part of the motif done that falls onto Page S/19.   You can just barely see the remaining basting thread by the uppermost left hand leaf; that thread marks the page break. 

 

There are a few days left in Sampler September, so I'm going to work on getting that last flower and the second parrot finished off before it's the first of the month and it's the Blackbird weekend.

Skipping JC's USMC Seal entirely this time around.   I am waiting on a revision of the next section from my sister, who is designing the over one area.

Slow Sunday Stitching - September 12, 2021

 Not a lot to report this week.  

Working on the fourth of the alternate Lucy Boston blocks.  Halfway around with the black.

Got to the corner on the sock yarn blanket - round 9, side 1 done.

Ran out of beads on the Mill Hill kit.  I had already sorted the beads into the little drawer bead containers when it went into the stash storage and since MH is usually generous with their materials, I figure it got dumped and half the beads lost at some point.   Luckily, they still make this size/color and my (tiny) order from 123Stitch is on it's way.  Hopefully they will get here by Tuesday and I can get this thing done by next check in!

Running late (I usually type everything up on Saturday night), linking up with the SSC crew

WIPGO - here we go

Even though I love my rotation and it has served me well, I have been watching from the sidelines as various stitch alongs, cute hashtags and fun online games / challenges have passed me by as I work on my same four things.  I will NOT be totally running off the rails though.  I do want to finish all four of the projects that are currently in the rotation (the Unicorn pillow, my son's USMC seal, Dutch Beauty and the Plaza sewing bag that will be coming into the rotation the next time around).

I have already let myself add one SAL - the Blackbird weekend SAL with Brenda and the Serial Starter on Flosstube / Instagram.  That's one weekend a month for up to five hours of stitching on Saturday/Sunday (and Monday if it's a long holiday weekend).   That will eventually whittle down the 36 remaining Blackbird Loose Feathers Club kits in the stash.  I originally had 40 (years worth of shipments from the Old Mill Stitchery, which was Barb and Alma's LNS when they first started designing in the early 2000s); I did the very first one "Spring's Promise" (which is still in the 'to be framed pile') and did one of the early needlebooks "Pumpkin Blossom Needlecase" as a gift.  Years ago, I gave "Blackbirds Winter Delivery" to JC's girlfriend at the time because she raved over it.  And I'm working on "Moon Garden" currently.  I'm not doing them in any particular order, just picking the next one that appeals to me.

I have dozens of small ornament sized projects kitted up in the stash.  Dozens.   As with the BBD Loose Feathers overload, if I want to whittle down that list, I have to actually work on them somehow.

I have been slightly aware of WIPGO - a work in progress / stash busting game on Facebook.  Basically, every year in late December you choose 24-25 goals and put them in the spaces on a "Bingo" card on a numbered five by five grid (center - spot 13 - can be a 'free' space).  Then every month, the moderator pulls two random numbers and you work on those project / goal numbers.  On the month that 13 is picked, there are three numbers.

Even though it's more than halfway through the year, I filled out a board.   I blacked out the numbers that have already been called so far this year, marked half of the remaining spots with 'ten hours on the current rotation' just to keep it going.   Then chose a few ornaments, an Altoids box topper, the remaining tape measure case and plopped them in to finish off my board for the remainder of 2021.

September numbers are 15 and 25.  Fifteen is one of the "10 hours on current rotation" blocks and I'll keep working on Dutch Beauty - which will also let me double dip in #samplerseptember.  Number 25 is a Mill Hill Pin kit (MHBH2 "Winter Nights") that has been in my stash for decades (published 1997!).   The perforated paper is a little beat up and the pin back is long gone.   That's OK, I don't wear pins, but it will make a nice tree ornament.   I have a scrap of ribbon that is a very near match to the DMC 931 used in the 'sky' area to use as a hanger.

Here's where I got after a couple of hours last night and over lunch today.  

All of the sky area is done.  All the rest of the ornament is beaded.  Four colors, with the white having two sizes of beads.

I will see if I can keep the rotation going and still have time to do an ornament occasionally. 

FRAMED NEEDLEWORK: Drawn Thread "It's Halloween"

 

pattern: "It's Halloween"

designed by: The Drawn Thread

stitched on: 32 count Belfast Linen "Dirty Linen"  (recommended fabric)

threads: DMC, GAST, Kreinik very fine braid  (as charted)

NOTE: be sure the 'Brandy' GAST has lots of orange in it.  Some dyelots are mostly yellow.

embellishments:  Mill Hill beads, brass pumpkin charm

stitching finished:  June 2015

framed: Nov 2020 by The Frame Warehouse, Topeka KS

FINISHED NEEDLEWORK: Teresa Wentzler's "Millennium"

 

"Millennium"  

Designer: Teresa Wentzler

Fabric:  28 count Jubilee Cotton Evenweave (Ivory)

Threads: called for DMC plus DMC metallics on sword

Beads by Mill Hill (petite glass)

Started 11/10/2002

Stitching finished 11/7/2020

Slow Sunday Stitching - November 8, 2020

 This weekend is the last #24HoursOfCrossStitch virtual retreat for this year, but before I get into that, let's talk about the other crafting stuff.

Knitting.  I am very close to the corner (about 15 rows) on the Sock Yarn Blanket, which is also the end of round 7.  It's now too big to easily  take a picture of, but I'll try to figure something out and share it next week.  

And my birthday sock start is on hold (sigh).  When I went to cake the yarn, this happened.  It may look like a collection of long Popsicle sticks, but it's an umbrella swift.  You put skeined yarn around it with the 'umbrella' part being that it can expand and contract to carry different sizes of yarn skeins.  Then it spins around freely for you to wind off the yarn into balls or cakes (with a ball winder).  No swift = yarn still in a big skein = no sock knitting.........

My poor swift.  It's from the mid 1970s so it's had a long and faithful service.  And this is the third arm of it that I have broken.  Walt's dad, who was a master woodworker, was able to craft a new arm to replace the first when it happened back around 2002.  The second time was only a crack, not a true break and it was at a place where Walt was able to reinforce it. 

I spent a solid ten days futzing around with this break, trying various ways to fix or reinforce it (because I am NOT a master woodworker) before I finally gave up.  A new one is on order, has shipped and should be delivered tomorrow, so cakes of yarn should happen on Monday evening. 

And a quick report on the "not counted" embroidery project.  I got the rest of the center of the lily petals done and that puckered place where the thread was carried too far on the back fixed.  And finished off the left hand leaf.   The right hand leaf just has its stem so far, but it's coming along fairly well.  I switched to a smaller hoop, which helped.  The close blanket/buttonhole stitch is easier if you can get to the center of the hoop to put some pressure from underneath since that stitch totally worked from the top of the fabric ("Sewing" style).  (Just a note, I DO take it out of the hoop at the end of the day, this is a 'mid stitching session' shot.  Even then, the hoop marks are plain to see. 

As mentioned above, the majority of the crafting happened during the virtual cross stitch retreat.  It started for me after work on Friday.  The idea behind this retreat is put in 24 hours of stitching time over Friday - Sunday.   It can be consecutive hours (#teamstitchallnight) or in chunks (#teamsleep).  I'm on team Sleep every time - my days of staying up all night are long behind me LOL.  We post lots of progress pictures and encouragement on the Facebook group and some people meet up and others do small livestreams.  All kinds of fun.

So Friday afternoon at 4, I started with more beading on the Teresa Wentzler Millennium piece.   Getting this DONE was my focus for the weekend. I put in about five hours on the beading on Friday night and got the sky and space all done with crystal petite beads.

Then on Saturday after errands were all run, I started in on the gold petite beads in the upper arch foilage.  That took about 2 hours. 

I rolled the work down enough to put on the garnet beads in the broaches and sword hilts, then took the project off the scroll bars.  I don't have any longer side bars for this particular frame (it's my only K's Creations frame), and I was afraid that rolling up over all the beading in the space and upper arch would damage something.   Each of the lower foliage areas in the bottom only got about 15 or so beads, so it was reasonable to do those two areas in hand.   And here it is in all it's glory.

Color is a bit off, since I took this picture under artificial light.  I'll try for some better pictures for the finish post later today.  

In the mean time, I am on to working on my next goal - more assembly on the Sampler Sweetbag.  I really need to get that one done since it's dated 2020!  (And I want to check in on the SSS crew - link to this week's roundup).

FINISHED NEEDLEWORK: Victoria Sampler "4 Elements: Fresh Air" converted to yellow

Designer: Victoria Sampler

Fabric:  28 count Cashel Linen

Threads: Caron Waterlillies Over dyed silk (daffodil)

DMC perle cotton 8 and 12 white

Kreinik Silk Mori (lightest lemon and dark butter)

Kreinik #4 braid (gold and lemon)

Kreinik Cord (gold)

Beads by Mill Hill and Fire Mountain Gems (?)

Needlework WiP: "VS 4 Elements: Air" Band 17

A simple band between the two most complex areas on this little sampler.  Four sided stitch and "tiny heart".   The bead on the original version was a "Tiny Rose Quartz Heart" from Access Commodities.  Well, 'barely there pink' isn't in the revised color pallet.  But my friend Beth, who is a fantastic jeweler, offered up a tiger's eye bead that is very close in size to the Access Commodities beads.   I picked the lightest, most yellow one out of her stash, and I think it looks great.

Just the bottom band of bargello - "River of Air" left.

ETA:  Beth isn't sure of the source, but it's probably Fire Mountain Gems.  She gets most of her beads from there.  Not co-incidentally, that's where I got the malachite beads for the "Green Earth" sampler.  Lots of lovely beads available there.  I just wish you could order single beads, because even the smaller jewelers' lots are more than you need for most needlework.   (I traded several of the left over malachite beads for this one, win/win.)

Needlework WiP: "VS 4 Elements: Air" Band 16

This band is interlaced hemstitching.  It presented several interesting challenges.   First as I mentioned in the last post - it's deep - 10 threads, which in this linen is nearly a half inch.  And it's not hemstitched.  The threads are just left loose in the fabric.


Set up and ready for embellishment

You can't leave them like that, of course, the ground threads above and below would eventually start to 'migrate' into the openwork area.  

So the next step is to twist each set of four threads.   I used an extra, sturdy needle to make the twist.  I know that often the instructions will have you just use the working needle, but you have to insert it oddly for the second side to work and it's just very awkward and also puts a lot of stress on the working thread.  In this case, the working thread is 12 Perle cotton and could probably handle it.  But the two needle method is just miles easier.

Last, but certainly not least, those beads between each twist.  The pattern calls for the same petite beads used in the last couple of areas of openwork and elsewhere on the sampler.  I tried.  Oh, how I tried.  But the perle cotton is just too big for the bead opening.  I broke a needle threader, a beading needle and three beads before I gave up and searched in the stash for standard Mill Hill beads in a similar metallic gold.   It went much better then.   And I think the larger size works perfectly for the spacing in this band anyhow.  The petite ones would be 'skimpy'.

One final note.  Often this type of openwork has the vertical edges done in satin stitch, like you'd do for Hardanger.  That goes MUCH faster than preparing the threads by re-weaving.  I do like this look with the rewoven ground, but it begs the question - where/how that center working thread is anchored without the satin stitch edge to hold it?   I secured it with several backstitches in the right selvage, brought the thread to the back and anchored it along the correct ground thread with a tiny over one back stitch every inch, then brought the thread up in the 'turn' of the re-woven ground stitches 5 and 6.  Worked the twists and beads across, down into the turn of the threads at the left edge of the openwork, tiny back stitches every inch or so across to the selvage and ended off. 

Needlework WiP: "VS 4 Elements: Air" Bands 12 and 13

This section is actually several bands the work together to make a complex compound band.   The designer, Thea Dueck, broke it into two sections, but there are actually four distinct bands.   First a simple cross stitch border frames the area on both the top and bottom of the band.  Thea has this as Band 12.  

Next there is a band of slightly modified half diamond eyelets; the center vertical stitch is shortened by one thread to accommodate a bead on the tip of the pyramid.  Then there are darling little Rhodes Stitch butterflies in the overdyed silk - two threads with antennae of a single strand of the darker silk. 

I love doing Rhodes Stitch; clever designers can tweak it to make all kinds of interesting shapes.  You do have to use a laying tool to get the strands to lie parallel - having a smooth appearance to the threads really is essential to having the Rhodes Stitch look good.

Needlework WiP: "VS 4 Elements: Air" Band 10

Another drawn thread band.  This one is six open threads with the more common 'four sided' hemstitch.   Unlike band 5, I got right into the rhythm of this stitch and it went pretty fast.   Beading, on the other hand, took a bit.  Lots of bling in this row!

 

Needlework WiP: "VS 4 Elements: Air" Band 5

This was a deceptively simple looking band. 

Withdrawing the threads for the drawn thread work was simple - just two sets of two.  But take a close look at how they are gathered - every OTHER set is hemstitched, the alternate sets are left free and then pin stitched two threads below the openwork area.  I could not get into a rhythm and had to look at the stitch diagram for every repeat.  Then when attaching the beads, I had to turn the work over with every bead to run threads though the circling stitches above and below so that the beading thread wouldn't show through the open areas between the beads.  

Very fiddley, but effective.

Needlework WiP: "VS 4 Elements: Air" Band 2

The second band of my yellow conversion of the Victoria Sampler piece shows how effective a really simple stitch can be.  This 'heart and ribbon' band is just satin stitch.  But it's lovely in silk (Kreinik Mori 2032 for the solid hearts and Caron Waterlilies Daffodil for the ribbon).  Two strands, laid with a laying tool for smooth coverage.

I tried to use a darker section of the Waterlilies.  The variegation in this thread is subtle, but when you compare the two ends of the band, you can see it.   In the cover model, the pink and blue areas are shorter and more obvious, but I rather like this understated version.

I also put the beads in band one - they are only charted on the top edge of the openwork.  I think they are supposed to be the finials on the 'curtains'.  This second row looks rather like 'spring flowers in window box' to me.  (Also now that I look at a photo, I need to tidy up some of the cut threads.  I wasn't as aggressive as usual in getting the cuts tight up to the satin stitches with the concerns about the sides of the 'window' area pulling out.)