Slow Sunday Stitching - November 30, 2025

End of the month (almost).  But I didn't stay up late to do my 100 stitches on the Mead Dragon after midnight last night, and I won't know what the high temp for today is until midnight tonight.   So you'll get the end of November report next week; though I'll post the month end stats on the Dragon later today when I finish working on it.  (ETA:  That post is here.)

What I CAN talk about right now is the vintage needlepoint.    I've put in just short of 5 hours on it so far - all in the sky area.   As I reported, the kit is short on materials for the Continental Basketweave technique that I chose.   So I've been jumping around working on 'puddle / cloud' shapes to work in some replacement materials in different shades or dyelots of blue (still waiting on my order from 123 Stitch). 

On a high-quality painted canvas like this, the paint color is closely matched to the yarn and it's hard to tell where the stitching is actually completed.  Here's a shot of the back of the canvas for reference.  The rightmost quarter of the sky is completed, and I've moved over to the center clouds, leaving a large gap just above the tower for the replacement color to fill in.

Notice that I've only used three colors so far.  I'm glad I decided to start at the top, though.   Best to get that unwelcome revelation about the material shortage when I still have time to course correct.

Linking up with the SSS crew - they get me through the rough patches! (Current roundup is here.)

"Houston, we have a problem....."

I'm working on the new start for the 'not counted thread' slot on my rotation.   This is the vintage German needlepoint. 

That is one quarter of the blue yarn.  The scissors are pointing to where the one quarter point of the canvas is.   Yep, not nearly enough yarn.    

Here's the entire sky and clouds area

Since I don't have a cover page or instructions and this kit is a MINIMUM of 35-40 years old and maybe much older, there's absolutely no chance of getting matching materials.  A close-ish color match done in 'cloud / puddle' shapes in the center top around the church tower and over on the left side would probably look OK and give enough coverage to eke out the yarn.  Even a summer sky has various shades of blue, after all.

Luckily DMC still makes 4 ply wool tapestry yarn.  However, I don't have a color card for the wool.  So I just sent an order off to123Stitch for several 8-yard hanks of various pale blues.  (And three shades of bright green just in case it's not only the one color that's short.)  I did check the stash, but the only blue tapestry yarn I have is way too dark for a summer sky.

I'm guessing that if this kit is older (post war up to the 1970s) that the materials are not generous due to material shortages and therefore it was meant to be done in half cross, not continental stitch.  Half cross puts a lot less yarn on the back of the project and also distorts the canvas badly due to all the stress on the ground being in a single diagonal direction.  Continental stitch done basketweave style (which is the technique that I'm using) is so stable that you barely need to block the canvas when done since it distributes the stress of the stitches equally in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

You know, I am going to be happy when I finish up the vintage projects.  It seems like every one of them has materials issues! 

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).

Multi-generational UFO: The cutwork table linens

Back when I first introduced the inherited bits of "Aunt Lottie's Garden" (the green and lavender hexagon sets), I alluded to the fact that when my mother passed away, I inherited all the unfinished projects and all the materials stashes from my mother and father (and anything THEY had inherited that they hadn't used).  Mom was a primarily a knitter, though she did some embroidery, and dad was a weaver and machine knitter and stained glass artist.   My sister is a professional artist, but her mediums of choice are wall murals and stained glass (she inherited all of those supplies), not fiber of any kind.   She technically knows how to weave but once she did her required studio pieces, I don't think she has touched a loom since.  Likewise, I know the theory of glass and finished a single project, but it's not my thing.

I have used up most of the inherited yarn in afghans and charity knitting, and the hexagon sets you have seen as "Aunt Lottie's Garden" has progressed, so there are only a couple of projects left unfinished from my mom.  

This is a set of eight linen napkins, a card table sized table cloth and a larger tablecloth. The technique is a type of whitework/cutwork.   The basic idea of free embroidery cutwork is that you work a 'frame' of very tightly worked buttonhole stitch or blanket stitch around the edges of the area that will be removed, then carefully (oh so very carefully) cut out, leaving the frame supported by the uncut threads beneath.  Some types of cutwork embellish the open areas further with needlewoven bars and picots.

This set uses blanket stitch worked very close for the framing stitches, padded with a soft cotton in running stitch.  There are small details in stem stitch and French knots.  It is not true whitework (which is white threads on a white base fabric);  the linen here is unbleached and the work is being done in DMC #8 Perle Cotton (Color  613 - a pale greenish khaki color).   And OMG, this linen.   It's dense, and rustic and impossibly luxurious.  I believe that she  purchased the napkins and the smaller tablecloth right around WWII.   There is a definite 'Arts and Crafts' feel to the item numbers stamped in the selvages.

Maybe these were for her 'hope chest'.   She was in high school during the Depression and at teacher's college during the war years. 

Mom's HS yearbook picture: age 16

The larger tablecloth is not stamped; instead it has the motifs sketched on by hand.    The motifs seem to be traced from the smaller tablecloth and the linen is a slightly different color, though of an equal quality to the remainder of the set.   This leads me to think she bought yardage for the larger piece at a different time or from a different source.   Unfortunately, the size of the larger tablecloth does not match any table that I own or plan to own.  So I will repurpose that linen for other projects.   I'll only loose about six inches off each side as there is no center motif, only borders.

Luckily, the threads stayed with the project.   There's an entire box of 10 balls of the perle cotton, and some of the padding cotton (cotton floche or maybe candlewicking cotton - the label on that skein is long gone).

If she would have finished the napkins, I would have no issue tackling the smaller tablecloth.   But she finished six and a half napkins and now decades later, I will be trying to slot my stitches in next to hers and maintain the same look and hand.   Man, she stitched close.   Tiny, tiny stitches.......  

 

I'm not so worried about the actual cutwork part.   I did a 'dresser scarf' in this technique back in the 1970s.    This was actually a kit that Mom had given to HER mom (my Grandma Alice - sister of Lottie) as a gift and Grandma had never started it.   We were going through her boxed up things - pulling out kitchen gear for my first apartment and I snagged the kit.   It was actually a fairly fun stitch.   And I have MUCH better cutwork scissors now. 

The tablecloth will be a separate project down the line somewhere, as will a partially finished second dresser scarf in blue that compliments the pansy one above (thank you former me for keeping the threads with the project on that one, too!).  Looking at the finished one now, I should re-trim it closer.  I'll do that when I have the matching longer one done. There may even be a third dresser scarf/table runner floating around; I vaguely remember one with fruit - grapes maybe?

 

I am going to be adding a slot to my rotation for those items that are embroidery, but not counted thread.  I actually have two more old zombie WiP projects in addition to the pansy runner and the napkins that fall into this category.  Plus several unstarted projects: the card table cloth, Bateaux Bayeux, a lovely kit from Mary Corbet, a vintage German needlepoint kit that was a gift from my late mother in law, a tote bag, and some tea towels that I want to do.   All in crewel, stamped embroidery, painted needlepoint (counted canvas would go in the 'modern counted thread sampler' slot).  I will try a couple of rotations with five slots; I think it will be fine.  At one point I had ten projects in rotation (nine plus a finish/frame).   I won't go that high again - I would like to knit and quilt occasionally.

Zombie Project - hand towel

Since the band sampler is on hold until my malachite beads get here, I pulled out another zombie project.   This will be a quick one, though not as quick as the Christmas hand towel that only needed one tiny motif to be done.

I'm not sure if this one qualifies as truly "vintage".   The chart book is copyright 1986.  And the colors are certainly mid 80s - peach and dusty pink and blues.   But I still kind of like it.   I got one end done and put it away.   WHY?   

The motif looks a little 'skimpy' when the towel is laid out flat, but is fine when it's folded in thirds to be hung up. There is an area of Aida banding on each end of the towel, so I'm just going to repeat the same motif on the un-started end and call it good.

Slow Sunday Stitching - April 14, 2019

Well, I have a finish to report!   Yes, the Zombie Kittens are done.

There's such a sense of accomplishment to mark these off the list.   I think they were my oldest UFO, in fact, dating back to the mid 1970s!!!!   I don't count the UFOs inherited from my mom (like the Aunt Lottie's Garden quilt) because they only became MY UFOs in 2010 LOL.

The satin stitch came out OK, at least from a technical standpoint.  I used a single strand and padded it per Mary Corbet's tutorial (link to her website's video tutorial).

Poor kittens still look like they are frowning, but that's on the designer.   Things I learned on this piece were - better ground fabric would help, these are fairly light poly cotton and not very well woven.   Better thread choice - two threads instead of three would have been nicer, but I choose to match my original work.  I'm a better stitcher than I was back in the 1970s (I would HOPE so!!!), but I wasn't awful back then - main difference is that I learned to stop and start my lines without knots and to not carry my thread.

My next needlework project is another one of the Victoria Sampler "Four Elements".  This one is "The Green Earth".  I already have the linen set up in the scroll frame; I just need to wind the bobbins and sort out the accessory kit (beads and silk threads) and I can get started.

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching for this week's round up on Kathy's blog.

FINISHED NEEDLEWORK: Kitten Pillowcases

The Kitten Pillowcases are finished!   This was one of the "Zombie" projects that I found in the basement.   I had the crochet edging on both cases and most of the first pillowcase (in back above) embroidered before I put it away.   This was probably in the late 1970s?  I switched to counted thread needlework in about 1975 or so, just as it started to become popular.

It took me a couple of weeks of off and on work to finish the started one and then a good solid three weeks to embroider the second one. 

Outline stitch and a bit of satin stitch in the eyes and nose.  The ground fabric is a bit yellowed from storage, so next time I have a retro clean tub going, I'll put them in for a good soak.


Next up in my needlework rotation is the third of the Victoria Sampler "Four Elements" series of mini band samplers.  This one is "Earth" in greens.  I have the linen edged and a set of scroll frames set up for it.  Time to get it all attached.

Slow Sunday Stitching - April 7, 2019

So, it's the first of the month, and I attended an off site conference on Monday for almost the entire day.  It was an honor to represent the company and the speakers and panel discussion were very interesting, but it did put me rather behind in my own work.   So there have been a couple of late nights to make up the difference.   

And taking over the treasurer's position for the local Quilt Guild required some audit and repair of the records since the first of the year.   The treasurer who resigned has had some health issues and hasn't been able to keep up.   I still have to update the membership lists - hopefully I can do that this afternoon. 

All in all, crafting time has been a bit short on the ground again this week.  I have, however, made good progress on the Zombie Kitten pillowcase.

Got all the 'floor' area finished and also the rump and tail.  I'm actually a bit into the head already since this picture was taken.   I'm going to do the nose (in pink) and the eyes in satin stitch.  The rest of the fur continues to be in black stem stitch.  I've goggled 'tuxedo cats' in an attempt to figure out what the most common eye color is and it seems that either gold or green is common with blue also when they are kittens.  So I'm debating.  

I hope I don't mess up the satin stitch. On the old pillow case, that part is probably the worst bit of embroidery, but taking it out of that one would be a nightmare as I stitched over it and anchored threads in it when working on the rest of the kitten's head. Likewise all the knots on that one - not worth taking out. It will just have to be a testimonial to the fact that I'm hopefully a better needlewoman now than I was in the 1970s!

Linking up with the rest of the slow Sunday crew over at Kathy's blog.
And a gratuitous daffodil shot just because I am so happy it's finally spring!   These are some mini daffs near the side door at church.  The "cups" are at most a half inch long, so tiny

Slow Sunday Stitching - March 31, 2019

Well there's good news, though very unexpected, on the house front.   I have a renter for the big house.  It was sudden and I'd planned on renting or selling the smaller house instead, but I will continue to work on both houses.  The final goal is to have both of them ready for the market or rent at some point.  I can only live in one of them LOL.
So unpacking will happen now.   I refuse to live out of boxes for a year.  On the other hand, I will continue to de-clutter.  So it was worth doing. And I get a good stove out of the deal, since he's got his own appliances.  

On the crafting front, I did get some progress on the Zombie Kitten pillowcase.  I got the rest of the "ball of yarn" finished, and I'm working on the "floor and yarn bits".  I needed a break from the short jagged fur.

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching (rather later in the day than usual),  

Slow Sunday Stitching - March 23, 2019

Rainy night with a 3 am thunderstorm.   Ugh.  I don't mind the rain, it's rather nice to be cuddled under a quilt or two with the rain pattering on the roof.   But I object to the lightening!   I live in an older neighborhood (my house will be 100 years old next year), and it seems like we have a transformer hit almost every time the weather gets like this.   Surge protectors for EVERYTHING!!!  (And a treadle LOL.  Yes, I have pieced by candle and lantern light more than once.   Rather "Little House on the Prairie".)

The Zombie Kitten pillowcase embroidery is coming along.   I'm not really tracking time on this project like I usually do, because this will be my embroidery project until it is done.   I'm not going to let this thing linger.   I got the majority of the body of the kitten done, and started on the ball of yarn.   This design is not well executed; there are many, many short, jagged lines that make up the kitten's fur and the wrapping of the yarn in the ball.  Some of them are so short that they are essentially seed stitch.   I'm using outline stitch for most of the work, with those few seed stitches.  The eyes and nose will be satin stitch. 

I also cast on a new knitting project - a headband to match an old cowl.   I'm trying to use up some of the old, bulky acrylic yarn in my stash.  This yarn is actually much prettier knitted up than it is in the ball - just the opposite of many multicolored yarns.

Well, it's stopped thundering, and we didn't loose power.   I'm going back to bed.   When I wake up again, I'll link up with the rest of the Slow Sunday Stitching crew - hopefully they've all had a more pleasant night.  ETA:  Here's this week's round up!

Slow Sunday Stitching - March 17, 2019

Not even an hour this week on the zombie kitties, I'm afraid.   I spent most of my crafting time working on things are not Slow Stitching.  

But at least it's a start of sorts

I do like the Hardwicke Manor hoop.   It has a slot in the adjustment screw, so you can take a small screwdriver and get it really nice and tight.  There's very little slipping of the fabric.  

I do think I'll like surface embroidery more with a better ground fabric.  This poly-cotton is very thin compared to my vintage pillowcases. 

 
Also did a couple of rounds on my colorwork sweater.  But most of the week was working on the old house - packing etc.

I will never hit the end of the Unfinished Object Pile at this rate.  I found another bin.   This one has un-quilted tops in it.   Four of them, and a bunch of finished but not finishing finished needlework, some of which will be finished as quilted wall hangings.  Most of them will be done by machine, but this one and one wall hanging will be hand quilted.

Once I get moved and get the quilt frame set up, this one will be hand quilted - by the piece in the blocks with feather circles in the plain squares and a wavy feather border.   What's weird is that I do not really remember making this top.   The notes are mine, the quilting plan is in my handwriting.  The leftovers from that blue on the left went into "It was 80s", and another blue is definitely from my grandmother's stash of vintage 30s and 40s prints.   I'm willing to bet I made this when JC was a baby and my short term memory wasn't logging much LOL.  

I would really LOVE to get started on this one, but I don't want to try to take down my frame and move it with a quilt on it.  That's could be a problem.
So this one will 'hibernate' until well after the move, unfortunately.   The wall hanging may actually get done first, since I can do it in a large hoop. 

I've been inspired to get back into hand quilting by the wonderful examples in the Slow Sunday Stitching round up (link to this week's link up). 

Slow Sunday Stitching - March 10, 2019

Sorry about missing last week, but church stuff and work stuff and family stuff have really eaten into my crafting time.   All good things - consecration of our new bishop and Ash Wednesday - bells played for both, month end close and the hand off of some of my extra job duties and finally my granddaughter's birthday.  

I did get my rotation finished on Teresa Wentzler's Millennium.   I am leaving it here for this rotation.  The back stitching is done on both angels down to the gold under tunics, which will be done with the base of the arch and the center landscape is sketched in on both sides (which had to be done to do the back stitching of the figures).  

And there was some of this going on last night:

Yes, I'm dipping my toes back into surface embroidery.  I bought a nice Hardwicke Manor hoop and wrapped it using Mary Corbet's tutorial (link to her website and that tutorial).   Not really loving the project (see Zombie Kittens), but there's not a ton left to do on this project and hopefully nice tools will make it go more easily.  I keep seeing all the wonderful surface embroidery projects on Slow Sunday Stitching and get inspired.   (link to this week's round up)

Needlework Rotation changeout and Zombie Kittens

Well, I've put in my 10 hours on Teresa Wentzler's Millennium.  Last rotation, I finished all the stitching on both of the angels;  this round I wanted to do the back stitching down to the under tunics (the gold back stitching on that part will be done when I work on the base of the arch and the lettering there since the 'fabric' of the under tunics overlaps over the 'stone' of the base in several places).   But in order to work on the back stitching, I had to have at least one stitch on the outside of the figures.  I put in a 'needle's worth' of each color, then proceeded to finish the back stitching of the torch poles, outer masonry, wings and upper tunics with their sleeves.

Where I started:

And where I ended up:

I will admit that since most of the work was back stitching this time, the change in the coverage isn't as dramatic as it is some rounds, but I love the way the back stitching makes the figures so much more distinct.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the center landscape part fills in next time this comes up in rotation.

And now for the Zombie Kittens.  As I have mentioned before, as I'm packing up for my move this spring, I keep finding partially finished projects tucked away.   I call these "Zombie" projects because it's like they have come back from the dead.  I have trashed a few where they were either damaged beyond fixing or were a "what WAS I thinking??!!" type of project.   Most, though, are still to my taste or at least something that I don't mind working on.   This project is more the later.  

It's a set of two surface embroidery pillow cases.  I had worked the crochet edging and most of the first pillow case before abandoning them.   These have to date from no later than the mid 1970s (and possibly even into the late 1960s) since after about 1976 I didn't do much surface embroidery; counted thread work became my embroidery of choice.  Also the finished one has some faint rust spots in an oval, which I know would have been from my grandmother's vintage cork lined spring hoop, which I stopped using then when I realized it was leaving marks.

Not exactly to my taste now, but with only the embroidery on the second case to finish, I will go ahead and work them up.  Maybe Alexis would like them.   There were no threads with these, so I think the second one will be a black kitten with silver paws and tail tip.   There's about five different shades of grey in this one, and I'm not going to spend time trying to color match.