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I was having a mental block on color choices for this one --- the examples shown in the instructions didn't resonate with me, somehow, perhaps because of all the Chinese "stuff" we accumulated in Beijing, a lot of which was on white backgrounds and even more of which was almost monochromatic But I started checking out the embroidery pieces we acquired while there and decided to use two of them as my guide for color choice. First is a Q'ing Dynasty embroidery collar for a child. It was done in…

The last WIPocalypse of the year and I have a little to share... Finishes were • the Take a Stitch Tuesday stitches: Arrowhead, Buttonhole Eyelet Flower, Berry Stitch, and Knotted Cable Chain stitches • The December Color Palette Challenge/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project block and an alternate • Color Through the Ages lesson 10 (Sweden) • Mittens & Mini- Socks - "Sea and Sky" • "Birds of a Feather" I''m still stitching a Michael…

Well, sort of. It turns out I used my fabric int eh wrong direction and ran out of room on the left and right margins to do the blackwork fill background. Plenty of room, top and bottom but there wouldn't have been ANY room on thd sides to allow for framing... So, I decided to delete the background and stop with just the "Ladybug & Daisy"... design by Valentina Sardu for Ajisai Designs: After all that frogging on the upper right quadrant of petals, it still wasn't "right on". I don't thin…

Even though I had a nasty cold, I could concentrate on free-stitchery so I managed to get two pieces done so far this week. First was my approach to the TAST stitch 61 - the Up-and-Down Feathered Buttonhole Stitch: I even attempted a beaded version on my April Crazy Quilt Journal Project block: And speaking of the April Crazy Quilt Journal block, here it is... Not exactly "encrusted" like in that class I took on Encrusted Crazy Quilting but it is more in…

Tuesday's stitch was the Raised Cross Stitch Flower (AKA Whipped Cross Stitch) and here is my sampler, using three different threads (from left to right, DMC six-stranded floss, DMC #5 Perle, and a boucle baby-weight knitting yarn): The "Flip" mitten, the last in the "Mittens & Mini-Socks" class series, stitched using DMC Perle #5 variegated(4250) and DMC variegated cotton floss ($220) for the bargello, DMC Perle #5 (211) for the dividing line and Stranded By the Sea 134 (Sea Sponge) f…

This week's stitch was a fixed-base needle-woven picot stitch: and here is the "page" for October which includes the Beaded Hebedo Edge, Knotted Loop Stitch. Italian Knotted Loop Border, Buttonhole Wheel Cup and the fixed-base needle-woven picot:

Played around a little with the 59th stitch in Take a Stitch Tuesday using #5 perle: And decided to apply it to the "frame" in my Sumptuous Surface Embroidery piece, using a heavier weight of perle: Miscounted the "spokes" in the darker woven buttonhole wheel so it didn't come out "woven" but I kind of like the way it looked so I left it.

I struggled with this one --- somehow, the color choices didn't resonate with me, even though MOST of them were used in other blocks. I suspect the black and gray are the culprits, although I am getting a tad tired of blue and orange! LOL The color challenge was posed by Judy Laquidara and VIcki Welsh back in the beginning of September and is based on a photo of a mineral spring at Yellowstone National Park. All fabrics, beads, threads and laces are from my stash. The block grid was…

The Color Palette Challenge threw a curve ball this month --- mono chromatic! It doesn't FIT with all the other eleven challenges and so I'm thinking I won't count it in my Quilt Journal or Bead Journal Project Challenges. Instead, I will search out fabrics and trims used in the past eleven Color Palette Challenges and make a "composite" block that does fit... Anyway, here is my monochromatic block, using the block 12 grid from the "I dropped the button box" crazy quilt on PinTangle: I…

Two more "small" finishes for me... My "Mug Rug" which is 9 x 12, and (GET THIS) I did some needleturn applique on the front and QUILTED IT MYSELF! WAHOO! MY FIRST EVER QUILT, even if it is only 9 x 12! LOL I even applied the binding by machine, at least partly --- but found it wouldn't work for stitch-in-the-ditch for the back side so I hand stitched that part...I can't believe this --- I will now HAVE to go to guild on Thursday, despite the pot luck part, and show this one off! Front (…

A busy week this week, trying to clear up lots of little ods and ends and I think I did pretty good with my list. I completed two Take a Stitch Tuesday "assignments",and my April Crazy Quilt Journal Project block, both posted earlier this week. But that's not all... Other completions are... The last sock for the Janet Perry "Mittens & Mini-socks" class. She called it "Ghosts of Flowers" but I don't have the right colors of threads to make the look she had so I went with a totally differe…

It is called the buttonholed herringbone stitch: and I'm not totally happy with the outcome --- it isn't in smooth curves like the example and tends to stand up like chenille after a bad washing! Sooo, I've clearly done SOMETHING wrong here but I don't know what... Oh well, here is "Page One" of the 2013 sampler for TAST --- stitches 49 through 55:

Elizabeth Almond's "Red Thai Mandala", originally published in The GIft of Stitching, issue 61, March 2011. Stitched with DMC floss and Mill Hill seed beads on DMC 28ct white linen, Here is a closeup of the beading detail:

I'm not happy with my completion rate in 2012. I had several, but all but 6 were small needlepoint stitch exercise pieces (I was working several Janet Perry exercises: learn-a-stitch stockings, the Bargello Club, the Stash Busting Club, Mini-Socks & Mittens, and Color Through the Ages) as well as three sets of Christmas ornaments.. I did complete the 2012 Bead Journal Project (although each piece needs to be "finished" into a wall hanging), the 2012 Color Palette Challenge and the 2012 Crazy Q…

I should have done this yesterday but the entire day was basically given up to an esophageal endoscopy (to convince the insurance company that I really DO need to take meds for my esophageal reflux! Here's hoping as it wasn't a pleasant procedure!)... This month's WIPocalyspe themes are : Designer – Little House Needleworks; Style – Love/Family; Colors – White and Red. Well, I don't have any LIttle House pieces in progress (not sure I even own a chart by them, for that matter) and the closest…

In between an esophageal endoscopy (which pretty much wiped out Monday as a useful day - but so far as I know, this was also a positive result) and a mammogram (which really set my Wednesday off to a WONDERFUL start --- but at least it was a positive result!) which bracketed the first day of a nasty icy four day winter storm, I did manage to accomplish a little in the way of stitching. I did manage to get all the blackwork done on "Red Thai Mandala": All that is left now is a lot of l…

A productive week --- lots of smalls finished and progress made on some long-term WIPs. The completions already posted to this blog, were my March Crazy Quilt Journal Project Block, a mug rug for quilt guild, the Mt. Fuji sock for the "MIttens & Mini-Socks" online class, and the TAST stitch #58. An additional completion on March 17 was the matching mitten for Mt. Fuji: Progress made, an posted earlier, was the finish-finish of my Color Palette/Craay Quilt Journal, Bead Journal challeng…

Given that my eye isn't at top focus yet (it was still dilated after 48 hours *and* it's flashing/shimmering when light hits my peripheral vision since the lens hasn't settled in yet), I didn't do much in the way of stitching (or posting). I did complete the TAST Tuesday night since I could do that without extra light and magnification. Here's my Top-Knotted Buttonhole: and here is the completed "page" for stitches 57 through 64: Re cataract surgery --- it's taking…

WIPocalypse update for August's Blue Moon"! What did I do this past "moon"? Well, there were • the Take a Stitch Tuesday stitches: Cast On stitch, Pekinese Stitch, Linked Double Chain, and sheaf stitch, shown here: along with the completed "page" for August: • The August Stash Buster from Janet Perry • The August Mittens & Mini-Socks form Janet Perry --- both a mitten and a sock • The August Color Through the Ages from Janet Perry • the August parts fo…

With my new glasses (fitted on Wednesday), and the left eye still bothering me a little, I decided to do something that didn't need a lot of "focus" --- I stitched up the last seven "base" blocks for Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2103: And I plugged away at the May block so I could squeak it in under the wire: Still have a May Bead Journal Project piece to stitch which, clearly, given the date, isn't likely to be done on time. And "Midnight Garden" sits idle as does the 2012 Color Pa…