Restless this week

I've been all over the place with my needlework this week - just feeling very restless and unfocused.  I get like that sometimes. 

After finishing Mermaid of Atlantis last week, I did some work on Midsummer Night's Fairy, since I'm really close to getting her done.   I've got almost all of the regular stitching done except for a few scattered leaves here and there.  I still need to do the backstitching and the beading, but having just spent a couple days of beading on MoA, I actually want a little break from it.  I also need to get another set of 17 inch Q snaps or my scroll frame to so I can bead her.  So Middy - nearly done - is put away for just now, and I'll get back to her very soon.

In the efforts to address some of the older works-in-progress, I picked up Meeting on the Turret Stairs again. 

I've been working on Meeting for a little over a year now - it's slow going because it's solid confetti stitching.  Sometimes my patience for working on the confetti stitching is there, and other times it's just not.  LOL  Well apparently this is one of those "off" weeks to the point where I was questioning why I was torturing myself with it - that I'm really NOT under any obligation to finish the piece if I really wasn't enjoying the work.   So for the sake of my sanity, I decided to just pack up Meeting for now and I'll get back to it when my patience is a little better.

Well, you know that doesn't mean I totally put away my stitching for the week, right?   With a solid finish and one on the edge of being finished, I decided I needed something different and a new start (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

Althought I'm not completely a sampler kind of girl, I am interested in different kinds of historic needlework.   Redwork has always been of interest to me - story goes (don't quote me on this - it's just what I've put together from snippets of info) that redwork pieces were used to teach young stitchers how to do specific motifs and that one color of thread was used because that was the least expensive way to do it.

This floral urn is a redwork piece that I did years ago (it's actually in the Land of Unfinised Projects pile).  I think it will fit into the lid of a Sudberry box that I have in the stash, so I may use it for that.   It's done in DMC floss on 28 count evenweave (lugana maybe?).  Date-wise, it's probably from the late 90's.   It's a nice piece but not a lot going on.

I stumbled across Long Dog Samplers a while ago, and if you like redwork or similar designs - they are very intricate and detailed.  And huge LOL.

So I picked out Scarlet Ribands as a project.  Since it's just the one color of floss, I spent some time mulling over if I wanted to stick to the usual DMC or Anchor cotton floss, or if I wanted to maybe try something different like a silk floss.   After a couple of recommendations and some shopping around, I settled on using a 100% silk floss from Hand Dyed Fibers in 1147 OMG Red.  It is comparable to DMC 816 in color, so it's a nice, dark red.  

So this is what I started this week.  This is the upper left hand corner of the design.  I'm working on 36 count antique white Edinborough linen.  The camera doesn't pick it up, but the silk has a lovely sheen to it and is really nice to work with from a stitching perspective. 

Unfortunately I seem to have completely underestimated how much floss it will take me to do the project.  Once I finish the first page of the design, I'll have a better idea of how much floss I'll need for the overall piece and can reorder.  I originally got 20 skeins but the small corner that I've completed took over a full skein, and I suspect I'll need another 10 or 15. 

I think this will be a really fun piece to do  - the only issue is that all the red may get a little monotonous.  But that's why I rotate around projects, right?

Here's Chatelaine's Knotgarden:


This is my first Chatelaine project, but definately won't be the last. I really love the kaleidoscope effect of the mandalas. I'm planning on doing a series of four or so of the Garden Mandalas.

Here's Meeting on the Turret Stairs from Artecy, which is a reproduction of the Burton painting:

It's all confetti stitching, which can be frustrating at times. However, I love the effect that the piece has, and plan on doing more Artecy painting reproductions in the future. I am using Aida for the first time in years for this, since it's all whole stitches and none of the background shows.

And yet another Mirabilia here, Sleeping Beauty this time:

Sleeping Beauty was the first Mirabilia I ever attempted years ago, but I gave up on it because at the time, it was too above my skill level. I'm really looking forward to getting her finished at some point soon.

And finally, Mirabilia's Midsummer Night's Fairy:

She clocks in as my oldest WIP, so needs some special attention in the coming months. Like many of the fantasy Mirabilias, she has lots of beads and metallic threads.

Attempting to Rotate Projects

I've never been one to work on projects on a schedule per se - I just work on one project until I'm a bit bored of it, and then work on something else (preferably something I've already started). My list of in-progress projects, kitted projects (not started but most of the materials put together) and wish list projects (ones I want to start soon but probably don't have more than just the pattern) has really grown exponentially.

Given how long that list is now, I'm going to try to rotate projects, working on it a week at a time, and then changing to the next one. I don't know if it'll make them go faster, but I always feel guilty if I haven't worked on one for a long time (Knotgarden...Midsummer Night's Fairy....and most especially Edith Wolford).

So we'll see how that works. I'm going to include two of the projects that I have kitted up - Royal Holiday and Mermaid of Atlantis, both Mirabilias. I also have My Sweet Rose by Artecy kitted, but that can wait a little longer.

I tidied out my stitching bag (a big old LL Bean tote bag) today, and realized that "Meeting on the Turret Stairs" was further along than the previous picture, so here's where I'm at with that. I'm almost finished page 5 of 9 pages.

An update on "Meeting on the Turret Stairs"

This was where I was in early August. As much as I like the picture itself, the confetti stitching is a bit frustrating at times. I've still been picking at it and making progress though.

So, What's Next?

Now that the Queens are finished, I'm getting asked what's next for my cross stitch projects.

For the moment, I'm going to be giving a little TLC to some of my other works in progress. I'm currently working on "Meeting on the Turret Stairs" again, which is an Artecy cross stitch reproduction of the Burton painting. I'm working on an 18 count Aida for this - normally I don't use Aida but since there's none of the background showing it was a good choice.

And of course, there is Midsummer Night's Fairy, Crytal Symphony, and Edith Wolford to work on as well.

I will be starting Sleeping Beauty by Mirabilia soon. I've had her kitted up for several months, and it's been gnawing at me to get her going. I have a piece of PtP Fathom 32 count lugana for her; I trimmed it down last night, and there will be enough leftover to do Mermaid of Atlantis on as well. I also have My Sweet Rose from Artecy fully kitted, but I don't think I'll start that until Turret is finished.

I am going to be starting another series as well. Although I love my Mirabilias, I want to do something very different from the ladies, so I've decided to do some of the Garden Mandalas from Chatelaine. I will probably not do all of them, but on the hit list are Knotgarden, Watergarden, Alhambra Garden and Misty Morning Vineyard. That should keep me busy for the next ten years, eh?

Progress on "Meeting on the Turret Stairs" from Artecy.com

As you can see, this project required a different approach than the Mirabilias do. I've been working it one 10x10 block at a time, and usually drop down a couple of stitches here and there to make sure the next row lines up. I really love how it's coming out. The material is an 18 count off white Aida - it looks a little darker because of the lighting where I was taking the picture.

I'm trying something "new" these days. I've made my first foray into online downloads of cross stitch patterns. They really have exploded in availability in the last couple years. I'll admit - I like my newspapers and books in print rather than online, and I like to browse through a needlework store for patterns.

When it comes to cross stitch, I like designs that are substantial, pretty, and romantic - bonus points if they've got a Victorian flavor to them.

I found Artecy.com after a couple of websearches. What I like about them: all of their designs are posted so you get to see upfront what's available for your membership; you have the option of buying the designs one at a time OR pay a one time fee for as many as you'd like (both of which are reasonable); and they have a huge variety of cross stitch designs of famous paintings. They certainly have other designs, but it was the classic paintings that really got my attention. Getting your design is simple: sign in and download the design in PDF format. The bonus is that because I'm trying to downsize my "stuff", I can just keep the patterns in electronic format until I'm ready to work on them.

I recently started working on "Meeting on the Turret Stairs" by Frederic William Burton. As a friend of mine pointed out, I tend to do very feminine designs (queens, mermaids, fairies, flowers, etc), so I really wanted to do something that featured a couple and wasn't so in-your-face girly. It's still quite romantic though (but you knew that).

I've had to adjust my style of working on cross stitch projects in order to successfully work on it, and thus far it's going really well. There are no partial stitchs or backstitching, but the whole design is stitched (no background material shows) and there's a great deal of confetti stitching. Additionally, many of the colors are VERY similar.

So what I've done is put all of my floss on floss cards, and keep all the excess cut floss on those as well. Rather that work on larger areas (you can see how I follow shading on Fairy Idyll pics that I've previously posted), I'm having to basically work on one 10x10 square of the design at a time. I've found it easiest to start at the top, and work on one square moving left to right. I've completed the third row (just above the tops of their heads), and I like how it's shaping up. Also, by focusing on and completing a small area at a time, I'm finding the confetti stitching much less annoying that I normally do. I'm working with 2 threads of floss on an 18 count Aida. That's one nice thing about these designs - since all of the background material is covered in stitching, I can save a little money and use Aida instead of my usual linen.