Some Project Updates

Although I've been a little (ha) remiss about posting to the blog, I have been working on various projects and generally making slow but steady progress. As always, I divide projects into "Miras" and "Non-Miras", since there's usually about a 50-50 mix of WIPs.

First up, Scarlet Ribands by Long Dog Sampler:

I'm nearly finished the fourth page of the design - just a little more to go on that.


And Broadway by Silver Lining:

I finally got the center page completed - that was quite a lot of work! Fortunately all the other pages of the design have less stitching so it should go quite a bit faster now. Lots of confetti stitching, but to be fair, you just don't get the same effect without it.

And you knew it was coming: I started the Celtic Ladies series!

The lady in question is Celtic Spring, and she's off to a good start.

Broadway!

I had hoped to get the first page of Broadway completed this week, but won't quite make it.  This is the only page of the patter that is just about completely stitched, so the subsequent pages will go along quite a bit more quickly.  

I'm still pleased with the progress....love the colors!  It never quite comes through in a picture as it does in person.  I love how the petals swirl around the center.  I don't quite see it as I'm stitching because I'm working on 10x10 blocks but it's always a surprise when I step back and see what all those little X's form.  

I could almost just finish this one page and have it framed as is....so gorgeous!

The center of the rose

I made good progress on Broadway this week - although there's a lot of confetti stitching, it's also balanced out with fairly consistent runs of the same color, so it works up more quickly than you might think.   I'm about halfway through the page I showed in a previous post.  Other pages in the pattern have a lot more empty space that this page does (it's the center area of the large rose). 

So here it is:  

I love the colors, which is often what draws me to specific Silver Lining projects.  You can see the center of the rose forming here.  

It's always interesting how many colors are actually in a project - you look at the overall picture and think "oh it's a yellow and red rose" but when you work on it, there are so many shades of yellows and oranges and pinks and reds....

And so Broadway will get put aside for now so I can work on another project for the upcoming week.

A New Start

A finish always seems to be license for a new start, doesn't it?  To be fair, I have been without a Silver Lining project to work on for several months, which won't do at all since there are so many I'd like to do and they are so lovely.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it)

So here is my new Silver Lining project, Broadway.  Like many of the Silver Lining patterns, I've been drooling over this one for quite a while.   I really love the colors - gorgeous!  I think a very simple antique white background works best for Silver Lining designs, so I've chosen a belfast linen to work on.

We had company over the weekend so I didn't have a lot of time to work on it, but here's what I got started:

It's part of the large rose's center, although it obviously doesn't look like much so far.   Lots of shades of red, orange, and yellow.   I'm working block by block (more or less) unless it makes sense to continue colors out of the blocks.

Here's what the pattern looks like:

This gives you an idea of the complexity of the pattern, which is why I work SL's block by block.  I cross off the blocks as I complete them, which helps me keep my place.  SL prints their patterns on individual sheets, so I'll just finish it a sheet at a time. 

Since none of my other projects are more than halfway done, I'm going to try to go back into a rotation, working on a project for a week, then switching to something else so that they all get some attention.

Old Finds = New Projects

As I've mentioned, I've been packing to move and having a good junk-out of stuff. I had boxes and boxes of crafty type stuff that I went through and inevitably, found a couple of long forgotten in progress projects. Some I packed all the materials together for and put them in the Goodwill box - perhaps they'll find homes with someone who would like to finish them. Some others, I threw out.

I did scavenge two projects that I will add into rotation and finish (at some point anyway).

First up: Purple Perfection from Silver Lining.


I know what happened with this project - same problems I had with Edith Wolford. Many of the colors are VERY similar and there's a LOT of confetti stitching. I did a little work on it, and realized I couldn't keep track of the colors, so I put it away. I have since come up with some strategies since to make this type of stitching a lot easier (carding floss and recarding cut floss; working on one 10x10 chart square at a time), so I'll get back to this piece now. I am going to frog all of what was stitched (you can see it's not very much), and start fresh on it. Purple Perfection is on 32 count antique white lugana and uses a combination of DMC and Anchor floss.

Purple Perfection will have to go to the end of the Silver Lining project line, since I kitted up Broadway as part of the recent stash haul and my last finish was another purple (and orange) iris, Edith Wolford.

Next up: "Floral Boutique Pillow" fromJust Cross Stitch August 1998



This is about 30% of the way finished. The fabric is a little soiled, so I'll need to wash it before I do anymore stitching - I want to make sure I can get it clean before I invest any more time in it. I do like the pattern though. I always intended this to be a pillow top, and it's being worked on 16 count Aida so it's a little more sturdy of a fabric. This will probably just go to the bottom of the "to do" pile; I may still pack it up and give it away.

I realize now that I've got the picture uploaded that I have the piece positioned incorrectly - it's on it's side rather than right side up. Oops!

2009 ~ A productive year indeed!

I wanted to sort through what I've been working on in the last year, and it's been a very productive year to be sure! So let's start with the finishes, most of which were started prior to 2009.

2009 Finishes

Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll:

Finished in February 2009. Fairy Idyll was a long time favorite pattern from Mirabilia, and was a joy to work on. I love all the details like the bed canopy and the bunny statue. She is definately a "boudoir" piece!

Mirabilia's Summer Queen:

Finished in May 2009. This is the last of the Seasonal Queens series for me to finish; I started with Spring Queen in 1999, so yes, that's 10 years to finish. Ack! Here's all the Queens together:

One day I'll get them framed all to match LOL Have to save my pennies.

Mirabilia's Crystal Symphony:

Finished in May 2009 as well (good month!). I gave her to my mother as a gift, so she had her framed rather quickly (usually it takes me a year or more to get pieces framed).

And finally: Silver Lining's Edith Wharton:

Finished in December 2009. I was doing really well rotating projects, but stuck with this one so I could get another 2009 finish.

.....And Edith Wolford is Complete.

At some point, I may even get it framed, but it'll be a while.

So that's my oldest WIP finished. Everything else was started in 2009, and hopefully they'll all be finished sometime in 2010. I treated myself to some new stash today (should be here in a week or two), and have a few new starts in the works (not that I need any new ones just at the moment!)

Getting Close

I'm getting some stitching in, in between baking and cleaning and cooking...

One bud down, one to go

A lot of confetti stitching left...ack!

Seventeen shades of purple and blue....

(And seven of green, just in case you were wondering)

The main flower is finished; just two buds to do and some more backstitching.

Backstitching Details

So I decided to go for the gusto, and try to get Edith Wolford finished before the end of the year. It's the only project that I started prior to 2009 that I haven't finished yet, plus I know I can get it done.

I finished the lower petal and did the backstitching on it as well as some of the stems, which really makes the folds in the petals pop.

Fourteen Shades of Orange and Yellow

So here's Edith Wolford after a week of working on her. And yes - there are FOURTEEN shades of orange and yellow there...ack! I had to card up all of the floss in order to keep the cut strands straight - once I cut floss, I rewrap on the card. Clearly stitching grid by grid is really working for this piece - it's moving along quite quickly now. I really love the orange and purples together - where else but in nature could you get away with that?

The folds on the iris petals will be a lot more distinct once they are backstitched.

Up next in rotation: Back to Knotgarden from Chatelaine!

Edith Wolford by Silver Lining



So this is officially my oldest WIP, not that I have completed very much of it. It's a lovely purple and orange iris - you can start to make out a petal on the right - from Silver Lining, which does the most beautiful detailed roses, irises, and other flowers. I did Dream Lover, a blue iris, a couple of years ago, and I have about a dozen other patterns.

I got very frustrated working on Edith not long after I started because many of the colors are very similar (the orange in the picture is about 12 different oranges), and the center part in particular (where I started) is mostly confetti-style stitches. I ended up packing it up and putting it away in 2008.

When I started working on Meeting on the Turret Stairs , I had to adjust my stitching style to accomodate how the pattern is basically all confetti stitching. The only way you can effectively keep track of where you are is by working one 10x10 square at a time, one page at a time. I am going to apply that way of stitching to Edith Wolford instead of just trying to follow how the colors flow.

As you can see, I've started squaring off the top of a page (the straight line of stitching) by filling in the 10x10 graph squares around what I'd already stitched. I think it should work out a lot more smoothly this time.

The fabric is an off white 32 count lugana.

Old Stuff

One of my primary reasons for wanting to have a blog was to start cataloging some of the needlework and other projects that I'm doing now, and to also show some things I've done in the past. So on that, here are two of my favorite cross stitch pieces that I've given to my parents.

This is from 1999 (I'm really glad I date my large pieces, otherwise I'd never remember!). It was supposed to be a bellpull, but I never did find bellpull hardware that I really liked, so my mom went ahead and had it framed. It's DMC floss on 28 count linen so 3 threads, no backstitching, and very simple colors. I really don't remember the designer or name of the design, but my mom has always liked Jacobean style florals, so she really loved this pattern. I loved that it only took me about 2 weeks to finish the piece.

This is from 2003; it's called "Dream Lover" and thus far is the only piece I've completed from Silver Lining (I've started another iris called Edith Wolford that is purple and orange). I made several trips to visit my folks during the period where I was working on this, and was informed - repeatedly - by my father about how much he loves irises, and did I know irises are his favorite, and that he really loves this piece, and by the way, did I know how much he loves irises? So guess what dad got for Christmas....? Ah well.