On the Fence

Okay, so I didn't get as far as I hoped I would on this last week. I'm happy to report that as of Sunday night, however, all four fences are stitched. That means I only have to do the backstitching and I'm done with Part 4. Maybe this week? I'd be so happy if I did get it done.

Mini and Midi Chatelaines

I'm finally feeling like I'm making progress on the Midi arches. I've got one color done completely on three of the four arch sides, and another color done completely on one side. So... just have to get the rest done! On the Mini Mandala, I've really got most of the cross stitching done. All of it's done in the top half. As you can see, I started backstitching this week. Maybe I'll target it to complete next, since it's so close and I was so successful with that on the goldwork.

Goldwork Happy Dance

Yesterday I thought of taking a day and just working on this to get it done. Today, I ended up with extra free time in the afternoon and DID! I'm proud of this because every single stitch in it was something new to me. For a first attempt at such an esoteric form of stitchery, it came out well. I'm not satisfied with the striped petals on the stem, but I can live with it. Happy, happy, joy it's done! This makes two finishes on my Ten Project Challenge done.

January Heart for Valentine's Day

See? I really am progressing on this. Last night I finished the second of the two upper lobes and started the row below the bottom one half stitched. Got maybe an hour and a half's work on this to do, at most. Maybe I can finish it up for a Valentine's Day present.

Goldwork Getting Done

As you can see, this really is almost done. The leaf that I finished this week was a pain and it's not as good as I want it to be. Hopefully, after the practice of doing it, the other one I will do in the next few days will look better. Both my husband and best friend want this piece. It'll go to my husband and I'll have to do something else for the friend - soon, in goldwork. I like the technique better than I thought I would going in. The items still needing to be done are the other leaf on the stem and outlining the flower and the large basketweave leaf. Then, voila! A completed project. Amazing.

Begin the Rose

Finally, finally, I've started the middle of the picture - you know, the REAL part. I've nearly completed the big rose and have two small roses, a vine and a few petals to put in. The stitches are rather large, so this will go along quickly, I hope.

Auction Piece Progress, Really!

Three sections done, four to go. I got the hat section done this week and am debating whether to outline the pink ribbon or overlay a matching colored satin ribbon over it to highlight it. Next up is the watering can. I started working on it yesterday. Still have to have this in the mail by March first, but I THINK I'll make the deadline. This is the only piece I make sure I do something on every single day.

Medieval Town Mandala and Victorian Garden

Both of these are making progress. I'm hoping to get the center medallion on the Victorian Garden done by Wednesday, since the new one comes out on Thursday. I really like the colors. There's another round that I've almost completed of light blue/green mix (Silk n Colors Blue Sage) that looks really nice. I MIGHT get it done. On the Mandala, I'm down to the last fence and then the backstitching and Part 4 will be done. Yippee!

January Heart and Midi Mystery

Both of these made visible progress last week - there's just nothing really interesting to say about them except they should go faster! I think I'm almost done with the arches, finally. As for the heart, since this picture was taken, I've almost finished the top two lobes. It should be done rather soon.

Glittering Goldwork

I am SO close to getting this done. Since this picture was taken, I added copper purl to the middle of the flower. All that's left are the two small petals on the vine and outlining the flower and the one petal - and then I'm done! Yay! I've learned a lot doing it, which I'm hoping to translate to Kay Stanis' goldwork GCC that I bought most of the materials for last week. I have to start it this week - I'll probably be putting the pattern onto the silk tomorrow or Friday.

Mini Mandala and January Heart

Considering how small these are, it's a wonder they're not done. At least each made some progress this week. Hopefully I'll be able to finish them off very soon.

Going to Have to Speed Up

So ... I got the second block done and reread my directions. I have to have this completed by March first! So I've increased my frequency of working on this. I'm almost done with the third block now. I think, if I work on it daily, I should get it done. The hat's completely stitched as of today and I have about half of the white around it done. I'm going to add a bow to the hat in Neon Rays so it shows better.

Borders Done

I am finally done with all the borders here! Now I can do the rose in the middle, which I started yesterday. Almost done with this one.

Ribbon Purse

The beaded strap is now fifteen inches long, meaning I'm over a third of the way done. On Saturday, after this picture was taken, I finished the third row of feather stitch on the body of the purse. I'll be doing more strapwork this week.

Purse Progress

Just plugging along on this. I'm almost done with the third line of beading on the body of the purse and got another couple of inches done on the strap. Maybe I'll have it done by the end of the year.

The Four Chatelaines

Something got done on all four of these this week. I'm hoping to have Part 1 of Mystery X done by the end of the month - it's not really a LOT of stitching. On Medieval Town Mandala, I got the cross stitching done on the flowers on all four sides - now I've started on the fences for the four sides (since this picture). Hopefully I'll get Part 4 done in the next couple of weeks. On the Midi Mystery, I am STILL working on the green arch. It's getting more and more done. And on the mini mandala, I've gotten some more done. It's really not that big and should be done soon. I hope.

January Heart

Every year in January, my local EGA chapter (Pocono Mountain) does a heart project. This year was no different, and I had signed up and paid for it before I found out about the 10 project challenge so... i ended up starting it Monday night. It's sideways. Don't blame my husband, I didn't tell him which side was up! The light pink is the widest point of the heart, so it should be a quick finish. It's just a really simple cross stitch piece.

Progress on Needlepoint

I'm very happy to say I can see real progress on both of these. The bargello has all the outer borders done except for the last two sides of the elongated cross stitch on the very rim. On the auction piece, the flower box is almost done. I'll be doing more French knots today on the flowers. It gives a lot more dimensionality to the picture. Maybe by the end of the week I'll be filling in background on that rectangle.

Goldwork Gets Going

This is making more progress this week - I got the whole petal done with the woven couching. Now I just have to plunge the rest down on that. I'll probably get to that today or tomorrow. Then laying down a lot of paillettes! It's beginning to take shape. I'm hoping to finish this off by the end of the month.

First Finish of the New Year

When I went out to pick up lunch, I mailed this one back to France. It's Laurence H.'s piece for the round robin. Surprisingly, I haven't received anything from Muriel yet. Maybe she's doing a lot? Anyway, I'm kind of happy with my L and I hope she likes it! Now to get something else done this year. And this counts as one of my ten projects for my challenge.

Ribbons and Roses Update

I didn't post a picture of this last week because I got absolutely none of it done. It's really hard to do a beading project on the road. So... this is a picture as of Sunday afternoon. I got the third row of fly stitch started and the strap is now almost a third of the way done at thirteen inches. Maybe I'll have it done in time for next Christmas.

French Round Robin

I have one more week to have this L done and in the mail. I think I'll make it - at least, my goal is to mail this out on Saturday before the mail holiday and before I have company over again. I got more done after this picture on yesterday - I only have the very bottom part to go. Will post a picture of the finished one when it's ready.

Auction Piece, Again

Still working on that top left corner rectangle, but I'm -almost- done with it. I worked on it some more this afternoon and have about 100 stitches to put in it. Then I can go on to the geraniums!

Goldwork

The order from Tanja Berlin came in while I was on my long trip with the cats, so I managed to work on this some today. I got a few more rows of the weaved couching laid and plunged it all. I hate plunging. I'm always afraid I'm going to leave these huge holes in the silk. Anyway, it's getting there and I'm over halfway done.

Progress on Chatelaines

As you can see, progress has been iffy at best on these. Another two day car ride (with three cats), company overnight, and then my son coming from Texas to stay this weekend has made me both too busy and too frazzled to stitch much. My son goes home on Tuesday; hopefully after that I can get something done. Anyway, barely any progress on Mystery X. I managed one strand of silver. Got some blue and black done on the mini mandala. The Midi Mystery has more of the arch done - the arch that goes on and on and on. And the Medieval Mandala has most of the fourth side done on its leaves. I am getting there. Slowly, but I am.

Time to Take Stock

No pictures in this post - just goals and such for the new year. I found out today about the Project Challenge. I'll be starting with the ten project challenge, since I've got some BAP's to do. So, to recap - what I'm working on: Midi Mystery 2, Mystery X, Mini Mandala, and Medieval Town Mandala from Chatelaine. An auction needlepoint gardening piece for the American Needlepoint Guild that MUST be done by March 1st. Bargello and Buttonholes, also needlepoint. A beading project called Ribbons and Roses from the last national EGA seminar. A French round robin. And a goldwork piece that was a class from Classic Stitches. This is what I am currently rotating through. I also have to get the goldwork GCC done by the end of March, a beading GCC done by the end of May, and two more GCC's being started in March. Plus ornaments and incidentals as the year passes. In other words, I'm BUSY. Hopefully I'll be able to at least clear some of this off my plate soon. Wish me luck!

The Needlepoints Again

One day I'll get the top left rectangle of the auction piece done. It's getting there, but too slowly for my taste. Driving two days without doing a stitch this week didn't help, of course. The Buttonholes and Bargello has some of the arch stitches started. They're the last border step (yippee!) and then I start the rose in the middle. Once I do that rose, it's done.

A Capital L

It's beginning to look like a real Gothic L now. Hopefully between everything else this week, I'll be able to finish it. Can't wait to send this off... I know I'll be getting another one soon.

Medieval Town Mandala

Three sides done, one to go. This one is showing progress every week, lately, since I've gone on to part 4. Now if only everything else would go as quickly... anyway, I should be able to get more done this week despite all the extra stuff going on.

A Very Nice Surprise

My friend's parents gave me this present last night - they're the ones who are getting the Pandas. I think it's really pretty and will try to work it into my rotation really soon. It should be a quick stitch.

Midi Mystery

I got a bit more of this done this weekend despite spending two whole days driving in the car and the rest of the week being out and about at a friend's house. It's amazing I got anything at all done. On the left arch, I got the light green done on one side. This week, I've got another two day drive, my son coming to visit, and three new pets to acclimate to my house. Somehow, I doubt I'll get much stitching done.

A New Start for a New Year

Even though I already have too many projects going on, I started another one today. It's Chatelaine's Mystery X. As you can see, I haven't done much, but it's only today! The fabric is from Silkweaver and I bought the fiber and bead kit from European Cross Stitch. I'm looking forward to seeing it unfold.