Leaves and Vines

I started part two of the Tuscany. The leaves are lazy daisy stitch, and the vines are all double running stitch. There was a little trick to getting the placement right, since the edges of part one are that one thread out instead of two. I had to do some frogging the first time because of that. At least I caught it before I did all four. I would have, as my daughter would put it, committed seppuku. No need for that now!

No Dessert for Me

It's slowly getting done. For some reason, this band is tedious to me. Possibly because I had to frog quite a bit a couple of weeks ago. I do like the way it looks, though. Since this picture was taken, all the left half of the band is done and the right half started on.

Yet Another Round Robin

This is my latest round robin start. It's the sealife one that I did the seahorse for a few weeks ago. I decided to do a shell this time. It should be fairly quick, at least.

Getting the Gold Down

This week, I stitched all the gold corner bits and did the tops of the swirls on the second corner. This side might not be going any faster in actuality, but it feels faster, and that's a good thing. I am off to Baltimore today to take a couple of classes at the ANG seminar. More projects to blog! Because of that, I'll be writing the blogs early and then posting them daily. I'll just be a -bit- busy there. My husband's dragging me to an O's game, for example.

Pottery Prevails

The pots are back! They are in the upper arches, and I worked on four this week. They don't look bad, but this is obviously surrealistic at this point...

Flag Lady

Still getting more of the flag done. I like the way it's turning out. At this rate, I might have to buy some drawing tickets myself.

First Jessicas

This piece has a lot of Jessica stitches, and I just started the first set. Jessicas take up a lot of time and a lot of floss, but they look pretty. I know many people have problems with Jessicas; I haven't had any, thankfully!

Another Finish

I don't knit well and I have very little patience for it, so this picture is of my one scarf that took nearly a year to do. It's a gift for one of my husband's coworkers. I don't think I'll be knitting again for a while, even though this came out pretty well. It counts toward my project challenge, though!

Huswif Horrors

Those of you who have been reading my blog for the last two months know that I've been really disappointed with Carol Tinson of Heirloom Embroideries because of her Mystery Huswif. She provided all the materials and the directions, supposedly over a period from February to June. Not one of the scheduled mailing dates was met. The last one, June's, was mailed in the middle of July. She didn't even bother to inform us that there would be a delay on any of it. In fact, she didn't answer email or forum questions for over two months during this.

So, I opened my last packet this week, the one for the lining. On the outside, folded into a little 3x4 inch rectangle, it looked fine. When I unfolded it, the blotched piece you see in the top picture is what I got. The second picture is color skewed for better contrast. I tried folding the fabric in the manner suggested to see if i could hide the spots, but I couldn't. The fabric is a total loss. Make your own judgment on whether she's worth buying from. I was fooled once, but I will not be again. I will never buy from Carol Tinson again. Also, in her directions for putting cording around the edges of the huswif when it's finished, she says to use three meters of floss. Problem is, there isn't enough of any of the colors left to have three meters. She provided us with only five meter skeins.

This third picture is the piece of fabric I pulled from my quilting stash to substitute. It's cotton, so it won't be as glitzy, but I like it. I did the marbling on it several years ago, so all the pattern is mine.

And here is the huswif all cut out and ready to stitch to the lining. All the beads are on now.

Gardening

Plugging along on this - the part takes a long time. It's looking really pretty, though, even if I did go back to stitching with Honeydew this week. From what other stitchers said, this part alone was over forty hours to stitch. I can believe it, even though I have no clue how others keep track of their stitching time. Every time I see this, though, I smile at how pretty it is.

Part One Done!

I managed to get part one done before the end of part two's month! No beads, of course, since I don't want to crush them. I've started on part two now, and the colors have changed completely. Looks good, though. Of course, I'm going to be behind again in another week.

Tiramisu Back to Front

Last week, my husband accidentally took the picture of Tiramisu from the back. Here it is with this week's front picture. I've slacked some on the reversible blackwork, since I'm no longer under pressure to turn this in for evaluation, but it's still looking pretty good on the back. About halfway done, now, with band four after some serious frogging from having one flower one stitch off...

Medieval Mandala Progress

I got more on this done, adding some gold and blue. I think it's coming along fairly nicely. Now, if only I could limit myself to a couple of things to stitch on at a time, I'd end up completing them much faster...

This I like, though, because it's giving me no problems and looks really, really nice.

More Golden

I got quite a bit more done on this this week. Even started the golden area at the bottom of the left arch and started stitching the other arch. I feel like I'm making more progress now than I was earlier in the year on this.

Lady Coming Along

The flag is beginning to look like a flag to me. I've found a target date to get this done and framed. The Blue Star Moms are participating in a troop rally in April at the local football stadium. We'll start selling tickets there. So, it's got to be done! I'm still feeling pretty good about how this is coming along.

Huswif Stitched

This week I finished the actual stitching on the huswif. I started putting beads on it today and will be doing extra work on it this week so it's done as soon as possible. I'm finding the bead placement instructions problematic, but after everything else, I'm not surprised. Oh, and I get to add two more bands between places in there. They weren't in the original part and only show up with the beading. I'll get this done, I swear.

Sprattering Along

This week, I finished the starfle row - I think it looks cute - and started the sprats heads below it. I'll get those done this week, along with the Jessicas that go between them. At least, start the Jessicas. The sprats heads are out of really slick Edmar stuff that I've never used before, so they're hard to keep tension on.

Swimming Along

This piece is hard because it's interstitial - it only gets worked on when I'm away waiting for someone or I'm completely stuck from something else. Anyway, I managed to get some work on it last week, starting the seahorse as I waited for various doctors' appointments for my kids. I'll get it done eventually. I have to say, though, this Strand wool really needs to be kept straight. It's naturally curly.

Pigged Out

The pig's done. I'm beginning to think I'm in a group of round robin stitchers whose taste is completely different from mine. This is such a different experience from what I had with the French one. Anyway, it's getting mailed out today, only a week past the due date... and I have three others in my possession to do. I'll catch up one day, really! This also makes finish five of my project challenge.

A Bit Redder

I got more red on the Midi this week, and I'm kind of confused by Martina's choice to use two reds on this. They both look to be essentially the same color to me. Both are in the red area I've completed. Can you tell the difference? One is from Thread Gatherer and the other is from Gloriana. I'm sure she has a reason. I feel like I'm going to finish this part soon, unlike how I felt for so long with part two. Since this picture, I've even put some pictures on the other arch too!

Flag Fever

Still working on the flag part and have a whole bunch to go on the piece. I really need to have it done by the end of January because the charity raffle's going to start in April with a great big rally for the troops. I need to have it framed and ready to show by then. Now to get it done ... at least I like working on it.

Nearly There

Since taking this picture, I've completed all the bands for the piece. Now I just have to attach the beads and finish it. Unfortunately for me, the design makes me angry whenever I work on it because of the problems with the designer's unprofessional behavior. I definitely will order no more things from Carol Tinson. Looks like, instead of this being a keeper piece for me, I'm going to give it away because I can't stand looking at it for long.

Starfles Started

I'm more than half done with this band and will finish it this week. The patterned stitches are completed, and the starfles aren't hard. Even though they're done in a pretty square fashion, they look kind of diamond shaped. Not very hard to do, either.

Oink!

This is the calendar round robin I'm on now. It's pigs. Since this picture was taken, I've gotten the bottom half of the March pig done. Luckily, that's the only one I have to do. I don't know where these people are finding the calendar designs. I just know mine is so different ... oh well. This one's on Aida, too. I believe I've become a fabric snob. Linen and evenweave are just so much easier for me to work on and they have so much a softer hand. Working on Aida feels rough and stiff to me. Oh well... not too long on this one.

Winding the Paths

I worked with the dark metallic color and the bleu sage this week. I don't think you can avoid metallic thread getting kinky. It just seems to always want to curl up on itself at some point. Adding the metallic, though, made the darker bands stand out more. The bleu sage is the outer edge of the paths. I think I'm pushing it along. Didn't get much stitching done this week - the pictures coming. I had lots of appointments that required hours of driving and then no stitching time in between. No such appointments this week; perhaps I can catch up again.

Crossing on Tuscany

Well, I got almost all of the cross stitches done this week. Since this picture was taken, I've finished all the cross stitches and almost all the Rhodes stitches. You'll see those next week. The colors are nice, and I like the way it's turning out so far. Since all the colors are variegated on this, though, I'm getting tired of doing every stitch individually. It goes more slowly.

Starting at an Angle

The line below the upper border of this band is in green. It looks like that will be the only bit of green, along with its mirror image, in this band. I'm using the Egyptian Lapis for everything but the flowers, where I'm using the Needle Necessities floss. It's coming along some - maybe not quickly, but I'll get this done.

A Quarter Done!

Yay! I finished the first corner of the four! I like the way it looks, and am somewhat surprised it only took me a couple of months. Now on to corners two, three and four. Two has a nice start on it already, luckily for me.

A Touch of Red

Got some more colors onto this, including red. The red's for fuchsias. It's still coming along quite quickly. In the main, what's left on the first arch is a bunch of gold at the bottom. I'll be starting it this week.

Flag Started

This week, I started the flag. Means I'm making quite a bit of progress. My idea on the way I'm tackling this is that I'll establish a more or less horizontal line and work either up or down from it. I haven't decided which. The line will be the lower edge of her arm. For some reason, this seems to have been going a bit more quickly than it had been to me. I'll take that - makes me feel better about completing it!

Red Squares

I finished off the diamond row with Algerian eyes in the middle. They came out pretty well, and now I'm in the process of doing the red square satin stitches on the penultimate row. Once I'm done with the stitching, there are beads to add and then I'll need to put it together, like I did the purse. I think it's coming along pretty well.

A Quick Finish

Well, this is another one of the sealife round robins. It's Janien from Brazil's. I did the seahorse on the left today. Needed something quick and this fit the bill AND got a bit of responsibility out of the way. I'll be mailing it out on Monday. This makes number four of the twenty-five project challenge. And if you want to know where the pattern came from, it's from Mains & Merveilles Point de Croix #61 and the thread is Gentiane from L'atelier du pic vert. I like the color.

Shells... and More Shells

I got enough of the border shells done this week to start the second row on this piece's next pass on the rotation. It's something called starfles. Don't ask, cause I don't know. The shells take a lot of floss but go rather quickly. I still like their colors a lot.

My Garden Grows

I managed to do more work on this this week - there's more of the midnight blue color and more bleu sage. Looks like I'll be working with metallics for the coming week. For some reason, when I do, I feel like I'm making more progress than working with some of the silk colors. It must be some kind of psych thing with the sparkles.

Officially Behind

As I knew would happen, I fell officially behind on Tuscany on Wednesday. I am not very far behind, however. Since taking this picture, I've gotten all the outer border done and most of the inner area done. It's mainly specialty stitches to complete part one. I haven't even looked at what I need to do for part two yet, but I will probably be able to start it next week. I still really like the color of the fabric with the colors of the floss, although some people would say the two light colors blend in too much.

Round Robin Complete

Last night, I finally finished my part of this round robin. It took a lot longer than I thought it should, but it's done. Now I have four others in queue to do! I'll be able to get them started now that this one's done. It's getting sent to India today. This also counts as my third project of my 25 project challenge, which is a good thing.

Bordering on Four

I finished off the top border of Band four. It turned out pretty well, I think. Since this picture on Friday, I've started the twining part of the band. I've decided to use the Egyptian Lapis blue as the main color, with some of the leaves in green and the flowers in the same color as the border.

Not As Far As I Thought

I really did believe I'd finish this round robin last week. It's a LOT of stitching, though, and I didn't get it done. So this week, I started doing two lengths of floss between everything else I'm doing, which has worked out to about 3-4 lengths every day. I'm MUCH closer now and hope to finish it by Friday. The letters on top of the dog house are nearly finished. If it's not done by Friday, I'll just work on it until it's finished. To me, this was a bit much stitching for a round robin.