Two Down, Ten to Go

I finished up the dragonfly belt buckle a couple of days ago. Figured I was so close when I finished the basketweave that I might as well go for it. It came out pretty well, despite all the difficulties with instructions and missing threads. Instead of replacing it in my rotation with another from the series, I decided to put in the old French round robin piece that has a blank area in the middle. I'll be putting an alphabet there and then my husband can frame it. Since he's already got the frame done and the mat and everything else, I need to get working!

Oh, and I went back onto a project challenge, this one for 25 finishes. It means I can't go out and just shop for shopping's sake for stash until I've done 25 from my stash. One down, twenty-four to go on that.

Backing the Ground

I got more of the background done. There isn't a lot of it, but continental stitch takes a long time to cover an area. I think I've got most of the background done now; the majority of large spaces are covered.

Silvering the Background

I got more on the background done this week. It's not all that much to do, since the design is so big. Maybe next week I'll have it done and can go on and start the borders.

Winged

Now on to the background. I used Frosty Rays for the wings, since the Fyre Works the stitch guide asked for weren't in the kit. I have since received said Fyre Works and the Kreinik braid that was missing. The shop mailed them to me with my last shipment. They didn't realize it wasn't in the kit. I'm not frogging the substitutions out, but it's a nice gesture.

Dragonfly Tail

I made a lot of progress on this while waiting for Mattie at the freight office at JFK last week, getting the dragonfly tail done (neat process - bullion stitches under the satin stitches to make them poofy) and outlining the wings. Unfortunately for me, I seem to be missing two more threads that were supposedly included. I didn't fill in the wings because what I had was too light in color, so I'm looking through my stash for something better. Should start them this week.

Sunflower Done

I finally finished the sunflower on this buckle. It only took me all the time in Kosovo to do it. Since I took this project with me while I was out waiting for Mattie at the airport on Sunday. Found I was missing -more- threads and substituted what I had. You'll see a picture next week. I still like the design but hate the stitch guide.

Dragonfly Petals

I got a couple more petals done this week. After I get home next week, I'll get lots more stitching done. Maybe. Someone's asked me to marble papers and dye fabric to sell on etsy. I'm thinking about it. I'll at least do some and see how they go. The lack of lines is really telling in this area, and I hope I can finish this sunflower so it looks decent.

Missing Lines

I discovered while on the road trip that the canvas is missing some lines on the petals. If I had done it the way it was drawn, I would not have had alternating petals all the way around. When you look at the picture they give with the stitch guide. it's pretty obvious the canvas wasn't completely drawn. Another disappointment in this series. I'm compensating and will finish it, just hate that I have to do so. This is what I accomplished while waiting in traffic jams in Montenegro.

More Petals

Two more petals done on this; I should be able to get more done on the trip, perhaps even complete the flower. This is my last scheduled blog post. I might not be able to post again until the first of June, as I'm off on an adventure. Will share pictures and such when I get back, if not before.

Blossoming Flower

This is what I worked on during my transit time. I did a bit of it in the Vienna airport watching two couples play Hearts at my table. It kept me awake. I'm still having problems with the directions, but what's new? Maybe I'll get more of the flower done this week.

Starting the Sunflower

Well, I got the body done and I think it looks good. The stitch guide is still giving me fits for ease of reading and organization. I don't like harping on things like this, but if I'm having problems with it with over twenty years of stitching experience and a science degree, how many others are having it worse? I'm working on the flower now, and they didn't send me one of the colors of FyreWorks I need. I found an acceptable Kreinik substitute in my stash so I can take it with me to Europe in two days. It's really disappointing to have to go through these kinds of problems.

Silver Swirls

Another part of this buckle done - the swirls. The dragonfly's body is next. Yes, this is going to Europe with me. It should be something quick and easy to do, and I'm going to have a lot of airport time, since I have two connections to make. I doubt I'll sleep much in public places, and I'll be afraid I'm going to miss my flight anyway. So, not only is this going with me, I'll be taking a couple more to mount on the same frame when this is done. Those will be going by mail, though.

Dragonfly Buckle Start

I started this on the way home last Saturday from Pittsburgh. The spider webs went really quickly and I think it'll take a lot less time than the guitar did.

Buckled Up

One down, eleven more to go. My only hope is that the stitch guides get better. The actual stitching wasn't difficult, though several of the fibers tended to shred a lot. I've decided I don't like Gold Rush. The sparkly allows the underlying white to show through too much, too easily. I'll be waiting to finish this into something when the other eleven are done.

Backing It Up

When this picture was taken on Saturday, I still had over half of the background left to stitch. I'm happy to report that I finished stitching it yesterday. Even though getting around all the other stitching was hard, it went pretty quickly when I put my mind to it - and my time.

Almost to the End

Once I finish filling in this gold, it's all silver tent stitchs in the background. I'll have the first of twelve(!) belt buckles done. It looks like all the stitch guides use the same illegible font, and the instructions are written in the same way, but if I can get through one, I can get through them all.

Guitar Done

I finished the guitar this week. It looks pretty good. Now I need to put initials in the banner and do lots of tent stitches.

Copper Guitar

The actual guitar is started, which means this is very close to being done. Next step is couching the gold torsade around the guitar's outline, then filling the rest of the guitar in. I'm hoping to do that today. I'm so behind this week on my stitching. It's been a very hectic week so far.

Squiggles Done

This is getting closer to completion. The squiggles are all filled in now. Since this picture, I've started on the guitar, which is going fairly quickly. After that, the initials on the banner and filling in the background is all that's needed.

Squiggling Some More

Well, I've decided that Gold Rush unravels too easily, especially when you don't want it to. on the other hand, I'm almost done with all the squiggles on this. only the last two on the bottom of the guitar, and then another step done. It's beginning to come together. This buckle wasn't my favorite, which is why I chose it first - get the worst over at the beginning. Now to hope the next one goes better and I like actually stitching the guitar.