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.