Writing on the Cloth

It's amazing how much more I get done on a piece when it's the one I'm working on daily. This one is it. As you can see, I have the whole top braid done and most of the words done on this. By next week's picture, I'll be well into the second braid. Looks like I might have it done ahead of time.

Swirling a Bit

I -think- I'll finish this band in the next couple of weeks. Unlike band four, it has more negative space and less stitching. This means, although it's really wide, it's not as much stitching. The colors are coming along like I hoped, and I like the way the overall piece is coming together.

Over Halfway

I'm over halfway on this section! This time, I did filling in with greens and black, not much blue. It's still got quite a bit to go, but the light is there at the end. I also started the third section of the garden with the leftover ends from the colors used on the second. Since I'm using all silks in this, the threads feel soooo good.

Gold, Stems and Leaves

I'm getting so close on having the cross stitches done on part three. The gold is much more stitched now, and the plants all have their leaves and stems. All that's left is completing the pots and the scrollwork. Maybe I'll do it this week. Like most Chatelaines, this one's fussy about where you put the stitches and there aren't a lot of blocks of color. That's what makes it so lovely to look at, though! I'll be happy when part three is done.

Getting My Gold On

The gold is around the corner now and working on the bottom edge. I'll be starting on the small corner this week and hopefully getting more of the bottom side done. The work goes fast when I work on it and I'm still in love with this piece after nearly two years of working on it.

Blue Grows Bigger

The column for the blue part of the flag got bigger this week. It's one of the harder areas to stitch because it's not just big blocks of the same color. This week I'll be working more on the flag and hopefully the progress will be visible.

Buckling Down to a Series

This is the first of a series of twelve belt buckles from Chaparral in Houston. They reminded me of home and I was homesick. I have four of them now and started this one, as it's the first in the series. I really loved the look of them. The stitch guides and the line drawings - I'm not a big fan. The guides are in a hard to read for long periods font, disorganized, and have very little in the way of guidance - not even a picture of the whole thing pointing to the parts they're talking about. I'll get the series done, but in a lot of ways, it'll be in spite of the stitch guide instead of because of it. As you can see, the canvas line drawings are just - pudgy. It looks like they outlined the various pieces and gave a very wiiiide margin for them. This is my first time doing a series like this, so I don't know if it's me or the guides. Maybe they'll get better as I progress. I hope so.