Another Leaf

I got the leaf done before I left for France. The goldwork survived the trip in my suitcase, but all my Blogger instructions are in French. It's weird. Anyway, I haven't been stitching much at all because of all the people coming in and having to be shown around and having to make dinner for loads of people in an unfamiliar kitchen and going to unfamiliar grocery stores and so on. Finally NOT cooking tomorrow, so I plan on doing some needlework. My husband took pictures of progress since the last set today, so ... you get blogged!

Progress?

I think there's some progress in this picture. I know I've worked on it ... pictures will be taken in France, probably not until Monday or Tuesday. I'm taking every project I've been working on that's not finished and a few more. If you think I won't have time for it, well... I'll be alone LeMans weekend and I'll have to be around the chateau to help my son with his schoolwork. There will be time!

Added Color

So you can see I added some green to the third band. It's soy silk, same as the other solid color. I think it's looking good. Of course, I'm getting all stressed about traveling tonight, and haven't done much stitching at all this past week.

It Looks Like a Purse

My husband decided to take a different kind of picture for this this week. It really looks like it's coming together. The edging on the purse itself is over halfway done on the first pass. The strap's 37 inches long. If I weren't going to France today, this would be done because it's so close. Instead, I'll be finishing it (soon) in France and mailing it home to my daughter.

Medieval Town Mandala

This piece, like the rest, has succumbed to the packing doldrums. I managed to complete one more shade of blue on the top part of the corner and add more gold in. It's getting there, glacially, but getting there.

Midi Flowers

I got some more Algerian eye flowers done on this. At least it won't take as long as the green of the arches! It's coming with me to France, and I'm starting to pack my stuff today.

Huswif

Like everything else, I've had a slow down on this, too. I'm still on the big band with the carnations, but I'm almost done. Maybe I can squeeze some time before Saturday to work on it.

Two Real Ornaments Before Leaving

So, I've been busy this past couple of days finishing ornaments to send out before I get on the plane on Saturday. The bargello that I finished on Sunday is now a real ornament, as is the January Heart I finished way back in February. It's amazing what a deadline can do! I kind of like the way the bargello came out better than the heart, though.

Goldwork Slowdown

I really don't see any way that I'm going to complete this before I leave on Saturday, though I'll try. I'll be keeping this home because I don't know that I'll have anywhere to do something this fussy in the chateau. It's also kind of bulky. Hopefully, I can finish this before the deadline after I get back.

Mercury Done

I sat down and finished this on Sunday. Now it's ready to mail off to somewhere else to get the second planet stitched. I've gotten so used to even numbers of strands while stitching that it was hard for me to stitch with three strands. They're harder to lay flat. There are some bumps in this, but it's going to be seen from a distance anyway.

Bargello Finished

I managed to get this done while I was away this weekend. It looks pretty good, and I need to make it into an ornament before I go. I like the colors in it and it was an easy finish, considering. I need some easy sometimes!

Tiramisu Back and Front

My husband accidentally took a picture of the back this time before being corrected. I guess that means I'm doing all right on the reversible aspect. In the next posting, you'll see I added a third color in this band, and still haven't finished with it. I've decided now to just concentrate on getting a few things done before the trip. Hopefully I can do it! And yes, I'm sorry about not posting yesterday. I am visiting a friend's house and ended up just not posting yesterday. You got two posts today, though!

Ribbons and Roses Edging Along

Well, I've been working on the edge of the purse and haven't been able to do much this week, but at least some. The way things are going, this will be mailed home from France. I really want to get it done. The strap is now about 38 inches long, too.

Planetary Progress

I really want to finish this and put it in the mail before I leave a week from tomorrow. Unfortunately for my stitching, I've been doing everything from making up kissing pillows to writing a newsletter to picking up beanie babies (don't ask). It's been really hard to find time to stitch these past couple of weeks. I'll find time to do this. I have to!

Not Much Done

I didn't get much done on this last week. This week, either. Had a lot to do before going to France next week and well... stitching has had to take a break. I did manage to get some of the darker color blue done and correct some mistakes. Eventually it'll get there.

Tiny Algerian Eyes

I started the specialty stitches on this part this week. Did a lot of teeny tiny Algerian eye stitches in the top left arch. They're supposed to be roses, I think. Because of their size, they're a bit of a pain to do. On the other hand, it's not cross stitch there and it should get along some soon...

Still on Part Two

The band I'm working on now is rather big, but I'm finally almost done with. Part four came in the mail the other day. It adds beads and the fastener to the piece. I assume part five will be the backing and such. It at least gets prettier to me the more I work on it.

Dying to Stitch

I spent Sunday afternoon dying fabric outdoors in the bright sunshine. These are the results. The regular fabric will be made into tote bags and backpacks by a friend, and I'll be stitching on the linen pieces soon. I had fun doing this.

Parts H & I - Goldwork

I've made quite a bit of progress on this. The burden stitch turned out better with the silk than with the metallic thread. I like it enough that I'll try to use it in another piece. I'm not sure I can finish the rest in the next twelve days before France, but I'm going to try.

Quarter Done

I had thought I'd be done or nearly done with this, but I discounted that I was working so much on goldwork and getting the kids places and preparing for France. It's coming along, though, and when I work on it, it goes fast. I like the colors, but might do it again with other ones.

Finished Off

I did the needlepoint on this a little while back, and now it's been put together for me! Hopefully the recipient will like it when she gets it in a couple of weeks. I think it came out pretty well.

Snail's Pace

I think I'm at the point in this part where I feel like I'm making no progress even though I am. There's just such a large chunk to do here. I got more silver and more of that pretty Oasis Waterlilies done on this. It's progressing and I can see the tendrils growing, just not very quickly. I'll get over it when I get everything above the point done and it looks like I'm getting things done for real.

Second Band Done

The second band of Tiramisus done. Next band is BIG, so it's going to take me a while to do it. I'm pleased by the progress. Still don't know why my husband's camera is showing this so yellow. I'm debating adding more than these two colors to the design right now. Maybe some green?

Edging Along

The strap's grown to 35 inches and I'm almost done with the first row of edging on the sides in this picture. Since then, I've started working on the second row. Once that's done, the purse is done!

Golden Curls

I ended up adding some more gold to the corner this week. Also did some blue. Considering how big the corners are, I'm somewhat surprised it's going as quickly as it is. I still really like it.

Pots Done

Yay! I am down to only doing the specialty stitches on part two! Real progress! It feels good to get all those cross stitches done.

Mercury Rising

To me, this looks like the moon rising on an autumn night. It's Mercury, though, and I'm still working on it. at least it's farther along than it was a week ago.

Huswif - Big Band

Still not waiting much for my kids, so not much done on this. The band I'm working on is rather big, and I did do some extra yesterday after this picture was taken. There's a big carnation in the middle in Hazelnut, and two on the sides in Burnished Gold. I'm still really enjoying the Vikki Clayton silks. They don't snag and they have a nice sheen.

Goldwork Part G Done

So, I was thinking. I don't believe I've ever told y'all how I manage to do goldwork without a frame stand. It works, it's really portable, and it's affordable. I stretch the silk on a frame as usual and leave it on the frame for the duration of the stitching. To have it accessible and both my hands free, I use clamps to attach it to the edge of my dining room table. These clamps are from the hardware store, yes, but they're special clamps. First off, no screws. They have a lever you depress to get them to tighten up. They also have nice cushy pads for the frame and you can make them tight. I've seen one of our cats get onto this (he was promptly shooed off) and the clamps held. I'm planning on taking the clamps with me on my trip.


As for the goldwork, I got another section done - the little blooms of the flower. They're not as round as they should be, but I think they came out all right. Next up - the big leaf in the middle.

Tiny Bargello Start

I started this piece to have something small that I could finish quickly. It's called "sugar Plum" and was designed by Patricia Hartman from Creative Reflections. It's going quickly. What you see here is less than half an hour's worth of work. I hope to finish it before I go to France three weeks from today.

Garden Rambling

Still filling in all these stitches on the garden. It's looking good and I got to use a color or two besides Honeydew this week. I like the feel of Waterlilies - it rarely snags or pills. Part five is already out and I'm still on Part two, but there's nothing new in me being behind. I'll get there.

Tiramisu Second Band Started

I don't know why, but this picture turned out really yellow compared to the original. As you see, the second band is almost half done, and is done in two threads - the soy silk, which I've found has a tendency to fuzz more than I like, and the Needle Necessities overdyed blue. The overdyed is much harder to do longer lengths of double running stitch over - the colors don't match up well. I'm learning something doing this, at least, and it's pretty.

Round and Round the Edge

I got almost the whole top part of the flap edged and the strap's grown to 34 inches. It's getting there! Looks like it's one I'm going to have to take to France to work on, though.

Needlework Round Robin Done

I finished the sewing bird for this round robin yesterday. Only one more piece to work on and I'll have done all six! This one came out good. One person still needs to stitch on it, and I will be mailing it to her tomorrow. This also makes number ten of my project challenge (yay!) and so it's two completions in one.

Planetary Orange

Still plodding along on this, since I spent a lot of time not stitching this week - including this weekend, when I only worked on the sewing bird for the needlework round robin. I'll get there. Mailing date is one month from today.