Fountain pen in its box

Just added a few photos of the fountain pen all tucked up in its pen box. Not great photos. It seems that this is one of those projects that do not photograph well. At least that gives you some idea.

Roland is quite happy to finally have it :-)

Fountain pen

Well, here is a photo of the finished fountain pen. Will try to take a better one when it is inside the box. It is not perfect, far from it but I am so darn fed up with it that it will have to do.

Fountain pen

Mine so far above and SharonG below.

This is what I have done on it so far. Remains too add something on the top part of the pen like Roland's initials and to do the background.

The Morning After: Finishing done

Two photos showing the front and back of my stand-up frame.

Will do the same exact kind of finishing for The Night Before :-)

The Morning After: Beginning of finishing

Well, you can see the front part ready to be attached to the back part, which is a kind of velvet that is very soft and changes colors depending on the lighting - it looks dark here but really is not that dark at all. I still need to work on putting fabric on the stand piece and then attach all together with a little ribbon to control the amount of length the stand will open up while standing and of course cording all around, so a bit more work to do.

Desire: All done and ready for hanging

Here is Desire all ready for framing :-)

I really love it.

Desire: Finishing process

This is the beginning of my finishing process. I want to be able to hang it on my wall, so am making a fabric frame for it.

This is how Susan Portra had hers finished, as an ornament.

Photo of Desire all stitched. Next photo will be of Desire ready to put on my wall.

Twilight Angel: Christmas gift for Terry

Here is the project that I will be stitching for you, Terry, for this upcoming Christmas. Will blog my stitching so that you will be able to see it coming to life :-)

Diamond Iris: Framed

I really like it. The frame is exactly the same color as the border and by using the whitest white possible, it really make the whole design stand out.

.

Don't look at the wallpaper behind it. I know it does not fit but this is the best place I know of in my home where I get the best lighting but I need to take the photograph a bit sideway so that I don't get all the glare on the glass.

Terra Rosa: Storage jar

Just complete the fourth one this morning. This is a storage jar.

Photo showing all that has been done so far. Next one that needs to be stitched is the one to the left of the yellow water jar and is a "flat plate"

.

The end is now in sight :-)

Diamond Iris: All Stitched

Happy to have this project all stitched. The framer should receive it for framing probably on Saturday :-)

Diamond Iris: Everything is done except fillings

Just taken a photo of everything I have done so far. Sorry about the bad photo but I tried and tried and could not do any better for some reason.
.
All that remains to do now is the inner background around the Iris and then the border filling (page 8.17) and that one will be ready for the framer :-)

Diamond Iris: Inside border

A rough picture here (ceiling lights showing on canvas).

.

As I said before to you, I counted 74 holes in mine instead of the 62 that were indicated on the instructions.

If you have a good look you can see that the Iris itself is pretty much centered inside the diamond shape and to me that was the most important thing to do.

.

You need to think that you will be stitching your border with a four thread upright gobelin stitch, two over my red line and two under my red line. making the leaves even a bit closer to the border than we see here.

.

We also need to think about the outside border. We can discuss that a bit later as we still have plenty of stitching to do before we get to this point like stitching the background inside that border, all around the Iris itself.

.

Let me know if you have problems.

Diamond Iris: Petals

I am afraid that is the best I was able to do with this photo. Of course when the outline is stitched, it will really separate the different petals, but at least it gives you some idea of how I stitched mine. No doubts, yours will be quite different. Moving on to the leaves now :-)

Flower Diamonds: Additional photos

Above: Photo of how Terry Dryden had her Flower Diamonds neck roll finished.

Below: Additional photos taken while stitching that pilot project:

This completes my photo file on this project.

Terra Rosa: Olla or water jar

Three out of six all stitched and a fourth one already started, things are slowly progressing. Just completed the olla or water jar, the one that is black/blue/yellow. The next step on this project will be to complete the storage jar. I am still undecided as whether I am continuing on this project or proceeding on my rotation. Feeling a bit tired now, so will take a break and then decide :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=

My very first silk ribbon embroidery project way way back

While I am still working on my Olla or water jar, I thought of having a little fun and showing you my very first silk ribbon embroidery project that I did way way way back.

.

First funny thing is that this is an "M" and there is no "M" in either my husband or my own name, so why did I end up choosing to make an "M" instead of a "P" or an "R"? Seems like a reasonable question, right? Well the woman who showed us how to do silk ribbon embroidery told me that I would learn more if I did an "M" than doing a "P". So, guess what? I started thinking how I could justify to myself doing an "M" and I came up with a few ideas like "M" for Mrs or "M" for Marie which all catholic born little girl automatically gets when they are baptised, so with these two "M"s I managed to justify to myself that it was perfectly allright to have a towel with an "M" initial. Each time I look at that towel, a smile creeps in.

.

I thought that my "M" looked pretty good at the time. Now, I am not so sure, but it does hold funny memories and that makes it special :-)

.

Now, back to Terra Rosa. Hope to be able to post a photograph of the water jar sometimes tomorrow.

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Windows into my Heart with doubled fabric covered mats

First photo above showing a side view and second photo below showing a front view.

I just got Windows into my Heart from our framer with two fabric covered mats instead of the uncovered one I had before. I think it makes a big difference.
.
Don't look at the wallpaper behind as Windows into my Heart is not going to stay there but I found out that it is one of the best place for me to photograph my frames as I almost always have glass over my finished pieces.
.

Still working on Terra Rosa but making slow progress, so I won't be able to post anything about it today, but hopefully tomorrow. To make things worst, just cut myself on the right tumb and had to put a small Band-Aid, which is not very conducive to good stitching :-(

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Terra Rosa; Top of Storage jar

I have done a bit more on my storage jar, at least the top part of it.
.
Now, I need to move on to Olla or water jar that is located on its left side before continuing on this one as the shape of all the vases/jars/plates that are in front needs to be as perfect as possible. Since they are covering part of the vases/jars/plates that are behind them and at this point in time I can't be entirely sure where my outlines are going to be, I am not taking any chances here. Better be safe than sorry, as they say. Not sure why I am telling you all this as this is not rocket science (grinning)

Photo above shows what has been done: Double necked wedding jar and shallow bowl.

.

If you look at the smaller round vase, second one from the right which is the Olla or water jar, this is the one I am going to start working on now. Its colors are dark yellow, blue and black. Once that water jar is all stitched then I will be returning to the storage jar on the far right and complete it, then I will work on the middle which is a flat plate keeping the bridal basket behind the pink bowl for last. All that will remain to be done at that point will be the numerous borders. There is still a long way to go before I reach that point.

.

My camera's batteries were almost dead when I took those pictures but there was still just enough juice in them to take those two :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Terra Rosa: Started working on storage jar

It seems to me like ages ago since I have worked on this project. It is called Terra Rosa and is an Elsa M. Parrish design.
.
I have added the photo that came with the instructions so that you can have an idea of what it is supposed to look like when finished.
.
Some of you may have noticed some differences between mine and the one in the photograph. It is because the drawn canvas I have received with the instructions and the threads has been drawn a bit differently on mine so I am playing with it to give it as close a shape as I possibly can to the one that is shown in the photograph unless I prefer the changes made, but I am limited to some extent with what I can do with it by the pen/pencil lines already there, so I am walking a very thin line here with this project :-)
.
I suppose it must be rather difficult for someone to draw such design on canvas and I am not sure that I would want to tackle it myself, so I can easily understand that little errors can crop here and there, so I am very vigilant with my stitching, double checking, triple checking and making sure that I understand the whole thing before putting any stitches in new sections.
.
I am also jumping from one section to the next whenever I arrive to a section that I feel needs to be done before the section I am working on. Overall though I do love that design a lot. Is it because I am crazy about native American culture? Yes, that is a big part of it, but I do love how Elsa replicated the lovely motifs on the different vases. This project is a slow go for me, but so well worth the time spent on it.
.
You will see much more of this project in the days and weeks to come. Some of you may have also noticed that I am slowly returning to needlepoint pieces. I just need to do a bit of this and a bit of that indorder to make myself happy and not just work on a single technique. Each morning I look at my projects and decide which style of embroidery I feel like working on that day. I may work on the same project for several days and then move on to something else or just switch projects every morning. I go with what makes me happy that day.
.
Pierrette =^..^=

Persian Fantasy: Area 9 - One corner stitched

After working a little bit on my brazilian project yesterday, I then switched to Persian Fantasy, a needlepoint project on which I have not worked on for a little while now. I have stitched one corner, area 9, which are variations of Japanese silk and metal embroidery filling patterns. I like the look of it but I did not enjoy stitching it at all and I still have 3 other corners to do. I guess there is always some parts in a project that we enjoy less than the rest and I have just reached it :-(

I took an overall picture for you so that you can get some idea of what has been done so far. This last filling really makes the corner stands out. It is a lovely design and I will get it done for sure :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Five Flower Samplers: Leaves & stems stitched

After putting Rapunzel, my blackwork project, aside, I went and look at my already started projects and felt like doing some brazilian embroidery so picked up my Five Flower Samplers, only to realize that I was still working on the leaves and stems. After complaining in my previous post that I was a bit fed up with all the greeneries, one has to stop and laugh at oneself. Anyway, I have just now finished all the leaves and all the stems, leaving the flowers, the border and the final touches. The photograph is not all that great but as soon as I start working on the flowers I will take some close-up photos and you will all be able to see better.
.
Can't help myself from smiling and wondering if I can possibly pick up another project where I need to do more greeneries of some kind :-)
.
Pierrette =^..^=

Rapunzel: More greeneries

Here is my latest photograph showing what has been stitched on Rapunzel. This is a project that has so much greeneries in it using different shades of green, most of them DMC threads but also some Floche ones, that it will go on forever. I know it won't, it just feels like it so I may decide to start working on the witch and the tower before moving on to any more greeneries.

.

A side note here. My Windows into my Heart has been back to my framer for close to two weeks now in order to have two mats instead of the one and also both mats will be covered with fabric. I expect to soon receive a call from her telling us that it is ready for pick up. Looking forward to see how different it will look after this new treatment. Will post a new photo as soon as I get it back :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Windows into my Heart: Framed

A few days ago I got back Windows into my Heart from the framer. This is a Ruthmarie Hofmann cyberclass that I took a few years back which I have finally finished some months ago. I finally had it framed and it is now on one of ourwalls for us to enjoy :-)
.
Since it has been a long time since my last post about this project, I have also added a photo of the stitched project before framing as a refresher.

Previous posts about Windows into my Heart here.

.

My finishing pile is slowly diminishing, but there are a bit more finishing to be done before I am completely caught up with my stitched projects.
.

Pierrette =^..^=

Rapunzel: Some greeneries on top of tree

Continuing on Rapunzel, a Marion Scoular project, I have now stitched three different patterns (all selected by Marion herself) for the tree foliage, also using different shades of green.
.
Just like The Princess and the Pea, which is another Marion project, I am truly enjoying myself with this one.
.
Been watching Le Tour de France for a couple of weeks now and that has kept me busy than usual as I don't watch that much TV, usually only a couple of hours per day. Sunday we will be in Paris with the man who will have won the Tour. I bet it will be Alberto Contador from Astana. This man is just flying, a bit like Lance Armstrong when he was much younger. Talking about Armstrong, I think he is doing pretty good for a man his age having been out of it for over three years and recovering from a recent injury.
.
Still time to do a bit more stitching today, so better get on with it :-)
.
Pierrette =^..^=

Look what I have just received from Mary Corbet

I had a lovely surprise today when I picked up my mail and opened a small envelope full of goodies coming from Mary Corbet.

.

At this point you may be wondering why I got so lucky and the reason is that I always stop by Mary's blog to find out what she has been cooking for us for the day and on one of these cyber trips I saw that Mary was celebrating Needle'n Thread 3rd anniversary (the name of her blog) and having a give away in celebration, so I decided that I might as well try and see if I could possibly get lucky this time around, so entered my name and to my great surprise I won. I say this because I rarely win and that has been a trend throughout my life. Things may now be changing :-)

.

A BIG THANK YOU to you Mary. I am very happy with my goodies and I have no doubt that I will find a good use for all of them. You have just made my day :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Kaleidoscope Coasters: Brenda Day, designer

A while back, I had started a series of 4 different bargello coasters, all designed by Brenda Day. These projects and more can be found in her book called "Bargello: A fresh approach to florentine embroidery". I was thinking today that with all the different projects that I am currently working on these days that it may very well take a while before I get to the other two coasters and I really do not want to wait that long before having the pleasure to use them on a daily basis, so I looked at Brenda's finishing instructions and finished them both this afternoon.

.

The plastic coasters used are called "Fabric Flair Craft Coasters" and they are very well constructed so I am not concerned at all about using them daily. I will just need to wipe them clean after usage and the way that they are made I can't see how any spills over the top of those coasters could possibly be able to affect the stitching inside and stain it.

.

Just went downstairs a minute ago with both of them in hand and asked my husband which one of the two he wanted for himself and as I thought he picked the one on the right :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Flag Tag (A Name Tag), Gay Ann Rogers, Designer

Another finishing that I have done yesterday is the one designed by Gay Ann Rogers. Here are previous posts, one and two, showing the work in progress.

.

Gay Ann had some real easy finishing instructions here, just use a running stitch to sew the two pieces together. How difficult is that? I never had it so easy in all my life (big grin).

.

I now need to bring it with me when I go to Office Supplies and find a plastic name tag holder the right size and just slide my stitch name tag inside and mission accomplished.

.

Now, why am I stitching so many name tags, as I have quite a few others waiting for me in the wings, when I don't really need any? I don't go to seminars and things like that. I suppose that we just never know now, do we? They may come handy when I get old enough that on some days I can't even remember my own name. All I have to do then is grab one of those and put it on myself and that should do the trick, that is, if I remember where I have put them :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=

She Stoops to Conquer: Anne Stradal, designer

I have just completed another finishing with She Stoops to Conquer designed by Anne Stradal of ABS Designs. In the past I used to either finish any completed stitched project right away myself or send it to my framer for finishing depending on the kind of finishing I wanted, but lately I seemed to have been too busy stitching and neglected the finishing aspect of my projects. Yesterday I finished 4 of them and I have already posted two of them and kept this one for today and the fourth one for a bit later. I might say that I had a productive day :-)

.

If you want to have a look at the different ABS Designs' projects that I have stitched so far, just click here.

.

This is the second time that I have done such finishing, the first one being Tara. A different view of Tara here.

.

I decided not to add any cordings at all on this one as it seemed to me that less was more with this project. A cording around the stitched project would have been too much because of the double border and around the fabric it would have been more distracting than anything else.

.

All I have to do now is to find her a special place on one of my walls and enjoy :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Miniature Georgian House and Garden Gate: Gay Ann Rogers, designer

Once in a while I try to do a bit of finishing and this morning I decided to tackle those two miniature projects that I have stitched a while back. They are: Miniature Georgian House and Miniature Garden Gate, both designed by Gay Ann Rogers.
.
I simply finished them by using those Metal Finishing Forms. It makes finishing of little ornaments so much quicker and easier. Have added a bit of padding underneath, green fabric on the back and made some cording and that was it. Can't remember where I have ordered them initially, but there are some here. I know that you can find them at lots of places.
.
I already have some miniature ceramic ones that I love to put on my Christmas tree and this year I will add those too. That should be cute :-)
.
On another note, I have been watching "Le Tour de France" since July 4 and that has been distracting me quite a bit from my stitching since I never multitask, prefering to give my undivided attention to whatever I am doing.
.
For those of you who do not know what Le Tour de France is, it is the biggest and most grueling cycling event that currently exists lasting for 3 weeks. The big question that all the fans are now asking themselves is which of the two will win the Tour: Lance Armstrong or Contador :-) How many stitchers are watching this, I have been wondering ..................
.
Pierrette =^..^=

Casalguidi & Lavender: Background completed

With the completion of the background, I have more or less completed lesson 1 of this EGA group correspondence course.

.

Barbara M. Kershaw says that Casalguidi is a peasant embroidery. Apparently the peasants and villagers of Casalguidi,which is a village in North Central Italy, created this form of embroidery in order to imitate the laces that the rich people used, which they admired very much but just could not afford themselves.

.

Fascinating to learn some of the reasons why some new techniques have been created by people. This was also a nice way for the women to increase their family's income.

.

There is a very interesting book that I own which talks a little bit more about the history of Casalguidi. The book shows some wonderful pieces that have been done through the years and it also has some beautiful projects in it as well as how to make the different stitches. It is called Casalguidi Style Linen Embroidery by Effie Mitrofanis. You can find this book at many needlepoint stores and also at Amazon.

.

Lesson 2 will be about adding a padded raised stem band. That should be interesting learning :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Casalguidi: Starting with the middle background

This is the starting point of my Casalguidi & lavender project, designed by Barbara M. Kershaw. I am working this project on a 32ct linen and had a bit of basting to do before actually starting working the middle section with a modified Four-sided stitch. If you look at the photo in the link provided above you will see a similar section that is surrounding this one. This is what I will be working on next.
.
Once the background has been completed, then the fun part will begun. Lots of new things for me to learn here, so will see how it goes :-)
.
Pierrette =^..^=