Flower Diamonds: Pilot class for Terry Dryden

Before writing this blog entry, I checked to see what date I had started working on Terry Dryden's pilot class called "Flower Diamonds" and it was May 10th, so this means that it took me approximately 3 weeks from start to finish. Not bad at all! Time does fly when we are having fun :-)
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Contrary to what I normally do, which is working on multiple projects in some sort of rotation system unknown to me as I pretty much stitch what I want to stitch when I feel like it, this time around I concentrated on this project alone as Terry needed to get our report back by mid June in order to get everything ready for the lucky ones who will be taking her class at the upcoming ANG seminar in Milwaukee and I am the worst person to evaluate how much time this or that will take me. I always always tend to underestimate my time, and I did not want to chance it with this one.
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Flower Diamonds has 3 panels which are yellow, lavender and orchid. Most of the design is the same in each panel except for colors and threads and of course Terry's 9 central flowers. I am including here 4 photographs, one of each panel and one that shows the whole project.
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This first photo here shows the "yellow" panel where you see the three diamonds in the middle with flowers inside.

(yellow panel)

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This second photo shows you the "lavender" panel with different flowers in the middle.

(lavender panel)

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Third photo shows the "orchid" panel with again different flowers and colors in the 3 central diamonds.

(orchid panel)

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And finally the last photo shows the entire project. Since this will be finished as a neck roll, then you have to imagine this as a round circle (round and round it goes) and once finished we will never ever be able to see all sides at the same time. I have already been researching patterns in order to find one that I really like as I intend to finish it myself.

Being a ghost stitcher for a pilot class was an entirely new experience for me and it has turned out to be a lot of fun, a lot of work too :-)

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Terry Dryden had given us lots of different threads, silk ribbons and beads to use in this project in order to entice us in making changes, which I did actually. My best friend Terry from England, (another Terry), will probably faint from astonishment when she reads this as she is always there telling me to change this and that. I sometimes do and often don't, though lately I must say that I do it more and more. My changes involve the 9 flowers in the middle diamonds. If you check my May 10 post, you may see some of the differences. To come back to threads, I think that we all have had bad experiences with kits, not having enough threads, but not this time around I am happy to say and it was a great feeling. I could then concentrate on stitching and not worrying if I am going to run short of this or that.
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I must also add that this project has given me the opportunity to acquaint myself with lots of new threads and ribbons, at least new to me, and that is something that I have been looking for to do in the past. It was also very interesting to find myself in a position to see how a particular color looks like when placed next to different colors. It is just so amazing how absolutely different they look. I normally do not stitch the same project twice. My reason for this is that there are so many beautiful projects out there, why would I want to stitch the same thing twice no matter how beautiful it is when I can use that time to stitch something else. In this case, I had no choice since there were 3 panels and I had to stitch each one of them if I wanted to end up with a beautiful neck roll (grinning).

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All around this was a wonderful learning experience and I am so very happy that Terry Dryden offered me this opportunity to stitch Flower Diamonds for her pilot class as a "ghost".

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Thanks, Terry Dryden :-)
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Pierrette =^..^=

Superstition framed

On Saturday I got my Superstition back from the framer but it was just too dark inside to take a photoas it has been raining a lot lately.
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The frame above has been taken under normal lights and the same frame under lots of light where it is going to live from now on. I chose this place as when the lights are on, Superstition sparkles so much that you can't not look at it even if you wanted to as it draws you to it. I had the framer put a piece of silver lame, which I provided her with and you can see all the sparkle come through each little holes as there are quite a bit of pulled thread in this piece.

"Superstition" as I have mentioned before in my numerous posts is a Loretta Spears' design, her mystery #13 and the material needed to stitch this lovely piece is a piece of congress cloth, white, 8" x 8" with the following threads: Waterlilies by Caron in Flamingo (pink/peach color), Crystal Bay (kind of white blueish color), Opal (white shade) and Opalescent #300 (transparent white silvery color) which is a thread not produced anymore and could probably be replaced by Accentuate. I had purchased this design with its own kit so did not have to bother with tracking down the threads. Oh, I have almost forgotten about the beads, Mill Hill Petite Beads #40161.

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I am still working on Terry Dresden's Flower Diamonds, the pilot class project and I am slowly making progress though not as much as I would like as I have had plenty of distractions lately and gardening is one of them. We are changing things in our backyard garden and though my husband does most of the heavy lifting, there are still plenty of other things to do like going to garden centers buying stuff, giving orders (oups, I meant suggestions) as to where plant this and that (big grin). I have been doing a bit of trimming too. There is just so much to do.

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I will be doing a bit of stitching and gardening again today. It is a nice day so we will take full advantage of it.

See you all soon!

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Pierrette =^..^=

Flower Diamonds: Terry Dryden, designer

This is my very first pilot class project which I am doing as a "ghost stitcher" for Terry Dryden's new design called Flower Diamonds which is being offered for the first time at the 2009 ANG Seminar in Milwaukee on August 31 & September 1st as a 2-day class. You can see more information on your ANG Seminar supplement on page 20.

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There are over 30 different threads and six different assorted beads that we can choose from to stitch this piece. Lots of those threads I have never seen before so this is very very exciting for me. It is a bit like letting a child loose at Disneyland (grinning). On my photo above, I am showing only a few of those gorgeous threads to give you an idea of the colors involved. Jan on her blog has a picture showing them all so you may want to pay her a visit.

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Terry Dryden has finished hers as a neck roll pillow, which sounds very good to me. I used to have one and have no idea where it went but I can tell you that I have not seen it in ages. I know some of you may be thinking that this is way too beautiful to use it like that, but if you want to feel like a "queen" then that is the way to go and I do love that feeling (grinning).

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The design size is 6 inches by 15 inches and I already had the necessary stretcher bars 12 inches by 20 inches so I am ready to start working on it today and can't wait to get going.

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Jan has already started working on hersa while back and she has one section completed. You can read about it on her blog.

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I do not want to duplicate the information that Jan has already given on her blog about this project nor add the same photos as she already has, so will see what I can come up with that will be a bit different and show you how beautiful this project is. Just the colors of the threads and beads have me salivated. If you don't see me for a while, you will know where I will be and what I will be doing, right? "Disneyland"

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Pierrette =^..^=

Persian Fantasy: Area 2

We are having another nice rainy day here, but hey I do not dare complain about it since we have had many years of draught lately and it has not been a pretty sight, so I will take all the rain that they are willing to send us. The trees are just loving it and have never looked so good and such in good health. My little basil plants though do not seem to like having wet feet all the time, so the old saying that we can't please everyone all the time remains true even in nature (grinning).
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Well, I have just completed Area 2 of Persian Fantasy and here is a photo of it. That gold metallic thread (I think it is vatican gold) with that cranberry thread is really something. It brings the whole canvas alive. The photo does not even begin to show you how pretty it is. I still need to stitch his twin on the opposite side of the canvas and then I will be done with this first assignment. We get a new assignment every two weeks.
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I just keep thinking how pretty this will be on my wall as I intend to have mine framed though having it finished as a pillow is certainly an option as we can see from the photographs on Jane's website. Of course, that would be the kind of pillow that you just look at it. Beware the person who would DARE use it for his or her own personal comfort :-(
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Pierrette =^..^=

Persian Fantasy: A Jane D. Zimmerman cyberclass with Shining Needle Society

For the last few days I have been working on "Persian Fantasy" designed by Jane D. Zimmerman. Jane is teaching this cyberclass on Shining Needle Society.

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There are different color options offered for this design and I selected Green and Cranberry for mine instead of blue.

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I don't seem to have done much so far on this project, but that would be entirely false. There were lots of prework to do as we had to mark the canvas intersections for all areas of the design. This was relatively easy to do but took quite a bit of time. Then I had to outline all the bands with tent/reverse tent/back stitches.

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The photo above shows Area 1 (historical florentine stitch) using all the colors that will be included in this project except the dark green. I have another one like this to stitch that is located on the opposite side and then Area 2 (which is an hungarian point) which I still have to stitch two of of the same.

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I will be back with another photo as soon as Area two has been stitched.

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Pierrette =^..^=

The stitching world is mourning JEAN HILTON

It is with great sadness that yesterday on May 4th, 2009 the stitching world has learned of Jean Hilton's death. I was absolutely stunned when I read about it on stitching groups and it has still not completely sank in.
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Jeanne on her blog has written a wonderful testimony and has also shown one of Jean's piece that I particularly love and admired ever since I set eyes on it "Scotlee".
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While thinking of the sadness that we are feeling at this time, I suddenly thought of this piece I stitched a while back which reflects an earlier time when mourning samplers became the fashion to express people's grief.

JEAN HILTON, we will miss you and rest assured that you will remain forever in our hearts.

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Pierrette

Checkbook cover: Plaid first step completed

Oh boy, do I need a break from this plaid as I feel all dizzy and am now cross-eyed, not a good feeling nor a pretty sight :-(
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I have just completed the first step for the plaid with multiple horizontal rows of stitches of different colors working one stich in every other stitch. To make this worst, I had to use 3 strands of floss and use my laying tool for each one of them. It does take a lot of time to fill that space.
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The next step will be adding rows and rows of vertical ones using the same four color threads, filling in the empty spaces created while stitching my horizontal rows.

This is a close-up view. Don't you agree that this is dizzying?
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I will give this project a break or rather give myself a break and will work on something else at least for a few days before going back to it.
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Pierrette =^..^=

Plaid & Blackwork Checkbook cover: All Blackwork patterns completed

This morning I have picked up where I had left off on my "Plaid and Blackwork Checkbook cover", a Marjorie B. Berleur design, and completed the remaining Blackwork designs.

I will now start working on the "plaid" part of it, using some DMC floss threads in blue, lavender, green and peach (color used for the blackwork and borders).

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I have been wanting to stitch some plaid for sometimes now, but somehow never got around to it before today.

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Be back soon :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Winter Reflections, Mystery #2: Loretta Spears, designer, all stitched

Here is the completed Winter Reflections, Loretta Spears' Mystery #2.

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While I was stitching this beautiful design, a thought kept creeping up in my head. Does this design has to be vertical or can it also be horizontal and at the same time respecting the designer's concept? I got my answer from Loretta herself. In her last lesson she says "I told you in my description of the design it could be used either vertical or horizontal ..." I can't remember reading that in her first four lessons, so perhaps it was in something else like when she was promoting her desig or something. With Loretta's blessing, my husband and I tried it both directions and we both agree that we like it better this way (big big grin).

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Loretta says in lesson 3: "Do you see the light play? This is why I named this Winter Reflections. Living in the snow area you see so many shades of white when you have the sun shining on the snow. The mountain peaks are magnificent with their snow topping and the sun shining on them." Don't you just love it when the designer takes the time to tell you a bit about where she got her inspiration for a particular design?

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Pat and Cynthia have commented on the speedy stitching of this piece. I fully agree, I have never done something that quickly before, but I have never find myself in a joint venture before either. With Sharon stitching a big section of it, I was able to stitch the rest rapidly. It is also true that I have only concentrated on this project instead of doing a bit of this and a bit of that. It sure has its advantages to work on a single project at a time :-)
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I think that I will also provide a piece of silver lame to my framer to go under the stitched design, just like I did for Superstition, which is still at the framer since April 22.

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To you, Sharon D. from South Carolina, a big big thank you for giving me the opportunity to stitch another Loretta Spears design. I will always be grateful :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=