Sunday, May 31, 2009

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 =^..^=

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks gorgeous! And your flowers look much better than mine too. I hope to have mine completed by next weekend. I've been busy with my rug and only work on Terry's project for a little while each day. It's a lot of fun to stitch.

Juli said...

Oh, this is so beautiful!!! Great job!

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Thanks, Jan

I had a ball with this project and the colors are really quite pretty too and all those yummy threads for me to try.

P.S. Love your work and visit your blog on a regular basis :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Thank you, Juli :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Front Range Stitcher said...

Nice job Pierrette. Very involved and intricate project that is quite beautiful. Will love to see it as a neckroll. Congratulations of this finish.

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Thanks, Madonna!

This was a very enjoyable project to work on.

Pierrette =^..^=

Lisa said...

Wow, it is beautiful. Congratulations on such a wonderful project and sharing your experience stitching it and the finished look. I have heard of "ghost" stitchers for projects, but never really thought of the benefit of them except for the end product of a beautifully stitched model. It is nice to hear that they also benefit the designer with feedback regarding the contents of a kit or other thoughts. Again, thank you for sharing your experience and your beautifully finished piece.

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Thanks Lisa :-)

Talking about feedback to the designer, I have just sent a 4 page report about my thoughts and observations while they were still fresh in my mind.

The idea of it all is really to make sure that everything is as perfect as possible for the stitchers who will be taking this class in the future.

........ and I had a lot of fun in the process (grinning)

Pierrette =^..^=

Edy said...

Very pretty Pierrette. I haven't actually "Piloted" a piece, but I have "Proof Read" a couple...I think it is the same idea...stitch the piece from the instruction packet to see if the lessons are clear, and say what the teacher/designer means to say.

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Hi Edy!

The principle is really to test the project itself in order to make sure that everything is correct for stitchers who will be taking that specific class later on.

Those might be two different terms for doing more or less the same thing. I am quite new at this, so not sure at all. Perhaps someone else who is reading all these comments could enlighten us all :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

NCPat said...

I have to add my "It is gorgeous"! Such beautiful work as always!

Terry said...

This has after lots of hard work turned into what is a pure delight, it is fresh and at the same time has got both a softness but a vibrancy about it.

I did have a little chuckle to myself when I read about you thinking outside of the box which over the past few years I have been delighted to watch you develop in this field. (as you know I love the change things)

I hope that you will now have a little rest as I know that you put your heart and soul into your projects whereas I just throw them together and hope for the best ROFL

Once again you have done a lovely job of what is a really pretty and beautiful project at the same time making notes for Terry as you went along WELL DONE

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Thanks, Pat :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Terry,

I have really thought of you while stitching those flowers and had a big grin on my face, thinking what you might say too me if you had been a fly on the wall (grinning).

And you having to wait so long before being able to see any photos. Knowing you that must have been hard (lol)

Only the finishing as a neck roll pillow remains to be done.

My husband keeps teasing me about wanting to use it himself and me telling him "no way"

Pierrette =^..^=

Anne Stradal said...

Lovely piece, beautiful job of stitching, as usual!

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Thanks, Anne :-)

It was a fun and beautiful project to work on.

Pierrette =^..^=

Cyn said...

Hi Pierrette,

Beautiful finish!

I had the opportunity to take this class from Terry this past spring with one of my ANG chapters as they were piloting the class. Unfortunately, I just could not fit it into my schedule. Sigh...

You did a lovely job!

I think I would enjoy being a pilot stitcher as I enjoy editing/reviewing instructions. Something to consider for the future. :-)

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

Love to Stitch 99 said...

Hi Cynthia,

I know how you feel when I do not take a certain class and then later regret it.

It was a great experience for me and that is definitely something that I would consider again if offered :-)

Pierrette =^..^=