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 :-)
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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.

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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.
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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.
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Just like The Princess and the Pea, which is another Marion project, I am truly enjoying myself with this one.
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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.
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Still time to do a bit more stitching today, so better get on with it :-)
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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.

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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 :-)

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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 :-)

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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.

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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.

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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 :-)

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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 :-)

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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 :-)

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

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

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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.

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

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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.
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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.
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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 :-)
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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.
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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 ..................
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.
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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 :-)
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Pierrette =^..^=

Five Flower Samplers: Leaves and stems

Since my last post about Delma Moore's Five Flower Samplers design, I have completed stitching the leaves, all 29 of them and have started working on the stems. This photo above shows two of the five flower samplers with both the leaves and the stems completed. Still have 3 more flower stems to work on.

Above, a close-up of one corner one.

This last photo shows the work that has been completed so far.

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I have been using the same two Edmar thread colors that I have used for the leaves to stitch the stems. There is a tutorial on the Brazilian Embroidery Guild site that shows how to do the stem stitch. A few notes about the stem stitch. It always goes from left to right, you always keep your thread over and not under and when making stems you work them the same way they would grow in nature, meaning from bottom to top and not the other way around.

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I am learning how to do Brazilian Embroidery as I go along. There is nothing better than when you are take photographs of your work. You can scrutinize your work so much better and you then see things that could have been done better. I usually save those details in my memory bank for the next time around. The more you do, the better you get at it.

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I now need a break from all those stems, so will be switching project. Which one will it be? I have not even thought that far :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Rapunzel: Tree on the right side of the tower

Looking at the Rapunzel design yesterday, I made the decision to start with the tree on the right side of the tower as it seems to me like a good place to start as I intend to keep the tower and Rapunzel for last. I used exactly the same stitch pattern as Marion Scoular used on hers as it looks just right for a tree. I have been using one strand of DMC 611 for both the filling and the outline.

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The next logical section to work on now is the tree foliage, followed by the bushes. After that I will move on the other side of the tower and work on the second tree, tree foliage and bushes. Not sure at what point I will be working on the sky as that section can be done any time after the tree foliage has been added.

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I will put it aside now and continue with my rotation, but will be back to it soon :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Casalguidi & Lavender: Barbara M. Kershaw, designer

While I need a little more time to finish my first blackwork tree before I can put a photo on my blog, I thought I would show you this Casalguidi project for which I have just received my supplies yesterday. It is called Casalguidi and Lavender and has been designed especially for the Embroiderers' Guild of America by Barbara M. Kershaw.

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This project when finished will measure approximately 6" by 6" and it has been designed by Barbara to be finished as a scented sachet, putting some lavender inside, which is the scent I love the most, just so relaxing.

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I first saw a casalguidi project in the Australian magazine called Inspiration and thought to myself I just need to learn this Italian technique as it is just so beautiful and when this course was offered by my online chapter EGA CyberStitchers I made sure to purchase it so that I could learn the basics. Those courses are just perfect to get us started with a new technique the proper way.

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Will try to finish that blackwork tree today and put a photo of it either later today or tomorrow :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Five Flower Samplers: Brazilian Embroidery: More Leaves

I have not managed to stitch as many leaves as I wanted yesterday but considering how bad my allergies are acting up these days, I am rather pleased that I have managed to stitch as many as I did. The photo above shows what has been stitched so far.

This photo above shows another clutter of leaves.

And finally this last photo shows two leaves stitched on another section. I am thinking that by the time I finish stitching all 27 leaves, I will be pretty good at this. I have been stitching some leaves using Iris thread #053 and others using Iris #099. The needle used is a straw needle #5.
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There is a nice example on how to do the Alternating Satin Stitch on the Brazilian Guild website.

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Pierrette =^..^=