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.

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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 :-)

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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 =^..^=

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 =^..^=

Blackwork: New Project

Yesterday, I ended up spending lots of time working on my blog adding additional LABELS so that you and I can find things a bit more easily. The most important label category has been to add a label for each designer, so now when you and I want to see something about Marion Scoular for example, then all we have to do is scroll down to the right side column until we arrive to the label section and then just click on Marion Scoular and all the projects I have stitched from her whether it is hardanger or blackwork will be there. Same thing for all the other designers that I have had the pleasure to stitch their projects.

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Talking about Marion Scoular, I do love her designs immensely and my next Blackwork project is one that she designs and is called "Rapunzel", which I have added the photo that came with the instructions, which are quite limited by the way since that is a teaching project and not one like The Princess and the Pea for which she had her instructions printed for sale, so this project will be a bit more challenging than the previous one I have stitched of hers.

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Here is the little story that Marion writes about Rapunzel at the beginning of her instructions:

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Rapunzel

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There was once a couple who longed in vain for a child. A window of their modest home overlooked the garden next door which was owned by a Witch, who filled it with beautiful flowers and tempting vegetables. So envious was the wife that she persuaded her loving husband to sneak through the fence to steal some rampion for her salad. On the second foray, the Witch caught him, and in response to his plea that he was only trying to please his dear wife, she agreed to let him go, but demanded that in return, she should be given their child.

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Indeed, when the child was born and given the name Rapunzel, which means rampion, the Witch took her to a high tower, deep in the woods. There she grew to be incredibly beautiful, with long golden hair. The Witch would stand at the foot of the tower and call, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel all golden and flair, Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair". Whereupon, Rapunzel would unbraid her glorious locks so the Witch could use them as ladder.

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Rapunzel sang with the voice of an angel, and one day, this was heard by a Prince as he rode through the forest. Mesmerized, he witnessed the Witch's ritual, memorized it, and when the Witch had gone, used it himself to see at closer hand the lovely Rapunzel. Love blossomed, but sadly, Rapunzel made the naive mistake of asking the Witch why she was so slow and the Prince so nimble. Furious, the Witch slashed off Rapunzel's locks and carried her off to the wilderness.

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Using Rapunzel's hair, the Witch lured the Prince back to the tower, where in trying to escape, he fell into thorn bushes which scratched his eyes, blinding him. Doomed to wander for many a day throughout the land, the Prince eventually heard a plaintive familiar song.

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Seeing the Prince's blindness, Rapunzel's tears fell on his eyes, restoring his sight. Joyfully they returned to his Palace and have lived happily ever since.

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End of story :-) K nowing the story that goes with the piece will make it so much more interesting to work on it.

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Since this is a rather big piece I have now mounted the canvas on my System 4 scroll frame. This way it will make it much easier to work on it.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Plaid & blackwork checkbook cover: Marjorie B. Berleur, designer

This morning, I am feeling like a "Queen" with my new checkbook cover. It makes such a big difference with the plastic one I have been using so far.

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First photo, above, shows the front of the checkbook cover.


On this second photo, above, we see the back of the checkbook cover with all its beautiful blackwork patterns.

This is an additional photo taken with the new checkbook cover inside its plastic cover. I was reading in Marjorie's instructions that this could also be used with a two-year planner, which is also an excellent idea. In my case I only use the big 8½ x 11 weekly planning At-a-Glance ones. I just love them and have been using them forever. I just leave it on my desk and refer to it daily.

This last photo here was taken just after cutting the fabric around the checkbook cover.

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I also have the lovely credit card holder that I made a little while back. Here is the link for it. I still have the checkbook with same bargello design that remains to be stitched a bit later.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Plaid & blackwork checkbook cover: All stitched

Just finished adding my initials to my checkbook cover. Will now do the finishing and will soon be back with the last photos of this project.
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Pierrette =^..^=

Plaid & blackwork checkbook cover: Plaid all done

Moving along with my checkbook cover as I have just completed the plaid section. All that remains to be done now is work blanket stitches all around to prevent it from fraying as we sure don't want that to happen anytime soon and add my initials. Still need to decide on a design for those.
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On another note, the other day I saw something pretty cute on a blog that I was visiting. Vintage photographs about Pierrot & Pierrette. There is an article about those two here if you want to know a little bit more about them.
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Pierrette =^..^=

Plaid & blackwork checkbook cover: Plaid step 2

Well, I just did it again. Yesterday I was talking about all this catching up I have to do with Persian Fantasy before I could go back to my other projects and this morning I could not resist anymore, I just had to go back to my rotation so I put Persian Fantasy aside for just a little while, not for long, and got my plaid & blackwork checkbook cover out and started working step 2 for the plaid section.

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Photo above shows what has been done so far on it. The bottom section on the left has the plaid motif completed. I am moving from left to right, so have done a little less than half of it.

This second photo is a close-up showing only the plaid section. I must say that this second step is much more fun to do than step one as you can see the plaid materialize under your eyes as you keep adding rows after rows of different thread colors.

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To recapitulate on this plaid a bit, what I first did are rows after rows horizontally, making one 1/2 stitch in every other stitch and I am now doing the same thing but with vertical rows, using the same 4 selected colors. Sizes of rows varies as you can see but replicate themselves at certain intervals.

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The colors that I am using are all DMC floss threads: 224, 504, 932 and 3041.
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I have just installed and tried a new Google feature called "Search this blog". It is situated on the right upper side of my blog. For example if you are interested in looking at previous entries that I have made about this checkbook cover, you may enter in the "Search this blog" the word Blackwork and you will get the following results: April 09/09, April 23/09 and also May 02/09 with titles relating to Plaid & blackwork checkbook cover. All you have to do is click on them and you can read all about this particular project. You may be able to find it using other words too but have not tried it yet. That is pretty neat, I think.

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About rotation, I find it so interesting that I used to work on one single project at a time and now I just can't do it anymore no matter how much I love a project. This girl needs variety so I will also bring Hollyhock House back and start working a little bit on it. I know that Anne will be happy about this as it is one of her favorite current project of mine. I also enjoy it very much.

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I figure these projects will all get done in the end, so who really cares if I don't finish any of them by the official deadline. Not very important in the grand scheme of things, that is what I think :-)

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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 =^..^=

Plaid & blackwork checkbook cover: 2 Blackwork patterns stitched

A few weeks ago I have started working on a checkbook cover. You can see the outline here on this post.
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This checkbook designed by Marjorie B. Berleur contains both Blackwork and Needlepoint elements. Since I have been doing a lot of needlepoint projects recently, I have decided to start with the Blackwork patterns and here are the first two.


This photo shows gives you a general idea of what has been stitched so far.
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Some of you may laugh at this, but before I started looking for some Aida fabric for this project, I had no idea that Aida came in different count sizes. After my initial surprise at this, I started wondering why I had come to that conclusion as it does make sense that it does just like any other fabric.
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I so do enjoy stitching Blackwork so am enjoying myself with this one and just at the thought that I will end up with a beautiful checkbook cover instead of those plastic ones that the banks provide us with is a sure incentive for me to want to finish this project as soon as possible.
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Pierrette =^..^=

Plaid & blackwork checkbook cover: Marjorie B. Berleur, designer

This is a project that I have been wanting to start stitching for a little while now, well ever since a friend showed it to me. She has made a few for herself in different colors and graciously offered it to me and I can't thank her enough for doing so. I am pleased to no end to have the opportunity to stitch this.
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When I saw the stitched design, I knew it would be perfect for me for a few reasons. First, the overall design is just beautiful. Second, there are blackwork patterns in it and I love doing blackwork. Third and not last, I have always wanted to stitch plaid and up to now never had the opportunity, so finally I will be stitching some .............. and I want to have a nice checkbook cover for a change instead of those cheap plastic ones that the bank gives you.
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This is a beautiful design by Marjorie B. Berleur. The front of the checkbook cover (bottom part) is a plaid using 4 different colors and the back (upper part) is composed of 5 different blackwork designs.
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The first thing I had to stitch on this project are all the outlines. For this I have used a DMC Perle cotton #12 in one of my very favorite shade of pink called Shell Pink. I have never thought of myself as being a pink lover but if I look back at my latest projects, there has been lots of pink in them. I love it when a project has more than one stitching technique. I think it makes it so much more interesting.
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I always say that I love all colors but not all shades, but I sure love that shade of pink so that will be a real pleasure for me to stitch it.
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The first photo above shows you a close-up of all the little Smyrna stars all around it and also to separate the different pattern areas.


I have taken this photo above so that you can see the entire checkbook areas. The little rectangle at the bottom is for my initials.

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Unfortunately I will have to put it aside for a few days while I do a bit more on Superstition and also on Hollyhock House.

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Projects are just piling up for me these days so I took some time last evening to write myself some kind of schedule for them, which I will probably not follow knowing myself, but at least I am hoping that it will serve as some kind of guidance for all the stitching I need to do.

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See you all very soon :-)
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Pierrette =^..^=

Angelina back from the framer

I always feel bad when I take a photo and it just does not show the beauty of the frame and the mat, which has a very faint marble quality to it that makes it just perfect for this project. The frame is the same reddish shade used in Angelina's dress. That is usually the problem whenever we frame something with glass. It is so hard to take a good picture without having all the glare associated with it.
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I should be able to do a much better job with "Hibiscus and the butterfly" as it won't have any glass over it as I believe that stumpwork looks so much better without glass over it.
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Pierrette =^..^=

Angelina: An Ilse Altherr design

I am doing a little "happy dance" here today as I have just finished stitching Angelina. Some of you have asked me who the designer is for this lovely blackwork project and it is Ilse Altherr. I love her blackwork designs. I have a few others in my stash that one of these days I will have the time to stitch, at least I hope so (grinning).

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I now have a long long list of projects to work on, but I think that I will start working on Hollyhock House stitch-along. We have had a few lessons so far and I have not yet started working on it, not even put the fabric on stretcher bars :-(

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I also need to take one of my stitched project and work on doing a bit of finishing. Angelina is going to the framer so at least she is not adding to my finishing pile. When I think of the times when I was completely up-to-date with my finishing. Times do change, don't they?

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Now need to clean up a bit around myself, put my supplies away and take out what I need for the next project.

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It is a nice day today, so will now go out and take a bit of sunshine. That will do me a world of good.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Angelina has now some hair & head-scarf

This is really taking me longer than expected but have not had much time to stitch on her these last few days.

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Well, now at least she has hair on her head with a lovely head-scarf. Will now work on her face and neck and after that I need to draw her hand and stitch, so not much longer now :-)

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When I go to the framer with Angelina, I will bring all 12 Dodecagon ornaments with me and will discuss the different options for framing them and then will make a decision as to how I will display them. I am shooting for tomorrow Friday if Angelina is completed by then.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Angelina's dress stitched ....... but still headless :-(

Angelina has now a nice looking dress. I almost wish that I had that exact same dress in my wardrobe as I find it rather cute, don't you?

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Moving up now to her head-scarf, so see you all in a bit :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Angelina: 4 patterns done on her dress

Angelina is progressing nicely. Stitched the last pattern on her dress today. Tomorrow I will do the outline and it should look much nicer, have a more finished look to it. Then, will work on her hat, face, neck and hair. After that her hand, needle and thread. I like it when I am getting close to the competion of a project, mostly when I have tons of other work that needs my attention :-)

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Will be back tomorrow with a bit more done.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Angelina: a little more done

I don't know about any of you, but I am now ready to put the Christmas season behind me and move to some other projects, so I have taken out my Angelina blackwork project and done a little bit more on it this morning.
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This photo shows the top section of her dress/jumper. When I was looking for the photo that came with the project, I was surprised to see that it went back to August of last year. I guess I have a hard time realizing how quickly time goes by. Anyway for those of you who can't just quite remember what this project will look like when completed, here is the link to my first post about her. If you wish to see the successive posts about her, just go to section called "Blackwork" on the right side of my posts and you will find them all :-)

This second photo here is to show what I have completed so far.

I will be doing the outline of Angelina's dress when all sections have been stitched. That will really make her dress stand out :-)

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I will now go work on the bottom section. Forgot to mention that for her dress I am using the same DMC cotton floss, but it has a different feel to it depending on the stitches used in each little section.

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My husband really likes this project so I will try to finish it as fast as I possibly can so that we can have it framed.

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See you all soon!

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Pierrette =^..^=

Angelina's blouse, quilt and stool

All of a sudden this morning, I realized that I am starting to run out of time and thinking that I really need to change gears if I want to complete some of my projects for either Christmas or by the end of this year (panic time).
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The above photograph shows Angelina's blouse, using two different blackwork stitches. I want to do her jumper before I stitch the outline around it. I know that some stitchers start with the outline because they say it makes their job easier to stay within the lines, sort of speak, but myself I prefer to stitch the inside and then do the outline.

This photo above shows Angelina's quilt and the stool she is sitting on. I have been having a bit of problem with the design drawing as it has become rather light and I feel that I am stitching "blind" at this point. Next time that I work on a drawn outline that is pale, I will make sure that I go over the lines that are too pale before starting. I was trying to remember how light it was before I started and I can't :-(

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I really need to sit down and make myself a list of the projects that I absolutely need to finish before Christmas, some which have not even been started yet, like little gifts. I like to make some small ornaments and things like that, so I need to decide on some cute little designs and get my bionic needles out as time is of the essence here. Hopefully they will not take too long to make and finish. Each year I want to start early and each year I end up running like crazy. When will I ever learn?????

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Anyway, better get on with it. See you all soon. I will probably be posting more often as I will be working more feverishly from now on.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Angelina's quilt

Angelina's quilt is almost done. All that remains to be stitched is the outline.

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The quilt motifs are either birds or ducks of different colors stitched Assisi style. Since Angelina's quilt is a work in progress, her quilt shows sections in different stages of completion.

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I thought to add this link from Tanya Berlin' website in case someone is interested in more information about Assisi embroidery. She has a lovely little free project here, which I have also done a while ago. A photo here.

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Pierrette =^..^=