Dodecagon Ornament Series, Framed Grouping 1

As I said in my previous post, each grouping will be having its own frame and mat as what seemed to work nicely for one grouping just did not work as well for another grouping. This is the frame and mat for grouping 1.

Close-up view of frame and mat.

From left to right, we have Old Country,Peace Tree and Fabulous Finale, all part of the Dodecagon Ornament series designed by Jim Wurth.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Dodecagon Ornament Series: Framed Grouping 2

After lots of discussions, it has been decided that each grouping will have its own mat color and special frame.
Photo above shows Grouping 2.

Close-up photo of frame and mat.

Here are from left to right: Arcadia, Mohave and Monrovia ornaments.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Dodecagon Ornament series: Proposed plan for framing them

Grouping 1

Grouping 2

Grouping 3

Grouping 4

As I said in my previous post, my husband is going back to the framer tomorrow to make some final decisions, at least for the two first groupings (1 & 2).

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So far we have decided to put in each frame 3 Dodecagon ornaments in a vertical way (I took the photo horizontally as it was easier for me to do so). I am thinking of having them put in that order though, meaning the middle one will stay in that position and the other two will either be above or below it.
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We are thinking of picking up the same frames and mats for the first two groupings and then different frames and mats for the two last groupings. This way I can put two framed groupings side by side and they will be the same as far as frames and mats are concerned, but the other two will be different from the first two.

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If I had wanted all to be similar then I would have had to make lots of compromises as far as colors are concerned and what looks good for the first two groupings may not necessarily look as good for the second two groupings.

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Putting all of them in a frame also severely diminished my options and after looking at them all more attentively, I am really not sure that I want to go that way.

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I have lots of rooms so it should not be difficult to find a good place for each similar set of groupings.

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If anyone has any ideas about all this, now is the time to speak because after sometimes tomorrow it will be too late. I must have seen too many weddings in movies (grinning).

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So that is the plan so far. Things may change ....................

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Pierrette =^..^=

Jim Wurth's Dodecagon Ornament Series completed (all 12 of them)

Fabulous Finale: Dodecagon Ornament Series

Lately, I am always surprised when I go to my blog to post a new entry and see how long ago was the last one. I have been feeling relatively tired lately and just did not feel much like stitching at all and have been spending a relatively good amount of time reading. The book I am reading now is called "The Enchanted April" written by Elizabeth Von Arnim. I have seen the movie twice and I must say it is so much fun to be actually reading the book as it gives me a much better understanding of the plot and I can picture the different charactors acting the parts. I am having a ball :-)

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To get back to Jim Wurth's Dodecagon Ornament Series I had every intention to have all the ornaments all stitched way before Christmas and brought to the framer with the hope that I would get it back for Christmas. Well that won't happen and will now wait until the beginning of next year to bring her all this work. Fit all 12 of them into one or two frames, not decided yet. Will see how she see things first.

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By the way for those of you who are reading this and thinking I would love to stitch that series, you will get another crack at it starting this coming January. These ornaments are not sold individually but as a series and you can find all the necessary information as to whom to contact by checking the files of the group indicated in my previous paragraph.

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I have many Christmas projects which were stitched but unfortunately not finished and a few more that I have started stitching but not finished. I am not going to stress myself over them as they obviously won't be ready for this Christmas.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Peace Tree

I have just this minute completed all the stitching on this latest ornament from Jim Wurth. This one has a Christmas theme and is quite different to the rest of the series which you can see here.

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You can see candles, bows of different sizes and colors, wreaths, etc.

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All the time I was stitching it, I could not decide whether I liked it or not. I like the individual components, just not sure that I like the overall look, if you get my meaning. It is like when you have this feeling that something is not quite right but can't quite put your finger on it.

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It is still a nice ornament as I don't think that Jim could create anything ugly even if he tried, but this one will need some getting used to it. On the other hand some of you may just absolutely love it. I would love to hear from you either here in the comment section or if you prefer just write to me at LovetoStitch99@comcast.net

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Now, I will go back to Angelina who has been sitting very quietly waiting for me to go back to her.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Peace Tree: Gold beads added

Here is a photo showing the gold beads inside the Jessicas that I had forgotten to add yesterday :-) With the beading added like that, it gives it a more finished look.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Peace Tree: Dodecagon Ornament Series by Jim Wurth

Peace Tree is the 11th of the Dodecagon Ornament Series designed by Jim Wurth that I have received so far. The 12th and last one should arrive sometimes in November, ending that lovely series.
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Jim said that he wanted to make at least one ornament that would have a Christmas theme to it and this one is it. The design took me a little by surprise when I saw it first and did not know what to think of it really, but now that I have started working on it, I am slowly changing my mind about it.
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All Jim's ornaments look much better from upclose as he uses a lot of metallic threads, which is so difficult to make all that sparkle stand out when taking photos, at least when I am taking them.
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I was supposed to be working on some other projects, but ever since I got so behind in stitching that series at the beginning and finally managed to catch up after stitching one after another, I promised myself that I would work on each one of them as soon as I would receive them, so temporarily put aside the main project I was working on in order to start working on it, though I have done it at a very slow pace.
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I have added a photo showing a close-up of that first section. Oups, just realized that I have forgotten to add the beads inside the small jessicas :-(

I have started working on Angelina, my latest blackwork project, but I feel that I have not done enough to take a photo. Will do as soon as I have a little more done to make it interesting for you all :-)

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Better go back to my forgotten beads before I continue working on the rest of it.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Old Country: What a wonderful exciting stitching trip I just had :-)

I am doing a Happy Dance as I am typing this as I have just finished stitching Old Country and what a wonderful stitching adventure it was with all those fun stitches that I rarely ever have the opportunity to use.
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I made a few close-ups for some of the fun stitches that Jim included in this project. This one here is called a Walneto motif. Isn't it just beautiful. If you have Jean Hilton's book called "Stimulating Stitches", you will find some good explanations with little charts, which may help you along if you are having problems grasping how it is done.


This one below includes some large crescent motifs and inside you find big and small Jessicas, which we all know by now that Jim is very found of them and no wonder as they do make a statement. At first I was not all that crazy about them, but since I had to do some in all 10 ornaments completed so far, Jessicas and I have become quite good friends now :-)



I now need to clean up a bit after myself as there are threads all over the place and decide what I will tackle next. Will it be Windows into my Heart or More Options in Hardanger or Terra Rosa or Shalimar or doing the finishing for Tara or the brazilian rose or .................... (big grin)
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You will all find out on my next post, including myself (ROFL).
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Pierrette =^..^=

Old Country: Slow progress

I have managed to do a little more on Old Country while doing a million other things. Well maybe not, a million thing, but you get the idea (big grin). I am still having fun with it as it is such an interesting design with so many fun stitches that I normally don't use.

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The other day I came across a very interesting website called Vetty Creations . I guess that by now everybody knows that I like to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that, so I was very happy when I came across that site.

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While spending time on Yvette Stanton's site I discovered many wonderful projects as well as books about Ukrainian drawn thread embroidery, Mountmellick embroidery and Hardanger. After reading a bit about her books, I decided to go hunting for them here in the USA and found them at Stitching Bits and Bobs. There are only two out of the three books listed on their website but they did have the Hardanger one also. I was happily surprised by their fast service.

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What attracted me to these books is the fact that there are lots and lots of photos showing step-by-step instructions to help me along as I try those new techniques. I have done some hardanger embroidery, but have not yet done anything using the other two techniques, so these books will become very handy.

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Yvette also has a blog called White Threads and a few Yahoo groups to help those interested to learn more.

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Going back to my stitching now as I still have a bit more to do before I can call this one finished :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Old Country: Center

A little more done on Old Country. On this ornament we are starting from the center moving outwards.

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When I saw this ornament in my mail box a few days ago, I knew that I would have a ball with this one. The design and colors are exactly what I like. I remember having about the same feelings when I received Mojave.

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Going back to my stitching to do a little bit more and see how much I can accomplish today :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Old Country: Dodecagon Ornament Series designed by Jim Wurth

I am doing something that I rarely do, photograph a stitch. I love this one so much together with the yummy thread colors used that I stopped everything so that I could take a photo before moving on. This stitch is called "Mistake Stitch". This stich goes over theVan Dyke stitches (the ones that are orange in color).

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A while back I purchased three books written by Jean Hilton and each time that Jim Wurth uses a special stitch in his Dodecagon Ornament Series I pick up one of Jean's book and read everything I can find out about that particular stitch. The Mistake Stitch can be found in Jean's book called Jean Hilton's Needlepoint Stitches, on pages 10-11. In her book, Jean explains how this stitch came about. Jean says that in 1974, one of her students was trying to do a waffle and rather than branch out, she went up. Jean loved the stitch and called it the "mistake stitch" as the name of the student in question was also Jean. When I read that, I thought this was so interesting to see how a beautiful stitch came about.

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You may also want to check Jeanne's blog as she is also working on Old Country and has more done on hers than I have on mine.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Camelot: Dodecagon Ornament Series

Just finished stitching the 9th ornament of the Dodecagon Series designed by Jim Wurth. This one is called "Camelot" and is so pretty and sparkling.
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I find it so aggravating not to be able to take photos showing all the sparkling that these ornaments have. The picture does not even begin to do it justice. It is absolutely beautiful.
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I was looking at all the 9 ornaments that I have received and stitched so far, 3 more remaining, and they are all so beautiful that it is almost impossible to pick a favorite. If you want to refresh your memory and have a look at all of them, it might be easier to check my Webshots photo album.
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I am always amazed to see what Jim can do with the same basic shape "dodecagon" and variations of some of the same stitches and come up with all these designs.
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Another thing that for me I find interesting. It is the fact that many of them are not even in my favorite colors, which are the earth tones, and it turns out that I love all those color combinations.
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This one was stitched in record time for me as I see myself as a slow stitcher. I started working on it sometimes on Sunday and here I am Thursday noon time and it is all finished. I feel like I just run a marathon. I will probably take the rest of the day off, trying to catch up with some home chores and REST before I continue working on my other already started projects.
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Pierrette =^..^=

Czarina: Dodecagon Ornament series designed by Jim Wurth

I finished stitching this ornament yesterday Dec. 31st, 2007, but decided to start the new year 2008 with the posting of this 8th ornament called Czarina from the 12 Dodecagon Ornament Series designed by Jim Wurth. A nice way to start 2008 and put the Christmas season behind me.

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Still four more to go and the series will be complete.

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I am always amazed at the amount of work that goes into such a small ornament. My husband told me that this is the one he loves the best so far, but there are quite a few that are very close second.

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I have made myself a long long list of projects that I would like to stitch in 2008, a very unrealistic list, I am afraid, but hey it is fun to dream of all the things that I will be able to work on in 2008.

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It will be interesting to see at the end of 2008 which projects I will have completed, which ones I will have left undone and which other projects that are not on my list that will have somehow made their way in my stitching hands.

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The way I see things, a list is just a list to guide me as I have so many projects waiting in the wings that if I don't go through them once in a while I forget that I have them.

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Now, I need to decide which one will be my very first project for 2008 (big smile). Ok, I have just decided. I will actually be working on multiple projects but the project that I consider to be my first for this year is called "Terra Rosa" and is a Elsa M. Parrish design. I have purchased this many years ago and have always wanted to work on it, but for whatever reason have never done so. This year is the year. I have already mounted the design that Elsa has drawn on congress cloth on stretcher bars and will now be reading all the instructions while having a good cappucino and then it will be a start. I know I made the right decision as I feel all excited (big grin)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Arcadia: Dodecagon Ornament Series designed by Jim Wurth

I am very happy this morning as I have just finished stitching the 7th ornament of the Dodecagon series designed by Jim Wurth.

We will be receiving 12 ornaments total and have received 7 kits so far, so that means that for me I have finally caught up with the series. I should receive the 8th one in November, if I remember correctly.

I am now thinking of doing Halloween stuff in between regular projects. I think it is just so much fun to do. I am experimenting on something, a little gift for a dear friend of mine. Will see how it turns out, nothing big, but she will have the biggest laugh out of it, if it turns out as I would like it to. Will see.

Better go back to it as time really fly and I have so many projects to attend to.

I will be having a special guest on my blog this coming Monday September 24th. Janet Perry is making her Virtual Book Tour and will be stopping by for a visit. How nice is that?

Pierrette =^..^=

The Baroness Edie: A Jim Wurth Dodecagon Series Ornament

I ended up scanning this ornament rather than taking a digital photo as the outcome was truer to real life than what I got with the digital camera.

This was so much fun to stitch like all Jim Wurth's ornaments that I have done so far. That was the sixth one completed out of seven received so far.

I have just started working on the 7th one which is called "Arcadia", a companion piece of "Monrovia" stitched a little while back.

After that, 5 more to receive to make a total of 12 Dodecagon ornaments.

Pierrette =^..^=

Hearts & Flowers: Dodecagon Ornament Series by Jim Wurth

I had the best of time stitching this ornament called Hearts & Flowers designed by Jim Wurth. It is the 5th one of his Dodecagon Ornament Series. I just could not put it down and finished it last evening, but by then it was too dark to be able to take a proper photo so had to wait until this morning.

I love his designs so much as they are complexed and stitches are multi-layered bulding up to very nice designs, which also makes them absolutely exquisite; Also the extensive use of metallic threads makes the ornaments sparkles as you work on them. They are quite addictive , so much so that I have immediately started working on another one called "The Baroness Edie, which has a dark green canvas and comes with mauve, yellow and green threads, very relaxing colors to work with.

I have received 7 ornament kits so far and have completed 5 of them, working on number 6 and will try to get to number 7 after so that I can finally catch up with this series and then all I will have to do is stitch each additional ones as they arrive.

Better go back to the Baroness now :-D

Pierrette =^..^=

Monrovia: Dodecagon Ornament Series

Monrovia is the 4th ornament of the Dodecagon Series designed by Jim Wurth.

This one is stitched on an Eggshell 18ct mono canvas and shades of gold, silver and beige threads with two different color beads.

Will put Monrovia away with the other three already completed until I have all of them completed and then will have them put in one big frame. In the meantime, will be moving to ornament #5 :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Poirot: Dodecagon Ornament Series

Just finished stitching Poirot which is the third of the Dodecagon Ornament Series.

This one is in shades of blues and silver metallic threads.

I am trying to play catch up with my kits. I still have two others to do and then expect to receive the sixth one around May 20 something, so I have my work cut out for me :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Mojave

Mojave is the second of the Dodecagon Ornament Series designed by Jim Wurth. Photo of the first one "Coronation" has been added in previous blogs.

Pierrette =^..^=