Windows into my Heart with doubled fabric covered mats

First photo above showing a side view and second photo below showing a front view.

I just got Windows into my Heart from our framer with two fabric covered mats instead of the uncovered one I had before. I think it makes a big difference.
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Don't look at the wallpaper behind as Windows into my Heart is not going to stay there but I found out that it is one of the best place for me to photograph my frames as I almost always have glass over my finished pieces.
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Still working on Terra Rosa but making slow progress, so I won't be able to post anything about it today, but hopefully tomorrow. To make things worst, just cut myself on the right tumb and had to put a small Band-Aid, which is not very conducive to good stitching :-(

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Pierrette =^..^=

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 =^..^=

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 =^..^=

Superstition: Mystery #13 by Loretta Spears, designer

Just finished adding the last beads this morning at 7:30. I know what you are thinking but I am an early riser (grinning).
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As far as I know Loretta Spears has designed 14 mysteries in her series and this one is Mystery #13, also called Superstition. Been wondering why Loretta called this one Superstition and must confess that I have not been able to come up with any clues, except that perhaps she never thought that she would get that far in her series, but that is all speculation from my part.
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This was an absolutely fantastic experience to stitch this gorgeous project, which had in addition to needlepoint which of course was to be expected, pulled thread and beading.
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The project measures 5 inches square, so it would probably go nicely in a box cover, but I will have this little jewel framed. Loretta suggests to put some silver lame under the piece before finishing. That will add even more sparkles than it already has.
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I have also added a photograph of the only other piece I have stitched from Loretta this far. This one has not been blogged as it was stitched before my blogging days.

This is Loretta Spears' Mystery #8 also called Bargello Symphony. This is a much bigger piece and was also an absolute joy to stitch
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I have been lucky enough to get both kits with original threads.

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I am still on a "high" from having stitched Superstition (smiling). I can't say it enough, this was such a beautiful project, with full of surprises at each steps along the way.

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I can't wait to see what my husband and framer will come up for this piece. They are quite a team at finding just the perfect frame and mat, so I always let them surprise me with it and have not been disappointed yet.

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Pierrette =^..^=

LovetoStitch99@comcast.net

Superstition, Lesson 4, pattern 2, step 1

I am almost done, but not quite. Just completed lesson 4, pattern 2, step 1, which is the border. I still need to do step 2, which is the beading part of the border.
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I have noticed that the colors of Superstition have not always been as exact as they should have been in past photographs, so I making sure that my last photographs are as close to reality as possible and this is pretty close. Noticed that I missed a part of the upper border in my photograph but this was such a good photo otherwise that I decided to use it just the same. I will make sure that my last one shows everything and is as close to true colors as possible.
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I will try to add the beads today and will be back with the FINALE photo sometimes later (grinning).
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Pierrette =^..^=

Superstition, Lesson 4, pattern 1

For lesson 4, pattern 1, the task at hand was to square off the pattern once more by working another pulled thread stitch, the Single Faggot over 2 threads.

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I now can't wait to see what the border and beads will look like so will get to it right now and see if I can finish Superstition today or not.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Superstition, Lesson 3, step 3 & pattern 2

I have now completed lesson 3. Photo below shows step 3, a series of additional double cross stitches and then in the photo above you can see more of the same pattern already used a few times stitched in different colors. The only exception with these last ones was that those were a bit bigger than previously.

One more lesson remains which is lesson 4 and guess what, some more pulled thread to do, but a different design this time around, in order to square the pattern off again and then there will be a border and also some beading added to it, so that should be interesting to see how all this will turn out in the end. No doubt, it will be quite beautiful.
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I will now go and study how to do the next pulled thread pattern and be back later with additional photos when that stitch has been completed.

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See you all a bit later :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Superstition: Lesson 3, steps 1 & 2

I am so impressed by this gorgeous design that Loretta Spears created.
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At every step of the way, she manages to add something so very special to her mystery #13.
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The photo below shows step 1 of lesson 3, which is a series of double crosses made in Waterlilies Flamingo. The photo above shows step 2 of the same lesson, which is a filling of eyelet stitches done in Waterlilies Opal.

There are still more to come before this little design is all done.

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I have stitched only one Loretta Spears prior to this one and it was Bargello Symphony, her mystery #8, which was stitched before I started blogging so we can only see the finished project.

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Most of us who are Loretta Spears' admirers had seen it on ANG National website. After seeing this wonderful piece, of course I just had to stitch it and it was quite an adventure too. It was a big help to have the ANG website photograph to serve as a guide.

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Superstition is probably much less known, as personally I have not seen any photograph of it anywhere on the web, but it is my belief that it is just as impressive as Bargello Symphony, though smaller in size. My congress cloth is 8" x 8" so I will venture a finish size between 5 and 6 inches squared. I will be able to tell more precisely after lesson 4 has been completed.

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Since I am on a roll here, I will now proceed to step 3 of lesson 3 and then pattern 2 of the same lesson and will be right back with two more photographs for you.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Superstition: Lesson 2, pattern 3

I am sure that Loretta Spears did not intend to throw me a curve here, but she did just the same.

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I must say and repeat that I do not like stitching mystery projects for many reasons, and one being that you have no photo of what it is supposed to look like. In this instance this pattern was a "pulled thread" pattern, for which there was no graphic of how to do the stitch and many times, like it is in this instance, I have been told the same stitch wears many names making one's life more difficult when you try to research it by the name given by the designer.

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I ended up sending an SOS to the stitching world and some generous souls came to my rescue. A big thank you to you all. I especially want to thank Diana Snyder who went beyond the call of duty and stitched me a sample of one of the corner so that I would actually see what it is supposed to look like (remember no photograph and no graphic about this specific stitch in the instructions provided. Loretta did provide written instructions but somehow I found them confusing, having not much experience with this technique.) Diana sent me a total of 5 photographs for the different steps necessary to do the corner pattern. With that in hand, I was able to manage to do a fairly decent job of it, at least I hope so (grinning).

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That pattern squared off the design, but I bet starting with lesson 3, it will not stay squared for long.

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I really do love this project and after Superstition is all done, I really need to add a pulled thread project to my list of current projects as I would love to learn the technique properly as it is quite beautiful.

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Pierrette =^..^=

American flag name tag: All stitched

I just finished the stitching part of Gay Ann's American flag name tag this morning and I think that the design is pretty cute :-)

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With my name, since it is pretty long, I have used Gay Ann's regular alphabet for the "P" and then used what she calls her economy alphabet for the rest of the letters. If I had not done that, then I would not have been able to add any red horizontal lines on each side of my name and I think the design would not have been as lovely.

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I have not quite decided if I am going to finish it like Gay Ann has done with hers, which is to stitch the front with the back and then insert into an Avery plastic folder and pin it on myself or if I am going to finish it differently. Need to think about this one, so will put it aside for now.

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Pierrette =^..^=

American flag name tag

Close-up photo of what I have stitched so far of American flag

That is the beginning of Gay Ann's little American flag name tag. You can see the front and the back of the name tag done in pulled thread (Nun's stitch). I had to do two rows on each one, the front and the back. Not difficult to do but a little time consuming, but not all that much since we are talking name tag here and the size is approximately a little over 3½" by 2".

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After that I have added the white stars using a metallic braid, followed by the blue background using Fyre Werks.

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Remains to do additional horizontal red lines and my name and put the back and the front together.

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I will probably be stitching the last bits of Mrs Santa after that. I also need to start concentrating on doing some finishing as things are piling up higher and higher and I do not like that one bit :-(

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Yesterday I was having a look at all the projects I have waiting for me to get to and either I change gears pretty soon or I will get buried under all of them. Just trying to decide which one to tackle next is a task by itself. I still have quite a few projects already started and not yet completed, some with not too much to do. Oh well, better not think too much about all this and continue putting one stitch after another and maybe I will get there eventually.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Patriotic Heart: All stitched

I knew it was not going to take too long to finish the remaining stitching on my little Patriotic Heart and I was able to find enough time this morning to complete it. Makes me so happy :-)

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Now, I will stitch the Flag Tag (name tag) and will then finish both at the same time. Just imagine a lovely blue, red and white cord all around the little heart. It will look great.

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I love name tags but I have really not that many occasions to wear them unfortunately as I don't go to seminars and I only belong to Cybergroups or long distance groups. Hey, I could always wear them in my house, alternating between them, only when I am stitching though. That would be so funny to see my husband's expression when he notices the name tag on me. God only knows what the man will be thinking, perhaps that I am going "gaga" or worst (grinning).

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Can't wait to see his face, so will try to start working on it today :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

Patriotic Heart: Almost done

Yesterday, I have managed to stitch a little more on my little heart. All the stitches on this project are very easy to do and it is how Gay Ann has put the design together that makes it so pretty.
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As you can see there is only two sections left to stitch, the one at the top (right side) and the one at the bottom, so unless a major catastrophy I can pretty much say that it will be all stitched by the end of today :-)
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I also have a little Patriotic name tag (also from Gay Ann) that I will stitch afterwards. It won't take long and then I can do both finishing at the same time.
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See you all in a little bit!
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Pierrette =^..^=

Patriotic Heart: A little more done

Gosh, I am so happy to be stitching again. It is a real joy. I had not realized how much I was missing it :-)

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Yesterday, I stitched a little more on Gay Ann's Patriotic Heart, working on the right side, adding some red horizontal lines of different thicknesses together with some blue and white edging.

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Very little threads are necessary for this little project: Blue Fyre Werks, White Kreinik Tapestry Braid, Blue Fine Braid, Red Impressions and some Anchor white Perle cotton.

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A little more to do on the right side and I will be all done. It is really a quick project. I bet somebody could do it in one day if they put the right amount of time.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Patriotic Heart

Wow, I had not realized that it had been that long since I posted last (Sept. 17th). I had some personal issues to deal with, which have kept me away from stitching. I have just restarted yesterday and will be playing catch-up with all the numerous projects already started and the new ones that are begging me to start them (grinning).

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I could have continued working on Anne Stradal's Mrs Santa, but decided to ease myself back in with a new project called Patriotic Heart by Gay Ann Rogers. What made me decide to do this one is that we are in the middle of a very intense election period, well, actually finally getting close to the end, about 14 days to go before the November 4th election and what better project than a little Patriotic heart.

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I have completed the left side of the heart with stripes and stars. I was so happy to see that the pattern has some pulled thread in it, something that I adore doing, but rarely have the occasion to do, so that was a big bonus for me. The right side has lots of stripes, blue, white and red with the word America on it. As usual, since it is an ornament, I will do my own finishing with cording.

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Better go back to it now as I have lots and lots of catching up to do. It is good to be back stitching again :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

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P.S. Don't mind what seems to be lines on the left side of the heart, I made an error in my counting when I had to stitch an outline with white thread on white canvas and the holes are still showing, but that will not be visible after the finishing is done. I usually am pretty good with counting, but it has been a rough restarting, but now all is going well (smiling)