Persian Fantasy: Working on Area 6: Burden stitch

Yesterday, I ended up not stitching at all and the weather is partly to blame for it. It was close to 100 degrees outside and my stitching room is the hottest room in the house and whenever we feel rather comfortable in all the other rooms in the house (we have a two-level house), mine is always the warmest. With close to 100°F outside, our upstairs air conditioning unit has a bit more problems keeping up with the sun hitting the rooftop full force and the attic becoming warmer and warmer. Anyway, that explains my very slow progress on this piece.
.
On this first photo above, you can see Area 6 being stitched. Lower right left corner is all completed and you can see the first step of the burden stitch having already been done in the other three corners using a vatican gold metallic thread.

On this second photo above, you can see a close-up of what the burden stitch looks like when completed, quite beautiful, I think :-)

And finally in this third photo above, I have taken a close-up view of the first step of the burden stitch. Unfortunately it is a bit hard to see properly but that gives you some idea anyway for those of you who have never stitched it before. I had not stitched it myself before this project but will soon use it again when I start stitching an Iris project designed by Dorothy Lesher, so I should be pretty good at this by then (big grin).

.

It is now 87.6 degrees outside and it is barely 9:20 in the morning, so we can expect to get close to 100 degrees again today, so I am not a happy camper.

.

For those of you who have not yet associated my first name "Pierrette" with my place of origin, I am French Canadian and have lived a big part of my life in the French province of Quebec in Canada.

.

Temperatures used to be much cooler up there, but things are slowly changing and getting warmer in most places these days, except of course in England where my good friend Terry lives and always complains that she is freezing and has no summer to speak of. If I could I would switch place with her anytime as I love it when it is cool. I used to spend my summers outdoors when living in Quebec and now since I have been living in the deep South (USA), I spend my summers inside with my air conditioning and I hate it. I feel that things are not supposed to be this way. Fall and summer are pretty good though, but it is not quite the same, but I will take whatever I can :-)

.

Better go back to my stitching before it gets too hot again.

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Going back on Memory Lane with Tropical Fantasy or Fire on Ice: Sue Lentz, designer

I have managed to spend quite a bit of time yesterday on Stichamaze website and had a wonderful time but still need to go back many more evenings to read all of it. While reading the guests' section, all of a sudden I came upon a piece that I have stitched many years ago. I knew this piece by the name of Tropical Fantasy but apparently it was also known by other names like Fire on Ice, which I thought was also a very appropriate name for it. Edith Chapman stitched that one and this is a Sue Lentz's design and a gorgeous one at that.

This was my post about Tropical Fantasy . Unfortunately with the glass over it, I have never been able to really show the details properly. Now by clicking on the close-ups photos on Stitchamaze, you can see a little better, but I can assure you that it does not even come close to showing how beautiful this piece is.
.
Tropical Fantasy is one of my stitched piece that sits just in front of me on the wall right behind my computer, so I am in a position to enjoy it all the time. My framer even went shopping for me at a fabric store and found an absolutely perfect piece of fabric to cover the mat with it. I never stitch the same piece twice but this one, I think I could consider doing it. It is that beautiful and I have enjoyed it that much.
.
Well, time for me to leave Memory Lane and go back to reality with Persian Fantasy and do step 2 of the burden stitch. Funny, I was reading on the ANG list that many stitchers do not like to do that stitch or even hate it, but I really don't mind it at all and the effect is really quite beautiful, but I am also a person who does not mind spending lots of time with a laying tool, so .......... :-)
.
Pierrette =^..^=

Persian Fantasy: Area 4

Another area completed this morning, which is area 4 showing eight little light green flowers on each side of the bigger one. The thread looks a bit like a blueish green, quite lovely actually.

Have included an overall photo showing you what has been done so far. I must say that Jane Zimmerman's Persian Fantasy is looking better and better, the more I stitch on it, not that I have ever doubted it for a mini second :-)

.

=============

.

On another note, Jane of Chilly Hollow brought to our attention this morning an extremely interesting and motivating video showing an interview with Rosalyn Cherry-Soleil of Stitchamaze.com . I always love to visit Jane's blog as she has always interesting things to talk about and I can't remember the number of times that she has brought things to my attention that I would have hated to have missed.

.

About Stitchemaze and Rosalyn, this is one of the best place around to go for inspiration. I must confess that I have never taken the time up to now to fully pay her a long visit and I plan to correct just that starting this evening and the days to come.

.

Jane by sending me there this morning got me thinking about how I can stretch myself more and more as we often tend to do things that we know we are good at and sometimes avoid things that we are not quite sure we can manage. I know that I have always tried to stretch myself in my stitching, but I really need to do much more of it and see how far I can really go.

.

Oh by the way, I do love Rosalyn's studio. Wow, wouldn't I love to be able to stitch in such a lovely place!

.

=======================

.

Well better go back to my stitching now and start working on area 6 :-)

.

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).

.

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.
.

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.

.

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.

.

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.

.

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

.

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).

.

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

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Patches of Snow Mini Stocking: Ready for next Christmas

It has been what seems to me a long time since this charming little stocking been waiting for his turn to my finish table. Well I have just done it this morning on a very hot and humid summer day.

.

Yesterday I went through my stuff to try to find cordings and ribbons and found these that seems rather perfect for the job at hand, so put everything aside for this morning as I am really not an evening stitching person as I am usually too tired by then and just want to relax with other stuff. I felt that at times I was all tombs as this is rather small, but managed to do it, finally :-)

.

This was a little kit I had purchased a long time ago and it is a Kaitlyn Marie Designs (1994). It was mostly beading with a little bit of needlepoint. Now I need to go to my list of finishing on my blog and remove this one.

============

Dodecagon ornament series by Jim Wurth: Framing

.

After discussions with our framer and my husband, we have finally made the decision to have them framed by groups of three, meaning 4 frames. Because of the different colors involved, we could separate them in two families, so we will have two frames the same and two frames that will be different but will suit that color family better. They will be on the vertical, not horizontal. I will not be putting all four of them together on my walls, so having two different sets of frame will not matter.

.

Tomorrow my husband will go back to the framer and bring the first six ornaments of what I call my first color family and will decide on mat and frame. After that he will go back with the other six and do the same thing. We think that this way we will be more happy with mats and frames than having to pick only one mat and one frame and try to please all these diverse colors, so hope it works out nicely.

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Winter Reflections, Loretta Spears' Mystery #2: Framed

It took a little bit longer to get my Winter Reflections back from the framer as this beautiful frame had to be ordered from Canada. I have just took a close-up photo of it for you all.

If you look at the frame and some of the stitches in this piece, you will see that it goes so well with them.

It is interesting how the colors of those threads reflect differently and give a different shade to them depending on their orientation. We tried to take other photos with much more lighting of the framed one and they turned out to have some brownish colors to them to our amazement, so we had to discard them all except the one just posted.

.

I am looking at it as I write this entry on my blog and this is just such a peaceful piece to look at, nothing to jump right up in your face, but a more quiet kind of beauty that calms you down after a long day.

.

I will also be thinking about Sharon's generosity in giving me Winter Reflections after she had already stitched approximately half of it, making it a joint collaboration/venture between the two of us. Looking at this piece, you really can't tell what she stitched and what I stitched, but I will remember her participation in it whenever my eyes happen to look at it.

.

Sharon, a big thank you for giving me the opportunity to stitch this lovely project and I will be sending you a photograph by email right after this :-)

.

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.

.

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.

.

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.

.

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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.

.

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.

.

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.

.

The colors that I am using are all DMC floss threads: 224, 504, 932 and 3041.
.

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.

.

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.

.

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 :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=