Tara

After having worked on many needlepoint projects recently and still have a lot of unfinished ones that I need to attend to, I just had to do something else before I went bonkers. I just can't work on the same techniques over and over before I feel an urgent need to move to something else. I wanted a project that would be different than what I normally do, something that would challenge me a bit and from which I would learn something new, so a couple days ago I started going through books and magazines and when I saw Tara I knew that this was the one I wanted to do.

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Tara started well, but then I got to where I had to appliqué little sections and I was tripping all over myself. My fingers just did not seem to be able to turn the fabric and hold it long enough to tack it to the background fabric. I used up just about all the patience I have, but somehow, not sure how, managed to do it :-)

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Tara is a Devaki Parasuramar of South Australia's design that I found in an old Inspirations magazine. When I saw the photo, I knew that I had some ribbons that were similar to the ones she used, but a different color and I also had the background fabric, trigger cloth which is a fabric often used in Brazilian embroidery. I have changed a few things but for the most part have stuck pretty much to the original design.

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Working on this design made me wonder how people manage to work on miniature projects. I don't think that I could manage it even in a very good day.

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While I was searching for some interesting small projects, I found another one which I will now start after I clear up all the mess I made with this one.

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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 =^..^=

You made my day award & Kaleidoscope: Started section M

Thank you so much Jeanne and Elisabeth for both awarding me "You make my day award". I must say that you also made my day when you gave me this award :-)

The Rules:Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.

I will start with a few blogs and will add more in the days to come.

1. Jeanne's blog called Just String blog which I like to visit on a regular basis. Jeanne is working on a gorgeous CyberStitchers' project called "To the Acorns", something that is on my list of to do projects. The colors that she is choosing for that project are just wonderful.
2. Elisabeth Braun's blog called Sew-in-Love . Elisabeth has been doing wonderful projects as well. We definitely have a lot of the same taste in projects, so it is always fun to check out her blog to see what she has been working on.
3. Terry's blog called Through-the-Hoop Terry and I have been very good friends for a few years now and she has been a very positive on me. Terry has been doing a lot of free-style embroidery and I have been the happy beneficiary of gorgeous projects like a couple of English cottages that I absolutely adore.
4. Elisabeth Zolomy's blog called BoskeZ and Colors . Elisabeth is very also very talented. She does beautiful free-style embroidery and is also a very good painter. I just love her garden and I can imagine how pleasant it must be to be stitching or painting there.
5. Laura's blog called Two-Handed Stitcher . Laura has so many wonderful projects that if given the opportunity I would just love to stitch. I find this site a wonderful place for daydreaming. There are lots of beautiful Christmas projects, lovely old houses, geometrics, etc. and the stitching is wonderful.
6. Meg's blog called Committed Stitcher. Meg is an EGA CyberStitchers like I am and I love visiting her blog and see what she is up to. Meg is a very prolific stitcher and her work is very varied and includes goldwork, blackwork, needlepoint, crazy quilting, etc.
7. Pat's blog called Needle Art Nut. Pat is another very prolific stitcher and we can see some wonderful projects that she has made during the years. One project that I especially like is a Loretta Young project that we have both done called Bargello Symphony.
8. Judith's blog called Judith's Material Musings is full of beautiful projects, mostly crazy quilting ones with gorgeous thread and silk embroideries. Crazy quilting is something that I have tried in the past, but never thought I was very good at, but the love of it remains and it is wonderful to be able to live vicariously through this blog.
9. Jo in New Zealand has also a wonderful blog where I could spend lots of time looking at her wonderful embroidery. Jo Does crazy quilting, something that I just love to look at especially when it is as well done as it is on that blog. Lots of inspiration there. I may just decide to give CQ another go :-)
10. And finally the last one but not the least is a wonderful blog called Hand Embroidery Group Projects I like the idea of a collective group projects where you can see the creativity of its members. We can see on this blog wonderful and inspiring projects and stitching, a good place to spend time to relax and recharge.

I could have gone on and on as there are so many blogs around. These are some of the ones I love to visit and recharge myself.

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Kaleidoscope: Section M

After a long period of inaction on this lovely piece, I decided to take it out again and do a bit more on it.

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I know that there is a large number of stitchers who have started it and there is also a large number who have put it aside. If everybody else is like me, it would be for a couple of reasons, one being that there is so much counting on this piece that if anybody is challenged in that department, they might as well pass on this project and the other reason being the continuous repetition of sections.

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Like I have just finished one of the 8 M sections and I know that I have 7 more to do just like this one and four of them are the reverse image of it, so will need to scan the instructions, reverse them and print.

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When I started working on it, I wanted to make my life a bit easier by stitching the outline (see on the left side of Kaleidoscope). Wrong! I was told that since this M section is all basketweave, I cannot mix the continental method for the outline and then do the inside with basketweave, so left it there for the moment and will have to under when I get to that one. My idea was that it would be so much easier for me to stitch the inside once the outline was done. Much less risk of mistakes then. Still thinking and wondering how I could make my life easier for the 7 other M sections that I still have to do. If you read this and have some idea, please let me know :-)

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I still have to stitch the flower stems in stem stitch, but I want to wait until I have done the 8 sections and then do them all together.

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After that there are many other sections with repeats, so it does go on and on.

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Why am I continuing stitching on it, one might wonder. It is because I think that this pattern is just so beautiful and I hate to give up on some project.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Oak leaves and acorns: Goldwork

I did not especially feel like stitching today so that was a good day to do some finishing. A little while back I had ordered a box from Sudberry which I received a couple days after I placed my order. I was surprised by how quickly they shipped it. I had ordered something a long time ago and could not remember how good they were at customer service, so that was a nice surprise.

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I asked my husband if he could take two photos, one over the box and another one to show what the box looks like.





This is the second photo he took for me to show the lines of the box. Just one thing though, he took the photo from the back and not from the front. Not sure how he did it, but I did not have the heart to tell him about it and have him retake it again, so now you can all see the project from the front and from the back (big grin).


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Here is the link for the box.

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Now, what will I put in it .............. hum, I must have some treasures somewhere. I just love boxes and have not many, so this is a real treat for me. It is also less expensive than having the piece framed. Anyway, it is nice to have a bit of both.


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Pierrette =^..^=

Heirloom Purse Necklace

This is something that I don't ordinary do, "beading", but to my great surprise I had a ball and time flew by without me noticing it. This is one of the reason that I like to try different kind of stitching as I never know when I am going to find something that I really love to do and I have just found out that this is one of them that I will do more of in the coming months.

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This is an original design by Susan Clarke, part of her Heirloom Purse Collection. I had that kit for years, and I mean years, and yesterday I decided to have a go at it and what fun it was.

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There is a little silk ribbon stitching on the surface, a few beads and of course putting the little purse together and then it is mostly beading for the dangles, the swag and the straps.

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This is a little decorative purse necklace in which I could put a house key or a few dollar bills inside it, if for some reason I did not want to carry a purse with me.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Oak leaves and acorns: Goldwork

This is a photo of the finished project. I find it very hard to take a photo that would really show the sparkling properly.

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Janice Routley, the designer for this project, gave us the option to fill in the little caps in different ways. I chose to bead the purls using various lengths, placing them in random directions, made some loops and overlap others, to give the little caps some dimensions. Link for the Embroiderers' Association of Canada is http://www.eac.ca/

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I have ordered a Sudberry box and will use that to finish this project. Link for the site where they sell different boxes is http://www.sudberry.com/

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Pierrette =^..^=

Terra Rosa: An Elsa M. Parrish design

This is another project that I have been working on. It is an Elsa M. Parrish's design representing a series of native american potteries sitting on a shelf.

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Years ago I purchased that pattern as a kit, complete with line drawing on congress cloth with threads and ribbons. I have always been very interested by Indian pottery and have been able to purchase a few pieces while traveling in the U.S.A.

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At the beginning of the year I started thinking of all the projects that were just sitting there waiting for me to get to them and this one was always in my mind, so decided that this year was going to be the year for me to do it. I also have another one of Elsa's designs that I really want to stitch. It has Indians, horses and mountains and it is absolutely gorgeous.

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This year, I am experimenting with rotating my different projects and not work all the time on the same one. I find it a bit difficult to do as I have always been the kind of person to work only on one project at a time. Will see how things work out for me.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Oak leaves and acorns: Goldwork

One of the projects that I have been working on lately is a beginner's metal thread (goldwork) correspondence course designed by Janice Routley for the Embroiderers' Association of Canada, to which I belong to.

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I was surprised to see how much work there was to do before I could actually start couching the Japanese gold threads on the project. First, I needed to mount backing and ground material together using herringbone stitches making sure both fabric are well stretched, then I had to use the trace and tack method for transferring the pattern and only after that was done was I able to start couching the Japanese gold thread on my design, starting with the three oak leaves. Next step is to work the three acorns themselves and then the design will be completed.

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After that I will need to start looking for a lovely wooden box. I think that would look nice as an insert.

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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 =^..^=

Rose Vine Ornament

This is a Wendie Young design that I have slightly changed to make a Christmas ornament out of it.

Pierrette =^..^=