Elizabethan pencil box all stitched

I forgot to include a photo showing the whole design in my previous post so here it is :-)
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A few comments about this kit. The instructions were very good and had good diagrams explaining the stitches. Another thing that for me is very important is that the threads included in the kit were plentiful and at no point was I concerned that I would run short if I made an error and had to start over.
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Below is a photo of the box in which the finished stitched design will go into. It came as you see without anything more. Have written to Barbara Jackson from Tristan Brooks Designs, the designer and seller of this Olde Colonial Designs box to make sure nothing had been forgotten like finishing instructions, little cardboard or something, but have not heard back from her yet. She may be out of town teaching or something so will put the finishing on hold for now and see what happens.

Now, moving on to some other projects. Need to think which one as I have quite a few already started and lots and lots not started yet but begging to be, so will see :-)
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Pierrette =^..^=

Elizabethan pencil box: third and last section

Completed the stitching of the third and last section of my Elizabethan pencil box design.

Pierrette =^..^=

Elizabethan pencil box: middle section

I have done a little more on this crewel project by adding some strawberries and a little bee to what I had already stitched.

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Talking about crewel, yesterday I finished reading Monica Ferris' book entitled Crewel World and I have enjoyed it so much that I have already started reading another one of her book called Framed in Lace.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Gracie: Framed

My Gracie has just came back from the framer and here is a picture of her. We made the decision not to put a glass over this time around, so I will be able to play with her whenever I feel like it (big smile).

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I was happy to hear back from the framer, especially today as I am having one of those days where nothing seems to work just right. Bet you all know what I mean. Anyway, Gracie has put a bit of sunshine in my sorry day.

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Been working on my Elizabethan crewel project this morning, the one that will go into a pencil box when finished. Going well so far. I checked the box I purchased with the kit and to my surprise there was no finishing instruction at all, no cardboard included or anything, nothing to attach it in position, so just wrote to Barbara from Tristan Brooks hoping that she can give me a bit of information as to how to go about putting everything together. I have purchased boxes before, not from Olde Colonial Designs though, but there were always finishing instructions with them, so will see what happens with this one. Still have a little bit of stitching to do before getting to that finishing part, so I am hoping to hear back from Barbara soon as I love to finish my projects as soon as they have been stitched.

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Now, back to my stitching :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger: Motifs completed

Again, I have scanned instead of taking a photo as it comes out a bit better. The only drawback is that the photo is split in two sections. It is either that or a not so good photo :-(

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I am so happy that I have completed everything except the fillings. This project is much bigger than Options in Hardanger that I have done just before this one. Since the last photo posted, I have done all the motifs and also the little diamonds inside the bigger ones in preparation for the fillings.

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I have also ordered the bell pull hardware yesterday. I will add a photo when I receive it.

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I think that I will now concentrate on some other projects for a few days as I feel that I need a break from this right now.

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Have also been slowly reading during the evenings Crewel World ... where murder in a small town keeps one smart lady on pins and needles, a book written by Monica Ferris (63 pages read out of 243, not too bad). I love to have something to read and it is the first time that I read a book where the story involves our stitching world, which makes it really enjoyable :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger: Eyelets all done

Upper and bottom sections showing the eyelets. Had to scan in order to get a decent photo and unfortunately the piece is too big to go inside it without having to cut it in two, but at least now you can see it a bit better.

It was funny, my husband came into my stitching room when I was almost done with all the eyelets and he had the nerve to ask me if I was going to do the same in the surrounding border. I gave him "the look" and he understood (ROFL).

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Next phase of this project will be to add the motifs and after that the real fun will start with the fillings.

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Pierrette =^..^=

Elizabethan Pencil Box: Crewel

About a month or so ago, I saw this lovely pencil box from Tristan Brooks and I remember thinking at the time that it would be fun to have it so I could put my pens/pencils into and moreover I just love crewel designs and it was something that I had been wanting to stitch so I plurged and purchased it.

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My goal is to rotate lots of projects using different techniques and each morning as I wake up decide which one I would select on that particular day.

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As I was stitching a bit earlier today and I suddenly remembered that I had purchased a few Monica Ferris' mystery books a while back, but for some reason had not yet started reading them. I went to check which ones I had and I found that I had "Crewel World" amongst them, which seems to me very appropriate just now, so you all know now which book I will be reading (big grin).

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Happy stitching and happy reading everyone!

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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger: Border stitched

After working really hard and long, I have just done the border with blanket stitches.
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Again, I can't seem to be able to get a good photo showing the colors properly. The thread looks really good with the fabric, but whenever I look at any photos that I have taken so far, the colors just do not come up right. Too bad that you can't see the colors up-close and personal :-)
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I am not sure if I am going to do the eyelets next or the motifs. The eyelets will be quite repetitive and there are quite a bit of them. They do need to be done before I can start having fun with the fillings though, so no way that I can get out of it :-(
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I guess I may end up doing a bit of both, just to change the monotony a bit.
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I also need to start looking online for some bell pull hardware. Not sure what I want, metal or wood. Choices, choices ..............
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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger:Inside border

Have done a little more on my hardanger project. What you see is the inside border all around the kloster diamonds. I took my time and counted and recounted to make sure that there would not be any mistakes left once I finished that inside border as it is much easier to undo at this stage. It is just so easy to make mistakes when you work on a project like this. Either you miscount or you simply enter the wrong hole. That happens sometimes when the thread of the fabric is especially thin. At this point, I feel pretty confident that everything is as should be, so will now proceed with the outside border done in blanket stitch.

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I must say that I always enjoy myself a lot when doing hardanger and Dale Sokolow's designs are all quite special. This is my second one of hers and a third one will soon be on its way to me :-)

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Before that, I had taken Marion Scoular's beginner's hardanger course and I am so glad I took that one as it gave me a good basic knowledge of how to do hardanger making it so much easier to do the more advanced projects.

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Pierrette =^..^=

More Options .... in Hardanger: Kloster Diamonds

A little progress to report here on More Options .......... in Hardanger as I have just finished stitching the kloster diamonds.

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Gay Ann Rogers was saying the other day in her classroom that the thread color(s) look differently depending on which other colors surround them and I was able to verify that quite by chance actually with this project when I used the same exact thread on both pieces of hardanger (see the picture of the little hardanger piece to the right of this post). The main difference in my case is the slight change of color in my fabric. On the little piece to the right I have used an ASH ROSE fabric and in this project I am using a PLUM BLOSSOM fabric and the color of my thread just does not look the same.

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We are learning quite a bit about colors and threads with Gay Ann and it is all free so anyone who is interested in learning can join in using the link above :-) We are even getting information about how to best photograph our work, which has always been a bit of a challenge for me.

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Next phase of my project here will be to work the border with a blanket stitch. I am not following the progression order here as I thought that it would be nice to get this all out of the way before actually doing the fillings inside those diamonds.

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Pierrette =^..^=