Winter Reflections: First 4 lessons completed

My joint venture with Sharon D. continues and I have now completed lesson 4. Only one more lesson remains to be stitched and it is the border around Winter Reflections and I will get to it right away. Next and last photo of this project will be posted sometimes tomorrow morning.

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Winter Reflections: First three lessons completed

I have been doing a little bit of stitching since I received Winter Reflections from Sharon D (see previous blog entry).
.
The photo above shows the three first lessons completed in full.

I have taken a second photograph here so that you can see a little better the work that has been completed, both by Sharon and myself.

And even took a third one for good measure (grinning). On this one you can see even better what has been done so far.

.

Two more lessons remain on this project as I need to square both extremities and add a border all around it.
.

Pierrette =^..^=

Winter Reflections, Mystery #2: Loretta Spears, designer

I am a bit at a loss for words here and not entirely sure how to start this blog entry this morning and it has all to do with this lovely design called Winter Reflections, Loretta Spears' Mystery #2.

.

You see, the photo above has not been stitched by myself, but by another stitcher named Sharon D. from South Carolina. At this point, you may be wondering why the photo is on my blog since I am not the stitcher and here goes the story, at least a bit of it.

.

It all happened when I was working on another Loretta Spears' mystery called Superstition a week ago or so. I was almost done with stitching it when I received a message from Sharon D. saying in a nutshell that she had Winter Reflections partially stitched and that since she could not continue working on it for personal reasons, she was looking for a good home for it and that if I was interested it was mine to have.

.

Yesterday afternoon, Winter Reflections arrived in all its glory with the remaining threads so that I can finish stitching it myself. I immediately had a good look at the charts and will be having a good read this morning of the included instructions and you can be sure that I will start work on it immediately.

.

I have also learned from Sharon that Winter Reflections has actually been purchased directly from Loretta Spears herself somewhere in Colorado while Sharon was traveling there. Sharon had the pleasure to meet her in person. Isn't that nice? I always wonder who is the person behind the designer.

.

So today I find myself in a situation I have never been before as a stitcher, having two different stitchers working on the same piece, sort of a joint venture, and I find it quite exciting and having Loretta in the shadows is also a nice feeling.

.

In a little while I will start reading Loretta's instructions to see what has been stitched by Sharon and what has not and will take it from there. What fun this will be.

.

Pat has already stitched Winter Reflections in August of last year, I think it was, and I will for sure go there and have a peek from times to times, just to make sure I do not err. My philosophy is why reinvent the wheel all the time when it is already there for us to use.

.

I would like again to thank Sharon D. for her kindness and generosity towards me. This was totally unexpected and I find myself so very grateful to her for this beautiful gift.

.

Pierrette =^..^=

Plaid & blackwork checkbook cover: 2 Blackwork patterns stitched

A few weeks ago I have started working on a checkbook cover. You can see the outline here on this post.
.
This checkbook designed by Marjorie B. Berleur contains both Blackwork and Needlepoint elements. Since I have been doing a lot of needlepoint projects recently, I have decided to start with the Blackwork patterns and here are the first two.


This photo shows gives you a general idea of what has been stitched so far.
.
Some of you may laugh at this, but before I started looking for some Aida fabric for this project, I had no idea that Aida came in different count sizes. After my initial surprise at this, I started wondering why I had come to that conclusion as it does make sense that it does just like any other fabric.
.
I so do enjoy stitching Blackwork so am enjoying myself with this one and just at the thought that I will end up with a beautiful checkbook cover instead of those plastic ones that the banks provide us with is a sure incentive for me to want to finish this project as soon as possible.
.
Pierrette =^..^=

Hollyhock House: Roof added

April assignement has been completed with the addition of the roof on Hollyhock House. A good thing that the wallpapers and furniture have not yet been added as we have been having lots and lots of rain recently with a few tornadoes here and there just to keep us on our toes. The last tornado, an F4 touched down about 25 miles from where I live. Lots of hurt people and also a mother and her new born babies have died. I think the baby was only 7 weeks old. What a tragedy.
.
I have told my husband that this one is my own house and if he is really really good he can come to visit me at times (grinning). He won't have to pay property taxes on it, nor do any painting and gardening. It is all on me. He can just come to visit and relax. Seems to me like he is getting a great deal here.
.
Thinking of it, why not have this beautiful house on an island with great weather year round. Have been to Hawaii and just loved it, so I think that this will be Hollyhock House new setting. Flowers all year round, surrounded by oceans. Can you imagine me sitting on my porch, looking at the ocean in front of me and just stitching away? What a life! Can't ask for much more than that.

Just added a close-up photo of the roof.

.

I have stitched 38 pages of instructions so far and there are 145 pages total, so there is still a long long way to go before this piece can go to the framer. Next assignment will be about stitching the two angels that will be protecting my house. Can't wait to get going on that.

.

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).
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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
.
I have been lucky enough to get both kits with original threads.

.

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.

.

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.

.

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.
.
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.
.
I will try to add the beads today and will be back with the FINALE photo sometimes later (grinning).
.
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.

.

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.

.

Pierrette =^..^=

HAPPY EASTER! Easter egg designed and stitched by Anne Stradal

(Designed and stitched by Anne Stradal)
.
I always like to put something special for all our main holidays, so I was thinking about what I had stitched for Easter in the past and the answer to that question is not much, not much at all.
.
I participated in an Easter egg exchange some years back and had to make a decision as to which egg design to select and stitch as part of my exchange. They have a very bad habit in these exchanges to insist that you give one in order to get one (grinning), so I went on ABS Designs and checked out what kind of eggs Anne had designed at the time. I was happy to see that I had plenty of designs to choose from and selected to stitch this one . I have always enjoyed nature scenes so that one was just perfect for me.
.
Since Anne has selected my only stitched Easter anything project done so far a few days ago as an example on canvas interpretation for her blog, I could not very well used it now, could I, so today I found myself with a tiny problem with what photo to put on my blog, that is until I thought of this little darling egg that I was lucky enough to receive in that exchange. This was Anne's design and she stitched it herself for that exchange. The only thing that she did not do is the finishing. Apparently she is "allergic" to finishing (just kidding). Her original was stitched in pink and was called "In the Pink", so I guess the one I got should be called "In the Blue" (makes sense to me).
.
I have been thinking of stitching another one as this one is feeling pretty lonely all by itself. I do like the one called "Crocus" so maybe that should be my next one and will keep it this time around as I am still missing "In the garden". The only consolation I have is that "I think" it went to a good home, but still, I do miss it (boohoo).
.
Lots of blabla here just to explain my Easter egg selection in order to wish you all a very "Happy Easter". Have fun eating all that wonderful chocolate. Don't overdo it though. If you have too much of it, you could always send some to me as I LOVE chocolate :-)
.
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.
.

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.

.

See you all a bit later :-)

.

Pierrette =^..^=