WIPocalypse 2016 – May

This month's theme is: What were you stitching this time last year and have you finished it? (via Jo) About this time last year, I was working on finishing up some of my smaller class projects from the Creative Festival. But I also worked on this Crewel piece which I later find out is not really Crewel at all since I wasn't stitching with wool thread. As you can see I did finish it :) It was my first attempt at transferring and stitching a pattern. Now that I see this again, I think I should frame this in a hoop. I wonder where it is...

By the time this gets posted I will be in Toronto attending the EAC Seminar. This also means that I didn't really progress on any of my WIPs. I promise it won't be like this when I come back :|

	No Update
Ink Circles - The Bramble and the Rose

Still hidden away poor dragons.

	No Update
Teresa Wentzler - Tracery Dragons

Nothing to see here either :P

	No Update
Satin Stitches - Donna's Fantasy Lace

I haven't touched Fandango either, but since this is my class project for Seminar you can definitely bet that there will be progress on it. I just won't be able to share it until I get back at the end of May. I did take a better picture thought, last month's was really bad.

No Update

The two WIPs I added last month saw a lot of progress. I not only finished this mat, I managed to stitch a second one identical to it. I just have to figure out how to cleanly finish the edges of this really (frustratingly) thick fabric.

Sardinian Knot Stitch Mug Mat - Jeanine Robertson

I also attended the second part of my Italian drawn thread class. This project received the bulk of my attention as I had homework to complete.

Sfilati Fantasia - Fiore Fonda

Gone Fishing!

By the time this gets published I will be on my way to the first part of my vacation. I will be taking the train to Toronto, meeting my roommate half-way there.

I've packed my stitching and am ready for the 6 hour train ride. I'm packing both my class kit (just in case) and a WIP to spend the time.

I've decided to take the two bluebirds I'd stitched to work on the blackwork part (I might be optimistic on how much I will be able to stitch). I've already started a tiny part of Azure Tit and Blueberries.

So for the next two weeks there will be no new posts, except for WIPocalypse which I've already written and scheduled. If you want to follow my experience on my trip to seminar and Paris, I will be posting images when I can on Instagram at the link below.

Sfilati Fantasia with Fiore Fonda

I briefly showed this project here, but now I've attended both classes and I can share more pictures :)

This class was offered by the Lakeshore Creative Stitchery Guild and was a two day class thought by an "outside teacher" Fiore Fonda.

In the first class we started with a single tear drop and learned one drawn thread pattern. We left with homework: Stitch all the buttonholes on the tear drops before the next class. And so I stitched...

... and stitched...

...until all those tear drops were done. Very tedious, but by the end of it, my blanket stitches have never looked better =D Including the curved parts, which are really hard to stitch nicely. I even finished the filling for the first drop before our class and started on the outline of the flower.

The second part of the class, we went over different drawn thread fillings. The fillings themselves are not much different from regular drawn thread or Schwalm. The stitches and the way they are combined together are slightly different but the basics are the same. I learned some new tips for cutting and removing thread. Select the center most thread and cut it. Remove it from the back and cut it as close to possible to the edges from the back. If it says to cut 5 and leave 4, do it once vertically and then do it again horizontally, i.e. don't do all the verticals first or vice versa. This creates a cross-road and makes counting easier, preventing mistakes.

We spent a lot of the class time cutting fabric thread, which cut into our stitching time (I'm thinking maybe this should have been part of our homework, but the fabric does become fragile once you cut into it). So except for two tear drops, they are all partially started. Once I get back from my trip, this is going to become my stitching-outside-in-the-sun project, so hopefully, I'll get those tear drops finished and I can share what they look like by end of summer :)

Another thing we did a lot of is talk (of course), I have more books to look out for which I will share here:

• Pulled Thread Embroidery by Moyra McNeill
• Mastering the Art of Pulled Thread Embroidery by Ilse Altherr

P.S. 4 days left before I leave for Seminar and then PARIS =D

May TUSAL

I am VERY late for my May TUSAL. I had the day off yesterday to be able to attend the second part of Fiore's class (more on that later) and spent the entire day away from my computer. And so I'm playing catch up now.

Lots of blues and whites this month. There is even some fabric thread from my Sardinian knot stitch mug mat. I'm attempting to do a clean hem finish. It's kind of hard with the thickness of the fabric. So still tinkering with that. I will post pictures once I figure it out.