Corners Done

In my last post I was having trouble stitching Picots and realized that the Q-snap I was using wasn't helping me. So I switched to a smaller Q-snap and it was much easier to work with, but then decided to get a wooden hoop to see what all the fuss is about (I can never get over my fear that placing a frame over stitches won't affect them).

It was actually pure coincidence that I noticed these Elbesee wooden hoops at Club Tissus and they were having a special that day. So I decided to get the hoop and some binding tape (sold by the meter) and try out this tutorial I saw on Mary Corbet's website.

It turned out quiet well and I was able to use it on my Hardanger piece and it didn't affect my stitches :) I think I should be more trusting of others experiences. This doesn't mean I'll stop using my frames when I'm doing cross stitch, but I think I'll be comfortable now to use it for Hardanger.

Here is my current update. I finished all four corners. I'm not a 100% happy with my Picots, I can't get them to lay well (maybe ironing will help?), and my Greek Crosses are not all the same size (not sure how that happened). Other than that I'm very happy with the piece. I've already cut the fabric to start stitching the sides. The next new stitch to learn is the Spider Web filling stitch.

Close up

Working Hard

This week I promised an update picture of my progress on my Hardanger project. The cutting of the fabric, was scary but not as bad as I expected it would be.

After cutting

Once I finished cutting the fabric, I started the Greek Crosses. It took me a while to get comfortable with this stitch. I'm still not 100% satisfied with the crosses, but it will do for now.

Inner border of Greek crosses

I decided not to stitch the center first since I was still not sure how I wanted to do it (The pictures aren't very clear). Yesterday, I gave up and just decided to free style it and see what happens. It didn't come out too bad, it's exactly the same and my Greek Crosses are still not as nice as the ones in the original, but not bad for my first project.

Mine

Original

Here's an overview of it so far. The next stitch I will be learning is the side bars with picot. I tried it yesterday but it didn't look right to me, so I will be researching that before I try it again.

Time to Bring out the Scissors

I finished stitching all the eyelets on my Hardanger piece this weekend. At the beginning I was very hesitant, I wasn't sure if I was stitching them correctly. Once I started stitching using a "sewing" method instead of the "stab" method it became more natural and I was able to get a nice flow going. This pattern has been a great learning piece in helping me get the hang of Hardanger embroidery.

Eyelets all done

I am still worried about the next step thought. The pattern itself doesn't tell you what the rest of the stitches are (especially the filling stitch for the center). I've been looking at the other tutorials Mamen has on her website and googling, trying to plan the next step. I've also been studying her pictures of the finished piece. For example, she has cable stitches on the finished piece that don't show on the pattern:

Cable stitches

Tomorrow, I don't have work (Happy St-Jean Baptiste) and I'm hoping to start the cut-work then, IF I'm not too tired. Don't want to make a mistake at this stage.

Father's Day Weekend

I had a very productive weekend due to the fact that my dad and brother decided to spend Father's day Weekend at home in front of the TV to watch FIFA. The women on the other hand decided to go out.

On Saturday while my sister and mom went to the museum and shopping, I spent my morning stitching and later on at this amazing cafe a co-worker introduced me to: Le Céramic Café-Studio.

It was awesome to be able to just sit and do something crafty and not have to worry about the materials (or the clean up). The way it works is that you show up, pick a ceramic piece to paint and they provide all the materials. Once you're done you give it to them to bake and you come back to pick it up in a week. There is also a cafe attached to it and they have a menu of sandwiches and drinks. I'll post pictures up once I get my piece back.

Back to stitching. I've now finished all the stitches with the #8 Perle Cotton and have started stitching with the #12.

I did a few eyelets but I'm not sure if I'm doing them correctly. Should the hole in the centers be bigger? Should I be pulling more on the thread? They don't look as pretty as in the Hardanger book I got. I think more research is required before I continue.

Close up

I also got the chance to stitch on Spirit of the Southwest on Sunday. I'm still stitching Tent stitches, should be done sometime this week if I don't get too busy on my Hardanger piece.

In the Zone

Last post I was kind of hating buttonhole stitches, but now I like them :)

I guess I just had to get a nice rhythm going. The hard part was figuring out how to stop and start a new thread, but once I figured it out it was great (check this link and look for Buttonhole stitch edging). Can't wait to start on the next layer.

Learning Hardanger

Now that I finally have all my stash I can start learning Hardanger. I finished reading Jill Carter's Beginner's guide to Hardanger. It's good, but I did notice that it is missing some stitches used in Hardanger, like the Buttonhole stitch. I guess that stitch is not considered a beginner's stitch. I think I'll have to look for a more advanced book (someone has already recommended Janice Love's Hardanger Basics and Beyond), but for now it's good.

I decided to start off with a small freebie pattern (before tackling the kit I bought) and decided on Mamen's Tapete caramelos. Mamen is a great Hardanger designer, I've been eyeing many of her designs. Once I decide I really like stitching Hardanger, I will probably buy more of her patterns.

Here is what I have so far. I took the picture at night so the lighting isn't so good. I've enjoyed all the stitches so far except for the Buttonhole stitch. I'm sure if I find a great tutorial on doing Buttonhole stitches I will learn to enjoy it. Yesterday, I did a quick google search for diagram instructions on how to stitch it, but I don't think that will be enough. I notice just looking at the picture that the right corner of the row is not the same as the left corner. I think I will undo that before I continue.

In the Mood for Crochet

When I made that pincushion I realized how much I missed crocheting. I decided to pull out my huge ball of Aunt Lydia's thread and pick out a doily pattern.

Here's how it turned out:

This is Petite Pineapple Doily, a free pattern by Priscilla Hewitt. I am happy to say that the size came out exactly what it should, and it's so pretty.

Chibi Rukia Finished!

I've been very bad at posting updates of Rukia. It actually looked like this on Friday:

By this evening, it was finished. I made fast work of it. Every time I got to a stopping point, I just kept pulling out the next color and I didn't end up stopping at all :P.

That's one project finished, I'm now down at 3 WIPs. Now I have to decide if I can start a new project or if I should wait. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

I also went to Finnegan's Market on Saturday. I found more small bowls to use. Aren't they cute?

Rukia Outlined

I had started Rukia a while ago, but then I got distracted with other things. The outline is done, now I just have to fill the inside.

I've also done a lot of work on Stargazer but I'm not ready to show the results quite yet :)

Chibi Ichigo Finished!

I told myself yesterday that I must finish him. I only had one color left to stitch and I don't understand why it took me so long to finish him, but now he's done. Yay!

Now to figure out how to finish him.

Update: My sister has decided she wants to finish him into a magnet. She's also informed me she wanted another one made of Rukia. It's another pattern by Awenmir from the Manga Bleach. You can find the pattern on her site here http://superstitch.110mb.com. Isn't she cute!

Late Update

I worked a little on Ichigo but forgot to post it. Only the hair is left to do.

My sister has already informed me that she's taking him as soon as he's done, but she would allow me to keep him long enough to "finish" him into a magnet or bookmark (still trying to decide what he'll be).

I thought I would finish him last weekend, but I felt like working on Castle in the Air :) Finally after not touching it for months I feel up to working on it to get past the border. I'm hoping to finish parts 11 AND 12 by this weekend. Of course this means that Ichigo will be mine a little longer ;)

November TUSAL and New Start

Here's my November TUSAL. Doesn't look as impressive as last month.

I also started the Ichigo chibi pattern I mentioned in my last post. This is one weekend's work, it was so fast. Isn't he cute!

Stretch the Magic Dragon

My second finish on this blog :) I just finished him this morning and wanted to share it.

Here are some more detailed pictures:

In the end I decided to backstitch only the dragon with the metallic thread, which by the way gave me as hard a time as the kreinik does but the end result is so pretty that I can't hate it completely. The border was backstitched with the DMC thread from the pattern.

I had fun making this, so I can safely say that the experiment was a success and that I WILL be doing more Teresa Wenztler projects. Although I do want to improve my stitches. I noticed while backstitching that some of my stitches were not perfectly taut and they were sometimes too loose. Not sure what is doing that but I will have to be more careful in the future.

Now all I have to decide is what to do with it. It's too big to become a bookmark but too small to frame. I'll just have to put it aside for now.

Fastest Finish Ever!!

Well almost :) I spent the weekend working on TW's Stretch. I just couldn't put it down once I started on the dragon. The color blends were so beautiful. All I kept thinking was: "This color is so pretty. I would never have put these two together." lol.

So here it is.

Last week I mentioned that quarter stitches were slowing me down, but once i got the hang of it, it got easy. My only worry was missing them by accident because they are so small on the pattern. I will upload more detailed images once the backstitch is finished.

Speaking of backstitch, the colors used in the pattern are regular DMC cotton thread. But I wanted to add more "fire" to mine. So I went out on Saturday and got some sparkle. These are DMC Light Effects. I've only used Kreinik so far, which is a pain to work with sometimes, so I'm kind of worried about using these. The colors are not exact, so I'll see how it comes out. By the way, ignore the last one on the right. I just couldn't stop myself from getting it. It's so pretty.

Teresa Wentzler

I think I have an obsession with Teresa Wentzler patterns. I just received from eBay two more purchases of TW patterns. One is Tea Scene which is a really delicate work of both cross stitch and hardanger (which I have never tried before) and The Best of Teresa Wentzler Fantasy Collection Volume 2. Okay, I will be truthful, what I really wanted was Celestial Dragon, but figured I might as well get the book which also came with 10 other patterns. So that's how I ended up with 12 new patterns.

Seeing as I've been accumulating TW patterns left and right, I figured I should at least try to do one to see if I'd be able to (more like if I have the patience to) start and finish a pattern. For those who know TW's designs they understand what I mean. Her designs are beautiful and very detailed, using a lot of quarter stitches and blended threads. That and they are big. It is not a project you'd want to start unless you are ready to. Anyhow, I went to her site and found that she has a few free patterns up and decided to try one out.

I decided on "Stretch" the Magic Dragon. Here is a picture of the floss toss. I'm using a 32ct Jobelan in Lambswool, it's the same fabric as the one used in Flower Patch. I also bought a mini hoop. Isn't it cute :)

Here is what my progress looks like after stitching all weekend and a few hours everyday this week, approximately 22 hours. A very good progress, although I have slowed down once those quarter stitches started appearing. But I will get better at it. Can't wait to start on the dragon :)

Update: I received other things from eBay, but more on that on another day.