Bramble and the Rose - A Disaster and a Finish

This is really a finish and disaster all wrapped in one. I completed the stitching on Bramble and the Rose about a week and a half ago. As this piece has been ongoing for almost 8 years and has been everywhere, it needed to be washed. I was also hoping to get the streaks of purple out from the water bottle accident in 2019.

I did the usual cold water bath with some liquid dove soap (it was the softest I could found at the shops near me). The lines of purple didn't come out so I took the loss and rolled it up in a paper towel to dry.
 

I like to iron my pieces while they are still a little damp, so about three hours later I unroll the piece and find this disaster.

It immediately went right back into a cold water bath to soak and stayed there for three days. I was obviously in a panic and went to Instagram for advice.

There were many solutions suggested, the one that came back a lot was using a color catcher. I did end up purchasing a box and trying it out, but it didn't change color. By the time I received it, the fabric had been soaking for three days, with a refresh every few hours. There was nothing left to catch but it was good to know 100% that there was no more excess dye.

I did a lot of research on my end as well, on how to save embroidery that's bled and the ice water bath seems to be the best one. You can read more on it here. The most important thing is to be patient and not iron the piece. Once it's ironed, the colors will set and you can't get it out. The soaking process could take weeks. Proof, the little streaks of purple I was willing to leave are now gone because the piece was soaked the time it needed.

A bit more information on the threads I used. It's a cotton overdyed thread by Threadworx. I purchased and started the kit when I was first starting out. I'm pretty sure it's the first dyed thread I used. I've never washed any of my cross stitch projects as they usually contain beads or kreinik threads. They also don't go traveling with me. I've only ever washed whitework pieces before this.

All in all, this was a good learning experience. I initially decided I would never use this thread again (I think I still have a few skeins left unopened), but I don't want to limit myself. Not to mention I plan on stitching the companion piece and I'd like to use a similar thread. There is some literature on Threadworx website that I'll put here for the future:

1. If you plan on washing the final piece, before starting to stitch: un-skein the thread and soak it for 2-3 minutes in cold water, with 2 tbls. table salt and 2 tbls. vinegar. Remove, blot with a towel and let dry. I'd recommend braiding the thread once it's dry to keep it from tangling.
2. When the piece is completed, don't wash it in hot water and don't use steam or a damp cloth when ironing, as it could reactivate dyes and cause bleeding.
3. Throw in a color catcher when washing the piece if you're worried, but cold water should be enough. Leave it to soak for more than a day.
4. If the threads bleed, soak it in ice water until the colors bleed out. Have some ice cubes ready to rub over problem areas before soaking it again in fresh ice water. Repeat the process until the area is cleared. As I mentioned earlier, this could take many days. I can attest it does work!

Despite the disaster, I'm super happy with the results. I learned something new and know how to solve it. I also have a beautiful piece that is now on display in the living room.

Here's a closer look at the hem. The inner border (12 threads) is wider than the outer border (8 threads), so I went with a double and single peahole. I liked the simplicity of the stitch. The finishing took a while but was well worth the effort. I'm glad my mom suggested it. I was initially going to cross stitch some flowers in the corners but finally decided I like the clean border.

I now find myself with no counted project to work on. Maybe it's time to pull out my hardanger project again to see if I can finish it. Or I may be tempted to start something new, we'll see.

February TUSAL

Now that I've shown you Calm Flow, my TUSAL report will make more sense. There's lot of white and black thread and maybe some cream thrown in. The beads come strung on the white thread, and the black thread is what I use to stitch the beads. As for the cream thread, very hard to distinguish from the white, it's from Bramble and the Rose. 

I'm now at the pulled thread stage. I decided to go with a double peahole stitch. It has more steps but looks really pretty. I'll be using it on both borders. This is my filler project so it's moving very slowly. I work on it on days when I'm too tired for anything else. There is no counting, I just have to go through the motions. Very relaxing.

Bramble and the Rose - Next Step

I set myself a goal last week to start the finishing process of Bramble and the Rose. My mom took a liking to it and said she'd like it as a table center. The only directive I had was to keep it as big as I could. 

After some counting and measuring (with lots of hemming and hawing), I figured out how much I would need to do a proper hem with mitered corners while still getting the overall size my mom wanted. There will be an outer drawn/pulled thread border and a smaller inner border. The space between will have some stitching around the corners.

For the curious, I used Christine Bishop's book on Schwalm Embroidery for the hem instructions.

(click on the post to see the animation below)

I started working on the outer border. I've already drawn the threads and now am doing the first round of pulled thread, making sure to miter the corners.

Once I've completed the first round, I'll be going around the outer border again to pull the threads into the final pattern. I'm still trying to figure out what effect I want, using Luzine Happel's book Fancy Hems. I should be doing that this weekend if all goes well.

Dawn to Dusk - Motif 2-3

Dawn to Dusk is progressing nicely, I completed another motif.

(click on the post to see the animation below)

I'm halfway through another. I just had to give a sneak peak of this one, the color combination is just too pretty.

Once this row is completed, I will have reached the half-way point on the stars. I think it's time for me to start filling in the brocade. I've been following a stitcher on Instagram and she has been treating the brocade as it's own row so it's not left till the end. I think it's a good plan and will do the same.

The brocade might make a good filler piece for evenings after work, because my other piece, Bramble and the Rose, is almost done. One more evening should do it! Still can't believe how fast this piece progressed during COVID.

September TUSAL

This month's TUSAL report is filled with cream and gold thread from Dawn to Dusk. It's really pretty.

We're on red alert here as of Wednesday midnight due to rising cases of COVID and are required to stay home unless we need to do our shopping. This means stitching marathon for me. I'm going to try really hard to spend sometime on other projects than just Dawn to Dusk. For example, finishing Bramble and the Rose. This picture is actually from Monday, I'm much further along than that. So close...

July TUSAL

Despite my lack of update, I'm still here and stitching. I keep hoping to have some progress to share on Hiogi but I'm still having trouble with those cherry blossoms. The weather has also been nice on weekends so we've been taking advantage of that and going out for day trips. We're being safe and going to places where there are no crowds.

During the weekdays, I try to put in an hour or two after work on Bramble and the Rose. It's really paying off. Maybe it won't take me another 7 years to finish. If anything good comes out of COVID, it will be this piece being finally completed.

Major Milestone

A short post, but I just want to celebrate the fact that I'm almost half-way through Bramble and the Rose. *Cue fireworks*

I'm not quite at the half-way mark, but what's a few or 50 stitches when you're looking at the bigger picture. 

I was looking at my records and I started this piece the day before I flew out to South Korea on April 19, 2013. Since then it's been all over the place with me, if I traveled anywhere I packed it to go with me. The only time I worked on it when I wasn't travelling was New Year's eve. It took me 7 years to get to this point but that's okay. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

Speaking of sprints, I think Midnight Meander will get finished very quickly. I worked on it for a few hours on Sunday and progress on the stems were going pretty fast. I just need a good few days to just sit and stitch, and it will be done in no time. 

Isn't it great timing that I will be on vacation starting tomorrow? I will be off for a week and a half, chances are I will not post an update next week as I will be avoiding my computer. I will be posting on my Instagram account, so you can follow me there.

I'm Back

I'm back, sort of. I took a bit of a break from stitching for the past month. Between being stuck at home and fasting, I didn't have the energy or focus to do any stitching. That is all over now, as our last day of fasting was this weekend. I'm hoping to get back to my regular routine. I picked up my needle for the first time on Saturday and the weather was so nice I spent Saturday and Sunday stitching in our backyard.

I think Bramble and the Rose will be this year's outdoors stitching piece. It would be nice if I can get to the half-way point on this piece.

I want to get back to stitching on Midnight Meander and Hiogi, but I also want to get the finishing completed on Elizabeth. There is a trunk and doll to do. I needed some skirtex and my friend was nice enough to drop off some for me. So I will be working on that on the evenings when I can't stitch. I did a look around online and didn't find any writings on the finishing process for this design. I will work hard on documenting the process so I can share it here. Should be an interesting.

Edmonton Stash

Sorry for the lack of update, I've been away for two weeks for work. This time I was in Edmonton and it was FREEZING. I didn't have many opportunities for stitching as I was working long days. I only had time to stitch on the plane. I finally made it to the bottom corner. There will be more opportunities to work on it again as I will be travelling some more in the next two months.

I didn't meet the Edmonton embroidery guild on this trip but I did meet my Japanese embroidery teacher. It was great to see her outside of class and we had fun going around to her favorite shops. We went to a fabric shop called Quiltessential Co. where I bought some pretty fabric, including another bag pattern. I still haven't made the first one...

The other shop she took me to was an hour away from Edmonton and was the highlight of my trip. In Wetaskiwin, there is a shop called the Wild West Gallery. If my teacher hadn't taken me I would never have realized this place was there.

There were so many beautiful beads, I just pilling on stuff. I had to restrain myself at some point but I wish I hadn't. The total was so below what I was expecting to pay, I could have gotten more.

While I was in Edmonton, I wanted to see if the shop I went to in my previous visit in 2012 was still there. I'm happy to say that the Craft Connection is still alive and kicking.

(click on the post to see the video below)

It's mainly a cross stitch shop so there wasn't much to interest me this time around. However, I want to encourage local needlework shops so I bought this Sabrina pattern by Mirabilia that has been on my wishlist for a very long time. I'm a huge Audrey Hepburn fan and that dress is gorgeous. I also got all the beads and special threads. All I'm missing is fabric.

I've hardly been back a week and I'm already set to go to another city. Next Monday I will be driving out to Brampton, Ontario. I haven't done much looking yet but if you know a place you think I would be interested to visit, please let me know.

Back From Winnipeg

I'm back! And look two posts in one week. As I write this, I'm working my last night shift. Lots of time waiting around for things to go wrong. Luckily things have been going very smoothly.

I took three projects with me to Winnipeg, but only touched two of them. The third one was a really bad choice as it was on a dark fabric, not to mention it took up space in my suitcase. On the plane, I stitched on Bramble and the Rose. I'll probably do the same on the return flight. Trying to complete that bottom right corner.

The rest of my trip was spent working on my Hedebo piece. I've been avoiding it before as I have a lot of really short strands to weave in. To avoid dying of boredom, I'm doing enough at a time so that I can start the dove's eye pattern.

Every time someone sees me stitching this piece, they ask "you don't use a hoop?" Well, here I am finally using one. I always prefer not to use a hoop when working on counted whitework. I only pull it out for the pulled thread portions, as you need an even tension on the fabric.

After few days of working on and off, I can finally see the beginning of the starburst pattern. With the amount of weaving I still need to do, I'm a long way off from the end. But it's going to look so pretty when it's finished.

While I was in Winnipeg I had some free time. I visited Lizzy B's, a cross stitch store where I bought the Thea Gouverneur kit, Teresa Wentzler pattern and the pretty needle threader. It's purple, I couldn't leave it at there! The second shop is called NeedlePoint Place M & N's. The owner Ewa was nice enough to host me for a little stitch-in at her shop, so I would have a place to stitch outside my hotel room. I did buy some threads from her (not pictured) for a project I want to start very soon.

Before leaving for Winnipeg, I also organized a stitch-in with the Winnipeg Embroidery Guild (did you know that EAC was founded in Winnipeg by Leonida Leatherdale?). One of the guild members agreed to host it at her house and it was Kathryn Drummond. I met Kathryn back in 2014 at the Creative Festival in Toronto where I took Punto Antico for the first time. We had a lovely time catching up and I even brought back some goodies from her house: three new Punto Antico books. I also met a fellow embroiderer from Instagram. It's always exciting when I get to meet Instagram stitchers in person. Her name is Cathy Wiebe and she's a couture dress designer. We had a great time exchange information on embroidery, me on Japanese embroidery and her on Lesage where she is learning Luneville embroidery.

All in all I really enjoyed my trip to Winnipeg, despite the snow at the end of it. I could have lived without that.

Long Weekend Progress

I meant to post this yesterday but got derailed. Canada celebrated Thanks giving over the weekend. I'd been really looking forward to having three days of stitching. I ended up only having a day and a half but that's okay.

One of the projects I wanted to work was my seminar piece Bearded Iris by Alison Cole. I put in the last piece of felt and cleaned it up a little. I had to take out some cutwork and chipping that was applied with a single thread (we're supposed to use a doubled thread). I also cut out any outline stitches that were showing.

I also put in the last petal. I forgot how fiddly these things are. I'm looking at the overall shape and it looks okay, I just hope I'm able to hide those stitches when I go in to outline the petals.

I finished the leaf I had started in class and plunged all the passing. These are not the regular Japanese passing I'm used to. These suckers are slippery! I didn't realize till I started plunging the other end that I had pulled too hard on one of them and it slipped way to far. I had to carefully pull it out and re-couch it. It did unravel a tiny bit but it probably won't show unless you look at it too closely.

It looks good from the front, but I still have to clean up the back. I'll leave the boring work for the days when I'm too tired for a long stitching session.

I started beading the background on Hanabatake. I had initially started on the lower left corner but felt like I was crowding my beads too much and took it all out. I re-started this time on the lower right corner. They're not as crowded as my initial start but it's still more densely beaded than the original design.

I've decided that I like how it looks and will just keep going. I only hope I have enough beads to do the entire piece. If I thought the leaves took a long time, the background will feel like it will take forever. I've gotten into a rhythm where I stitch a scoop of beads at a time. It's not a huge amount, about 20-30 beads I think. Once I finish those, if I still feel up to it, I would get another scoop. I'll have to keep at it if I want to finish before the end of the year.

Here's a project that hasn't appeared for a long time. It's been almost a year actually. I've been finding that my eyes have been too tired lately. I think it's because of the materials I've been stitching with. I decided to test it out with some cross stitch. Every time I felt like stitching but too tired to work on my bigger projects, I would take out Bramble and the Rose and put in a few stitches. I've been doing that on and off for about 2 weeks and it seems to be paying off. I just might be able to reach my goal of finishing one page this year.

For this week's stitching plan, I want to try to put in some time on Hanabatake between today and tomorrow. Maybe reach the lower left corner?

This weekend is my monthly Japanese embroidery meeting, but instead of a single day we're doing a retreat over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The group is also meeting Monday but I have work, so I will join them at the end of the day. It will be great to play hooky from work on Friday at least and spend the entire day stitching. My plan is to work on the cords that wrap around the bouquet's paper. That should keep me busy and if I get bored I have a ton of twisted thread to make for the stems.