WIPocalypse 2015 – November

This month's topic: Which designer has inspired you to stitch the greatest number of designs and why do you think that is? I think at this point the designer I've stitched the most of is Kathryn Drummond aka Gingerbread Girl. I try to take her classes whenever I can and have quite a few of her patterns to stitch (although Teresa Wentzler has her beat, I have more of TW's patterns than any other designer). The reason for that is I love cut work and counted thread combine that with luscious colors and you have me hooked :)

Onto the updates, nothing on Bramble and the Rose. I'm thinking I'll take it out a week before New Years to stitch on it like I did last year.

	No Update
Ink Circles - The Bramble and the Rose

Tree of Hope is back on the frame as of yesterday. I did put in a few stitches but not enough for an update. I realized that I've missed doing cross stitch.

	No Update
Mirabilia - Tree of Hope

I still haven't touched Tracery Dragons.

	No Update
Teresa Wentzler - Tracery Dragons

I did stitch on Fantasy Lace. I worked on it in between sessions on my sampler for a change of pace.

Satin Stitches - Donna's Fantasy Lace

18th Century Sampler is FINISHED! I'm really happy that the piece is finally done. With this piece finally completed I can finally put in a dent into my other WIPs.

SJ Designs - 18th Century Sampler

WIPocalypse 2015 – October

This month's topic (I'm keeping the original one as I've already answered the one picked for this month): Are there any fibers or materials used in stitching that you’re nervous to try? I dislike rayon threads. I've tried them in Spirit of the Southwest and really hated the slipperiness of them. I could never get them to lay down properly without keeping a strong tension on the thread which in turn made me tense and that's not the point of this hobby. Maybe one day I'll change my mind, but right now I'm staying clear of them.

Still nothing on Bramble and the Rose.

	No Update
Ink Circles - The Bramble and the Rose

Tree of Hope is still off the frame.

	No Update
Mirabilia - Tree of Hope

I still haven't touched Tracery Dragons.

	No Update
Teresa Wentzler - Tracery Dragons

No update on Fantasy Lace. I didn't take it with me to the stitching meetings with the Lakeshore Creative Stitchery Guild.

	No Update
Satin Stitches - Donna's Fantasy Lace

18th Century Sampler is still taking up all my time and is progressing really well. If I can get this much done in one month, I can't wait to see what it will look like next WIPocalypse.

SJ Designs - 18th Century Sampler

All in all this is a very dismal WIPocalypse for all my other WIPs, but oh well.

18th Century Sampler - Block #14 & Circular Lace Motifs

Now that I'm back to my regular schedule, I'm able to concentrate on my 18th Century Sampler. Before leaving for Toronto, I was able to finish stitching the last mock lace block. It's pretty cute!

Block #14

Since I really don't enjoy stitching upside down, I figured I'd finish the border of Circular Lace Motifs. No close up picks for this section as I kept forgetting to take pictures as I went.

Days are getting shorter so lighting isn't really great, but here is what the piece looks like now. Next up is the Satin Stitch border which I'm really looking forward to. It's my favorite stitch :)

18th Century Sampler - Block #3, 8, 10

I kept my ground and didn't get tempted by the easy road. Since I will be away most of next week (8 days till Creative Festival!), I figured I should get a head start.

These patterns are part of the mock lace section.

They use a lot of smyrnas and eyelets in combination with some needlepoint stitches.

Block #3

This next one was a pain to stitch. There were so many smyrnas I didn't know where I should start. I ended up going in a circular pattern till I reached the center. I then proceeded to do the same as I was filling the circles.

It took all day Saturday and despite all that moaning, I think this will be my favorite square. If you look at the square from really far it looks like a tile you would find in a mosque. Something I would love to do one day is to translate a geometric design into embroidery.

Block #8

The next block is one of the first ones that really uses pulled thread techniques. It's the four square stitch and is really simple to do...

Unless you're doing it on canvas. You have to pull really hard on the thread to make the holes nice and big. I use a modified version of the sewing motion to get them like that. Since the canvas is too rigid to pass the needle under and over, I would stab it with my needle and before pulling the thread completely down into the fabric,  I pull it back out where it should go next. This way, when I pull the thread completely out, it tightens very nicely around the canvas threads.

Block #10

I have one full row all done :) There is one more square in the mock lace section, you can see I've already started (second square from the left in the bottom row).

18th Century Sampler - Block #2, 5

Wow, third post in one week! This project has been moving pretty fast.

In the last picture I post yesterday of this piece, you could see that I was stitching one of the remaining darning blocks (with all the octopus arms). That was block #2. It looks very similar to block #16 but with less empty spaces.

Block #2 

 Again, I kept the cream color as the main focus, letting the green compliment it.

Block #5

Here is the overall piece so far. I'm going to continue working on filling the squares, unless I get tempted by those easy satin stitch borders.

WIPocalypse 2015 – September

This month's topic (I'm keeping the original one as I've already answered the one picked for this month): Where do you buy most of your stitching supplies? Online. I do a lot of shopping online, I'm sad to say. I would love to help support an LNS, but there isn't one here and shipping costs what they are, I can't. Although, since becoming part of the local guild I have met a lovely lady who sells stitching supplies out of her home. So I've been buying my DMC perls and broder special threads as well as fabric from her.

Still nothing on Bramble and the Rose.

	No Update
Ink Circles - The Bramble and the Rose

Tree of Hope is still off the frame and will be for quite a while unless I figure out an easy way to clamp a scroll frame onto my lap stand as it is now. I'll see.

	No Update
Mirabilia - Tree of Hope

I still haven't touched Tracery Dragons.

	No Update
Teresa Wentzler - Tracery Dragons

I did work a tiny bit on Fantasy Lace. I've been taking it with me to stitch in meetings with the Lakeshore Creative Stitchery Guild. Excuse the really poor lighting, but you can sort of see where I'm at. Which is not very far, I'm still stitching eyelets on the center diamonds.

Satin Stitches - Donna's Fantasy Lace

And the project that has been taking up the bulk of my time is 18th Century Sampler. This is an online class I'm taking with SJ Designs. It's very messy at the top as I was in the process of stitching one of the squares. Ending threads on this piece is a real pain, so I avoid doing it until the last moment possible :P

N/A
SJ Designs - 18th Century Sampler

I will have to try and find a balance, so that I can keep stitching on my cross stitch WIPs as well as my sampler, but that will be hard to do for next WIPocalypse as there are only 14 days left before Creative Festival :)

18th Century Sampler - Block #7, 11

My fingers are still sore but that didn't stop me from stitching this weekend. I'm still stitching the darning patterns. For these larger squares, because there is so much space in between the stitches, I decided to stick with one color.

Block #7

You can't really see it in this picture (because there was no light when I took them this morning), but cream of the thread also shows from underneath the canvas. It's lovely in person. I'll have to try to take better pictures this weekend. Nowadays, by the time I get home all the good light is gone and there is no light when I leave the house in the morning :|

Block #11

There are two more darning squares, I've already started one yesterday. For these I'm going back to combining the two colors.

18th Century Sampler - Block #15, 13, 16

I was very productive this weekend. So productive my index finger is sore.

I decided to go chapter by chapter. So since I'd stitched block #9, I went onto #15. I was merrily stitching away, and at some point racing to finish it before bed time. You'll know when it started getting late, I started forgetting to take pictures lol.

I managed to finish it and was so happy with how it came out, until I realized I had filled the wrong block T_T major panic set in then. Luckily the class's Facebook group is pretty active so I was able to get quick feedback from Susan Johnson by the time I woke up the next day. She says the blocks can be stitched in any order, so it's okay to re-arrange them. Which is great, because although I love the designs I DO NOT want to restitch them again lol.

Block #15

Why you ask? Because ending threads under perl cotton #12 on canvas is really hard. I forgot how much I hated that part on Spirit of the Southwest. Not only is my canvas too big to turn upside down, but it also requires a lot of strength to push that needle under existing threads. To avoid doing that, I just stitch as much as I can putting threads that need to be bound to the side.

And then just binding them all at once. Above you can see block #16 which is where #15 should be. Below, you can see all the threads I had to bind. I was using up shorter strands so I had A LOT of them.

This is one of the pattern darning blocks. Isn't it cute? I want a room in my future home wallpapered in these colors.

Block #16

Again stitching chapter by chapter, I moved onto Block #13 which has swapped places with #14 to compensate. There are four blocks like this.

Block #13

I'm going to try and take a break on this piece for a few days to give my index finger time to recover.

18th Century Sampler - Block #9

 I ended up deciding to stitch the blocks first and since everyone was starting at the center block, I decided to do the same. I had already decided, I wanted to add color to my piece and had picked DMC 524. But up until yesterday I was still worried it might now work.

Trying to take pictures after each step, but kind of forgot towards the end

I'm not worried anymore lol. The threads used in this piece are DMC perl cottons #5, 8, 12. So what I'm doing is, in a block, anytime a thicker perl is used I'll stitch that in DMC 524. If the #12 is used, I'll stick to ecru. Unless there is an area where there is a lot of little stitches, like in the corners, I'll try to add the green there. It helps that the diagrams are shown in white and green for DMC #8 and 12 so I get a good idea of how it will look with the different colors.

Block #9 in natural light

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but looking at it now I wish I had stitched the big Eyelet at the center in green, but I can live with how it is. I can't wait to stitch the next square tonight :)

18th Century Sampler - Pre-work & Part 1 Completed

I know I said that I wouldn't do anymore pre-work until later, but once I started the first part of the sampler, I changed my mind. So back to pre-work I went and yesterday I put in the last pesky Smyrna.

I forgot to post this last time, but I found a technique that is very helpful in making sure Smyrnas lay next to each other properly. If you look at the image below, the first diagram on the top left shows the original sequence that was included with the instructions. But I found if I used that same sequence when stitching from right-to-left that the last stitch would never lay correctly. It was always slightly above or below the last stitch of the Smyrna on it's right.

So I changed the sequence around:

• After you've stitched the X, your + should start from the opposite end, i.e. if the last arm of you X is going upwards, you're + will start from the bottom. This ensures your thread doesn't get under the fabric weave. 
• Your last stitch should always go into the fabric next to the last Smyrna.

They look like little pearls, they're so tiny

The first part of the sampler are the narrow borders. These are 4 different really skinny bands that go above or below each row of Smyrna boxes. They're much more enjoyable to stitch than Smyrnas. My favorite was the Herringbone stitch.

Open Herringbone stitch

Herringbone stitch

Long-legged Cross stitch

Kalem or Knitting stitch

I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to stitch next. The book says to start on the Satin stitch borders, but then contradicts that by saying to stitch the contents of the boxes first. Since Susan is showing us how to stitch the boxes at the center (the class is hosted on Facebook), I might do that. I haven't decided yet.