New Stuff

 It's been a good mail week.

Tania Cohen's Knot Garden Bouquet is the focus piece for the Special Interest Group sponsored by the Dayton Chapter of EGA for the rest of the year. The kit has arrived! Unfortunately, Dearly Beloved and I had to be out of town for a few days, and I didn't get to participate in the first meeting covering the project.

And then, when we arrived home today, this was waiting for me:

Ann Beck is a new designer to me, but her bio is fascinating. She designed and embroidered the costumes worn by some of the greats in figure skating and also had a costuming business for a number of years. She has turned her attention to teaching embroidery now, and I just found out about her recently. And of course I fell in love with this design and ordered the kit.

Open the box and it's like Christmas:

You almost don't want to untie the ribbon . . . but you do . . . 

Silks and metals and trims, oh, my! And a quick scan of the instructions look like they are more than complete, with extra notes talking about various facets of the design.

And am I going to leap right in?

I want to.

I really want to.

However, while I was out of town, especially during the long drives to and fro, I have been thinking about all the WIPs and UFOs and amazing projects in my stash, particularly two big and long-term projects. I also found a list of projects I wanted to do as soon as I retired.

I retired five years ago.

Have I touched any of those projects on that list?

Nope.

So I'm going to focus on some stash pieces that have been started and add the new stuff once I get some of the old stuff completed. Some of the old stuff really only needs a few days to become finished stuff. and finished stuff is the best stuff!

This does not mean that there will be no further stash enhancement. I mean, do you know me? It just means that maybe the things you'll see me work on are mostly older projects. for awhile, with a new thing or two thrown in because I just can't stand it.

Another finish!

 The skirt just about did me in--there are a LOT more stitches than I expected--story of my life--but Clare is done!

She is supposed to be a shaped pillow like the Animal Crackers are, but I wasn't crazy about the shape in the template.  Then I thought about doing a stand-up, but I didn't feel like doing the math. I felt like just getting her done--so she's a little pillow.

Actually, she isn't quite done. I have asked BDE to make a crocheted lace edging to trim the pillow and she is agreeable. Best Daughter Ever for sure!

Now, my question is this: Why is embroidery so enjoyable and sewing such a pain in the patoot?

A Finish and an Almost Finish

I hitched up the granny panties and finish-finished the ornament I stitched earlier this week!

The photo on the chart showed an octagonal shape. I toyed with that for a little bit and decided that life was too short to deal with all those angles, so I did my typical round finish with twisted cording. Looking at the photo, I believe we need to have another good pressing before putting it in the ornament box for this year.

And then, I felt it appropriate to work on something patriotic on Memorial Day while we were watching Band of Brothers, so Clare 1876 climbed out of her project bag. This is where I was when I stopped last night:

If you decide to stitch her, I have a hint for dealing with the skirt. Do all the white stitches first--that gives you the framework for counting out all the shading. 

I have to admit that I had to dig out the colored pencils to mark off the rows in the white sections. I haven't had to do that in a long time, but it simplified my life and actually saved time in the long run. I'm always pleased when something simplifies my life and saves time, so win-win!

I am going to plop myself down and see if I can get the rest of her stitched today.  Lofty goal, but Dearly Beloved has gone to tour the grocery store and I will have a couple of hours to myself before he gets home.

I do love him, but there is a LOT of togetherness in retirement!

So close . . .

 Today I stitched the Scottish Sampler Ornament, designed by Serpentine Stitchery from many, many years ago.

You find all kinds of things when you go stash-diving. This was one of the exclusive designs offered by one of the first online shops, Accomplishments in Ohio--gotta be over twenty years ago.

I was in the mood to work on an ornament and this was on the top of the stack.

You wouldn't think this little ornament could cause angst. First of all, it's on 25 count linen with Soie Perlee. And this meant I had to find a 24 tapestry needle because Soie Perlee won't go through the eye of a 26 or 28. Well, it will, but it doesn't want to. It's been a minute since I used a 24 needle, so it was a little like picking up a telephone pole.

And it's been a looooong time since I used 25 count linen, so it was like sticking that telephone pole through a highway.

Which meant the center motif went really fast.

Maybe I should do something besides 36 or 40 count linen with one strand of Soie de Paris or AVAS on occasion.

Now, that braided pattern around the outside was not quite so easy. I've done variations of this motif on other projects and it always makes my brain hurt when I try to do it in double running. I started double running and ended up ripping more than completing. After three false starts, I made the executive decision to do plain old backstitch. After all, this piece is for enjoyment. If you have to rip and rip and rip again, it loses that enjoyment factor.

And I have decided perfectionism is vastly overrated. Especially when the back of the work will never be seen. 

Sampler Week?

That floral motif I was working on last Sunday ended up taking a good bit of my stitching time this week.

I didn't think it would take more than a day or two, but I forgot about that 1,225 stitches per square inch thing that happens when you're working over one on 35 count linen. Apparently it takes me awhile to do 1, 225 stitches per square inch, and I believe there was more than one square inch in the part I was doing.

But that motif is finished and I started the outlining on the next flower.

There would be more outlining but I got off by one thread and really needed to fix it because if would take way too much fudging to leave it alone. I know Jean Lea always said always forward, never backwards--but this is one time I will have to agree to disagree, even with Jean.

Actually, I just told a story. The blue motif isn't quite finished. The center of the flower is supposed to have a multitude of tiny bullion stitches. However, I'm working on a scroll frame and I don't want the bullions to either be smushed or to stretch out later sections of the linen as the scroll frame is turned. I have tried using a pad of batting to cushion highly textured stitches but that hasn't always been successful.

Consequently, I have a little notebook in which I am recording which motifs will need extra work after their bases are done. There are a number of motifs that have raised petals, and I definitely do not want them smushed. I'll be happy if I can do a decent job on the needlelace so I really don't want create my own problems.

Other than that, I have been organizing and reorganizing the stash. I have a pile of projects I want to touch and another pile that I want to finish--they've been hanging around way too long.

And then there's always the new stuff that tempts and teases. . . Tricia Nguyen has been showing the beginning of a new casket design . . . and Betsy Morgan has a new book coming out that is a stitched casket with loads of goodies that will live inside it . . . and there are new online classes coming up which make me want to finish some of the old online classes that I've taken but haven't quite completed.

And I'm not even going to talk about the books I want to read and the recipes I want to try. 

How did I ever find time to work? Retirement is busy!

Monday rolls around again

 I know when you're retired that every day is Saturday, but this weekend seemed to zoom past me faster than the speed of light. And that's probably because I had one stitch-in, two EGA Special Interest Group meetings, and a lecture from Relics in Situ to attend, all from the comfort of my armchair.

It also meant that I was able to get a lot of stitching done.

During the SIG for surface embroidery, I stitched leaves and managed to get all the ones in the medium shade of green finished. In case you missed it, this is the vintage Elsa Williams kit of Paul Revere's ride. I've decided that it will be my travel piece since I don't need extra light or magnification, perfect for hotel room stitching.

And then there's my Sampler Sunday project:

It took a minute to fill in those humongous green leaves. I will not lie, it was boring, SO boring. I was glad to have the online conversations while I stitched. However, I am sorely tempted to go ahead and finish the flower today, and then I'll be ready to go to the next motif next Sunday.

And why not? I am the boss of me.

And I'm retired, so every day can be Sampler Sunday if I want it to be.

Finished, Done, All Over!

 Liberty for All is finally finished!!!

I kept thinking that just one more day of stitching and I'd have it done. 

I was wrong.

For a little bitty sampler with only a few colors, there are a lot of stitches.

But now it is done, done, DONE!

Now I have to figure out which of my WIPs will be the next to do--but right now, I am enjoying having a finish.