Twister, Progress #8

Wow, I really got a lot done on Twister yesterday!  But I just couldn't quite finish up that center square before going to bed!  It really feels good to accomplish so much!

I won't get to work on it next week because our Retreat is Sunday.  But I'll be back at it the following week.

Twister, Progress #7

OK, I've worked on Twister a couple of times.  I'm trying to keep ahead of myself by doing a few outlines each time.  It is just tooooo boring to do them all at once!  But it sure does help with the compensating stitches.  The 2-tone gray section was slow going as I kept having to switch threads.  Odd that the one next to it looks 2-tone also and it is just due to stitch direction!

Tuscan Midnight, Progress #5

I have been plugging along on Tuscan Midnight.  #2 corner finished!  I still can't decide about whether or not I will square it off.  That's OK, I don't need to decide until the other 2 corners are done.  It is fun stitching anyway, although I'll be glad to finish it. 

I'm sooooo far behind with other stitching!  I really want to start something new, but I am sticking to my guns (so far) and concentrating on WIPs.

Website

If you tried to go to my website yesterday or today, and failed, please try again.  My web host made some changes and the the site was down for a short time.

New Patterns

At long last I have new designs offered on my website!  There are 4 new designs on the Bargello page.  They are the first four on that page now. 

The new designs are Prickly Pears, Hens & Chicks, Vegas Nights and White Noise.  You watched me do Vegas Nights last year, and I showed you White Noise & Prickly Pears a month ago or so, but Hens & Chicks will be new to you. They are all Bargello, although Prickly Pears is Counted Needlepoint with a Bargello background.   I hope you like them. 

Xanadu by Jim Wurth, FINISHED

Xanadu is finished!  Hurray!  It turned out pretty, although it is really shiny.  I don't know how I will decide to finish it, frame or box or what.  No hurry there.  For now it goes in the "finished" pile. 

This small piece (5" square) was difficult to stitch for 2 reasons:  One, I used different threads than called for and some were hard to handle.  Two, the instructions were from an old issue of Needle Pointers and were less than stellar. 

But now it is done & I will go on to something else.  I think I'll concentrate on finishing up a small cross stitch to give my Mom for her birthday in May.  Will post about it eventually.

Destashing Blog

I recently made a second purchase from Pat Miller's Destashing Blog.  Once again, the prices were great and the merchandise was received very quickly by Priority Mail.  I will definitely keep watching this site!  Note that Pat is moving and ber blog will be inactive for awhile.  But I'll keep checking back so that I'll catch it as soon as she is operating again.  Her things get snapped up very quickly!

This time I got a book and a canvas with all the threads.

The book is Graham Rust's Needlepoint Designs, published in 1998.  It contains some very interesting & unusual charted designs that could be done in cross stitch as well as needlepoint.  I especially like the big cabbage and the mouse in the teapot!
The canvas is called Purrfect Spring by Dee Ross & is so cute!  Plus it came with all the threads!  Can't wait to see this stitched up with the Petite Very Velvet for the kitties! 

So now I have a PILE of painted kitty canvases!  I don't know what I'm thinking!  Oh well, I have done very few painted canvases in my career, so when I get the chance I'll be moving into that realm.  I find painted canvases to be a whole new challenge!  And the funny thing is:  It is much easier to create a stitch guide for someone else than for myself.

Tuscan Midnight, Progress #4

I work on Tuscan Midnight every once in awhile.  Last night I finished one corner.  Now to do the other 3.  All the corners are the same, so it should go quicker now that I'm familiar with all the stitches.  When it is finished, according to the directions, I may go back in & fill in the corners to make it a square, and maybe add a border.  Any opinions out there?

SOTM 2011, March

Here is the March selection for ANGs 2011 Stitch of the Month.  These are Amadeus stitches worked 4-way to make a pretty motif in 2 colors.  Very quick to stitch!

Xanadu by Jim Wurth, Progress #2

I haven't worked on it very often, but I have made some progress on Xanadu.  The directions are not great, so it is slow going trying to figure out how to do things.  I don't know if I did some of the stitches correctly, but they are at least consistent!  Next is to fill in the corners, which are mostly big Chilly Hollow stitches.  It is a pretty piece.

Judy Harper

I am so saddened to hear of Judy Harper's death.  I "met" Judy online shortly after I started my Blog.  Judy has been one of my most supportive friends ever since.  Judy was a gifted artist/designer/teacher/author who gave unselfishly to the needlework world.  Judy's Blogs and Website have provided all of us with her well developed writings and teachings.  Her column in Needlepoint Now also gave us her insights into the world of Needlepoint and needlepointers.  Judy was more likely to tell us about somebody else's achievements than about her own!  It was always a joy when she wrote about one of the designs or canvases she "found" while going through her files!  She will be sorely missed.

Twister, Progress #6

I worked on Twister 2 Sundays & this is all I've accomplished!  The outlining takes forever!  I had planned to do all of the outlining before starting to stitch this quarter, but after a day of it I changed my mind!  Too boring and you don't feel like you're accomplishing anything!  So this last weekend, I outlined 3 more sections & stitched two.  Now I feel like I'm "on a roll"!!