The Cranberry Saga Continues

Have you ever noticed how certain stitches look like a 8 year old made them? (and I'm not talking about those 19 century 8 year olds who were stitching massive samplers) That's how I feel about four sided stitches, especially in whitework! Not to mention they're boring after the gazillionth one! And that would only be half a gazillion if I could count and didn't have to frog! By the way, frogging used to refer to the 'rip it, rip it' thing. Now it reflects the way my eyes bug out after all that unstitching!

(I laid a piece of blue paper behind it for the photo, just to enhance the design, since it doesn't photograph very well.)

Anyway, I've moved on the to the buttonhole bars and satin stitches in The Cranberry Sampler. And, as expected, those four sided stitches don't loop so crappy now.  And don't contradict me, even if you think they do! I'm not doing them over.

Here's a better view of the circular trellis that I mentioned last week. You can see it best in the light green leaves. It reminds me of a whirlpool.

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Varoooom!

Guess what? We added a new vehicle to the garage this week! Nope, I'm not driving a new car. I'm pulling a new cart with Lester riding shotgun.

In case you can't tell from the photo, Lester is missing his right front leg. It's been seven years since his amputation due to a mast cell tumor.  He's fine, just getting a little older (he's eleven now) and a lot slower.  Wear and tear has caused early arthritis so our daily walks, which he insists on, have become shorter and shorter. And since Otis, who is only five, needs a lot more exercise, my husband devised this low-to-the-ground cart for Lester. It has a pillow on it and Richard even put his name and a Lotus logo on it!

I drag it behind me until he just decides he's had enough. Then he gets on and rides the rest of the way. It saves me a lot of frustration too. I get really tired of trying to coax him along, until finally, I end up carrying him. That's twenty-two lbs. of Pug! What a load. He has regular stops we must make so his adoring fans can give him lots of love and belly rubs (same thing to him). I just hope he doesn't get so used to it that he jumps on before we get to the end of the driveway!

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A Shameless Plug!

WOW! I'm featured in ♥ Etsy Hearts Beads ♥ blog! "Meet Tommye from TJBdesigns"

This is a great team of talented beaders on Etsy. Check out the team page and all the members!

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My Favorite Part

Finally! I've completed the color bands on The Cranberry Sampler by Needle's Prayse. I love whitework and have been anxious to get  to this part of the sampler. Of course, the prep work for the needleweaving is a little tedious, but I'm on a roll now. I tried to accent that section in the photo with a darker piece of fabric, but it's too early in the process to really show up yet. Be patient.

 The large band above the whitework was a fascinating challenge. Lots of different stitches, including circular trellis, which was a new one for me. It's used in the dark green leaves on the right side motif, if you want a closer look. Like detached buttonhole, it's worked on top of the fabric for the most part. But instead of working back and forth horizontally, it is stitched around the leaf from the outer edge to the center for a very cool effect.

Unfortunately, I'm developing some pretty painful arthritis at the base of my right thumb, so long hours of stitching may be a thing of the past. So I'm trying to take short breaks more often. Then only thing that could truly keep me from stitching is amputation! LOL

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Heaven: A Weekend of Stitching

Well, my annual stitching vacation is over. :(  Two of my long time stitching friends were here for four wonderful days. We've gone way past just being stitching friends, but that's how it all started over fifteen years ago. We all live in different states now, but we try to get together once or twice a year to catch up and STITCH!

My dear husband escaped to visit his brother for the weekend so it was just the three of us and my two spoiled rotten pugs. Let's just say that Lester and Otis got more attention than they deserve. So it was a SES fest...stitch, eat, and sleep. I, of course, worked only on The Cranberry Sampler.

Laura and Vicky aren't quite as anal retentive as I am so they worked on several pieces. Laura's were all gorgeous samplers. Vicky's projects ranged from needlepoint ornaments to a "Quilted Garden" by Blue Ribbon Designs.

The putti ('the little nekkid men' as a friend of mine calls them) are intentionally left undecorated on the right. A lot of this band was left to the stitcher's discretion. I tried to follow the stitched model as closely as possible because I don't really have much imagination.

The clothed ones on the left are done in detached buttonhole which I enjoy once I get in a rhythm.

The center floral motif was also stitcher's choice of stitches and colors. I used satin stitch, Montenegrin, trellis, and Roman stitches. It was quite an experiment.

The current band is huge and will probably take quite a while, but it is the last one in color. I am anxious to get to the whitework sections so hopefully, there won't be a lot of frogging for the next little while!

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I Love a Challenge But This is Ridiculous!

Recently, one of the Facebook stitching groups that I follow started a once a month WIP stitch-in for those pieces that you really can't seem to get going on again. Most of the folks in this group have waaaaaaay more UFOs than I do.  That's not saying a lot since I generally work on only one project at a time until it's finished. However, occasionally I start a piece that is so involved or difficult or frustrating that I have to put it down to ensure that I don't pull all my hair out. "Margret Gatis" by Scarlet Letter is one of those pieces.

Make no mistake, I love the sampler. I love the various stitches and the colors. I use the sewing motion and work in hand rather than on a frame which, over time, has led me to stitch by feel to a large degree. I can just tell when I've picked up one or three threads instead of the usual two threads.  But stitching over three threads is tedious, time consuming and hurts my brain. You have to actually count threads and the vertical thread concept* is useless as a counting mechanism. Even more confounding is the fact that some bands on MG are stitched over two threads and some bands are over three threads! It makes the chart confusing and I have to constantly remind myself that each square covers three threads. And don't even get me started on satin stitches motifs with angles and turns over three threads!

Anyway, I chose MG as my WIP for this monthly exercise in futility. Thank heavens, it's only one day for whatever time period one can handle! I worked on some satin stitch motifs for a few hours then had to pack it up. The frogs were starting to scare Lester and Otis!

And now I'm back to the challenging, but stunningly beautiful, Cranberry Sampler. Although I'm in random stitching hell right now on this one too. The directions are pretty skimpy and leave a lot of the stitch and color choices to your imagination. I tend to follow the model stitcher's choices with a few exceptions. And there's nothing like a mountain of double running stitch to make you skip that last cup of coffee. You can't afford twitchy fingers when trying to keep a smooth and straight line going.

* as explained by Carol Leather, needlework designer and teacher

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I Want a Day Off!

Okay, this is one of those days where I can't find the motivation to do anything but stitch. But I feel guilty for not doing something 'productive' so I haven't even picked up my stitching. I am such a goon. I deserve to do what I want to, right? Actually, I did go to the grocery, so I think I'll count that as my productivity for the day.

Here's where I left off last night on The Cranberry Sampler. By Monday, you'll be able to tell how self indulgent I really am!

On another note, did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?  Did anyone actually look at your wish list? Somebody looked at mine and I got these precious Pineapple Scissors from UncommonScissors.com.

I haven't decided on a fob for them yet, but you know I will! Feel free to browse my shop for a treat for your new scissors or to spruce up your old ones!  There are some new fobs and counting pins available, like this one in my favorite color combo. Lime Cobalt Beaded Scissor Fob

and Small Lime Cobalt Counting Pins for Cross Stitch and Needlepoint

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