One Stitch At A Thyme

But before I get started I'd like to say what a marvelous time I've had.  Not only was I motivated and encouraged by the monthly theme questions.  But also by the new on-line stitching friends I've made through-out the year.  I hope to see you all and your new wip progress in 2015.

Theme: Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc).

Be sure to click on the pictures to get a bigger view.

First I'll start off with the only finish I had for 2014.  It was a gift for my boyfriend Tony.

A Vikings World
Designer/Publisher: Lisa / © Designs by Lisa
Finished: January 5, 2014
Stitched on Brittney 28ct. Evenweave, Color: Bone using DMC cotton floss. The name at the top of the ship reads as Anthony Jorgen.

And now for the three WIPs I worked on: Camelot Sampler, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and Musical Bell Pull. Even though I didn't finish them, two out of the three got a lot of work done on them, and I am closer to the goal of getting them finished.

Camelot Sampler

Day Six was the only block I worked on this year.

And last but not least, the two new projects I started this year; my biker's vest patch, and my Norwegian alphabet sampler, along with my little TUSAL beaker to bring this post to a close.





If the frame looks familiar that's because it's "Birds of A Feather" by With Thy Needle & Thread.  The center of the sampler will have some original elements.  What they'll be even I don't know at the moment as I'll just stitch them as I go along getting ideas from other samplers I've seen.



And finally......
 The latest orts are from the sampler in the above picture.
Jan

Looks like I'm a little late for this month's Wipocalypse posting.  So let's get started.... I put '12 Days of Christmas' by Teresa Wentzler back on the WIP/UFO pile for the foreseeable future.  I've had no progress to show since the last time I posted about 'Day Six' back in April 2014.  The two projects I have progress on are below.





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After:

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I tried two different shades of green but the outline just seems to disappear next to the solid lighter green.  So I decided to stick with the darker shade of green.

Now for this month's WIPocalypse question.

Topic:  What are your favorite and least favorite materials to use in your stitching?

Well I guess I'll start off with favorite floss.  I like all types of DMC's cotton floss, linen floss, rayon (aka satin) floss, and pearl cotton floss; Also silk floss and over-dyed floss.  I've never used DMC's light effects floss so can't comment on that. I also like Kreinik blending filaments, braid, and Japanese threads.  On the other hand, I've never been fond of the DMC metallic thread, the old type that came on spools.  It always seemed to fray and unravel too easily. 

The only thing I've use as far as accessories is mill hill glass seed beads.  I've never stitched anything that required buttons or charms so I can't comment on that either. But I do love the way the glass beads give that little extra sparkle to a stitching project.

As for favorite fabric materials that would be hands down Even-Weave.  The thread counts would be 25, 28, and 30.  With my eyesight not the best now days 30 count is a little tough to see with out the help of a 3X magnifier.  Aida I'm neutral on, I neither like nor dislike it.  I started out with Aida learning how to do counted cross stitch, and my favorite fabric counts were - 14, 16, and 18. My least favorite fabric would be linen.  For me I just don't like the look and feel of the fabric, it's so wispy and thin, that and the subs in the weave make it look and feel uneven and hard to stitch on.

That's it for this Blog Blurb, Thanks for stopping by.

 


As for my stitchy up-dates, well there's not much to see.  I've put in maybe 10 stitches into Day Six of TW's 12 Days of Christmas so there's not much of a difference to see.  But since I really should show something here's what little I've done with my biker's patch.  I've almost finished with the scissors.

click for bigger picture

I know I've been MIA around here for the last few months.  My stitching Mojo left me and then I started having problems with my back, finances (i.e. Obama Care), and still no work.  So I just slid into a deep depression that only a prescription of anti-depressants could fix.  On the up swing, my depression is under control and I think it allowed my stitching mojo to come back. Although I'm not working on any of my WIPocalypse projects but something really small that I can handle.   You won't be seeing any update pictures as its a biker's patch for my leather vest that I designed myself.

I'll also be off line for the next four days as I'm in the middle of packing up everything again for yet another move.  The phone and internet hopefully should be back on by Monday evening  the 16th.

And now for this month's question.....


June 13 – Topic: Have you ever been to a stitch gathering such as a retreat or a festival? If so, tell us about it!

Well I'm afraid I haven't been to either type. But from what I've read on other stitcher's blogs they sound wonderful.  And who knows maybe I might get to one someday.

Sorry to say I haven't done any stitching for weeks now, guess I've reached my burn-out phase. To keep my hands and mind busy I've taken a try at knitting. I've found an easy finger-less glove pattern on the internet and this is my 3rd attempt at the pattern.



And now for this months Wipocalypse topic:


May 14 – Topic: What designs or themes do you really wish you could find? What do you think is missing among stitching designs? 

In a one word answer "None".  I've reached SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy) over ten years ago and I've forced myself to go "On the wagon" as it were and not buy any more charts or kits. There are a lot of designers out there that I admire but one in particular that I have always sought out - Teresa Wentzler. I have always loved her dragons and fantasy themed designs.

As far as something missing from stitching designs, well for me personally it's the level of detail in a design. I have never cared for cute-icy simplistic designs. If you're going to spend a large amount of money on fabric and framing - make sure the design is worth your time and cash. Then there's the opposite end of the spectrum. The computer generated charts from a photo or digital image that's 90 plus pages and has more confetti stitching and the odd random color squares than you could shake a stick at. Come on people the least you can do is clean up that kind of mess before you put it up for sale to the public. OK getting off the soap box now.

Thanks for stopping by and Hello to all my new followers!!!!

All the items you see in these pictures are all packed up and in storage except for some of the bobben'ed DMC thread and the nine WIPs listed on the side menu of my blog.

Thanks For Stopping by....

Sorry for the dark blurry shot - had to use my camera as it was still on the frame.

Before I get started with the Wipocalypse SAL check-in, I want to wish all my followers and lurkers who stop by my blog a very Happy Valentines Day!!!

A close up of where I left off.

A close up of the jousting scene where I left off.