November Wipocalypse

Posted by 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.

Musical Bell Pull - Mandolin - by Donna Vermillion Giampa

This is what I've done so far since starting the Mandolin section last month.
 



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My Biker's Vest Patch.

Before:
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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.
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A Not So Totally Useless October.

Posted by Jan
 
Happy TUSAL everyone!!!


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Well as you can see from my little beaker there are a few bits of blues and greens.  The greens come from my bikers patch I'm working on.

Before...
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After.......
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I'm kinda worried that the green outline I'm using is too dark, and that I need a color closer to the green I've used in the tomato pincushion.  Guess I'll try stitching the other outline with a different green and see what looks better.

I've also started stitching on Musical Bell Pull again.  I haven't gotten that far so I'll wait till my Wipocalypse post before I show an update of that.  I'm working on the mandolin. Here's the model picture with it circled.
 
That's all for this blog post. Thanks for stopping by....
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WIPocalypse for October

Posted by Jan

It only feels like a few days have past since the last check-in. My stitching mojo is slowly returning to me, it's been helped along with the purchase of two DVDs.

 

So far I've only read through the first four issues but I've already found a sampler to add to my to-do list.  From autumn 1991 page 29.
 

 
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.

Before

After

 

Until the problems with my eyes get straighten out I'm going to have to leave off stitching on my over-one WIPS and I'll pull out my Musical Bell Pull and try and work on that.

Now for this month's WIPocalypse question.

Topic:  Are you a Halloween or Christmas stitcher?

It seems I've only stitched two Christmas themed pieces in my life and nothing for Halloween.  I've never really been interested in stitching anything for these two holidays, so in a round about way I guess my answer would be a resounding no.

I hope I'll have more to show you in next month's WIPocalypse update.

Thanks for stopping by.
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Totally Useless Tuesday...

Posted by Jan

Well here it is again my monthly TUSAL update.  Sorry to say I'm still on the look-out for my stitching Mojo, so no stitchery updates yet.  I am however keeping my hands busy winding plastic bobbins with my collection of 24 DMC Color Variations floss that I bought back in 2012. Maybe seeing the new colors will get me motivated to stitch again.


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Catching Up With WIPocalypse and Other Things

Posted by Jan


Seems I've been MIA around here for a couple of months or more. The last time I posted I was having problems with my back, finances, not finding any work, and my stitching Mojo taking a vacation to parts unknown.  Well nothings really changed except that last month I had cataract surgery on both eyes.  The left eye is fine but the right eye wasn't done properly and I still have astigmatism and secondary cataract issues that need to be dealt with.  So in the mean time I'm trying to stitch with 3X cheaters (Wal-Mart cheap $5.00 reading glasses) and a 36watt OTT Lite floor lamp that I bought from Jo-Ann Fabrics when they had a 50% off sale last month.

I also haven't been keeping up with reading all my favorite stitching blogs and I was saddened to find out from Linda of Linda K's Stitching Corner that a fellow stitcher and blogger Deborah Bryant (aka SoCal Debbie) passed away suddenly from a heart attack on Aug. 29th.  I always enjoyed reading her blog updates and seeing the progress she was making on all her WIPS.  She always found the time to post comments of encouragement on my blog and I on hers. Rest in peace Deb, I and the needlework blog community will miss you deeply.




Now to catch up on Measi's Stitch-Along monthly questions.

July 12 – Topic:  It’s halfway to Christmas.  Do you start your holiday stitching this early?  If so, what do you hope to accomplish this year?

I'm really not a holiday stitcher. I really haven't been interested in Christmas stuff, except of course to finish Teresa Wentzler's 12 days of Christmas that I started back in 2004 and is part of my WIPocalypse list projects.

August 10 – Topic:  Tell us about your oldest and newest WIPs.

Let's see, my oldest WIP is...

Name: Pegasus and Butterflies
Type: Crewel / Embroidery
Designer/Publisher: Linda k. Powell / Dimensions, Inc. © 1981

I don't have an exact starting date, but I can guess it must have been sometime around the summer of 1999.  As my first update picture is dated Oct. 26, 1999.  Here is my last updated picture on Jan. 27, 2007.





My newest WIP is a biker's patch for my leather vest that I designed myself.  I remember last year when Sharon (aka Daffycat of TUSAL fame) lamented that she couldn't find anything stitching related as a patch to put on her leather biker's vest.  I too ran into the same dilemma.  I wanted to show off my hobby on my vest but could find nothing.  Then I remembered a logo crest that I designed for an on-line stitcher's group on yahoo that is now abandoned.  I simply removed the group's name from the banners and shield, and Voila!!!
It was created with Adobe Illustrator back in 1998.  The picture was printed on Sulky - sticky fabri-solvy using my HP printer.  It's basically a self-adhesive, fabric like water soluble stabilizer.

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So far I've done the shield, spools of thread, and tomato pincushion; currently I'm working on the scissors.  I had an old piece of 14ct. ivory Aida that was in my fabric box so I used that along with DMC thread.


September 9 – Topic:  Who is your favorite person to stitch for, or do you prefer to keep your stitching yourself?

I really don't have a favorite person to stitch for.  My family members and relatives at one time or another have received wedding and birth announcements, anniversary stitching, and the occasional birthday stitching.  This usually meant that stitching for me got set aside for obligation stitching.  Well not anymore.  Now days I work on stitching for myself with a goal of someday finishing all the WIPs on my web site.



Before I end this blog post I'd like to welcome all my new followers and thank the old ones for still hanging around.  I may not have been blog commenting lately but I've tried my best to catch up reading them.
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