Farewell To 2014

Posted by Jan
As I sit here typing this I can hear the fireworks sounding off outside in my neighborhood.  Yes, my city is one of the lucky few in the state that allows this on New Years Eve.  Since I don't venture out on New Years Eve I thought I'd write a last day of the year post.

My weight loss goal has been a bit of a roller coaster this year.  I never did get on my tread mill and do any workouts.  I did however manage to get on my bicycle and ride almost every day from June to October.  I started out at 226 lbs got down to 206 lbs and now at this last day of December I'm back up to 230 lbs.  So starting the first Sunday in January I'll start all over again, and maybe in 2015 I will reach my goal and stay there.

As for any last minute stitching, my Norwegian sampler won't get done by the 7th of January.  I'm afraid it's going to be an IOU birthday gift.  Here's the latest update.


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As for my 2014 ORTS I've decided to keep them in an end of the year bowl.  They're being guarded by Tessa the Turtle.  Next year for my TUSAL posts I'll just show the amount of orts for the month and empty them into the bowl.  Then when the bowl fills up I'll use the orts as stuffing for a biscornu or two.


Happy New Year Everyone!!!
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A Two For One Posting

Posted by Jan

 

Oops, looks like I'm a little late for my last Wipocalypse of the year.  So I thought I'd split the difference and post both my TUSAL and Wipocalypse together.  

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

[Before]

[My total progress so far.]


The Twelve Days of Christmas

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

[My total progress so far.]

Musical Bell Pull

[Before]

[My total progress so far.]

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.

Biker's Vest Patch

[Before]

[After]


Norwegian Alphabet Sampler

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.

[Before]

[After]

 
And finally......

The latest orts are from the sampler in the above picture.
 
 
Thank you all for visiting my blog and becoming my friend in 2014.

Jan
 
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November TUSAL Update

Posted by Jan



Greetings fellow Bloggers and TUSALers.  It's hard to believe that a whole month has gone by since we last posted our ort containers and project updates.
 
I've been a bit adventurous in the last 2 weeks and tried my hand at dying fabric with coffee.  I followed the instructions on Martha Beth Lewis's page and here's the out come.
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On the left is the original cream color and right is the warm brown/coffee color I ended up with.
 
As a first try at dying fabric I'm rather proud of myself.  The only mistake I made was putting too much alum in the final dye bath to set the color.  So after the fabric dried for the final time I gave it a quick wash in cold water with orvus to try and get rid of the smell of alum, and it worked.
 
And for anyone who's interested I used Italian roast dark instant coffee, 8 cups worth.
 
I've put all my projects away until next year as I have a time sensitive Christmas/birthday present that I need to have done by Jan. 7th.  Here's the progress so far with my newly dyed fabric, along with my little beaker.
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Thanks for stopping by!
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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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