I mentioned that I was ready for a new small project... I ended up choosing a design that was stitched but not finished--Prairie Schooler's "A Prairie Year II"--August. I had this idea, oh, about five years ago that I would stitch each monthly design and finish each a different way. I made it January through March and then sort of fizzled. I did finish July and here is August. I have a few more partially stitched, so I thought it would be fun to work on these again. And now that I have my first mattress pincushion under my belt, here I am working on number two!
Many thanks for the comments on my last two posts--particularly the finishing help from a few days ago. Lessons learned--I love polyfill, but it is a little too lumpy. And interacing may be a helpful thing, though I didn't have a problem with fraying.
This time around I am going to use interfacing, and try good old quilt batting for a smoother look. I am also not going to use pins for embellishment, but I will stitch some design or words on the edges. I've been very much in a stitching mood, so I might even finish this on the upcoming weekend. Then I can move on to another month!
I always iron interfacing onto the back of my stitching to keep the threads in place and to stop the filling from poking through or showing.
You are having an amazing stitchy start to the year!
Good ideate stitch the mattress cushion panels next to your stitched piece - less counting!
Posted by: Tessa | February 16, 2011 at 05:46 AM
Tessa--Tessa--thanks for the suggestions on my other post....I read them after I had done the finishing, so I don't want you to think I ignored your suggestions! :) It's good anyway to try different styles to see what works, and I do think I'll do it a little differently this time around.
Posted by: Danielle | February 16, 2011 at 06:45 AM
I love those designs and have similar yet unrealized goals to stitch them all!
Posted by: michele | February 16, 2011 at 07:33 AM
What a sweet piece. Like you I always have grand plans to stitch monthly pieces and more often than not they fizzle out. These will be so nice when they are all stitched. Keep going with them!
Posted by: Lois | February 17, 2011 at 02:43 AM
This is a sweet little design. I look forward to another matress pincushion finish.
Posted by: Suzanne | February 17, 2011 at 04:18 PM
Michele--I think I can say that about half my stash! :) I go in phases with these designs.
Lois--I never do well with monthly things. I pick them up and set them aside with no regularity, but I always have good intentions. It will be nice to share the whole batch when they are all stitched. I wonder if that will happen this year or not?! ;)
Suzanne--Thanks. I might even manage to do the finishing on this this weekend. It's so nice that it doesn't require a sewing machine either.
Posted by: Danielle | February 17, 2011 at 09:41 PM
Congratulations on finishing Rain, Rain, it looks lovely.
I'm looking forward to seeing August finished.
Posted by: Karoline | February 19, 2011 at 04:28 AM
Karoline--Thanks--I think I can improve on the finishing for something like this, but for a first time I am pretty pleased. I was hoping to finish August this weekend, but it may not happen--still, I'm getting close, I've got most of the backstitching done anyway.
Posted by: Danielle | February 19, 2011 at 08:43 PM
Congrats on the Rain, Rain finish! I'm working on the middle sampler and kind of wishing I'd done the small one, just because I love the woman on it. I love your UFO/WIP, too! I just went stash diving today and pulled out about seven PS charts. I love them but never seem to stitch them.
Nice finishing too, btw!
Posted by: Siobhan | February 23, 2011 at 06:58 PM