The Peacock's Feather

Finally a Few Updates

I was holding off posting here until I had finished my Prairie Schooler "February Sampler", but as I am still working on it, I thought I had better just share  my progress before January slips away entirely.  I still want to try and finish this before next month, and I am getting close.  I only need to finish filling in the snow/white under the houses and add a bit of backstitching.  Almost done!

All that white fill in was getting tedious, so I pulled out my poor "Mystery Sampler" by Blackbird Designs.  It has been untouched for months and months.  I wasn't looking forward to those eyelet stitches for the grapes, but I need to just knuckle down and do them.  I don't like how  my eyelets look, but I think once they are done they'll be okay.  There was no explanation on the chart about how the eyelets are to be done or how many plies of floss, so I have been using two--not sure that is right, but the smyrnas called for two plies, so I decided to keep it all uniform.  I'm ready to move on to section three, so I am stitching away on this one now. 

And after seeing Susan's gorgeous finish, I was thinking Hillside Sampling's "Strawberry Fields" might be my 2012 project.  My long term project that is.  I accomplished very little last year and hope to do better this year.  We'll see, so it's best not to make too many plans or assume I'll whip this design out quickly, since I expect it will take me months to finish.

Here's  my little start.  It looks like a challenging project, so I hope I can stick it out and do it on my own!

Back to Mystery Sampler

I've started working on my Blackbird Mystery Sampler once again.  It had been sitting for too long without even a glance, but over the weekend I had a sudden urge to get moving on the house.  I am working on filling in the front with "marshmallow" and hope to begin work on the side of the house soon.  I think once I finish the house the rest of the vines and grass will stitch up quickly!  I took a photo of Prairie Schooler's "February" only to realize I had not added any new stitches since the last photo!

By the way, I have joined Twitter.  I'm not sure if anyone happens to belong, but do let me know if you are on Twitter and what name you go by.

Mystery Sampler, Part 1: Finis!

Finally, I've finished part one of Blackbird Designs Mystery Sampler, part one!  I added the last stitch last night and tried to press it this morning, but some of the wrinkles still remain.  I'm quite pleased to finish it and am ready to move on to the next section!  (Sorry, am slightly out of focus--will try for a better photo later).

 

Here's a slightly odd angled close up.  The color of the linen is closer to the photo above.  It called for Korty's Blend 30 count by R&R Reproductions. 

 

I'm all set to move on to part two.  It calls for the same floss colors, but now I'll be stitching on Irish Cream linen also 30 count by R&R Reproductions.  It's a slightly smaller section with more blue motifs, which I'm looking forward to.  I hope I  make quicker progress with this section than the last.  And maybe I am close to catching up with Suzanne, who I think is already working on part two!

My Bee Skep Framed!

Just in time for summer I've had my "No Bees No Honey, No Work No Money" sampler framed.  I am quite pleased with how it turned out and the lovely folks at Ginger's Hang Up here in town did a marvelous job on it.  They stretched it perfectly!  And they also helped me decide on a frame, which I am pretty hopeless at doing myself!

 

I have to share a close up of the frame itself.  I love the little detailing on the edge--very subtle but makes it looks just a little more interesting.  And the color works nicely with the brown shades in the wording.

 

See how nice and taut it is?  It really is stretched perfectly.  And to think of all the slight creases in it when I dropped it off (even after ironing it).  There is a slight padding behind the fabric, so it is cushioned.  Unfortunately you can't tell from the photo, but the linen is hand-dyed and there is a lovely variegation to the color of the linen.  It looks a bit more taupe/brown here, but the color of the linen is really much warmer and not at all washed out looking as it appears here.

Here is a close up once again of the design.  This is one of my very favorite finishes!  I think I will hang it next to a Prairie Schooler garden design, which also has a bee skep in it!  Will share photos when it is finally on the wall.  It's so expensive to frame projects, so I am always very happy when I have something new to add to my small collection!

This & That -- Updates

I've been meaning to do a bit of an update all weekend, but here it is Sunday night and the weekend is all but over and now I need to get things ready for work, so this will be a quickie!  I've put in a few more stitches on my BOAF design though haven't used many new colors.  I'm still not sure how I feel about it, and now I've discovered I counted wrong!  I have one too many stitches in her dress lengthwise.  I am putting this one aside for the moment in favor of something else that is working better for me.

 

I had also made a mistake in my "Rain, Rain" design by Prairie Schooler, but I frogged the incorrect color and went back and restitched the wrong letters, so now I am back on track.  So she is coming along nicely and I think I'll try and concentrate on finishing this little design.  I'm in need of some instant gratification, I think.

 

I'm not sure what the weather is like where you are, but it has Already turned hot where I am.  Over 90 degrees today and it's still only May.  This is August weather.  I hate extreme temperatures and someday I dream of living somewhere where the temps are more moderate year round.  In any case, since it is practically summer and already feels like it, maybe it is time to work on my little Just Nan whimzie design that I started, oh, how many years ago now?  This might just be my instant gratification, though there are all those color changes!  I even have the little frame for it. 

And I'm still working away on my Mystery Sampler by Blackbird Designs, but there wasn't  much new to share there.  Maybe later this week?  Once again I am finding it hard to fit in stitching time and even harder for blogging time (both writing here and leaving comments on other needlework blogs).  I am, however, at least reading posts and feeling envious of everyone else's work as I keep things straight via Google Reader. If I can't stitch and blog, at least I can live vicariously through everyone else.

Feed the Birds -- Color Choices

I've started stitching my Birds of a Feather freebie, "Feed the Birds".  I wanted to wait until I had more stitched to share a photo, but as I probably won't stitch  much until the weekend I thought I'd just go ahead and take a photo.  I am stitching on Belfast 32 ct. Raw linen and using a combination of DMC and overdyed floss as called for in the chart.  I prefer all overdyed floss but don't want to take the time to order the missing colors.

Here are the colors I've pulled to use.  I'm wondering if the "fire" DMC substitution (used for the words) isn't too bright?  BOAF designs tend to use bright colors and I haven't got much else stitched to even things out yet, so maybe I am being too hasty?  The flosses at the top right are more overdyed substitutions--using on strand of each color.  I've never done this before and wonder how it will turn out.  I think I'll keep going and if I hate it I can always order the missing overdyed flosses and start over again...

What do you think?  Too bright?  Okay?  Too soon to tell?

Stitching Projects for February

Is it too soon to start looking forward to February?  I'm ready to put January behind me (and all this snow!).  And it'll mean it's one month closer to spring!  I decided to take advantage of the link Annemiek shared and have started stitching Piecework Magazine's freebie 'Quaker Heart'.  Here are my first few stitches from last week.

 

And I made a little progress over the weekend.  I am using my very favorite linen, Lambswool.  I love the stiffness of the fabric (which is easy for me to work with) and how it becomes nice and soft/flexible with handling.  I had a variety of colors set out to choose from but in the end I chose red as it seemed to look the best against the fabric.  It is pretty predictable, so I might stitch another one using a different color.  It depends on how fast the stitching goes, though it seems to work up pretty quickly. 

 

And I've pulled out a couple of Valentine's Day charts, too.  I am not overly fond of the actual holiday, which seems really commercialized, but I will admit to a fondness for Valentine's Day-related needlework designs.  This is an older chart by Sheepish Designs called "Valentine Wabbit".  I ordered my supplies--well, some of them. I need to read the materials' lists a bit more carefully.  I didn't order enough beads/treasures, but I should still have enough materials to start work.  And I am also missing a few floss colors and the ribbons (am not sure where I can order those).  I think I may change the phrase in the heart--what's there seems a bit cutesy to me (or maybe I am feeling especially cranky this winter).  Any ideas?  I could just stitch 'love'---something simple.

 

I stitched "Valentine Holiday" by Birds of a Feather before, but I gave it away in an exchange.  You can see a photo in my Picturetrail album in the 2005 Finishes section (scroll down).  It's not a great photo as I used my scanner.  This was before I owned my trusty little digital camera.  I didn't use the fabric that was called for, but did I bother to note what I used?  Of course not.  This time around I am using the fabric as listed on the chart.  It seems very red, but I am sure it will work just fine.  I think I will start with this one.  I am excited to finally stitch this for myself!

I'll still be working on my GH "Sampler Farm", but I really like having smaller projects on the go as well and being able to switch back and forth.  ...And after these I will start thinking about some spring designs!  But first things first!