The Peacock's Feather

Weekend Projects!

I have a long weekend coming up--yay! I am taking off Friday from work, and Monday the library is closed for Labor Day.  So the question, of course, is what to stitch!  My main goals are to hemstitch and sew my needleroll for one exchange, and to finish my over one project for another exchange, and hopefully do the finishing on that one as well.  It would also be nice to start stitching on my Halloween project, and work on a sweet bag I have going.  Yes, I have been busy with exchanges, which is why I haven't had many progress pics to share lately!  I have been stitching however!!

It would also be nice to work on something of my own as well.  This may be hoping for too much of course, but I might get more accomplished than I think!  So I was trying to decide on whether to work on my My Beekeeper class project (which I doubt I will get all stitched before the first class--naughty me for procrastinating!) or try and stitch up and finish this little Merry Cox project from a SANQ back issue.  I am so envious of everyone's Merry Cox finishes.  This may be the closest I come anytime soon to working on anything very big by her.  I do, however, have back issues of  SANQ that have several Merry projects, so I can work my way through those if nothing else!  But I should be good and work on those pinwheels, shouldn't I???

I am destined to stitch a Prairie Schooler....

This surprise came for me in the mail today!  My friend, Sandy, sent me the limited edition Prairie Schooler Santa kit!  I wanted this, but it was either order this *one* kit or get a few of the new charts.  I really feel like starting a PS project now!  This has the fabric and the overdyed floss.  The overdyed floss is new--the designs up until now have only called for DMC!  Maybe this will help usher in cooler weather, too!!

I just finished stitching on my needleroll.  I have a few more beads to add, and then I will be ready to hemstitch the ends and get it all finished!  It is nice to be close to completing a project!

Carriage House Samplings Surprises

Here are some of the new Carriage House Samplings designs from Market.  I broke down and bought some of the alphabet series as well as Sweet Humility (this seems to be one of the popular ones) and The Garden Glade.  I love designs with ladies in flowing skirts! I have a feeling that you have to really see this one in person to completely appreciate it!  It has a sort of Renaissance-y feel to it.  I love Kathy's alphabet series, though I don't have all of them (something to work towards-LOL!).  I have seen them finished in a variety of different ways.  I am not sure I would want to stitch them on one large piece of fabric, but it would be fun to make some of them into little cushions or needlebooks.  I also love the Christmas stockings.  I think my favorite is the Quaker in the blue color scheme.  And have you seen all the little finishes on the CHS by the Italian stitcher, Niky?  I need to think more "outside the box" like she does.  She is very good about taking a design and changing it to suit how she finishes something.  I tend to stick with everything the designer has suggested, but it is nice to see these adaptations and get a little inspiration! 

Prairie Schooler Finish

I stitched this Prairie Schooler freebie for my friend Sandy.  As she just received it in the mail, it is safe to post a photo of it.  This was a fun quick project to stitch.  I chose Lt Mocha fabric, but it looks much lighter here than in reality.  I was pleased how it turned out.  I dread making cording, but I am getting a little better at it!  Now I will have to work on sewing the ends into the cushion--mine always look so messy.  To avoid that I made a loop at the top and let the ends hang off the bottom. 

I have been working away on my needleroll this weekend.  I am nearly finished with the stitching.  I will have some specialty stitches to do, and then beads to add.  I should be ready to finish it in just a couple of days.  I showed the over one project to a coworker and she said to keep on working at it (so maybe it is not as horrible as I feel like!).  I found a pair of magnifying glasses at Michaels yesterday, and amazingly they really help--especially here at home where the light is really not good for over one stitching.  I hope to get the stitching done on this by the end of the week, and then I can finish both projects over the long Labor Day weekend.  Then on to the next project.  I am half way through stitching on my Quaker and it has been easy and enjoyable stitching there.  Then I have two Halloween projects (one is started already), and my redwork project (the fabric is cut and I think I have chosen my floss)!  I went a little crazy on exchanges, but they are through three different groups so when I was signing up for them it didn't seem like a lot!  I am definitely not going to take on so many after I am caught up with these!  They are lots of fun, but I am in the mood to get back to some of my own projects, too!!  And then there is Christmas stitching... 

Stitching Blogger's Question

I haven't been keeping up with the Stitching Blogger's Questions much lately.  Here is the most recent:

What's the largest project you've ever done? What's the smallest?  So far the largest project I have completely finished is Sanctuary by Drawn Thread.  I finished this several years ago and I just love it.  I really enjoyed working on it, as I love learning new stitches.  Sorry the photo is on the dark side, it is really much brighter than it appears.  It is stitched on Lambswool with NPI silks.  I have it hanging in my living room, which has no over head light hence the dark photo.  I have loads of Drawn Thread projects all kitted up and ready to go.  I would love to stitch Toccata 1 and also Souvenir!  Really the largest project so far that I have worked on is And They Sinned by Examplar Dames.  I admit, however, that I am still on the first page!!  I would love to finish it someday, though!!

Here is my smallest project to date.  I finished stitching it earlier in the year around Easter time.  It is by Bent Creek called The Littles: Bunny.  This is not a good scan of this--too bright or something.  I still have not done the finishing on it, but I plan on making it into a little fob.  I like this little series they have come out with.  I was given Black Kitty. They also have a couple not in this series, but they are also small that I want to stitch: Jig of the Ladybug, and Dance of the Bumblebee!

Kits are Great!

I really love little kits.  It is nice when they have all or most of the materials and you are ready to stitch right away!  I saw today that Lelia over at Stitches of Life is working on this Mary Garry's Sewing Cabin kit.  Milkpaint colors are really lovely, and I have several of these Kreinik Remember the Ladies kits.  I had pulled a couple out recently thinking I need to stitch one, but I am too busy with my exchange projects at the moment.  The only thing I am not too fond of--it seems like these kits call for over one stitching.  I am struggling with that at the moment!  I can always use a 40 count linen, though, and stitch over two.   Alas, I just pulled out the chart and this one calls for over two stitching--yahoo, and I might even have the RR fabric color in my stash!  Hmm. 

The other little kit is by a British company called Textile Heritage Collection.  I have a few of these fob kits, too.  Unfortunately they come with Aida instead of linen.  But I am sure I can always pull something out of my stash instead.  This one has navy blue Aida, but I think it would look quite nice on black linen!

I have some other cool little kits as well--Shepherds Bush needlerolls, and one or two fob kits, a cool little tiny basket that I am too lazy at the moment to get out and tell you who the designer is!  And check these out by the  Sweetheart Tree.  I have had my eye on these fob kits since they started coming out, and I finally broke down and ordered a couple!  I should have all sorts of stash coming in the mail.  I have been very bad lately!  But every day I come home and there is nothing waiting for me here!  I have a feeling it is all going to come on the same day!!  It is nice to have something fun to look forward to!

Abandoned Project

Don't worry, I am not really going to abandon this.  I really like this design, and I had chosen it for my freebie exchange--it is a Little House Needleworks freebie using Crescent Colors.  I thought I would use a higher linen count, though, so I pulled out some 35 count lambswool.  It was all going pretty well, and I was enjoying this until I got to the black bird.  If you enlarge the photo (sorry, I just tried but I made the file pretty small--but trust me it is!) you can probably see how skimpy the coverage is, which then made me feel like it all looked too skimpy.  As of late I have been a bit paranoid with my stitching, but I am starting to get over it--no worry.  I will finish this for myself later on, and rework the black birds and maybe strawberries.  I wonder if it would look strange to have those stitched with two plies and everything else with one ply?  But I can worry about that later now.  I think I have made a second choice on a good freebie, and will get that one started right away.  I also changed my mind on the needleroll I was stitching.  I am never happy apparently (yes, I know, sheesh)--that one called for two strands of silk mori on 32 count fabric, and it felt a bit bulky.  Mostly my problem with that--my stitches looked very messy.  It is a a sort of geometric pattern and I didn't know how to follow the boxes in a way to make them all look uniform.  I have not completely put that one out to pasture yet, but if/when I do, I may post a picture.  I do have another design waiting in the wings--it was actually my first choice to begin with, so maybe this was meant to be after all.  I promise these are my two renegade projects, and I will try to get back to my normal happy stitching self.  I will have a photo to share soon of something that I mailed off earlier in the week--a project I was actually happy with!  Imagine that!  Maybe tomorrow I can share!  Until then, I am getting myself sorted out.  Do you ever put aside a project because you are just not happy with it?? 

Collaboration Sampler

I have really been in the mood lately to work on my Houses of Hawk Run Hollows.  CHS is one of my very favorite designers (I know I say that about how many???).  I did get to put in a few stitches last week, and maybe I will tonight as well.  Now this is an example of non-frustrating stitching for me! :)  After my complaining yesterday, here is one I am enjoying despite working very, very slowly on it!  I am stitching it on 40 count fabric using on strand of AVAS!  And I think the coverage in this case looks pretty decent.  I was thinking about when I could really work on this.  During the Christmas holidays, the library where I work is closed down from the 24th of December to the 2nd of January.  Since I didn't take a vacation this summer I am accumulating some extra vacation days, and I was thinking I could take off the week before Christmas as well.  As the 24th lands on a Saturday we really don't get much extra time off.  It would be great to just stay at home and relax and Stitch All Day Long!  Now that sounds like a nice vacation to me!  I wonder how much of this I could get completed during that time?  I may not be able to finish it,but I bet I could get a nice chunk of it done.  This is something I will definitely keep in mind.  I know I change my mind so often when it comes what to stitch on!!

If you are a fan of CHS as well, you may already have read this:

Have you all heard about the collaboration sampler being worked on by a group of ten designers? The tentative name for the sampler is "A Most Noble Pursuit" and it's going to be spectacular! We hope to have it ready for Nashville (February), 2006.

It is a big sampler—408 stitches wide by 242 stitches high. Each of the 10 designers has designed a block. The blocks can all be stitched to make a large sampler or the blocks can be stitched individually.

The model uses Lakeside Linen's linen, Needlepoint Silk and a frame from Primitive Traditions.

The designers involved are: Brightneedle, Tricia Brage Designs, Primitive Traditions, Hands to Work, With My Needle, La-D-Da, The Workbasket, A Stitch and A Prayer, Praiseworthy Stitches, and me.

Just thought I'd stir up some excitement!!

Kathy 

This was posted on the Leagacy board, and I hope I am not stepping on any toes by posting it on my blog here as well.  I am very excited about this.  It sounds wonderful, and large!  This is partially why I want to make some serious progress on my Houses of Hawk Run!  Now we just have to wait until February for it!!!

Stitching Frustrations

I am a bit frustrated at the moment.  I am working on an exchange project.  We can stitch anything we like, but it has to be a freebie design.  I am stitching it on 35 count lambswool with one ply of floss.  As I stitch more, I tend to prefer higher fabric counts (35-40 count), and using just one ply of floss.  It seems to go smoother and my stitches look much neater.  Whenever I stitch with two plies of floss I feel as though my stitches look very bulky and I feel like they are not terribly neat no matter how I try and get all the floss to lay nicely.  So when I chose my design, I decided to use 35 count with just one ply of floss, and at first I was really liking how it was stitching up.  But now I am a bit undecided.  This is another problem I have--indecisiveness!  I keep changing my mind on things.  Since this is something I am giving away, I want it to look as nice as possible.  This freebie has a black bird on it, and I think the black on the lambswool looks rather skimpy.  Of course it is too late (I have too much stitched) to start it over.  So I chose another design entirely.  I am now stitching on 32 count, but I am stitching over one!  Out of the frying pan and into the fire!!  I love this new design, but now I have a new problem.  Some of the floss colors blend in very well with the fabric color, which makes it hard for me to stitch.  I have good eyesight, but my poor little nightstand lamp is just not giving me the light I need to stitch quickly.  Now that I have a little bit stitched, I can see the what I am stitching, but it is a slow process.  Once I decide which one I am using for my exchange, I will show you the other one.  I am also working on  a needleroll.  This calls for silk mori using two plies on 32 count fabric.  Again, I feel like my stitching is not very neat and the stitches are bulky again.  But I plan on sticking with this one, as I really like the design!

So what do you prefer?  Larger or smaller counts?  Do you like using one or two plies of floss?  Or do you stick with what the designer used on the model?  I know we are always our own worst critic--I would never be so critical over something someone else had stitched for me.  But for my own work...Hence my indecision!   

I Love Prairie Schooler

I love Prairie Schooler designs.  When I first started stitching PS was one of the first designers I started collecting.  I think the first sampler I finished was a garden sampler as well!  I would love to have all of them in my collection, but the OOP charts can be a bit expensive on eBay, so I will make due getting the ones I can get inexpensively.  To be honest I am not sure if I really like all the new designs, but of course designers have to progress in their styles and evolve.  Basically what I don't like about the new designs are the figures.  They remind me of something from the 70s (are those the same type that were popular with quilters?).  But I like everything else.  I have on order the Santas 12-days of Christmas.  And PS designs make great little gifts when you want to make a little pincushion or fob, and there are lots of freebies, too!  These are older charts that just came in the mail.  This is how terrible I am---I ordered some things from Elegant Stitch, and received most of my order.  I completely forgot about these charts that had to be ordered, so I got a little surprise in the mail today!