The Peacock's Feather

Not So Distracted Anymore

Last weekend I was almost ready to give up on this one, but happily I stuck with it and have a little rhythm going now.  As a matter of fact I stitched every day last week, something I haven't done in a really long time--even if it was only for fifteen or twenty minutes before going to bed.  Borders are nice, repetitious things to work on when stitching time is limited.  Usually I get in most of my stitching on Saturday and Sunday evenings.  I've also done a little over-one stitching.  I am heeding the advice I received on my previous post and trying to stitch just a little bit of the over-one motifs as I go rather than waiting until the end.  I did notice a couple of mistakes--one I am not going to pick out (the over-one square on the right is off one thread--who will notice?) and one I did pick out and re-do (the border was off--one too many stitches and it wasn't matching up).  But so far so good.  I didn't really pay attention to the dimensions of this (it had been kitted up years ago), so I hadn't realized how small it really is.  I like it, though.  I think I will make it into a little pillow and I have the fabric for it already in mind (will have to dig through my fabric bin!).

 

I've got all the supplies ready to work on my "Valentine Wabbit" by Sheepish Designs.  Everything except the ribbons of course.  It calls for three different silk ribbon colors--red, rose and cream in 4mm width.  I am hoping I can find it at Michaels.  If not can anyone think of a good source online to order silk ribbon? 

This weekend I hope to work on my Quaker Heart freebie and perhaps start one of my new projects!  Have a nice weekend everyone! 

Has anyone stitched . . . ?

I'm really happy that I've been stitching fairly regularly again, but I don't want to get into the habit of buying too much new stash.  I have loads of charts that are kitted up and ready to go, so I really do want to limit the number of new designs I buy.  However, I've been contemplating stitching Blackbird Designs' Loose Feather Mystery from 2008.  (By the way I snagged this photo from Needlecraft Corner and am hoping it is from the last chart).  I admired this back in 2008, but I wasn't really stitching much at the time, so I never bothered to order it.  Now I want it, and of course I am itching to stitch it. 

My question--has anyone stitched it, and do you have a photo I can see?  I am really interested in stitching it on five separate pieces of linen, but I am unsure if I will be able to stitch them together correctly at the end.  I'm particularly interested in seeing a finish using the different linen.  If all else fails I will simply use one solid piece of linen and am sure it will still be lovely.  Can you tell I have already decided I am getting this one?

And am I the only person not to know there is yet another Hawk Run Hollow chart coming out?!  I have yet to finish the first one, have started the second, have the linen and chart for the third, and not even the chart yet for the fourth.  My birthday is next month, so if I give in to temptation again, it will be in the form of asking for it for my birthday gift!  I wonder what other Market goodies I am going to want. 

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!

Becoming Distracted . . .

I hate to say this, but I'm starting to lose interest in stitching "The Sampler Farm" at the moment.  It's the over one stitching that I don't especially like, though there is plenty to work on that is just regular cross stitch.  Maybe if I start working on the border and keep going on the alphabet that will give me the impetus to continue?  I blame it on the weather in part.  I want something bright to stitch since it is so dreary and gray out.  Green and yellow are good colors to work with, however.  I can leave the brown house until later.  We'll see.  I'm notorious for doing this.  Starting and setting aside. 

I think I might also do a little seasonal stitching--something small.  Inspired by Annemiek's work, I think I might print out that freebie myself.  More on Valentine's Day stitching later.  Are you a seasonal stitcher?

Have you read . . . ?

Have you read Rebecca Stott's The Coral Thief?

I've checked it out from the library several times and returned it unread, but it seems now is simply the right time to read it.  Paris in 1815 (warm, sunny Paris in July, too) is far more interesting than what I see outside my window today.  What I see is a sky filled with endless gray clouds and thick fog, which has unfortunately been going on for days and days.  Much better to escape into a novel, I think. 

The Coral Thief concerns a young student of natural history who is traveling to Paris after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo.  After studying in Edinburgh he's thrilled to be going to such an exciting city to continue his research under the tutelage of the legendary Dr. Cuvier like so many other young men at the time.  However, he makes the mistake of falling asleep on the mail coach en route to Paris.  Sitting next to him is a beautiful young woman with a child who speaks perfect English and speaks to him of the new scientific thinking that's going on.  In the morning when he wakes he discovers his bag is missing.  His bag with all his notebooks, a manuscript, and rare coral fossils are gone.  And so is the beautiful young woman.  

"I tried to make out the full magnitude of what had happened.  Professor Jameson, I reminded myself, seeking to build bridges between British and French science now that the war was finally over, had entrusted me with gifts and a manuscript to take to professor Cuvier, probably the most important man of science in France.  The specimens and the manuscript were irreplaceable.  The loss was not only an embarrassment, it was a scandal.  This would almost certainly mean my return to the gray streets of Edinburgh, or to my father's house, shamed.  Even if I went to the police and could make myself understood, even if the specimens were found returned, the story would be the same: Daniel Connor had lost the rare and irreplaceable gifts entrusted to his care because he had dropped his guard and fallen asleep on the mail coach, seduced into a false sense of security by a beautiful woman.  It was pitiable."

How long do you think it will take until the beautiful young woman shows up again?  Not long at all I expect.

This is what I do in my free time when I'm not stitching.  Find a good book to lose myself in!

Finished: A Giving Heart

The last few stitches went pretty quickly on this design (Drawn Thread's "A Giving Heart").  And the finishing went pretty smoothly as well.  The nice thing about little projects like these is the instant gratification you get from them!  Now back to my larger projects.

 

This is one of the larger projects I want to get back to, Drawn Thread's "Toccata 2".  I started it at the beginning of last year and made a little progress, but working with gold thread isn't my favorite thing and it was making me anxious, so it was set aside.  I pulled it out this morning and finished the rest of the motif.  I think I need to add soie perlee to my list of unfavorite materials to work with!  I guess it turned out okay as long as you don't look too closely.  I get to perfect my style as the next motif is more of the same--couching using the same materials.  Only laying the gold thread horizontally rather than vertically.  If I can get past that I think there'll be some easier stitches to follow.  Challenge is good, though, right? 

Alas, I have a regular project to work on as well--all cross stitch and not terribly large to keep things varied.  I'll share my progress later in the week!

Working On: A Giving Heart

Over the weekend I was rummaging around in my UFO bin (it would be more precise to say bins I'm sorry to say...) and found this little design by A Drawn Thread (do you remember when Elegant Stitch was selling a series of these little accessories to help raise money for breast cancer research?  I think I might have all of them scattered about but mostly unstitched).  It's called "A Giving Heart" and I had the heart and hands all stitched so decided it was time to finish it.  I just have a bit left to complete, which I hope to get to this afternoon (am lucky to have the holiday off from work).  I really need to sort through my bins and get all my UFOs together and start finishing them!  So, perhaps this will be the first of many.  Hopefully I'll be able to share a 'finished' photo soon.

Toccata No. Four and Five!

Although I'm still working on Toccata Two, I asked for the newer Toccatas for Christmas. As you can see I was lucky enough to find them under the tree!  I'm hoping having Three through Five on hand (and Three is all kitted up) will spur me on to get back to my work on number Two!

 

Here's where I left off.  I'm working on the little motif under the tree.  I'm not too fond of working with the gold thread, which I think is why I've not picked this one up in a while.  As soon as I get past those little motifs I think things will go much faster.

A little side note--I've been trying to update things on my blog and I've started with my blogroll.  Some of the links were dead or the blogs hadn't been updated in years.  If I have inadvertantly deleted you from my blogroll, please let me know and I will add it back in!  I finally dropped Bloglines and added all the blogs on my blogroll to my Google Reader account, which I check daily.  Hopefully I'll stay more up to date on things.  I really do want to be a little  more timely in my posts (famous last words!).  If you're curious where I've been all this time, I am an avid reader and am often busy over here,  Some years I spend more of my free time on crafts, but lately I've been reading more.  Oh, to have a few more hours in the day!  Still, I very much miss being part of the stitching community and am sorry that I've been so absent.  We'll see how things go in 2010.

Marry Garry Christmas Ornament 2009

Although I stitched this last year I just did the finishing last week, so I guess I'll count it as my first real finish of 2010.  To be honest I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out.  Am I being far too critical?  It's just that the finishing felt really sloppy.  I was very bad and used fabric glue for one, rather than doing it all using thread and needle.  I had a hard time getting the fabric stretched over the boards neatly and in line.  It doesn't help that the design has borders, which makes it really obvious if something is a little off center.  And I probably didn't cut my boards as straight as I could.  I've done so little finishing lately that I've really gotten out of practice.  I think it took me as long to tie the bow as it did doing everything else!  But it's done!  I apologize for the bad photo--my camera is on its last legs and there's no sunshine today, so it looks very drab.  Usually sitting it under a lamp makes the colors look much warmer, so I'm not sure what happened.  Perhaps I'll hide it away for a while and when I take it out again I'll be better pleased with it?

 

And I'm making a bit of (slow) progress on my Sampler Farm by Goode Huswife.  I'm finding the over one stitching challenging to say the least, but I'll keep going on it.  I may save the over one parts until last!  So far so good on this one in any case!  Needless to say I won't have to do the finishing on this myself!!