Sinister Craftiness

Phew!  The beading took several days, but part one is finally done!  It seems like pictures never do justice to these Châtelaines; the beads and crystals are so sparkly.  At least the photo gives some idea of the lush colors and silks.  I decided to stitch this design on Fairy Dust Belfast linen, which is actually a little more peachy-yellow than shows up in this picture.  It’s a neutral color with a hint of warmth to make the bright greens and blues really pop.

On to the next chart!  It looks like part two will stitch up faster than part one, so maybe there is hope of catching up some day.

Heirloom Wedding Sampler
by Victoria Sampler
Platinum Cashel linen (28 ct)
Stitched with:
DMC perle cotton
Trebizond
Soie d’Alger
Silk Mori
silk ribbon
Kreinik #4 braid

Hooray, it’s done!  Now it needs to be framed.  I love Victoria Sampler band samplers; between learning new stitches and the overall sampler design, they keep me interested all the way through and the end result is always so pretty, making all the hard work worthwhile.  This design reminds me of an antique wedding gown, all lace and pearls.  Click on the picture on the left to see the larger (1 MB) version.

I think my next Victoria Sampler project will be the Heirloom Nativity and maybe its companion piece, the Carol Singers … but I’m not starting those any time soon.

I have, however, started the Châtelaine Designs Peacock Garden Mandala — better late than never!  Part One is almost complete; I’ll post photos when it’s done.  So far, the colors are gorgeous, rich greens and blues.  A big change from working with all white.  And I’m working on the JOB box lid and base.  But for now, here’s a last look at the Hardanger section of the sampler.

It’s been really frustrating not having a camera.  I hadn’t realized how often I use one, and how much I rely on photos to keep my blogging juices flowing.   Thing One leaves on a spring break school trip later this week, so we bought him a small, inexpensive digital camera, and I’m borrowing it for a quick set of pictures before he and the camera depart for their great adventure.  I’ve been researching cameras and am seriously considering one of the Canon superzoom models.  My stolen camera was a subcompact Canon and I was mostly happy with how it operated and the results I could get out of it, but I’d like to try out the superzoom features.  Any thoughts or recommendations to share?

On to the stitching!  After the burglary, I needed something to do very badly to take my mind off it — at least to keep from a bad fright every time there was an odd noise around the house.  The Heirloom Wedding Sampler’s soothing white-on-white design, with plenty of specialty stitches on which to concentrate, has been perfect.  Here’s a look at the sampler so far.

I began at the middle of the sampler and worked my way down to the Hardanger section, then up to the trellis heart with bullion roses.  In the customized area, where the couple’s names and wedding date are supposed to be stitched, I had one of my brilliant bad ideas:  how about adding a fancy French initial?  Stitched over one, yet?  I don’t like to do much stitching over one; it leaves me cross-eyed.  Why do I do this to myself?

It was supposed to be a white initial, but the one strand of AVAS didn’t show up at all, so I was stuck with an invisible letter, and a potentially ruined sampler.  However, I had plenty of AVAS left over from Noella, and the baby blue silk was a great fit with the taupe frame and accents.  Nice save, if I do say so myself.

The sampler is stitched on Platinum Belfast linen, using perle cotton in various sizes (mostly #12), AVAS and Trebizond silk, #4 Kreinik braid, and those little pearl beads dotting the bands.  After completing the bands on the sampler, I took a break to work on the scissor case for the Japanese Octagon Box, but I’ll be back soon to assemble the heart (these will be my first bullion roses; wish me luck) and get started on the Hardanger.

I took a break from the Japanese Octagon Box to begin the Heirloom Wedding Sampler, and I would love to show you pictures of it, but I can’t.  Why not?

Last week our home was robbed, and the burglar took my digital camera, in addition to some other small electronics, laptop and computer parts (but thankfully not the main computer) and all of my jewelry.  It has been a rough week as we try to put ourselves back together and work towards feeling safe again.

When I do feel like stitching, this band sampler has been a great comfort.  There’s something very soothing about concentrating on a specialty stitch, then embroidering the line across the fabric.  And since the sampler is for our upcoming anniversary, it’s a good reminder of what we still have.

The eight panels are done!  I think a small happy dance is in order.  Once I really got going, a panel could be stitched in just a couple of days, depending on how much stitching time I had on a particular day.

This is the last you’ll see of the box progress for a while.  I’ll show off the box, scissor case, and scissor fob once everything is finished.  Right now the scissor fob is about half done.

I’m excited to be so close to done!  Meanwhile, I gave in to temptation and signed up for the gorgeous Peacock Garden Mandala.  This Mandala Garden is a “mystery” project, which means that the chart parts are given out in monthly installments … but if you’d like to take a peek at the entire design, check out the Châtelaine bulletin board preview post.

The Peacock Garden started in January and its chart will be distributed through the associated Yahoo Group during 2010.  It will probably be a month before I can buy the kit, which should give me enough time to stitch up the final JOB pieces and finish them as a hopefully-not-too-lopsided octagonal box.

First pocket finished!  This is a very pretty design; I’m looking forward to the next pocket.

But first I have to put stitching aside for a little while for (brag mode on) Thing One’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor this weekend.  His award marks the beginning of the third generation of Eagle Scouts in my husband’s family:  Thing One’s grandfather is an Eagle Scout, his dad and all three uncles are Eagle Scouts, and now Thing One has set the example for his much younger cousins and little brother.  While putting together the slide show, it has been fun looking through the pictures of his adventures in Cub and Boy Scouts and seeing how much he has grown.

All my husband’s brothers, his sister, and parents are coming and staying at our house, starting Thursday.  With a few of the nieces and nephews and two sisters-in-law, that makes sixteen people.  My stitching room has to take one for the team and convert into a guest bedroom, and my work table will be used as a second dining table, so I have to stash my stash for the time being … although I think I’ll keep Three Friends out just in case.  See you next week!

After finishing Glow I began Three Friends, a needlework case by The Drawn Thread.  The title refers to the Chinese “three friends of winter”:  bamboo, pine, and plum blossom.  I’m stitching it with the recommended NPI and Dinky Dyes silks on 32 count Putty linen.  I decided to begin with the inside pockets; this one features a lovely satin stitched plum blossom.

I think this may be Chinook’s first appearance on this blog.  Usually Nanaimo claims the stitching table, but today Chinook got there first.  In the preferred napping spot are two stitching frames, with linen marked and all set to begin.  The wider one is for Theresa Wentzler’s Holly and Ivy Sampler.  I’ll be very happy if I can get it done in time for Christmas.  Chinook and Nanaimo are already looking forward to Tapestry Cat, which is next on my to-do list of Theresa Wentzler projects.

The narrow framed linen is for the Heirloom Wedding Sampler by Victoria Sampler.  About a year and a half ago I bought the supplies for it because three weddings of family and friends were in the works, but as it turned out, none of the couples wanted the sampler.  (After a less-than-grateful reaction to a birth sampler gift several years ago, if I’m not very, very sure the recipient will like a present of embroidery, I ask in advance to save the effort and disappointment.) Anyway, this year I’m stitching it for our own 20th wedding anniversary this May.  Victoria Sampler also offers a pretty anniversary sampler, but I like the white-on-white design of this one better.

The ort jar is filling up! I don’t know if I’ll continue to save my orts all year but it’s fun to track for now.

Welcome 2010!  Did anybody else spend some part of their New Year’s Eve at The Silver Needle’s sale?  The biggest discount was offered at 4:00 am my time.  Not my preferred shopping hour, but the resulting stash enhancement will be well worth the sleep deprivation.

Better late than never, here’s my 2009 finish gallery:

This is more of a sample collage; for a complete finish list see my new 2009 Finishes page.

For 2010 I’d like to work on a Hardanger project or two, and I’d like to stitch (or at least begin stitching) a couple of larger Victoria Sampler and Theresa Wentzler patterns.  We’ll see if all the usual smalls get in the way of these lofty plans, though — I’m always so sure I can finish a needleroll, stocking or biscornu in a day or two, but two days stretches into a week, and one small leads to another, so before I know it, the larger project is in the corner, gathering dust.

Speaking of which, I’m not much for resolutions, but I do want to finish this project this year:

Remember the Japanese Octagon Box?  I stitched up two panels over the holidays!  Now that it looks like it’s over half done (but not really half done, as the scissor case and box top & bottom aren’t stitched yet, but we won’t think about that) I feel more confident about completing the stitching.  The finishing instructions still look pretty intimidating, though.  One step at a time …

2000 Years Ago and In A Stable by Shepherd’s Bush
Vintage Country Mocha Belfast linen (32ct)
Stitched with GAST, WDW, DMC

Thing Two, my stitching helper, loves the simple verses on these Shepherd’s Bush pieces.  He calls them “Christmas stitching stories”.

The framer finished these over the weekend, just in time to put on the mantlepiece by the Christmas tree.  The Jill Rensel mats are beautiful; they make these little stitched pieces into very special holiday decorations.

A star shone with heavenly light
Shepherds gazed with awed delight
Wise men came with hearts alight
The Christ Child was born that night

Holy Night by Shepherd’s Bush
Summer Khaki Cork linen (19ct)
Stitched with Crescent Colours, GAST, WDW, RG Petite Alpaca

While waiting for the others to return, this was a fun piece to stitch up for Christmas.  Currently saving up for its special Rensel mat, to be framed some time next year and displayed for Christmas 2010.

I’d also like to work on three other large “showpiece” Christmas projects next year:  Theresa Wentzler’s Holly and the Ivy, and Victoria Sampler’s Heirloom Nativity and Carol Singers samplers.  I’d be happy if I could get any one of these done.