WIP: Wheels of Color (by Genny Morrow)

Today's featured WIP is Wheels of Color, designed by the late Genny Morrow.

Technique/Materials:  Counted canvas, with lots of canvaswork stitches (each wheel is a different stitch) on 18ct mono canvas using a mix of DMC and Anchor cotton floss.

Background:  I started Wheels one week prior to beginning a master's degree program in December 2004, thinking that if I could stitch one wheel per week, I'd finish within a year.  (Uh-huh.  Apparently, the prospect of starting a master's degree program rendered me temporarily stupid.)

Anyway, I really do like this piece, and I decided to stitch the gray background such that it is lightest near the darkest rings, and darkest near the lightest rings (rather than a solid light gray as shown on this website).  The instruction book has a version of this, but has the octagon areas of background moving from dark to light opposite the little squares of background, which change values with the surrounding circles.  My version will have the octagon and square background areas changing in the same direction.  (Wow, that's hard to describe! I know what I'm talking about, and I'm still confused. Let me know if I need to rewrite that.)

Why it's not done:  Did I mention a master's degree program? Yeah, right!  Keeping up with this piece went out the window very quickly.  After the degree, I started having flare-ups with nerve problems, exacerbated by using a laying tool. This is still a slight problem, which is why I'm working on it only a little bit each day now.

What's left to do:  It's only about half-done now. It will eventually be a rectangle, and then there's a border to add.

WIP: How Great the Blessing (by Catherine Theron)

Today's featured WIP is How Great the Blessing, designed by Catherine Theron.

Technique/Materials: Various sampler stitches (cross, queen, smyrna cross, four-sided stitch, long-arm cross, etc.) on 36ct linen using silks from Vikki Clayton.

Background: Blessing was started in April 2009 in a class with Catherine sponsored by my local EGA chapter (Rochester, NY). It has seen fairly active progress since.

I'm always amazed during classes when stitchers can bring their own materials. For this class, Catherine only supplied the ground fabric (a choice of 32ct and 36ct) and a list of the threads needed. Some stitchers purchased DMC floss, some used the original Soie d'Alger from Au ver a Soie, some brought Needlepoint Inc silk floss, and I picked up silk from Vikki. Even though we were all using "the same colors", the resultant pieces are varying widely, especially as a few of us are getting more stitched.

Why it's not done: Not enough hours in the day. Since this piece hasn't been set aside like so many others, there's no interesting reason!

What's left to do:  Finish the leaves, flowers, and berries on the borders. Complete the alphabet and the line of personalization below it. Add a verse flanked by vases (above the house). When that's all done, I might go back and fill in the flowers on the central vine and put in little plants in the empty areas on the left and right of the central vase, but right now I think I like the bottom of the sampler as it is.

WIP: Cinders (by Marion Scoular)

Today's featured WIP is Cinders, designed by Marion Scoular.

Technique/Materials: Blackwork and surface stitching on 22ct hardanger fabric with DMC floss, DMC floche, and overdyed floss from the now-defunct Needle Necessities (for the cat).

Background: I started Cinders in April 2008 during a class with Marion with the Corning EGA chapter. The class kit included the floche, the overdyed thread, and the fabric with the line-drawn design. The instructions included basic information on blackwork and ways to shade using blackwork stitches, along with 13 pages of blackwork and darning filling stitches.

Some stitchers decided to examine the photo of Marion's original piece, find the stitches she used in each area, and replicate the original. Marion encouraged those with some blackwork experience to try selecting their own stitches and colors for each area. I've gone this route, and I'm pleased with the result so far.

Why it's not done: I got stuck on the bucket (Oh, excuse me. Coal scuttle. Sorry, Marion!).

I had a really difficult time choosing a stitch for the inside of the bucket. When I picked this piece up again recently, I was going to use Rhodes stitches to represent lumps of coal. I tried that this week. It didn't look right. I tried an overall darning pattern. That was too heavy, and didn't have shading to indicate where the coal was. I've tried a couple of different filling stitches, and I think I've found one that lets me shade the "coal" appropriately. What do you think?

What's left to do:  Filling in the rest of the bucket and the inside curve of the handle, outlining a few areas, adding more color to her hair (though it won't be entirely filled in), and stitching a few bricks in the background wall.

NaBloPoMo 2009

In an effort to get myself into blogging more regularly, I've taken the plunge.  I signed up for National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo, which challenges bloggers to post every day for the month of November.  I did this (successfully!) two years ago, and I hope I can do as well this year. 

Of course, two years ago, I was stitching much more, so I had more to blog about.  In lieu of writing about what I'm currently stitching, I've instead decided to blog on a theme this month.  Don't worry; the theme is still very much about my stitching.  Each day, I'll write a post about one of my WIPs.

Yes, I have enough WIPs (Works in Progress), or, perhaps more accurately, WISPs* (Works in Slow Progress) to feature one each day for the month.  Who knows?  I may continue into December, if more turn up in my digging!

In case you're wondering, today's featured WIP will follow this in a separate post.


* Some people might call these UFOs (UnFinished Objects), but I really prefer WISP.  It sounds like I really do intend to finish them.  And I do.  Someday.

Happy Halloween!

Another project: EGA Master Craftsman

In addition to the three projects I discussed in my last post, at some point I need to really start my step two piece for the EGA Master Craftsman program in Canvas, since I need to turn it in by the end of March.

Here's the description of this step from the EGA Education Catalog:

STEP 2. Twenty-one different stitches used in a provided design with an analogous color scheme.

It's an accurate description.  The provided design is an abstract design with twenty-one different areas, and I need to choose which of the twenty-one listed stitches go in each area, with no repeats.  The second part of the description mentions "an analogous color scheme."  This type of color scheme consists of neighboring primary and secondary colors on the color wheel.  In my case, I'm using red-orange, red, and red-violet.  I chose this scheme as a way to stretch myself, since I don't use these colors often.  I've already made preliminary decisions for color placement, made easy with photo-editing software.

I'll start by stitching each of the prescribed stitches on a doodle canvas so I can get a side-by-side comparison of the textures of each, which will help with placement in the design.  Somehow I'll fit this in with the other pieces in my rotation.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to share pictures of my progress on this piece here in the blog.  Since each stitcher in the program must make their own decisions in stitching the pieces up for evaluation, I can't share mine because (a) I may get comments that influence my own decisions and (b) somebody else in the program may be influenced by some of my choices.

Are you working towards your Master Craftsman certification in any of the disciplines?  Have you considered it?  I'm only through one step, and even though it's not described as an educational experience, but rather a means of "proving" technical expertise, I've already learned quite a bit! 

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Erin update:  To make up for my lack of stitchy pictures in this post, and since some of you asked, here's a recent shot of Erin.