WIP: Blue Hardanger (original)

Hooray! It's November 30! I made it through NaBloPoMo, though it was a close call with a late post yesterday. Time for one last featured WIP. It is another original design that I refer to as the Blue Hardanger.

Technique/Materials:  Hardanger on 25ct lugana.  The kloster blocks and buttonhole are stitched in Caron's Watercolours.  The rest of the stitching is in pearl cotton.

Background:  I think I started this around 8 years ago. Unlike the pastel hardanger, I started working this one from the inside out. I figured out the octagon shape, then created a nine-patch of octagons, figuring out the outside border after that.

Why it's not done:  I really hate sounding like a broke record, so you can fill in the blanks. Worked in-hand, nerve problems, yada yada.

What's left to do:  The remaining buttonhole around the outside, and all of the filling stitches, both the dove's eyes and needleweaving inside the octagon shapes and the larger blocks that will allow for fancier stitches.

WIP: Angel of the Sea (by Lavender & Lace)

Today's featured WIP is Angel of the Sea by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum of Lavender & Lace.

Technique/Materials:  Cross stitch on 32ct linen with cotton floss, metallic braid, and beads.

Background:  This was originally intended as a gift for a friend after the birth of her first baby. I think that baby is now 7 or 8. Ooops!

Why it's not done:  I've had this project mounted on a floor stand since I started it. The floor stand, given to me, has legs on both ends, so it's designed to straddle the stitcher's chair. Up until 2 years ago, my main stitching chair was a "chair and a half" similar to the one seen here. Of course, the floor stand wouldn't fit over this, so I had to use it in another room, which didn't have good lighting for stitching. As a result, I've stitched this only on sunny evenings and weekends, and not at all in the past year (though it's remained set up in my living room with a towel draped over it!).

What's left to do:  The bottom of the skirt and all of the waves.

WIP: Drawn Thread Sampler #2 (by Jonalene Gutwein)

Today's featured WIP is Jonalene Gutwein's Drawn Thread Sampler #2.

Technique/Materials:  Cross stitch and drawn thread (obviously!) with cotton and linen threads on 28ct linen.

Background:  This sampler is a retired correspondence course from EGA. I took the course in 2002 or 2003 with the CyberStitchers chapter. I changed the color of the cross stitched areas from the original, but I don't think I planned any other changes. The picture here is of Jonalene's original.

Why it's not done:  I think I wasn't happy with the way it was coming out. I didn't like the brown color I had chosen. The knots seemed to keep slipping in the drawn thread areas. I think I just became frustrated and set it aside.

What's left to do:  The bottom three-quarters of the sampler, plus the butterfly in the upper left corner and the hemstitch all the way around.

WIP: Silver Bells (by Blue Bear Beads)

Today's WIP showcases yet another technique. It is Silver Bells, designed by Dawn Dalto of Blue Bear Beads.

Technique/Materials:  Peyote and brick stitch beading using Delica beads, with a spiral beaded cord for a hanger.

Background:  In 2001, I attended the now-defunct CATS (Creative Arts and Textiles Show) in Hershey, PA. While there, I took Dawn Dalto's White Christmas ornament class, and purchased the pattern for this ornament. The assembly for both is the same. I think I finished White Christmas that  year, but I didn't start Silver Bells until over a year later, in 2003.

Why it's not done:  Unfortunately, it was around 2003 when I started having flare-ups with a pinched nerve in my neck that caused numbness in my right hand whenever I did "in-hand" work. (Yup. Whenever I dropped my head and raised my shoulder, within a few minutes the first three fingers of my right hand would go numb. After consulting a neurologist and an MRI, I was given the brilliant conclusion of "it must just be positional", since they didn't see the pinch on the MRI. Umm... yeah. Hence, I don't do much in-hand work these days. My lap stand is used for everything.)

What's left to do:  After the remaining four peaks are completed, I'll join the end of "Love" to the beginning of "Noel," then stitch the peaks together. The stuffing will be inserted before the last side is sewn shut. Then, I'll add the beaded cord. (Of course, I can only work on this if I haven't had a nerve flare-up in a while, and then it might only be for 30 minutes or so.)

WIP: Delicate Flowers (by Pat Mazu)

Before I jump in to this post, please let me wish each and every one of you (or at least, those here in the US) a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Oddly enough, my featured WIP of the day is a miniature Christmas stocking. It is Delicate Flowers, designed by Pat Mazu.

Technique/Materials:  Various canvaswork stitches on green 18ct mono canvas using silk threads.

Background: This project is from the 2003 ANG Chapter Project Book. As the name indicates, this is a book of small projects for chapters to use as programs for meetings. Our chapter did this project as a program sometime in 2004 or 2005. As usual, I changed all the colors around from the original.

Why it's not done: I had trouble determining exactly what colors to make the flowers in the bottom portion of the stocking. I thought that they should look like poinsettias, which is why I was leaning toward the burgundy. In the upper left, I tried this color in one position, with a lighter pink in the center of each flower. I realized that this didn't look like poinsettias at all, so I tried the burgundy in the more dominant center, as seen in the lower right. At some point, it became obvious that the pink was just too much of a contrast, so I needed to find something a bit darker. Somehow it sat like that for a while, and eventually found its way into the neglected projects corner!

What's left to do:  All of the flowers in the bottom, and metallic accents throughout. As I'm working the flowers, I also have to figure out how to tie off all the ends of the green threads at the bottom. Yes, it looks like a mess of ends because it is! There's just no way to bury the ends of the grid threads until after the flowers are stitched. I did a few pinhead stitches, but I like to bury a thread under at least a couple of stitches so the pinheads can't work free.

WIP: A Case for Color (by Marilyn Bedford)

Today's featured WIP is a needlebook called A Case for Color, designed by Marilyn Bedford.

Technique/Materials:  Various Bargello motifs in silk thread (Waterlilies and Hand-Dyed Fibers) on a hand-dyed 32ct linen.

Background:  If I recall correctly, one of the members of our local EGA chapter had taken this class several years ago at a regional mini-seminar known as "Little Stitches". This seminar specifically only recruits teachers from within the region, to encourage new and aspiring designers and teachers. Several of us had seen the resultant needlecase that came from this class, so when Marilyn Bedford came into town for a region meeting in October 2008, we asked her to stay for an extra day to teach this class.

This was another project for which each student chose her own colors. In addition, students could place the various motifs anywhere within the cover area, though some are duplicating the original layout. I chose to make my needlebook slightly smaller than the original, so I've needed to rearrange and crop some of the motifs make them fit. Fortunately, it's very easy to do this in Bargello!

Why it's not done:  This was set aside when I started My Way and Summer Dream last November. I actually did work on it a bit during Erin's first surgery, but it didn't "stick."

What's left to do:  Filling in most of the empty areas with additional motifs, and then turning it into a needlebook.