A Quick Peek at Another Upcoming Project

Okay, folks, NaBloPoMo is starting to take its toll. I actually had a pretty good topic for tonight’s post, but if I actually wrote that post tonight, it would be far less than stellar due to the author (a.k.a. me) falling asleep every other line.

I’ll leave you tonight with a brief look at an ANG correspondence course I’ll be starting on the first of the new year. This is Hiogi, a project designed by Kay Stanis to teach silk and metal thread techniques on Congress cloth.

Another beauty to look forward to!

Friday Finish: Silk Pageantry

This week's pick is just because I haven't featured much canvaswork lately here on Just String.

Design: Silk Pageantry, a now-retired ANG group correspondence course

Designer: Kay Cline

Technique: silk and metal on canvas

Ground fabric: 18ct mono canvas

Threads: silk floss, metallic threads, silver pearl purl

Stitches used: crossed and flat canvaswork stitches, couching

Stitching timeframe: middle to late 2006

I changed all but the background colors from Kay Cline's original design, including switching from gold pearl purl to silver. I was surprised to notice that the silver is starting to tarnish a bit already. Does anybody have any hints for slowing this tarnishing?

You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the pearl purl (see the arrows in the picture) is actually slightly stretched from its original form, resulting in a wavy silver wire that is couched. I really like this technique.

In case you're curious about how I framed this:

Potpourri class with Margaret Bendig

I've been absent from blogging in recent days, but I have been stitching! One of the pieces I've been working on is Margaret Bendig's Potpourri on Canvas (which I'll just shorten to Potpourri in future writing).

Yes, the class was last week. Two great days with a delightful teacher. We somehow talked our way through 46 different block patterns with recommendations of threads for each, yet still had time to stitch. Along the way, Margaret taught us the basics of a variation of Chottie's plaid, convinced me that several backstitches over 1 thread really would hold a thread tail, and provided several patterns that will make great backgrounds for future projects.

Here's the beginning of my piece. You can see the start of the plaid, along with hints of several other boxes.

There were about 14 students in the class, and I snapped pictures of several pieces, all in different color schemes. With the stitchers' permission, here they are.

We had so much fun with Margaret that we're already talking about bringing her back for another class, even though we'll have cross-country airfares. I highly recommend her as a teacher - and her designs are gorgeous!

A great stitch for baskets: Large Woven Stitch

In a recent post, I explained how I would be stitching hearts for cancer outreach in between each of my normal WIP finishes this year. To decide which stitch I would use for my first heart this year, I turned to a recent acquisition (purchased at my LNS's Super Bowl sale): Suzy's Surprize Stitches by SuZy Murphy.

I planned to use Caron Watercolours for the heart, just because

• I have several great colors of this in my stash.
• Only one strand is needed for coverage on 18ct canvas, so I don't have to dig out my laying tool (and therefore it stitches up more quickly!).

A good friend used Watercolours on one of her hearts, and it didn't cover very well when the stitches were all vertical or horizontal. This prompted me to look for a stitch made up of diagonal stitches. After considering several alternatives from SuZy's book, I decided to go with what she calls "Large Woven Stitch."

Here's my diagram and method of working this stitch. (Note that I used the same color throughout. The diagram only shows different colors to differentiate the rows.)

I like to think of this stitch as "inside-out Criss Cross Hungarian." You can see what I mean in my diagram of CCH:

Apparently I'm not alone in thinking of the Large Woven Stitch as a variation of CCH. In 2007, Brenda Hart showed this as Reversed Criss Cross Hungarian in ANG's Stitch of the Month series.

So, how does it stitch up? I think it looks pretty nice on my heart so far. I'm using Watercolours in Slate. (And yes, I know I stitched right over the spot where the cancer awareness ribbon is supposed to go. I'm going to add a separate ribbon later.)

 

This Large Woven Stitch looks like it would be a nice addition to any canvas worker's repertoire. It would make great baskets, parquet floors, or even a stone walkway. It might also make a nice non-directional background using a lighter-weight thread.

A win-win situation

Back in 2008, my ANG chapter kicked off an outreach project. For this project, each member was invited to stitch one or more hearts to be given to cancer patients at a local hospital. I decided to use purple, since this is the ribbon color for pancreatic cancer (much as pink is the ribbon color for breast cancer). Since two of my grandparents died of this horrible disease, purple it was! The picture on the right shows the heart I stitched then.

Our chapter's initial donation of 25 hearts (give or take a few) were a great success. The cancer center gave them to patients having an especially tough day, and the recipients were touched that complete strangers would make something like this for them.

Now, the cancer center has reported that they've run out of the hearts, and the chapter has decided to continue the project for as long as members are willing to make hearts.

If you'll recall, one of my goals for this year is to decrease my WIP count. I'd pretty much settled on the finish-two-start-one plan, but sometimes that means a LONG wait to start the next project. So, I've changed my plan. Now, after every finish, I'm stitching a heart for the cancer outreach project. In other words, the plan is now

• finish one WIP
• start and finish a heart
• finish another WIP
• start and finish another heart
• start something NEW!

Talk about a win-win situation. This lets me continue the WIP reduction, while scratching the itch to start something new and get another quick finish, all while contributing to our outreach project.

In addition, I've decided to use stash threads (primarily Caron's Watercolours for now) while trying out some new-to-me stitches. Since I finished a project earlier this week, I started one of the hearts. Stay tuned for a report on my thread and stitch choices!

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: King's Highway Sampler (original)

The second of my three self-designed WIPs is featured today. It is a sampler of canvas stitches in the form of the traditional quilt pattern King's Highway.

Technique/Materials:  A variety of threads (including Very Velvet, metallic braid, Flair, pearl cotton, Pebbly Pearl, and overdyed wool) on 18ct mono canvas. The sampler is symmetric in terms of which stitch is used in each quadrant, except for the four large red areas. In these areas, I stitched different variations of a trellis stitch, using various metallic and matte threads (and beads in one of the areas).

Background:  Sometime in 2007 (I think), my ANG chapter started an ongoing stitch-of-the-month mini-program. Each month, a different member would present a stitch (his or her own choice), demonstrating it, handing out instructions, and discussing tips and tricks to working the stitch. We were all encouraged to start our own stitch notebook or sampler. This design is my sampler. I wanted to let the texture of the individual stitches stand out, so I chose a very limited color palette of dark red, green, royal blue, and oatmeal. I didn't know which blocks I would be stitching in a given month. When the stitch was presented, I then decided what threads I had that would work with that stitch, and that helped determine where the stitch would be used in the design.

Why it's not done:  I had started out well, keeping up with the monthly stitches so I'd be able to start the next block during the ANG meeting at which it was presented. After a few months, though, somehow I slipped up on this cadence, and it snowballed from there. At this point, when I pick it up again I'll likely just grab a convenient stitch book, close my eyes, and flip through the pages. When the pages stop flipping, I'll put my finger on a page, and use that stitch as my next stitch, then figure out where it goes and with which thread.

What's left to do: All of the unstitched blocks! This piece is only about 8" square, though, so it really shouldn't take a terribly long time.

WIP: Overture II (by Kay Stanis)

Today's featured WIP is Overture II, designed by Kay Stanis.

Technique/Materials:  Silk and metal embroidery on congress cloth. The border stitch is a counted couching technique using flat Japanese silk (not fun with winter-rough hands!) and metallic braid. The remainder of the design, except for the background, is done in non-counted techniques.

Background:  This was one of two one-day classes taught by Kay when she visited our ANG chapter in August 2006. (The other was Prelude, which I finished within a few months.)

Why it's not done:  While I was finishing Prelude, this piece was set aside, and by the time I got back to this, winter had set in, and my hands couldn't handle the silk. In the three years since, I haven't remembered to start working on it again!

What's left to do: Most of it, unfortunately. It really isn't a large piece though (about 5" x 7"), so it shouldn't take too terribly long, once I pick it up again - after this winter.

WIP: Fans & Tassels Kimono (by Sophia Designs)

Continuing the Japanese theme from yesterday, today's featured WIP is the Fans and Tassels Kimono, a handpainted canvas from Sophia Designs. At least, that was the name I found on one website. I usually just think of it as "the red kimono".

Technique/Materials:  The kimono is a handpainted design on 18ct mono canvas.  It is stitched primarily in silks and metallics, including Japan gold threads, with some beaded touches.

Background:  This piece was started in August 2005 during a canvas enhancement class with Brenda Hart, who was brought into town by my local ANG chapter. Brenda helped me with a stitch guide for most of the major sections of the canvas, and I love how it's come out so far. (I've posted before about this piece. Check out the first four results from that link.)

Of course, I always have to make things more complicated than they need to be. Since kimonos are typically shown with motifs in Traditional Japanese Embroidery, and that style often has couched areas of Japan gold threads, I decided that the tassels and the gold outlines of this design should be couched Japanese gold. I'm going all the way - right down to stitching the gold in pairs and using the traditional koma (spools) to hold the thread while stitching.

Why it's not done:  That's a lot of couching, which can sometimes make my carpal tunnel syndrome flare up. (Wow. It seems like this is a common theme. Maybe I should actually suck it up and get this fixed!)

What's left to do:  The couching, which I estimate will take at least 30 hours. But it will be stunning when it's done, if I say so myself.

UFO fun

On Wednesday evening, I attended my local ANG meeting. As we did in early 2008, we again had some fun with members' UFOs. Each member who chose to participate in the 2009/2010 UFO challenge brought in three UnFinished Objects, pieces started at least one year ago. The rest of the membership voted on which piece the member would be challenged to finish by December 2010.

I decided to bring My Way, Cinders, and Wheels of Color (the only remaining UFO of the three I brought in last year).  I really wanted them to choose My Way, and it received several votes, but Wheels was the winner.

It was an enjoyable evening.  The best part, as it was last year, was hearing the excuses regarding why certain pieces were set aside.

Which of my three would you choose if you were in my chapter?  Which of your pieces would you put up for voting?

One delinquent blogger...

Wow. It's been two weeks since my last post. I'm still enjoying Floral Rondel when I get the chance. It's funny. I actually get most of my stitching done when I go to guild meetings or stitch night at the LNS - even though Erin comes with me. At any of these outings, I have an overabundance of babysitters (including Grandma/MIL). They actually start bickering about who gets to hold her, and I take advantage of it! (Though somehow she ends up back with me when the diaper bag is needed. Hmmm...)

Last night was our monthly ANG meeting. For the program portion of the evening, we ran an auction, with 10% of the proceeds going to the local food cupboard. Instead of bringing in a chart, canvas, threads, etc. to auction, I decided to raid my collection of completed projects for something I enjoyed stitching, but which I know I'll never do anything with in terms of framing/finishing. In the end, I settled on my rendition of Ilse Altherr's 17th Century English-Style Sampler, a former EGA group correspondence course. It was stitched on 36ct linen with silks. (I only just realized that I finished it before I started blogging, so I don't think I have a picture of it to show!)

Anyway, after only a few bids (darn economy!), it sold for $100. Our LNS owner sweetened the deal by saying she'd frame it for free if it went for at least $100. What a steal! The really nice part is that the woman who bought it will be putting it in a larger charity auction this fall. I hope it brings joy to someone! That's much better than moldering away in my closet! I'll try to get a picture of it at the LNS once it's framed.

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Erin update: Last week we had our 2 month checkup, complete with the first round of vaccinations. Other than being really upset about getting three shots at that time, Erin is generally a pretty happy baby (though of course she has her moments!).

Hi everybody!

ANG ribbon winners

Last night, I received my January 2009 issue of NeedlePointers, the ANG magazine. I knew that this issue would feature the ribbon winners from the Indian Wells seminar, and I was looking forward to reading about and seeing the various entries.

I'm always amazed that the judges can rank such beautiful work. All of the winning entries are stunning. The creativity and technical skill that goes into these creations is inspirational. Thank you to ANG for taking the time to take such wonderful pictures of these pieces and add such great descriptions. The write-ups for each piece help me to fully appreciate the work and creativity of each stitcher.

The closeup picture of my Lilacs on page 22 was a great surprise (and a bit humbling). I didn't expect such a large picture! The dimensions in the description (7" x 8.5") are of the framed piece. The actual stitching is actually a tiny bit smaller than the picture in the magazine. The write-up that accompanies the picture is lovely and much appreciated! (If you don't get the magazine, you can see a picture of this piece in one of my past posts, and there's a picture of the ribbon as part of this post.)

Congratulations to all of the entrants, and especially to my fellow ribbon winners. I'm already thinking about what piece or pieces to send in for next year's exhibit!

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Pregnancy ticker: 30 weeks, 2 days.
Still boring! :-)

CyberPointers ANG Chapter

I'm very happy to share the news that ANG has a brand-new online chapter! If you've always wanted to join an ANG chapter but have nothing local, or if you can't make it to meetings, or if (like me) you're looking for additional opportunities to take needlework classes, you may want to join the CyberPointers chapter.

The chapter has its own website: www.cyberpointers.org. The meetings will be conducted via email lists through Yahoo groups. If you sign up in the next day or so, you can participate in the chapter's very first meeting that starts Thursday and runs through the weekend.

A very dedicated team has been working for two hard years to bring this about, getting through many legal and logistical issues. Thank you to that team for your perseverance!

Here are the "Top Ten" reasons to join CyberPointers, as listed by Elizabeth Z, who played a major role in making this happen:

10. A place on the web to meet stitchers and chat about everything needlepoint.
9. Save gas money and help make the world a little greener by joining in meetings right in your own home via computer.
8. Get extra stitching time by not having to drive to a chapter meeting.
7. Fun fundraising projects that include some original designs for the chapter.
6. Join in a group correspondence course and have some friends to stitch with and motivate you to finish.
5. No longer have to be a MAL just because there aren't any chapters near-by.
4. Global community outreach projects that will give you a chance to make the world a better place just by stitching.
3. Access to the Chapter Project Book projects, just like any other chapter.
2. Jim Wurth is teaching the first workshop starting in March.
1. We've all waited 2 long years for this... so let's all show National that we really meant it when we said we wanted a cyber chapter!

Yes, I've joined already. Chapter dues are only $18. If you're not already a member of ANG, you'll have to pay National dues also. With TK (The Kid, remember?) on the way, I figure I'll be missing quite a few local meetings in the next few years, but with the online meetings lasting several days, I'll still be able to participate with CyberPointers.

It's amazing! The chapter just officially opened on November 1st, but already we've got over 175 members! This is obviously meeting a huge demand. Please join us!

A mini happy dance and a new project

Hooray! Less than a week after it was started, I put the last stitches into the heart I stitched for the ANG cancer center outreach. (Doesn't that sound better than the name I almost gave it - Cancer Heart?) This was a fun little project.

I made quite a bit of progress on my Bargello needlecase during class yesterday. This piece doesn't have a set pattern. Instead, the teacher suggested we take each of the Bargello motifs and arrange them as we like. The original pattern used one color of variegated thread and 5 values of a single color family. I found a variegated, but then pulled two color families from it, so I'm having fun with color and motif placement. For those who wanted less of a challenge, a full size picture was provided, with a grid basted through the design so folks could place their motifs in the same place as in the original. I'm going to continue working on this tonight.

Thanks to all of you for the lovely comments in response to my last post. The internet stitching community is such a wonderful group!

Blog catch-up, and other news

While I haven't been blogging much lately, I have been stitching, and, unfortunately for my pile of WIPs, planning to start new things.

First, an update on the Tudor Purse: I was making good progress on this, when it became apparent that the "scooping" motion of the Ceylon stitch was starting to aggravate the carpal tunnel in my right wrist. So, while this piece isn't very big, I've put it down for a bit. I'll have to work on it only a bit at a time.



When I put the purse down, I decided I hadn't done much sampler/linen work lately, and that was calling to me. Of course, instead of picking up Catherine Theron's Examplar IV, which is much further along, I dug out Martha Wilkins from The Scarlet Letter. I last worked on this piece back in December, and it was still in the same state as in the photo in this post. As you can see, this week I finished another band of lettering and almost the entire next band. At this rate, I might be done in the next 10 years! :-P

On Wednesday, I attended our local ANG meeting. I didn't really feel like working on notebook stitch samples with the rest of the group, so I started the outreach project that was announced last month. We're stitching heart-shaped ornaments with a centerpiece of a cancer ribbon. I can't remember the details, but we're donating these for some cause or another. (And I know MIL is cringing as she reads this since she's the outreach chair!) Anyway, I'm doing a purple ribbon for pancreatic cancer, in memory of my two grandparents whom I lost to this fast-acting disease.

I wanted the center ribbon to stand out, so I did it in detached buttonhole with a heavy thread, in this case Shepherd's Wool from the Thread Gatherer. Apparently this thread is no longer being made, since it's not listed on TG's website. I received this skein in a grab bag a few months ago, and thought it was perfect for this! The background is a couched stitch, specifically Aristeia couching (diagrammed in SuZy's Lite Stitches, one of the books I picked up at seminar), with a Brazilian embroidery rayon thread as the couched thread, and 4 strands of floss as the couching thread. I thought this would work up faster than trying to fill the entire background with stitching, and so far it has. I've only worked on this at the meeting Wednesday night and at our Thursday night LNS stitch-in. I hope to finish it this weekend.

I have a few upcoming projects, too. Tomorrow, I'm attending a class for a Bargello needlecase. Since our EGA chapter is hosting the region meeting today (though I'm not going), we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to have one of the visiting ladies stay for an extra night and teach this lovely project. One of the chapter members had taken the class from her in the past, and it's lovely. Today I need to rummage in my stash to find fabric and threads for it.

Carolyn Mitchell is visiting our LNS for a 2-1/2 day class in the middle of November, and I've signed up for this class, too. She's teaching a canvas piece called My Way, which looks like a six-patch quilt design. We need to have the borders laid out as prework, and from what I've heard, this is fairly time intensive. I've got my color scheme picked out (see the collection of threads I brought home from seminar), but I'm waiting for a pair of Evertite stretcher bars to show up in the mail. They were shipped over a week ago, but the USPS website only shows them as being received into the mail stream. Goodness knows where they might be now!

Lastly (I think), I need to get started on Luan Callery's Summer Dream, an EGA GCC that some in my chapter are doing in conjunction with the Buffalo chapter. It's due in January. I've been following Pat's progress on this same piece, and I'm looking forward to it!

In other news, I believe I did mention that I had received my pieces (and ribbons!) back from the ANG seminar exhibit. Also in the package was a little card telling me to call the Boehm porcelain factory, because they had the rose that was part of the Princess Grace award. I made that call, and this week the package arrived. The box was huge - and full of foam peanuts! Inside the box was another box, with more peanuts. I finally found the porcelain rose taped to the bottom of the inside box, and I understood the need for the extensive packing. The petals are amazingly delicate. Here's a picture of my stitched Lilacs, its ribbons, and the rose.

And last, but the most important news of all (now that I've finally told everyone locally who might be reading this blog). I've got another work in progress: 19 weeks along, 21 to go. Yes, I'm expecting(!), due the first week of March. This is our first, and DH and I are very excited. No, we don't know if "The Kid" (shortened to "TK") is a boy or a girl, and we're planning to be surprised! This news is the main reason I'm taking classes now, because I know I won't be able to for a while. :-) I'm sure finding the time to finish any of these pieces is sure to become difficult though! :-P

Good news & bad news

Yes, I know I didn't post as much as I'd intended in Louisville, and I fully plan to still put posts together about my fabulous 4-day class, some of my stash purchases, and some other odds and ends from seminar. I returned home Saturday night, and it's been a fairly emotional week.

Good news or bad news first?

Let's start with the good news, since it's needlework related. A month ago or so, I wrote about sending two pieces to the ANG National Seminar Exhibit in Indian Wells, California. I found out on Sunday (third-hand) that my Lilacs took First Place (!!!!) in the Independent Project, Professional category. Wow! (As to why I'm considered a professional, it's because at one time I was doing some model stitching for a cross-stitch designer, and ANG considers someone a professional if that person ever earned any money doing any needlework, regardless if the pieces being entered are in the same technique.)

It didn't stop there. Apparently the same person who called the person who called me ALSO called our ANG chapter president. I found out this evening at our chapter meeting that the Lilacs also won the Princess Grace Award! I am in complete shock! According to the ANG website,

"The Princess Grace Award may be given to any entry, in any judged category, that is worked entirely in the tent stitch without embellishments such as beads or other attachments, in order to maintain the purity of the stitching technique. The tent stitch is defined as going over one intersection from lower left to upper right with no back stitches, seed stitches, or outline stitches."

On my entry form, I had indicated that this piece could qualify for the award, but I had absolutely NO expectations of winning it! Holy cow!

(And if anybody can confirm this, PLEASE let me know. I'm in a bit of denial!)

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And the bad news (and a rare non-needlework bit of info): Also on Sunday, DH and I turned our male greyhound, Tucker, over to another home. After many, many incidents that indicated Tucker just couldn't continue to stay in a crate when we were at work (the latest happened last week when I was at seminar), we finally had to admit that we couldn't help him live a happy, healthy life.

In the crate, he would tear up any blankets (until we finally purchased a very expensive, guaranteed-not-to-tear dog bed), gnaw on the bars of the crate (breaking several welds and wearing down his teeth), and generally be VERY unhappy for the time we were at work. We just don't have a place to put him where he could be safe out of the crate either, because he has a tendency to eat things that could hurt him, too.

Last Thursday evening, when others were enjoying the auction at seminar, I was on the phone to the leader of our greyhound rescue group explaining all of this, and bawling non-stop.

Tucker had been a part of our lives for over five years, but he has been moved to a new home where the people are home more and have a safe, non-crated area for him (and their other greyhounds) to stay when they aren't home. I'm sure he's pretty bewildered right now, and I tear up a bit each day with missing him, but I know it's for the best. I want to call each day asking how he's doing, but I'm trying to wait until the weekend.

Our other greyhound, Sophie, who was always a bit (ok, a lot) intimidated by him, on the other hand, thinks this is great! She has blossomed in the past few days, and we've learned that perhaps this change is the best for both of them.

The few pictures here are of Tucker on Sunday morning. I'll miss you, Tucker Magoo. :-(

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We now return this blog to its regularly-scheduled (ok, maybe not quite regularly-scheduled) needlework content.

Framed Winds

Here she is! This is my framed The Winds of Color, designed by Elsa Parrish. Unfortunately, the mat colors didn't show up very well in the picture. The inner mat is a pale silver paper mat, and the outer mat is a very dark mauve suede. The frame is actually wooden, but painted silver with purpley-red streaks.

It took a very long time to find the right framing selection, and this was made worse by the need to visualize it as a circle! Overall, I'm very pleased! I haven't yet found a place for this to hang, but I don't have to worry about it yet. I really want to send this in to the exhibit at the ANG National Seminar. Wish me luck!

A busy week!

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. This week was very busy with stitching activities. Only occasionally does the first Monday of the month fall in the same week as the second Wednesday, and when it does, it means we have meetings for both EGA and ANG in the same week, plus stitch night at the LNS on Thursday. Strangely enough, I didn't stitch much at all at the guild meetings, and I tried to make up for it the rest of the week, to the neglect of my blog.

Winds of Color is progressing nicely, though.I finished the darning areas in the sky, and once stitched, I found I liked it. During the stitching, I had my doubts! I've started the areas on the right side that are packed outline stitch.

Right now there are only two parts I want to restitch:

• The area of sky on the left side with the blue grid looks really strange. I'm going to take it out, darken the background, and stitch it again.
  
• Also, I need to take out the river. This piece was designed in 1991, using threads available at that time. This is stitched with 4 strands of that DMC metallic that came on a spool. It's really hard to tame, plus I actually bent a needle trying to pull it (using hemostats) through the congress cloth and the existing stitches with all of the thread bulk. It's also not the best color here. While I was putting it in, I thought about all of the nice metallic ribbons that have been introduced in more recent years. After a trip to the LNS today, I've got a light blue card of Treasure Ribbon from Rainbow Gallery. Hopefully that will be easier to use and look better.

It looks like I'm going to have to forfeit this round of my WIP-loss challenge. While I had listed my two classes with Marion Scoular, coming up next weekend, as exemptions, I did not do the same for the new Gay Ann Rogers mystery. We're doing that as a group project for ANG, and I need to start it ASAP, since I volunteered to lead the group. Can I call another exemption partially through a round? If it makes a difference, I've decided I'm not going to turn in one of the GCCs I signed up for but never started - and I had made that an exemption! :-)

And the winner is...

Winds of Color! That's the piece my local ANG chapter members picked for me to finish this year. I'm glad, because I'm enjoying it. It was pretty close, though. All three pieces received several votes, and that wasn't the case for everybody's choices.

This meeting was a blast. It's the first time I can remember that everyone stayed until the very end of the meeting/program. It was fun to hear the reasons (excuses?) as to why various pieces have been neglected. We're thinking we may do it at some time for the EGA chapter, too. I may put up a poll here for my blog friends to vote on one of my other large WIPs.

Some ground work

I've been making some slow progress on Winds of Color. The trees are all done, and I've moved on to the ground on the right side. The rambling dividing line between the darkest blue and the lavender/blue tweeded area (on the right side) will get some over-stitching eventually to become a river.

Our ANG meeting tonight promises to be fun. Each member will be bringing in two or three UFOs, started at least a year ago (except for one member who is way too organized and seems to finish everything in a timely fashion, but we love her anyway). The group will be voting to assign which UFO each person should finish this year.

For example, I'm bringing in Winds of Color, Scottlee, and Wheels of Color. They'll select one, and I'll be assigned to finish it in 2008. If I do not finish it by the December meeting, I have to add $10 to the chapter's education fund. If I do finish, my name goes into a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to the LNS. Since I really want to finish all three of these this year, I really don't care which they pick, but their choice will probably see more dedicated stitching time in the next few months.