Happy Dance: Blueberry Pocket

Yesterday I was finally able to assemble the Blueberry Pocket from Periwinkle Promises. I tried to finish it earlier in the week, but found that the lining fabric included in the kit was cut too small. MIL was able to find an appropriate fat quarter in a local fabric shop, and we were back in business! (Thanks, Mom!)

This was a very simple assembly. The sampler had a backstitch border on the left and right, with slightly more decorative Palestrina knots along the top and bottom. The fabric was trimmed 1/2" outside of this border, and the lining fabric was cut the same size. After folding the 1/2" seam allowance back on both pieces, they were stitched together, using small, nearly invisible stitches. The pocket was made simply by folding up the bottom 1/3 and whip-stitching the backstitch borders together on the left and right.

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Pregnancy ticker: 32 weeks, 2 days.
To answer a question from Kathy: No, we still don't know whether BJ ("bundle of joy") is a boy or a girl. A couple of times, I've thought a nurse slipped up (because the answer is in my chart due to an amniocentisis from a few months ago), but then the next will come in and use the opposite pronoun!

Plaited braid on Tudor Purse

I was so glad to read that Mary Corbet of Needle 'N Thread, who executes some gorgeous surface embroidery, has trouble with the plaited braid stitch. I was feeling like a bit of a dunce when this stitch proved so difficult to tension correctly.

After several doodle attempts, making sure I consulted the stitch diagram with each pull of the needle, I finally felt comfortable enough to try the plaited braid on the little leaves at the top of my peapods. The fact that these change in width along their length just made it a bit more difficult!

All in all, I'm pleased. What isn't apparent is how long these took. I'd guess the first leaf took at least an hour (with me still checking the stitch diagram with every movement), and they took about 4 hours in all. Each leaf is only about 1/2 of an inch tall!I've also been able to finish the stitching on the back of the purse, which is an outline of the same design, executed entirely in spangles. I've only got to add some random spangles to the front of the purse, and it will be ready to be assembled! As soon as I'm done with the spangles, I'll post more pictures.
I'm sure some of you are wondering. No, folks, you will NOT get a stitch study on plaited braid from me, at least not until I try it on several more projects. I was very glad to hear that Yvette Stanton will be including detailed instructions on this stitch in her left-handed stitch dictionary. While I'm not left-handed, I look forward to reading her details "About the thread thickness, and about the spacing of the stitches. And about starting off on angles, and things like that." I really hope she makes the instructions for her sweetbag available, too.

On a similar note, I ordered the instructions for Jane Zimmerman's The Art of Elizabethan Embroidery project during her Christmas sale. Goodness only knows when I'll get around to doing it, but I couldn't resist this lovely project!
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Pregnancy ticker: 32 weeks, 1 day.
Getting past 32 weeks is a VERY BIG DEAL in terms of maturity, according to the doctors. While there still might be some complications, most of what needs to happen now is growth. We'll have another check on BJ's size next Wednesday during my next ultrasound.

Tudor Purse progress

As of this past weekend, my Tudor Purse was in the same state as when I last posted about it in October. Since then, I've finished the open (or spaced) Ceylon stitch and added tendrils in Ceylon stitch.

I debated a bit about further adorning the open Ceylon with some wrapping or other decorative stitch, and decided to try it. I wasn't sure it would work, since the open Ceylon is less than a quarter inch wide, but I'm very glad I did.

I chose to do a simple backstitch wrap, bundling the stitches in groups of two. I was surprised at how much it made the design pop. The upper picture here is the wrapping in progress. Below is the design with the vine complete.The only gold stitching left to do is the tops of the peapods, which I hope to have finished tomorrow. Then I can add spangles to the design, and make up the purse. It seems silly that I put off this little bit of work for so long!

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Pregnancy ticker: 31 weeks, 5 days.
I'm really getting tired of getting IV's put in "just in case"! They have to be replaced every 4-5 days, and my arms are starting to look like a battlefield!

Happy Dance: stitching on Blueberry Pocket

Hooray! The stitching is done on Blueberry Pocket by Periwinkle Promises. (Thank you, Katrina, for keeping me honest on the designer! I keep mistakenly attributing the wrong one!)

I mentioned in the last post that I was changing the sentiment on the pocket to "My Stitching Gadgets", but I charted out both this and "My Stitching Tools". Somehow I planned to stitch the former, but only left enough room for the latter. Of course, I started at the end, and had "Stitching Gadgets" all stitched before I realized I didn't have room for "My". As a result, I ended up taking it all out and restitching it. (They say that your brain actually does get temporarily smaller with pregnancy, and I keep proving it!) :-)

I think I like "Tools" better than "Gadgets", anyway!

Today I stitched the border that will be used for finishing it into a pocket. MIL is taking it home to iron it and the backing fabric, and I should be able to finish the assembly in the next few days.

Next up: Tudor Purse, from my EGA seminar class with Chris Berry. DH brought it (and my lap stand in yesterday.

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Pregnancy ticker: 31 weeks, 2 days.
Yesterday, we had a bit of a setback, with some of my complications from last month returning. The good news is that BJ seemed ok through it all (based on heartrate monitoring), and things are getting back to normal (a.k.a. boring :-) ) today.

Only a bit more...

... to go on my Blueberry Pocket from Periwinkle Promises.
Thanks for all of the opinions on the lighter green in the center band. I left the old dyelot in the left and right sets of trefoil leaves, and used the new dyelot everywhere else. It turned out that I did run out of two other colors. Thankfully, MIL had some very good substitutes, so I've been able to continue.

Other than running out of colors, I faced a challenge when stitching the satin stitched leaves. The issue was in determining how many strands of silk to use on the diagonal. The instructions called for 2 strands, but that looked bulky and messy. 1 strand looked too sparse. I compromised by using 1 strand, but stitching every other diagonal twice, making sure the strands lay nicely next to each other. I really like the smooth result.

I've decided to change the phrase on the pocket from "Stitching is the berries", since that seems somewhat awkward to me. I've charted " My Stitching Gadgets" to use instead. That's the last thing to be stitched before I put in an outline to be used in finishing. MIL has graciously agreed to take the piece home to iron it so I can actually finish making the pocket.

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Pregnancy ticker: 31 weeks!
Thanks again for all of the encouraging comments. One in particular made me grin. Pierrette asked if I would be working on one of her favorite pieces from among my WIPs: Cinders from Marion Scoular. I replied to her directly, but thought I should share my reply. There's a bit of a problem working some of my larger WIPs on stretcher bars (like My Way, Summer Dream, and Cinders). I'm running out of lap space to flip these large pieces over! :-)

Happy New Year!

It's amazing how quickly time flies! Here's what I managed to finish in 2008.

Here's a larger version of the slideshow. Canvas pieces definitely dominated this year!

I had set a few goals for 2008. Here's a recap of how I did:

1. Enjoy my stitching. Yes, of course!
   
2. Keep blogging. Some months better than others, but I didn't miss too many weeks.
   
3. Continue keeping up with the Jim Wurth ornaments. Yes, and they're all done now!
   
4. More WIP reduction! I'd really like to finish at least 4 of my large WIPs and several small pieces. After this round of my challenge, though, I'll probably switch to finish 3, start 1 (instead of finish 10!). Well, let's see: I finished only 3 large WIPs: Treasured Snowflakes and Trees, ScottLee, and Winds of Color. However, I only completed two small WIPs from the beginning of the year: the Quaker bag and White-throated Hummingbird, and I started many more new projects than I finished for the rest of the year! I think this combination helped me meet my goal of enjoying my stitching, though!
   
5. Complete my new crop of GCC's on time (which means I really have to start one, since the first one is due in April!) I didn't come close to meeting this goal. I only finished one of the three GCCs due over the summer (To The Acorn).
   
6. Start one of the "Seasonal Girls" from Gay Ann Rogers. Yes, started and finished - and enjoyed every stitch!
   

With BJ on the way this year, I have no idea how much time I'll actually have for stitching, so I'm keeping my stitching goals for 2009 fairly simple, keeping a few goals from last year:

1. Enjoy my stitching.
2. Keep blogging.
3. Try to finish a few WIPs, and end the year with fewer than I have now. (Unfortunately, I can't get an accurate count now, so I'll just have to count finishes vs. starts for the year!)
4. Start the whitework Frances Cheyney sampler from The Essamplaire. (This will be stitched as a SAL with a friend, and I had hoped to start it today, but it can wait.)

Happy New Year, everyone!

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Pregnancy ticker: 30 weeks, 6 days.
Based on the ultrasound estimates, BJ is up one half pound in the last two weeks, now weighing in at 3 pounds, 2 ounces. We're still hoping to make it several more weeks!