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?

New stash from seminar

No, I didn't go to this year's EGA seminar, even though it was in Pittsburgh this year (<6 hours away).   I did experience a bit of it virtually, on the phone with MIL as she walked through the Merchandise Mart last Wednesday evening.  Thanks, Mom!  (Of course, she managed to buy part of my Christmas present when I expressed interest in something, so it benefited both of us!)

And she brought me some stash!  At some point in the week, she came across an opportunity to pick up (for free!) EGA Designer Series Book 3, a compilation of projects from old editions of NeedleArts, the EGA magazine.  This 90 page book contains complete instructions for these 10 projects, all shown on the back cover:

•  A Crewel Design by Audrey Francini (crewel, surface embroidery)
  
• New Year's Eve Bag by Kay Stanis (goldwork)
• Pink Ice Brooch by Carolyn Sherman (beading on a felt ground)
• Genny's Name Tag by Genny Morrow (counted canvas)
• Butterfly Kiss by Dorothy Lesher (line-drawn canvas)
• Tiny Topiary by Gail Sirna (counted canvas)
• Schwalm Embroidery Heart by Donna Strader (Schwalm)
• Bird on a Branch: A Name Tag by Margaret Kinsey (silk and metal on silk ground)
• Princess Lace Heart & Flower by Roberta Chase (princess lace)
• L'Atomiseur by Tony Minieri (counted canvas)

I'm particularly fond of the first two projects.

 

On her way out of Pittsburgh, MIL stopped at Beehive NeedleArts.  She called me from the shop, asking if she could pick up any threads for me.  I tried to think of threads that I hear about, but can't find locally.  (What would you pick?)  I ended up mentioning J.L.Walsh Silk & Wool.  Well, apparently the shop didn't carry this, but did have the Silk Perle from J.L.Walsh.  I am now the proud owner of six skeins of this lovely thread.

This thread is interesting.  As it comes out of the skein, it's about the size of pearl cotton #5.  Upon closer inspection, though, the thread seems strandable.  The full strand breaks down into two bundles, each apparently made up of four strands about the size of floss.  I'll try experimenting with this soon.

Thanks Mom!

Floating windows and door

(Note:  I actually started this blog post last Monday, and somehow never actually finished posting it.)

It was great. I was actually starting to post again on a regular basis, multiple times in a week. And that's how long it lasted. One. Week.

I really do plan to get back to posting frequently. Unfortunately, I timed my increase in productivity poorly. It just so happened that my favorite author, Diana Gabaldon, released the seventh main novel (as opposed to shorter sideline novels) in her Outlander series on September 22. My copy of An Echo in the Bone (which I preordered when I was in the hospital in January!) showed up last Monday.  Usually, I do most of my "reading" via audiobook, which has the distinct advantage in allowing me to stitch at the same time.  Echo is not yet available in audio, so it has definitely made a dent in my stitching time.  I'm on page 404 today.  Almost halfway through.  Give me another week and I'll be back to stitching and blogging more. 

The little bit of stitching I have accomplished in the past week has been on my Blessing sampler.  Here we have floating windows and a floating door above a brick walkway:

Despite the minimal time I've devoted to stitching this past week, this is actually working up fairly quickly.  Yes, it's over one thread of the linen, but fortunately it's just tent stitch, not full crosses.

(Update: I finished my book yesterday.  Let the blogging and stitching resume at whatever passes for a "normal" pace now.)

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Erin update:  Erin is doing fairly well out of the cast.  She's pretty wobbly from the waist down.  She has to wear her brace most of the time, so she doesn't have much time each day to rebuild muscle tone.  She's just starting to roll over again.

The brace is okay...

But free time is more fun!

Needlework Nibbles: Silk Purl

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I enjoy trying out new threads and new (to me) needlework techniques.  However, I fully admit that I often will buy a new thread and never actually do anything with it.  Because of this, I was thrilled when Tricia Wilson-Nguyen of Thistle Threads started designing her "Needlework Nibbles."

In Tricia's words:

Needlework Nibbles are small projects designed to let you try a new material that is hard to find or new technique. The new materials are usually one that I have imported or had made to my specifications to allow us to do a type of needlework not practiced very much anymore. Often, these materials may be in short supply or packaged such that they are expensive. The 'Nibble' allows the stitcher to try the material/technique out before committing to a larger investment.

I purchased both kits for the July Nibbles, which made use of silk-wrapped purl, a thread that originally was used in the 17th century, but has only recently been recreated.  If you're familiar with the purl threads used in goldwork, you know that they're coils of wire that are typically couched down or added like beads.  (Actually, I featured purls in one of my very first blog posts.)  The silk-wrapped purl is exactly what it sounds like:  metal purl "threads" wrapped with silk.  I'm not going to go into detail about it, since Mary of Needle 'N Thread already has a fantastic post about the thread.  (Thanks, Mary!)

I can, however, report a bit about stitching with this thread, and about the Needlework Nibbles kits.

The kits contained everything needed to complete the stitching of the project, including needles, and also contained backing fabric to finish the piece as a scissors fob or ornament.  At right is the kit for the Pink Silk Purl Bug, and the kit for the Rainbow Silk Purl Bug is shown below.

Each kit included plenty of the silk purl to complete the design.


I found that the silk purl was slightly tricker to use than regular pearl purl. I used my serrated-edge scissors designed for metallic threads, and while these cut through the metal, the silk sometimes wasn't cut all the way through. I had to keep a close eye on the thread when cutting to ensure both metal and silk were cut before letting the two pieces separate, or the silk would start to unwind from the metal.

Actually, the unwinding of the silk is the biggest downfall of using this thread. In some spots on my finished bugs, the ends of the threads have plain metal showing, and in other cases, the silk is slightly frizzy. In the closeup of the pink bug, you can see both of these: frizzy light pink silk at the point of the right wing, and a tiny bit of exposed metal at the second row in at the bottom of the body.

I'm glad I worked the pink bug, where all of the purl was couched, before trying the rainbow bug. The rainbow bug used couched purl for the head, but all of the rest was cut and threaded like beads.

A very big thank you to Tricia Wilson-Nguyen for making these kits available.  I don't know when I'll use silk purl again, but I'm sure I'll find that it's the perfect thread for something.  By trying it, I now know its properties.  I think it might be interesting to try to use this on canvas, perhaps on a painted canvas, for just the right effect.

Oh - one additional note:  I did not use the linen that came in the kits, choosing instead to use linen twill left over from a stumpwork project.  I've got some ideas about using several of these Nibbles (if they're of similar sizes) in a project together.  Speaking of size, the pictures above are a bit misleading.  These bugs are pretty small.  I worked both of these on one piece of linen in a 5" hoop.  Below is a better picture with a standard US quarter for reference.

Has anybody else tried the silk purl? Can you come up with interesting ways to use this thread? Please share your ideas!

Corner experiments

Since I don't have a one-for-one match for all of the threads originally used on My Way, I need to play with my threads and colors for each area. (Tough job, but somebody's got to do it.) Before I start stitching either the corner or center of a block, I go through my threads and select replacements for the called-for threads in that area. Rather than just assuming I'll always use thread X in place of original thread Y, I like to see how all the pulled threads work together.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Case in point - the original threads I pulled for the corners on my block G:

Wow. That outer teal band, while pretty by itself (especially stitched in two strands of Impressions), sticks out like a sore thumb next to the rest of the corner. It's a bit too bright and provides too much contrast. The problem is that the instructions say to pull a dark color of this family, and I really don't have a dark teal.

I wondered what would happen if I changed that band to a dark gray-blue from my neutrals family. Here's the result:

It's a bit tough to see in the photo with the reflection off of the pearl cotton, but this combination seems to be better, though I'm still not completely sold on it.  What do you think?  Should I change something else?

Walking a tightrope

When playing with design, you have to keep the balance of the original (and perhaps improve upon it).  In the case of My Way, this means positioning similarly shaped motifs opposite each other.  It's difficult to describe, but pictures can help tell the story.

In the original design, the layout of the blocks is as follows:

Notice how some similar motifs are positioned relative to each other:

• Blocks B and E both have the rounded square inner area, with corner areas that emphasize a diagonal direction away from the center of the block.  These are in the two middle positions of the design.
• Located in two opposing corners of the design, blocks A and F have a distinct cross in the center with corners that remind me of a log cabin quilt.
• Blocks C and D are in the other two corners, and have a diamond-shaped center with corners that have an all-over, non-directional pattern.

When I started stitching my version, I started block A in the middle position, rather than in a corner, just to be different.   As a result, block B ended up in a corner, and I moved block E to the opposite corner so these two blocks again balanced each other.  Here's my design-in-progress.

Along the way, I decided to not stitch block D since (in my opinion) it draws the eye a bit too much.  I'm replacing it with block G.   Block G has a distinct cross in the center, so I'm using this block opposite A.  However, the original corners for G have an "X" or star shape emphasized.  To balance the log cabin look of the A corners, I'm stealing the corners from block F to use on my block G.

In one of the remaining two corners of the design, block C has been started.  Block F is planned for the opposite corner.  In stitching F, I'll need to select colors carefully to emphasize a diamond shape rather than a cross as in Carolyn's original.  Oh, and I need to use the corners from block D here to balance those of block C.

Confused yet?  Don't worry.  It is confusing, especially when it's not sitting right in front of you.  The point is that if you're going to make significant changes to the layout of a geometric design, sometimes you need to walk a tightrope (i.e. keep balancing!) while juggling (areas of the design, that is).

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Erin update:  Hooray!  The cast is off!  Erin did NOT enjoy the process of cutting it off.  Can you say terrified?  After a rough evening yesterday, she did fairly well today.  She does need to wear a brace most of the time, but it can be removed for some play times.  She really enjoyed being able to wiggle, and managed to roll from stomach to back (twice!), even though her legs are still pretty stiff and stick out to each side.

The unfortunate news is that Erin's left hip is still quite unstable.  She will need to undergo further surgery after her first birthday and then have another cast for six weeks.  :-(

For now, I'm enjoying having my squishy baby back.  :-)