Tiramisu finished, and GAR mystery started

Here it is! Tiramisu is complete! Click on the picture to enlarge. Again, this is an EGA GCC by Dakota Rogers, stitched on 34ct Cafe au Lait Legacy linen with Vikki Clayton's Steelies. I'm stitching it with the CyberStitchers chapter. The piece will remain unframed until after it returns from the class evaluation. It is due to our class coordinator in July.

At the mini stitching retreat today, the stitchers around me voted for me to start the Gay Ann Rogers mystery design. The Jim Wurth piece will be next though! This pic shows the progress I made today. It's working up pretty quickly, since everything I've stitched so far only uses one strand. This means I don't need to use a laying tool, and can stitch two handed.

To recap my previous notes, I'm using 25ct Pearl Linen in natural with Vikki Clayton's Winterberry 1431.

Apologies and a Stitching Retreat

It appears I have learned my lesson - don't promise a blog post "tomorrow"! My apologies to anyone who tuned in yesterday expecting a post with a finished piece. Life caught up with me and I didn't get a chance to post.

In any case, yes, I finished Tiramisu, but I'm unhappy with the placement of the date and initials. So, today I'll be taking them out and replacing them.

Speaking of today, in about an hour, I'm off to a day of stitching! For the last several years, one of the local sit n' stitch groups has been having a "March Madness" evening, wherein we rent out a conference room at a local hotel, have a buffet dinner, and stitch late into the night. This year, we're changing things up - doing a buffet breakfast, and stitching until 5 or so.

I plan on taking Tiramisu to fix, and both the new Jim Wurth piece and the Gay Ann Rogers mystery to start. Heaven knows I won't make too much progress on either of these, but I've got to have choices, don't I? Why do I always do this - I've got 8 hours to stitch, yet somehow I think I can make significant progress on multiple projects! Am I alone in this, or is it something we all do?

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

Since my stitching group meets tonight, I have limited time for a post. Isn't it fortunate that this week's SBQ (Stitching Blogger's Question) arrived in my mailbox?

This week's SBQ, suggested by Cindy, is:

Do you have a system for organizing freebie charts in your stash? If so, what is it? Do you print out copies of all of the freebies that you find on the web (that you think you might actually stitch) or do you maintain electronic copies of them until you are ready to stitch them?

I'm afraid my system isn't very fancy - almost all of my freebies go into one file folder, marked "Freebies" (of all things!). There are exceptions, though. There are a few designers that have their own folder in my file drawers, and freebies from those designers go into these.

As for the second question - I don't generally print out freebies to stitch. If I find one I might eventually stitch, I'll generally save it electronically. Although I think I can count on one hand the number of freebies I've actually stitched in my stitching career. I can't think of any off the top of my head, actually! I tend to like large projects, and that generally doesn't fit into the freebie category, except for an occasional mystery project from some of the French designers!

I'll be back tomorrow with either a completed Tiramisu (if I finish tonight) or another "A Stitch in Time" post. I'm off to dinner with the ladies...

Tiramisu Progress

Here's an update on Tiramisu!

This is the full length of the sampler (click on the picture to enlarge!). The bottom band (band 12) is complete, and bands 11 and 10 are almost complete. I stopped working on band 10 because I wasn't sure I liked the lightest value in the middle of the darkest. It seemed that I might be able to better judge the effect once I had the rest of the bands in. I'm still doubtful about that light color, and am debating switching to the second lightest value there.

This piece is on 34ct Cafe au Lait linen from Legacy, using 4 values of Vikki Clayton's "Steelies" series in regular weight silk.

New Stash (including lots of Quaker Samplers)!

Wow! What a surprise at the mailbox today! TWO packages! The first, I was expecting. I've been waiting on the color I'd chosen for Gay Ann Rogers' Redwork Mystery. I'm using Winterberry 1431 from Hand-Dyed Fibers by Vikki Clayton. I was undecided on the fabric color, though, so I did a floss toss:

After a consultation with DH, I decided on the second darkest fabric, which is Pearl Linen in natural. Pearl linen is a 25 ct linen and polyester blend with a great drape and body and fairly small holes. It looks and feels very dense, which I like much better than very loosely woven, stiff linen. The pic at left shows the thread on this fabric.

Also from Vikki, I received the chart for Victoria's Quaker from A Mon Amie Pierre. To top it off, though, I received my order from Criss Cross Row. Knowing that the owner has been dealing with an illness in the family, I wasn't in a rush to get this, but I'm glad it came, since several of these items are going OOP! I received the Ann Trump and Martha Brady Quaker samplers from Needleprint. (My apologies for the glare in the pic!)

Best of all was the last item in the CCR order - Carol Humphrey's Quaker School Girl Samplers from Ackworth. I admit, I had had my doubts, but this book is worth every penny. It's 232 pages, hardcover, and 12" by 9.5" with great color pictures on almost every page, with what looks like an amazing amount of research in between. The best surprise was when I took off the dust jacket so it wouldn't get ruined from all the handling this is going to get in the near future. The dust jacket actually opens up to reveal a chart for Mary Thompson's medallion sampler!
That's all for today - I need to go stitch and finish something if I have any hopes of getting to any of these relatively soon!!

A Stitch in Time: Monrovia

Since I've been stitching for over 15 years, and blogging only one week, there are plenty of past projects to share when other topics don't present themselves. I've pondered for a while about what to call these posts: Back-stitch? Project Flashback? Masterpiece Theatre? (LOL!) I've finally settled on "A Stitch in Time", but I'm open to more creative options, if anybody has a suggestion. This might become a regular feature of this blog. Please let me know if you like it or not!

Anyway, this "stitch in time" post features a piece I finished earlier this year. It is Monrovia, the fourth ornament in Jim Wurth's Dodecagon series. This is a counted canvaswork project, stitched on white 18ct mono canvas, with silk, metallic, rayon, and nylon threads, and glass beads.

If you're curious about counted canvaswork, also known as counted needlepoint, Rainbow Gallery has a very extensive collection of freebie charts. Looking at some of these charts can give you a feel for how these directions are typically presented. This technique is where counted thread work meets canvas, usually considered the domain of hand-painted needlepoint. It's a good bridge between the two styles.