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Please keep in mind that, unless otherwise noted, everything on my blog is copyright material of some sort. Either by me (as picture taker, writer, creator) or more importantly by the designer of the needlework pieces I present. If you promise to be copyright mindful, my promise to you is to do my best to provide you enough information in my post for you to obtain your own legal copy. Please be respectful of these copyrights and not take business away from our wonderful designers. Thank you.
............. . ."She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight" Proverbs 31:13 NAS


Monday, May 31, 2021

Red, White and Blue

I have an area where I put out a seasonal display - mostly stitching. In May I put out the patriotic stuff in Red, White & Blue (RWB) since Memorial Day is in May. I leave it out for June for Flag Day as well as July for Independence Day. There may be a few summer things out too, but it is mostly my RWB stuff.

Since today is Memorial Day I thought I would post some photos of my display.




Here is a link to the History Channel's website with some information about Memorial Day.


Happy Stitching!


Sunday, May 30, 2021

Della Robia Santa Update

 As I mentioned in a previous post, I have started this piece from the Rocky Mountain Region 2008 Seminar again. It is a two canvas project: Santa on one and a garland on another. Well Santa is all done, except for the background. Now on to the second canvas- the garland. You can see where it will go and she had us basketweave in green over the white canvas.

I think I am moving quite along on this partly because I stitch almost every evening for 3 - 5 hours and because it is not too big. The Santa is 5 3/4" x 7" on 10 x11 inch stretcher bars. It has been quite fun, although a bit tricky on the coat in places. As you see she has it slant in different directions on each side. Well she only charted the right side and said to reverse it for the left. The stitch for the sleeves was tricky for me to figure out at first. The rest of the coat was not as difficult to figure out and I am still enjoying stitching it. 


Below is how much I got done on the garland at Seminar. It has the grape clusters and part of a poinsettia competed.  She also had us make an apple (covered a red pony bead) but that is not attached yet. You can also see at lower right a doodle (practice) of a needlewoven bar which are used for the poinsettia and for leaves. For size reference the needle minder is about the size of a quarter and the canvas is on 6 inch square stretcher bars. 

What is Della Robbia?
I should mention it here that the design spells it Della Robia (one b).

Della Robbia is named after an artistic style of the 15th century Italian sculptor Luca della Robbia (1400-1482) and members of his family. They used fruit such as apples, oranges, pears and grapes as a decorative element in their work. This idea was eventually used in live arrangements such as wreaths or garlands and the style became known as della Robbia.

Here is a link to some art examples at the National Gallery of Art.

That's it for now!


Happy Stitching!



Tuesday, May 25, 2021

EGA Stitch-a-Long April Project

Since 2017, EGA (Embroiderers Guild of America) has been doing a Stitch-a-long with a different project each month. I follow it on the Facebook page, not sure where else they post. 

In April the project was about the Aztec Stitch, a stitch I have always wanted to try. It is a two part project to be completed in June and when done it will be a cute scissors case.


The first steps involve stitching the nun stitch border and then removing certain canvas threads. This project is on 18 count mono canvas, but I believe you can do this stitch on fabric as well, but probably not sturdy enough for a scissors case, plus I am not sure what the June portion will involve.



Here are the four colors of pearl cotton I chose.




Aztec stitch portion completed.

This was very fun to do. Not too tricky, but you do have to pay attention to where you are going and not skip a set of bars! This part of the project is about 2"x4" and took very little thread.

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The EGA Stitch-s-Long Facebook page is a PUBLIC page. Here is what they say on their About page:

"Come stitch with us! The Embroiderers' Guild of America is the largest organization dedicated to hand embroidery in the United States. On our stitch-a-long Facebook page, you can stitch with us as we explore the resources available to us via EGA. Whether you are a long-time EGA member, or someone learning more about EGA because you're interested in membership, this page will help you connect to embroidery and the world of EGA. Happy stitching!
Please note that this group is set up to help with specific projects designated as Stitch-a-Long projects for the group. You may also post pictures of your projects that relate to EGA and its activities. Due to the large size of this group and its specific mission related to EGA, we request that you NOT post pictures of unrelated projects. There are plenty of show-and-share groups for that purpose.
Instructions for our first project can be found here (plus, you can download our free Little Book of Embroidery Basics there, too!): http://bit.ly/EGAstitchalong
Important note: Posted designs are produced by individuals and do not imply EGA endorsement."

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That is about all for now, Happy Stitching!!


Sunday, May 23, 2021

Della Robia Santa

It may be apparent to some of you who follow me, but I have been attempting to reduce by WIPs and UFOs as a goal for 2021. I still plan to do new stuff, because that is fun too, but attempting to keep that to a minimum. Wish me luck!!

In case you do not know a WIP is a Work in Progress and a UFO is an UnFinished Object. I am not quite sure the nuances between the two, but I am sure I have plenty of each!!

I have also taken back to stitching in the evenings for anywhere from 3 - 5 hours. I have a stand reminder on my watch and try to look up every 20 minutes. I stitch and listen to TV while my hubby watches. So we spend time together each night. When he asks me if I want to watch (insert show name here) I usually tell him, "sure, I can stitch to anything".

Since Yei-bi-chei is done, my next project from the cabinet is one from the 2008 Rocky Mountain Region (RMR) Seminar that was in Denver, Colorado. We had moved to the area the year before and this was my first RMR Seminar. I was lots of fun and I met a lot of nice local chapter ladies. Good memories. 

This is as much as I did at Seminar and how it looked when I started back up on May 19. 


It is a canvas project and will involve cutting out the stitching on the green canvas and attaching it to the white - it is the garland Santa is holding. It is attached in a way I have not done before, so something new there. But first I must get all the stitching done!

Here is my progress so far.


I am thinking it will look nice as a stand up. I will just need to find a place to have it done, that is not an area I have done much finishing myself, and I hate finishing canvas projects - the canvas is just too darn stiff and hard on the fingers.


Happy Stitching!!



Saturday, May 22, 2021

Yei-bi-chei Update

 I last told you about this project on my May 8, 2021 post.

I finished it! 

Here are some photos.

As mentioned on May 8, I was not sure I would have enough gold accentuate to finish. I did not, I was about 12" short!! I emailed the instructor and she sent me a spool! So this is how it looked when done.


The next step shown below was to remove canvas threads all around it. A bit scary, but I have done it before on a smaller piece, so I forged ahead.



Before I added the mask, I had to pad the area it was to be placed. Here is how it looked once the padding was complete. There are four layers of felt, each in decreasing sizes. You put the smallest one down first and work your way up to the biggest, and final piece.


The reason to remove the canvas threads is so we could use them to attach the mask to the other canvas, as shown in progress below.


Once that was all done it looked like this on the back.


Then I used a needle to put all the threads under the scotch and straight stitches made earlier. This secures the canvas threads. Here is how it looks below.


Here is the front after all the canvas threads are on the back and before the final steps.


Below is the FINISHED stitching after couching down around the edges a cording I made with two colors of the silk threads from the project and then a gold thread is couched on top of it. Then I added the real feathers, a square turquoise colored bead between the eyes and a tube bead for the mouth.


I am thinking it will be tricky to frame with that tube bead, it is approx. an inch long. Probably will need a shadow box and it was designed for a matt to go up to the edges of the stitching on the right - that is why the mask is not a full circle. I could almost do it myself since the opening is 8"x10". But probably not...stay tuned.

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Also in case you are interested I found this link about Yei-bi-chei from the mask museum.


Happy Stitching!!






Thursday, May 13, 2021

More Finish Finishing

I seem to be in a finishing state of mind. 

The first project is from the 2005 Bent Creek Zipper Series and this one is called Stars. It is on 18 count fabric over two using pearl cotton. I made it into a flat fold and it is on the fabric I used for backing. It is about the size of a #10 business size envelope.



This next is also from Bent Creek. It is called Coins Patriotic (c) 2007. It is on 36 count fabric over two using floss and is about 3"x 5". I made it into a pillow and the backing fabric is gray with tone on tone stars.



This Santa is called Santa Star from Homespun Collectibles. I completed it in 2014. The chart only was for the front, and I got a wild idea to make it 3D so stitched a back. It was a bit of a pain to finish, but here it is.




This last project is by Betsy Morgan and is a Sampler Guild of the Rockies 2012 fundraiser only available to members. It is a needlebook that can also be used as a Christmas Ornament. It is called Christmas Eve in the Rockies and is about 2.5" inches square closed. I made the twisted cord and used bamboo felt for the needle holder inside. It came with the star button and bell for a closure (besides the fabrics and threads).


Front


 Back

 Inside


Happy Stitching!     



Monday, May 10, 2021

Sunday was Finishing Day!

The Owl Cracker has been finished into a cracker - one not to be opened for prizes inside, however!

Here is how it looked on my last update of April 19, 2021.


Here is the finished product. 


I have done round finishing before, so this was not too bad, but I usually wrap it around a toilet paper roll tube to give it stability and a nice round shape. I did not have one readily available, so it was done "free hand". Not as perfectly round as would be with the tube, but I am happy with it. 

As fate would have it a friend had a small (under 10) socially distanced Stampin' UP! party and her party favor included some pieces of ribbon. One of which was perfect for this cracker!!


I also finished the Celebrate Harvest piece into a pillow. I lined it and the filled it with crushed walnut shells. I still need to decide on an edging. I can easily sew it on once I find something I like. For now the edges are bare.





I used the special fabric that is a reproduction of of a page from William Bradford's journal which documented the first 30 years of the Plymouth Colony.

Happy Stitching!!









Saturday, May 8, 2021

Yei-bi-chei a 2012 EGA Seminar Class

I took this class October 29 & 30, 2012 at the EGA National Seminar in Santa Fe, NM and posted about it and the seminar on this post.

I decided to pick it up again and have been stitching on it most evenings for a few hours. 

The first photo is how is looked when I picked it up to restart on April 26, 2021. It is a two canvas piece. This is a mask that will be appliqued on a background piece (to be shown later).  While it seems we did not get a lot done in class, this is fairly typical. You have a short time to cover all the stitches so you can complete it later at home. We also did some practice work, for the mask applique and that time will not show in the class progress. 

I have been posting my progress each night on Facebook as I finish for the evening. Here are some of  those photos to show my progress.

April 26

  April 27

  April 29

   April 30


  May 1



  May 7

At this point I just have to finish the left side background on the mask and decide if I will stitch the eyes or cut them out and use a black fabric behind them. Then I can work on the other canvas. I am a bit concerned that I may not have enough of the gold thread to finish - probably will find out tonight!

Happy Stitching!