Beaded Bermuda Reef

 Hello!

Last Friday and Saturday I was so thrilled to attend an IN-PERSON workshop given by my local ANG Chapter, Saguaro Stitchers. Kathy Rees of Needle Delights Originals taught her Beaded Bermuda Reef. It was a very fun project and not too big. We used 8" x 16" stretcher bars. It is full of lots of fun thread colors, stitches and textures.

Here is the teacher's piece:

I enjoyed it so much that I kept working on it and it is finished! Now to find a good framer. 

The following photos show progress as the class went on and I as I stitched at home. 

First steps. It is so fun to be in class with other people and the teacher!

Notice the zig zag pattern close up below. The top one has been outlined, the bottom has not. What a difference it makes!!

All the stitching is done, now to add the beads!

We made the beaded fringe in class. Below is my progress to see if it is long enough.

Here is a close up of the beginning of the beaded fringe. Cool how it looks so much like coral!!

Here is my finished piece. WOO HOO!!

This workshop attracted me because of the colors and the beading in the middle. It did not disappoint, and the teacher/designer was wonderful as well! I would definitely take a class from her again.

I have some virtual classes to catch up on and I am taking classes at the ANG Seminar this summer in Tucson. It is the 50th Anniversary of the Guild and I can't wait!!

Happy Stitching!!

Under a Copper Moon

I needed a new project to stitch on in the evenings now that I have finished American Patchwork.

So, I picked out this project that was a Saguaro ANG (American Needlepoint Guild) two day workshop in October of 2018. It is called Under a Copper Moon and was designed by Toni Gerdes, who also taught the workshop.

This photo is not how it was by the end of the workshop, I had worked on it a bit afterwards. The mountain at the left is a batik fabric we cutout, padded and applied to the canvas using fusible web.

The moon was on a separate canvas on which we heat applied copper foil and stitched over the top. It was then padded and appliqued on the bigger canvas much like I did with Yei-bi-chei.

It is on a 15"x10" piece of sandstone 18 count mono canvas and uses a variety of  solid, overdyed or variegated cotton, silk and metallic threads. The copper metallic is DMC Metallic Effects and is a PAIN IN THE YOU KNOW WHAT to work with, but it sure is effective. 

Happy Stitching!!

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!!

Owl Cracker

I started this in the fall of 2016. It was a project my local ANG chapter decided to do from the ANG Chapter Project Notebook. It is a set of 5 fall designs called Autumn Crackers by Marilyn Owen.

There is a quilt block, a maple leaf, a fall tree, a pumpkin and an owl. I decided to do the owl. The design is 3 1/4" x 4 3/4" and it is on a piece of 8"x 9" 18 count mono canvas. It is supposed to be finished as a cracker - like the ones popular in Britain at Christmas time. It uses pearl cotton, Kreinik braid, Fyre Werks, Silk Lame, Gloriana silk and DMC floss (you can use Splendor instead, I opted for floss).

This is one of the projects I picked up to work on when my community stitch group started meeting again on Tuesdays and I have only been stitching it then.  As you can see I am almost done. I just need to finish the last column on the right, the background above and below the owl and a few stitches to help with the finishing. Then on to finishing!

Happy Stitching!!

Been Busy Stitching!

I have gotten into a bit of a routine. When I stitch during the day I work on a needlepoint project and in the evening I am working on a Sampler while sitting on the sofa "watching" TV. In the process I finished a needlepoint piece first started in 2003. I took a class with my Raleigh Needlepoint group from Debbie Stiehler, it is called Lucky Gecko. Is on a 15" x 17" frame and its size made it perfect to work on in my studio vs on the sofa.

Here are a few other things I finished recently. The first three are projects from a Sampler Guild of the Rockies Retreat, a needle fold and a bookmark. I think both are from 2012.

I also finished a project done last year by my Saguaro Chapter of ANG (American Needlepoint Guild). I attached the stitching and fabric to a finishing form which helps keep it nice and round.

I also finished a 2" square practice piece into a pin. It is designed by Catherine Jordan and was a Cyber course. We made the small square first to practice making a larger piece that consists of multiples of this square. It is call My Granddaughters quilt and the idea is for it to look like a quilt top when done.

Tomorrow I will have a post on the progress I have made on the Maria Antoni sampler, which is what I have been working on in the evenings. My goal is to post an update on this sampler every Monday until it is finished, so stay tuned!!

Smalls SAL 2017

I signed up for a fun Stitch A Long (SAL) hosted by Heather at  Stitching Lotus and I finally have something small to post!

It is a fortune cookie ornament about 5 inches across.

It was a project from my local ANG chapter. We stitched on a 5" diameter circle using one skein of watercolours and the Byzantine Stitch. I kept one 18 inch length of three strands of the water colors for the cord/finishing and used the rest to stitch the circle and used up just about all the skein!

It was fun to make!