OH Ho Ho Ho...Oh NO! I can't believe I did it.

With my bad track record of SALs & Challenges, I have entered into a challenge for 2012 which I saw on Becky of SC's Blog . 

I think I was just looking for an excuse to start something I got in the mail just before Christmas.  I just happened to pull some threads for it this evening but I had absolutely no plans to start it anytime soon.  I did not need another big or even medium sized WIP as I have so very many older unfinished pieces.

Here is my challenge piece to be started sometime next month. 

225W by 272 H,

though that height might change by a few stitches because I will changing that bottom line out for something like family initials, town & year so that this can hang all year.

The threads chosen were Hand-dyed Fibers, silks from my stash in close enough for me approximation to the picture:

CC Calico Kitty = HDF Exemplar Crushed Berry

CC Fool's Gold = HDF Behived

GA Endive = HDF BeLeaved

GA Heirloom Gold = HDF  unlabeled mystery variegated brown

And maybe some beads thrown in just because I love to work beads on stitched pieces.

Cloth is yet to come but will probably be 35 count which will make this piece 12.85 by 15.54.

And so we will see if I just set myself up for my usual failure to make it through to the end...but I was looking for an excuse to start this from the moment I got it.

Mary Beale Emblem from Card # 9

After months of working mostly on the muted colors of Blackbird Designs I needed to work on some more vivid motifs. 

 

I returned to an old wip.  I love the quirkiness of Mary Beale designs.  

I have a huge collection of her pocketbook patterns since most of them are motif-life   I am making a sampler out of as many motifs as I can fit on a random piece of cloth pulled from my stash.

35 ct, "sampler" cloth from an Essamplaire kit whose cloth I switched out for something else.  The camera sees it as whitish.  In real life it is DMC 3046 very light olive green yellow - more like Scarlet Letter's golden grain cloth than anything else I've seen to compare it to.

The rest of the sampler, such as it is so far, using DMC, some holographic sulky and some textured stitches that I've been adding in here and there.  

Please forgive the work in progress thread ends trailing out  and the lumpy display as I was too lazy to take it off the rods for the pic.  I was still working on the big central motif when I decided to grab the opportunity for the pic.

Blackbird Designs: Crowning the Tree

From finish to frame in 5 minutes. I finished my adaptation of a Blackbirds Designs stocking to a small picture that fits inside a 5 by 7 frame. 
 
 I  added some beads: Delica 103, Gold Red Luster. 2 color substitutions were made.    The cloth is 36 ct Flax.  The eyelets were modified.  The design was shifted.  

The design count was modified to make the sides more proportional to the height so it would fit a 5 by 7 frame more evenly.

The frame was one I had on hand.  I buy up inexpensive frames when I find some I like at great prices.  They come in handy.

Blackbird Designs: Crowning the Tree

While others are wondering about their New Year's starts - I couldn't wait that long.   The longer I looked at the new leaflet, Crowning the Tree stocking, the more I wondered how it would look as a little picture piece.  

Moving it alittle here, extending the bits there and this is what I have so far:

The 3 greens are as listed on the chart. 
The other colors are substitutions: 
WDW Lancaster Red
GA Brandy.

I might introduce some beads.

It is moving along quickly despite some motif misplacements, froggins and restitching.   Original target finishing date was today - which isn't going to happen.  Now hoping for New Year's Eve so that I can start something else on New Year's Day.

More stitching! More & better Documentation!

Over the years I have tried assorted methods of making & keeping notes on my stitching.  Few of them are retrievable when I need the information.  Few of them are motivational to keep me stitching.

Hopefully this blog will help me keep things documented and moving.  This blog may have offshoots devoted to 1 or another problematic BAP but for most everything else that I can think of in my stash: this place will be home.

Thanks for looking and stay tuned.  Meanwhile I do have an album of my pieces online at my main Webshots album  The unfinished ones will be making future progress appearances here with commentary. 

See you in a bit!