Wips: The Week in Review

I behaved well last week in staying with some wips but I am really tempted by something new. Since I wasn't sure what exactly, I tried some tricks to stay with the current projects.

The first trick was working my way down to the first band of color on the Nonesuch Sampler.  Excuse the threads leading off to the sides.  I just wanted to work with some color.  I didn't trust my ability to count correctly on the 50 ct so I started each band on my way down.

I also realized that I don't have enough eterna color 10 (ecru) to finish the all the whitework.  I may not even have enough left to finish the band I started with it (below the big dull diamonds).  That shows you how long ago I started this: eterna was still easily available then. 

I need to go through all of my wips to see if that sort of thing will be an issue with any of them concerning their threads.

Diving into my stash I found the next closest color, which is still whiter than the ecru.  I have 2 skeins of that.  That should be enough.   One good thing about not completing the bands all the way through - it will be easier to integrate the new, slightly different color to make it look like more of a design choice than the OH NO! *face palm* that it is.

But even that bit of blue wasn't enough to keep me interested for long.  It was also too small.  Those xes are really tiny.  I didn't get that sense with the satin stitches over several threads in the bands above.

I wanted something I could see!  It doesn't shine like the eterna colors but it is 1 strand over 2 on 36 ct which seems like canvas holes by comparison.
I took my Blackbird Designs 2011 Loose Feathers Summer back out.

We will see how much further I get.  It is still not fitting the mood I am in.  I wish I knew what I was looking for!

WIPocalypse Samplar Workes Nonesuch Sampler

Switching gears to something different: 
 
I don't know whether it was the color changes on the other pieces or whether it was the same colors but I need a change.  I need to work on something different. 

This is a piece I started too many years ago to remember.  

Using 50 ct Ivory cloth w Eterna silks and some assorted others being tested for the tight gauge.  

The sheen of the Eterna is incredible but I will have to be careful.  I don't know what I have in my deep stash for duplicate skeins, if any or if it is still available.  

Right now, I just have to make it through the whitework bands.  Because I wasn't sure of how much I had I switched to a tatting thread for Band 6, the just started bigger diamond band.

The 50 count and the Eterna wore on me in past.  Let's see how far I get this time before putting this one back to sleep.  Hopefully, a short sleep.  Maybe the WIPocalypse challenge will help me to keep it out and get some bands finished.

2012 Challenge: Blackbird Christmas Garden

After a couple of weeks of work on this I need to take a break to work on something else.

This is working up faster than I thought it would but that only counts if this is picked back up to continue.  

How many times have I put something down for awhile only to not return to it for years?   Don't answer that!

WIPocalypse January 9 report

I am posting a day or so early because I don't think I will get any further along on this between now and the report date.  So while I have time to work with the pictures here is my first WIPocalypse post.

I hauled out this really old Wip: Martina Weber's Dragonfly Quilt Row A all blocked up.  At the time I started this I was fairly new to Martina Weber's great designs.  The size of the entire quilt intimidated me so I decided to attack it in manageable chunks: arrangements in blocks of 4 with the border framing them.

 It was a good plan until I didn't get very far.  I modified the border a little bit by adding some stitching and some beads but that wouldn't have taken me this many years to complete had I stuck with it.

 Here is a close up of Block 2 where I picked up again in response to the WIPocalypse challenge.

And now TA-DA!  I have had a thoroughly enjoyable few days of working on this, loving even the parts of the stitching that I remembered hating when I put this down years ago.  

The border is not completely filled in with the funky stitches but it is marching along to the bottom half of the piece.  Block 2 is completely finished.  YAY! 

Onto the bottom half!  I can begin to imagine that I might even finally finish this this year.  This piece will be framed as soon as it can be at that point.  I am not putting this away in the map chest drawers with so many other pieces.

Thank you, Measi, for the challenge.  I don't think I would have hauled this out without it.

2012 Challenge: Blackbird Designs Christmas Garden

I couldn't wait any longer.  I spent an hour tossing floss against cloth.  After that it was only a matter of minutes before I hunted up some scroll rods. .

The cloth is more orange - antiqued than the photo shows.  The cloth is almost the color of the gold thread. 

Cloth: 36 ct. R&R Flax Fields

HDF silks: not a direct conversion to CC - just sort of eyeball to stash on hand:

Exemplar Crushed berries

BeLeaved

BeHived

Mystery - unlabeled mini brown color

Ink Circles: Here Comes Treble

Here is my 2nd New Year's Day start.  This isn't finished.  Hopefully I will return to it before January ends.  I am not that far from the finish with it.  I really shouldn't have put it down.

Chart listed CC floss on 36 ct Flax.  1 strand over 2.

But I did.  I wanted to start my 2012 Challenge piece.

Shepherd's Bush: Feed My Sheep

My tradition of a small Shepherd's Bush sheep start on New Years continues.  This one was so tiny I finished it in a few hours.  It will take me a few more years before I run out of SB sheep to stitch.

The cloth was changed out to a 40 ct scrap of Lambswool.  The dull beige floss originally used on the sheep matched the cloth so I changed its fleece to B5200.  I left the heart button off.
Tomorrow I pick up the 2 1/2 by 3 inch frame to pop it into.  Or maybe I will use the little white one I have on the shelf that I didn't use last year.

There is still a lot of day left, I think I will start something else.

Next up one of the small musical Ink Circles.

Here Comes Treble?
First Bass?
Alto Gether Now?

All 3 are kitted up but I want to start on only 1 and preferably finish it before starting on the challenge piece I mentioned in last night's post.