Stitching Review for 2007

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last posting, wow! I haven't had that many responses for a LONG time! Anyway, I'm almost better now, just very tired indeed and looking forward to a week of healthy sea air from this Friday. We've booked a nice little house to stay in and are both ready to go!

Just fished back to the 'goals for the year' posting from early January and, well, let's see how I did:

To finish:

*Dog portrait (freestyle - silk shading) - YEAH! (Photo above)

*Blue tit (cross stitch) - YEAH!

*Delicate Dreams cushion cover (hardanger with beading) - YEAH! (Part photo above)

To start (and finish as well!!):

*Child of Spring (Victoria Sampler counted thread piece) - stitched, but still needs sewing up.

*Blue tits and Seedheads (Derwentwater cross stitch) - WIP

*Cataflute (Margaret Sherry cross stitch) - YEAH!

*Mediæval Flowers (Textile Heritage cross stitch bookmark) - YEAH!

*Baby Quilt (Vintage Quilts book - first go at quilting) -YEAH! And put to good use too!=)

*Hardanger Bell-pull (Mary Hickmott) - YEAH!

*Berry Parade pouch (stumpwork, own design) - didn't get to this one.

*10th & 20th anniversary cards (both hardanger with floral bits and bobs) - did the 10th, but it was bargello with ribbon work, but I had too much on with other stuff to get to the 20th, so that poor couple got neglected!=(

*8th anniversary card for DH (blackwork) - didn't do this in blackwork, but did the stumpwork ladybird you can see in the header photos instead as his card.

Other things stitched during the year:

*5 hardanger sympathy cards and one 5th wedding card in hardanger with floral trims.

*1 freestyle engagement card (part photo in header above - the roses bit) and 1 ribbon work card.

*A bedding set with a monogram on each pillowcase and 2 on the sheet, plus 2 related small motifs in the centre of the sheet.

*A stumpwork waterlily and damselfy picture.

Currently in Progress:

*Bluetits and Seedheads cross stitch pic as mentioned above.

*'Branches' card, on which I've done no more work since the last photo posted as I've been horizontal fighting off viruses most of the time! I'll have to take it on holiday with me, which is a shame as I wanted to hand it over before I went... I've recovered from the shock of finding out that the recipient's wife is 'a professional stitchie who teaches textiles', as a mutual colleague put it and am eager to get on with it!!! At first I was gutted as I wanted it to be something really out of the ordinary, some of which will be lost if stitched things are kinda normal to him, but I decided it didn't matter after all. It's gonna be an original whatever and it'll be out of the ordinary for the majority of the folk who sign it.=)

*Just need to finish up 'Child of Spring' into a cushion/pillow (depending on which side of the Atlantic you speak) and hope to do that whilst we're away too.

Planned for 2008, (other than finishing above WIPs):

*Cross stitch the final in the birds trio, 'Goldfinches and Thistles', which can all be framed together and put on the wall of our newly papered bedroom, (which is what DH has been doing whilst I was too ill to move!!!)

*Learn blackwork. I'm gonna take this from the very simple stages, just as I did with hardanger and get it firmly under my belt. Shouldn't be very hard at all. Trouble with me is that I tend to go at things at too high a level when I need to start much nearer the beginning!

*Do some more of the DMC stumpwork kits that the ladybird came from as well as some more of the those Crafty Ribbons kits I bought. They all fit beautifully into cards too. I have other kits that I want to try as well, such as a goldwork stringed instrument card, a small spray of flowers in Brazillian work and so on. Easier on me than trying to start with something like Ariel's Heart!

*Start a City & Guilds course, probably level 1 stumpwork and, if I get a sewing machine in time, the level 1 patchwork and quilting too.

I really want this coming year to be relaxing on the needlecrafts front and really be a learning year as much as anything.

Progress temporarily halted....=(

No, nothing to do with Christmas, which, as you may have noticed from the lack of seasonal things here, doesn't feature with me, it's just that I've been laid flat in bed over the past 3 days. I had a virus the week before and was stuck in really sick with it from Tuesday night to Sunday. I went out then and wished I hadn't. It might be that it's one of those that you need to totally rest out before it's safe to re-start life or it could be that I got re-infected, but I ended up even worse! So, no more elements from 'Branches' to display at the mo, but I'm beginning to feel better now (can sit up for more than 30 seconds!!!) so I may be able to get the actual tree outline finalised today as well as getting on with the 2 musical instruments. I did get all the elements I needed sorted out the other day in that I made a Word document with correctly sized images to copy in stitch. So, I've done something, just nothing that you can see.....=(

Hope everyone else has managed to avoid the bugs and hasn't over-eaten too badly!!!

Second element completed

Here's the doorplate. Both it and the Uni logo will be 'cropped' down to the outlining by folding back and glueing or stitching the surplus fabric to the rear of the motif. Both are backed with Vilene (isn't that a horrid name??).

In case anyone's wondering what this nameplate says, it's DH's sense of humour. He thought that the chap who this card is for's name sounded like 'octagon', so he translated the whole thing into German, including titles and it came out as Herr Doktor Achteck - (Mr) Dr Octagon. I daresay he will see the funny side of it, thankfully it's hardly insulting and not the kind of thing that any sane person could take offence at!!! DH was once called 'Mr Coffee-Coloured' (brown) as a direct translation of his name into Taiwanese Mandarin!!=)

Finally, 'Branches' goes WIP!

Yes, at last, I've finally managed to get a proper start on 'Branches'. I've done the first of the appliqué/slip elements, the University of Leeds logo worked in white Anchor stranded cotton and outlined in Anchor Ophir on dark green, and it's now safely stored ready for when it can be attached to the main card. Funnily enough, it's one of the last things that will go on!! I'm currently working on the octagonal doorplate, which I don't think will take me too long either. Should be ready to display that tomorrow, then it's on with the two instruments. One will just be a case of cutting out the right shape from a piece of gold kid leather, but the viola will be an interesting challenge!!

Other than that, I've made two 'thank you' cards in papercraft today as well.

End of an era....

So, full-blown teaching is finally over now for me=). Last week saw me out with my post-grad group for an end of class meal together on Monday night. I've had some nice responses from the students in the class about how much they'd enjoyed it etc and that was touching to read. One of my friends told me last night that I was 'visibly relieved' and lighter for the teaching being behind me.


Apart from a few other things that need doing,
'Branches' is the next big project and I got the initial prep of the fabrics done the other day. Each piece has interfacing/Vilene ironed on the back of it to strengthen it. The smaller pieces need it in order to be stiff enough to pass as hard slips and the main fabric won't last at all well without something to make it more durable under the weight of what will be quite heavy embroidery. Hope to get it properly WIP over the next few days.

Haven't done a thing more on the Bluetits. In fact, I haven't put in a stitch on anything for quite a while! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME????!!!!