Work in Progress Wednesday - 26 Feb 2014

Just a quickie today to share the current status of the Tudor Lady project.

As you can see, I haven't quite met the goal for February yet, but there are still two and a bit more days to go.  Not only that, but if I don't meet it, it really doesn't matter.=)

Just a row and a bit left to do on the lower left rows of blue and seven or so on the other side.  Yesterday I bought new skeins of the middle two shades of blue.  From the floss toss photo, I see that I had used both skeins before and, looking back through some of my older project photos, I was surprised at how much blue had been called for although not always these particular shades.  The darkest, for instance, was a newly started skein with this piece.  The image is developing nicely and I'm still pleased with it, although I'll be glad to start a new section!!  It's not horribly boring, but I'm ready for a change just the same.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Needlequest Update Post - Mon 24 Feb 2014

I don't have much to share with you this week.  I just managed to get Hanako backed (i.e. cut, pressed and tacked a piece of white polycotton on to the lawn fabric I'm using) and put in a frame ready to stitch on.

I was going to say it hasn't been a very stitchy week, but I did finish off that poppy on Friday and have done a couple of hour-long sessions on my cross stitch, but I haven't got as far as I would have liked.  Still, there are a few days left for me to finish this month's challenge on time.=)  Sadly, Hanako isn't very portable (nor is the Tudor Lady, come to that), so I can't work on her during the few dead hours I have to spend in transit to visit mum per week.  It would be too bumpy for that too.  Cross stitch bookmarks are good for in transit stitching, and I've done some hardanger work as well (surface work, not cutting out or filling stitches), but this kind of thing, nope.  I did sort out a few mistakes on the Tudor Lady on the coach home a few weeks ago!!

What about you?  Has anyone anything to share?  I've only had one link left this month, so I'm hoping others have been saving theirs up for a big finale.  Perhaps next month's topic of goldwork will be more inspiring for many.=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

'Welsh Poppy' finally complete!

A mere three weeks after the needle painting part of the Needlequest finished, I finally completed my second small piece!  I had to force myself to get on with it - I don't much like doing the leaves in so many shades, but I'm glad I did and it's now finished.=)  I'm now back to my preferred two WIPs.  I don't like to have more than that as it makes me feel stressed and leads to over slow progress and/or certain things being plain neglected whilst I do the easier one(s)!

Here are full frontal and side views.

Working these two pieces was quite a steep learning curve.  Although I'd done some of this type of work before, I still felt I was learning a lot, and quite intensively too.  I'm more or less happy with the flower on this piece, except that I keep on making my first row of stitches too wide and end up leaving little room for the denser shades of the colour later on (note to remember next time!),  but the leaves - esp. the small one - leave something to be desired.  Sir said that the large one was well done and, yes, that's not too bad, but we both agreed that the small one was, well, naff!!=)  The bud comes close to suiting that title as well, esp. in this next shot where its deficiencies are highlighted!!LOL!

I've come to the conclusion that I prefer leaves to have less shading in them.  There were meant to be five shades in the large leaf.  I narrowed it down to four.  There are only four yellows in the petals and I can't help feeling a bit that, if the leaves are so super-shaded, it may detract a little from the flower.  This is something I need to think about and plan much more carefully next time.

Another aspect that needs more thought in advance is colour choice.  It was OK sorting out the petals for both my recent pieces, but greens are another pair of pyjamas altogether!  It seems that you never can have enough greens and I'm considering doing some serious research into plugging some gaps in the Anchor colour range with DMC shades.  Working out which shades are needed is going to be a real headache as I only have the Anchor colour chart and lighting in shops isn't the most helpful.  If anyone has any suggestions (I'll also post to Stitchin' Fingers and HEN about it), I'll be happy to have them.  The main problem with this one was that two of the shades of green seem to have got reversed in the book instructions and, as I was also using conversions from DMC to Anchor, I was tired and stressed by the time I'd finally fiddled out a combo that would pass muster.  Not ideal, but it'd do.  I'd already worked two sections and had to unpick them, so I wasn't out to create yet more work!!  So, shade selection needs a lot more careful work in future, and that before I start to stitch.  With days getting longer now, that will be easier to fit in.

This is kind of an odd angle to take a photo from, but I like it!  The badly done bits are played down and the light falls just on the part where contrast with the fabric is lowest and so shows it off in, literally, its best light.=)

So, yes, I'll be coming back to needle painting in the not too distant future - there are five more pieces I want to do from this book, but with extra care in colour choice and leaf working.  I'll be visiting the bricks and mortar Sew and So shop in a few week's time, so I'm saving to get the DMC shades I need then.  Hope their in-shop prices are as good as their on-line ones!  Anyone know?

So, now I need to get back to poor Hanako who has been neglected this week.  I'd like to finish the February challenge on time as there's nothing worse than always trying to catch up all the time.  The key, I think, is the same as it was when working the weekly samples for the City & Guilds level 3 course I started a few years ago - small and/or simple!  As one of the upper year students said to me, "I soon learned to keep things small."  One to bear in mind when choosing my Needlequest pieces, methinks!  What say you?

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Work in Progress Wednesday - 19 Feb 2014

Time for the Tudor Lady cross stitch picture check in as part of Sharon Boggon's Work in Progress Wednesdays event.  Good to see that my posting about it last week led to another stitcher wanting to take part, so that was nice, wasn't it?=)

As you can see from both pictures, the skirt is coming along nicely.  The first picture was taken the day after my last update and shows the work that I actually did do that evening, despite feeling too tired for it at first.  The second shot shows where I left off last night with the whole of the upper right hand section completed and all four lower stripes in progress.

The aim is to finish the blue parts of the skirt this month, which I doubt will pose a large challenge and the rest of the cotton cross stitch during March.  After that, April should bring the rayon and metallic cross and half stitches to completion, as well as the petit point, leaving the finishing touches (beading, trims and satin stitches on skirt and ornaments) for May.  I have another project planned for then onwards, which should develop the skills I began to learn in the Needlequest...

What's new in your stitching world??

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Needlequest Update Post - Mon 17 Feb 2014

How are you getting on with your Japan Needlequest work?  I've made quite some progress since last Monday, I'm glad to say.  I spent a bit of time on Saturday working on Hanako and moving her forward to the point where I'm almost ready to start the top stitching on the piece.

Here's the finalised design on the tracing paper and then that design transferred to the white fabric (which doesn't really show well, does it??)

After that it was time to start painting in the parts that weren't to be appliquéd, so out came my Colourcraft fabric paints, including the extender and pearlised paint that I bought in November.  I wanted to make the skin parts very slightly pearlescent.  It worked too, but won't photograph well, so you'll have to imagine it.=)

Here's the face, hair, hand and feet painted in.  This worked out quite well, although I should have used a little less of the paint extender for the skin shade.  It's not quite dry here on the photo, but it came out a bit paler than I wanted.  Still, it was basically the right colour, so I'm not too unhappy with it.  Fabric colouring techniques are something I could use some extra work on, thus the inclusion of them in Needlequest for one of the summer months.

After the painting stage, it was time to prepare the fabrics for bonding to the main piece.

First I traced the individual shapes onto the Bondaweb paper.  You'll notice that I spaced them out quite a bit so that I didn't end up with the effect being of just one piece of fabric.  Also, you have to trace the shapes as mirror images, which is often no problem to do.

Next stage is bonding the Bondaweb to the back of the fabrics.  I just used a hot, dry iron to do that, protecting both the ironing board and the iron with another sheet of tracing paper.  Strictly speaking, it should be baking parchment, but I don't have any and tracing paper often does as good a job.  The idea is that the fusible stuff shouldn't end up gunking up your ironing equipment, so anything that serves that purpose will do.

Last step is to cut all the shapes out as carefully as possible.

Here you can see that I started by bonding the smaller bits.  I thought I was being quite clever at the time, especially as I was trying to do them in order of 'distance' (not that I quite managed that either!), but later realised that it would have been better to have done the larger shapes and then been sure that there was no space left around them.  As it happened, there were a few gaps and I really didn't think it through properly, but I've really learned something useful for the next time I try this kind of technique.  Do the larger shape first so that the tiny piece (the back sleeve edge for instance) can abut it comfortably and not leave a slice of white that needs more painting later....=)  Still, I did get the chance to paint in the lips too!

The last photo is the project as it stands right now.  I need to back the main fabric with something else as it's very thin (fine cotton lawn) and then make a start on the stitch 'fastening' and outlining of the appliqué section.  Other parts to be stitched are outlines on the face, including an eye, outlines of fingers and also the hair.  Maybe I'll think of some trims to do too, but I don't want to overdo it.

The original piece was called 'Hanako's Dream' and was from 'Inspirations' issue 47, I think.  I decided just to call my version 'Hanako'.  I like this name, it means 'flower child' and there are flowers on the kimono too.

Have any other participants anything to share this week?  If so, please leave a link in the comments section of this post.  If the challenge appeals to you and you'd like to join in, full details including signs up can be found on the Needlequest page.  Looking forward to seeing what 'Japan' as a theme has been saying to you of late.=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Various stitching sorts of things

Hello from wet and windy South Yorkshire.  Nothing like as terribly wet and windy as those poor souls in the south of the country, Wales and western coastal areas who are flooded out of their homes and/or assessing damage from the strong gales that were battering their homes and businesses the other day.  In that, we count ourselves lucky.

Anyway, I promised a little while ago to share the completed Lizzie*Kate 'Autumn' piece and so here it is.  For any newcomers, late last year I completed the 'Button Up' four seasons series (I'd done 'Winter' and 'Spring' a few years before), but didn't use the novelty buttons that came with the charts.  Two of them I didn't really like and so I decided to find another way to add a special touch to this series.  I'll be adding in some stitched elements in a different style from cross stitch to create a special part.  I'll do this one when Needlequest covers autumn, the 'Spring' one in April and fit the other two in as an when, sometime in between.

Last time I posted this piece, it was almost done, but I wasn't sure about the yellow and orange lettering at the bottom.  As you can see from the comparison with the rest of the series below, it doesn't stand out as well as the others do, but I don't think it's too bad, so I'll keep it as it is and won't be adding anything to it.  Some suggested outlining it (I also thought of this one myself), but none of the others are outlined and I wanted to make sure that the series matched well too.  The contrast isn't as great as those with darker shades, but it could also be a great deal worse, so it goes forward as is.=)  Many thanks to those who gave opinions and made suggestions a few months ago.=)

When i was up in Leeds the other week I grabbed the chance to visit my old favourite shop there and bought most of the bits and pieces that you can see here.  I finally found somewhere that wasn't out of stock of Anchor #1 stranded cotton - bright white (=DMC shade B5200), although they didn't have #2, antique white, I noticed.  I have a spare of that one though, so I was content with my find.

I also bought these three lengths of ribbon, which will become piping for cushion covers.  I have two planned for this year - the Japanese kimono piece is to be made up into one and a butterfly piece that I'll be doing in the autumn is the other.  I got the third length of ribbon as they were '50p each or 3 for £1'.  Silly not to!!

The fabric they're resting on is a 30cm strip of white organza, which I got to have a go at Rowandean style 'see through' work (like Rachel showcased after her trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate last November), which will be another part of my spring themed work in April.  I also have Gary Clarke's 'Embroidery Illusions' on my wishlist and wanted to have some useful fabric in to try something like that.

The last four skeins of thread are the missing DMC Linen shades I was looking out for and which Cynthia very kindly sent to me from her own stash.  They came with a note expressing the hope that she'd soon see them featured in a pretty project, so I must get my thinking cap on.  Can't let such a generous soul down.  Don't forget, Cynthia, if there's anything fairly light in weight that I can send you from the UK, you've only to ask!=)

Wish there were more greens that these two wishy-washy ones, but at least that's another thread collection completed (even if it is discontinued now).  Not that I have a vast array of complete collections - just Anchor stranded cottons, Anchor Marlitt, possibly Madeira Stranded Silk - unless they've added any new shades and almost all Anchor's Coton à Broder #16 - minus one or two shades that I'd never use, and now these linen threads.  At one point I had all the Anchor Pearl Cotton #12 balls, but then they re-vamped the range and extended it enormously.  I've got some of the new ones, but don't need all.   OK, I suppose that, whilst that might not be a vast number of collections, it does constitute a rather vast amount of thread!!LOL

What about you?  Do you have any complete collections?  What would you like to have the whole set of?  I'd like the new Anchor Coton à Broder #25 set, but the colours are little limited at only 40.  Mary Corbet was understandably bewailing how limited the DMC collection was recently and there are about 175 shades there, so this one is really small!  Still, I think they could have use, although, as usual, they haven't really brought out colours that say 'buy and use me' to me.  Some, yes.  Many, sadly not.  I'll probably get the greens, yellows and red-shades (including pinks, lilac and peach). It's a new venture for Anchor, releasing colours in this range, which used to be white and black only, so I hope they'll expand it in time.  Hardly anyone's stocking it yet and the only on-line retailer I've found has, unhelpfully, omitted the colour numbers.=(  I may have to get it from Hobbycraft.

I fancy treating myself to the four Kreinik Sacks O'Silk, and, as they go up in price every time I look at them, so it seems, I'd best be quick, although I don't have £70 to spare just now.  I'd also like the DMC Satin range, I think.  I wonder how very different they are from Anchor Marlitt.  Anyone know?  Could they be used together without very obvious discrepancies?  They only have 60 shades to Marlitt's 90, but I think there's a lot that can be done, even with a limited palette.  I'm willing to try, anyway!!

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Work in Progress Wednesday - 12 Feb 2014

Wednesday is here again and so is my weekly showcase of the current large project.  At the moment, I'm working on Sue Page's cross stitch picture of a Tudor Lady, which was featured in the UK magazine 'World of Cross Stitching' issue number 60 from July 2002.

I've worked on her over four 30-70 minute sessions since the last update and here are two of the stages.

I was concentrating on the two darkest blues down the right hand side of the overdress when I last updated on blog, after having completed those two shades on the left hand side already.  However, I decided it was time for a small change and filled in the two lighter shades on the left, completing that part and helping it to really take shape and begin to look what it is - a skirt!

I've had some entertaining suggestions as to what it was beginning to look like.  There were a couple of mouldy cheese ideas, from Gorgonzola (is that right?  I don't like blue cheese, so I'm no expert here), to one with mould growing outwards (a rind, perhaps??).  The best one was a cob of corn with blue hairs!  Loved that one!!=) LOL!  Anyway, no, it really is a skirt and, in the fullness of time, the outer layer will be as long as the inner one, but there are two green stripes to put in as well.

This second shot is the current state of the project, where I left off last night.  I had wanted to finish off all the darker shades on the right hand part, but I was just too tired and so left the bottom section of that third cascade for next time, (which won't be tonight as I'm worn out and too tired to stitch.)

Over the next week I hope to at least finish this upper right hand section and make a good start on some of the four lower ones - two left and two right.  Should be possible, but let's see....

The right hand side of the skirt looks so much lower down than the left, but it is correct and doesn't look so out of place when the whole thing is done.  Below is the latest WIP shot alongside the magazine photo for comparison and as a refresher for anyone whose forgotten what I'm working on, or a 'Ah, that's what it's meant to be!' for those who haven't yet seen it.

This regular weekly posting is part of the Pintangle Work in Progress Wednesdays event, which is hosted by Sharon Boggon of Canberra, Australia and is open to anyone who wants to share an update of a fair sized project with others.  The FAQs are here.  Why not see if you have something that you could join in with?  It's great for reinvigorating pieces in glacially slow progress or even UFOs and has helped me complete three so far.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Needlequest - Mon 10 Feb 2014

Was that a week gone by already??  Help!

So, it's Monday again and time for an update on everyone's Needlequest work.  Has anyone managed to accomplish much this last week?  I confess, I haven't!  I did a fair bit on my Welsh Poppy last night, but as that was January's subject/technique, I don't really class it as Needlequest work anymore.  So, I'll be showcasing that in a Friday/Saturday post soon instead - once it's finished, of course.=)

As far as my Japanese design work is going, well I managed to make a start on tracing and simplifying the kimono piece.  After a lot of comparison with my own photos and others on-line, I think this tracing here is more or less correct for what I want.  I also want to change the hairstyle to make it a more traditional bun style.  As you can see, I make my tracing paper last (expensive stuff!), and there are the wings of a dragonfly goldwork project from back in 2008 visible top right, the tracing for last year's stumpwork rabbit's ear top left and a travel map outline in part at the bottom.=)  The Welsh Poppy is also on this sheet!!

I also spent some time with my Japanese fabric collection and fished out these fat quarters and patchworkers' pieces that I bought in Taiwan, (i.e. likely to be really Japanese).

I then narrowed them down to these two pieces - the red for the kimono and the black for the obi (the wide 'belt' part).

I noticed from some of the participants' comments over the last week etc, that there may have been a bit of misunderstanding on this month's theme.  'Japan' doesn't necessarily mean using Japanese needlecraft and embroidery techniques.  One said she didn't have time for a full silk work piece, so she would have to settle for something in Sashiko and others mentioned other things they planned to use.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with doing that if that's what the design theme 'Japan' says to you, but the idea is to create or work designs where the picture itself is something Japanese.  Thus all my photos 10 days ago of iconic Japanese things as an appetite whetting exercise.  If you want to use a Japanese technique this month, there's nothing stopping you doing that, it's just fine, but I just wanted everyone to know that, when the design theme is a country, it doesn't mean that our work that month must be that country's traditional stitching style.  So, if I wasn't clear on that in the first place and you were concerned about it feeling that you might have to sit certain months out, please breathe again!=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Work In Progress Wednesday - 5 Feb 2014

It's Wednesday and time for my regular long-term counted thread project update as part of Sharon's Work in Progress Wednesdays party over on Pintangle.  If you don't yet know her blog, where have you been??=)  It's one of the very longest running textiles blogs and has been going about 18 months longer than mine so, if you don't know it yet, check it out!

I took more or less daily progress shots on my Tudor Lady cross stitch piece, but some aren't very good quality and, frankly, it's not very interesting seeing a few stitches more over four or five photos, so I've just picked the two best, which also include the most up to date.  I've been working on it almost every day since the last update, so I've made a decent amount of progress.

It's hard to make any reasonable estimate of percentage complete on this picture as there are so many fancy things to add on top when all the cross stitches are complete.  Just look at the yellow wedge section for instance.  All those gaps need plugging with satin stitch, beading and cross stitch in metallic thread as well as some top stitching trims!  So, I'm estimating that I'm something like only 15-20% of the way through the whole project despite having made an impact on well over a third of the total working design area.

As anyone who looks closely can see, I'm smoothing off all the edges, whether they're outside ones or edges that butt onto other sections yet to be stitched.  I don't like the 'blocky', pixelated look that some cross stitch designs have, so I try to smooth as much as I reasonably can.  I'm really enjoying the project though and I usually stitch on it for an hour before settling down to sleep.

Mum's still making progress, but isn't able to eat much so isn't gaining a lot of strength.  I'm going to take her some juices and smoothies next visit to help boost nutrients and umph.=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Needlequest Progress Post - 3 Feb 2014

 It's Monday again and it's update time!  I did hope that I would get this piece finished at least in time for this post, if not by the end of January, but it's still not complete.  It's coming along quite well, but I expect I'll only be able to show the finished thing next week.  Feels a bit bad being behind on my own challenge, but that's life, huh?

This month we're looking at Japan as a design inspiration theme.  This is the piece that I'm using as a rough pattern.  It's 'Hanako's Dream' from 'Inspirations' issue 48 (I think).  I won't be doing it anything like as in the original as that required having to buy the printed silk outline and a great many fancy beads and buttons as the embroidery is mostly beading trims.

What I'm thinking of doing is creating the kimono from some pieces of Japanese cotton fabrics I've had for a while and using appliqué to 'fix' them in place, then do the rest of the figure in simple embroidery stitches and trim up as and where feels right when I see how the piece is working out.

Of course, it might not work out well at all, but the idea is to give it a try and see what happens.  You don't grow if you don't take risks!

What about you?  How are you getting on with your Needlequest work?  Do leave a link in the comments section on this post so we can share what you've been doing.  Of course, other comments are most welcome too!  If you're creating a post to share your work so far, please try to include a link back here so that your readers can find out about the challenge too and, if anyone else would like to join in, feel free to add your sign up as a comment on the challenge page.=)

PS Update on Mum:  She's improving slowly and should be off the High Dependency Unit and back onto a normal hospital ward as soon as a bed becomes available. She's feeling much better than a week ago and was able to chat a bit on Saturday.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Needlequest 2014 - February - design inspiration - Japan

February sees us making a start on our first design area theme: Japan.

Many will want to have a go at creating some Japan inspired designs themselves.  However, if you're not confident with designing, or it just plain doesn't appeal to you, that doesn't mean you have to sit the month out of the challenge.  Have a look through the kits, books and magazines that are available to you and see if you can find something you'd like to work that fits in with this month's theme.  Or maybe you have a suitable part-worked project you can push forward with.

I've been looking out a few of our travel photos and also taking pictures of some of the Japanese items and souvenirs we've collected over the year in order to give you some ideas and inspiration for the month ahead.  Enjoy!

A collection of souvenirs on a shelf in our 'museum' cabinet.

Souvenirs on sale at Nijo Castle in Kyoto above and in Asakusa, Tokyo tourist market below.

The temple area in Asakusa, Tokyo

A shrine in a garden, Kyoto

Some very old houses alongside a stream in Kyoto

Shoppers wearing 'yukata' (a kind of simplified kimono) in central Tokyo

Me posing around in a kimono in a hair salon, Kyoto

Some typical traditional shapes from a book on Japanese embroidery

I hope that helps to give you some ideas to get started with.  You'll be able to find many, many more via a simple websearch, travel brochures, a trip to your local fabric store (as Japanese prints are quite popular - I've seen them in several fat quarter displays) and so on.  Feel free to share your inspiration finding ideas with us here as I fear I'm going to need them when it comes to most other design inspiration ideas!!=)  East Asia I have a lot of stuff for.  Others, not so much.

So, whether you're designing for yourself, working someone else's design or just pressing on with an on-topic work in progress, have a great month being inspired by a fascinating country and don't forget to leave links to your own challenge work on the Monday update posting.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014