0 'Sunshine and Flowers' Sampler Framed!

And here it is, back from the professional framer's, complete with two mounts and a nice wooden finish frame.  It cost me £43 to have this done and would have been a bit more had I not prepared and laced it up myself.  Up close, it would've been better to have used an off-white board to lace it around, as the pure white is a little too stark, but it doesn't show too much - and I daresay next to no-one will even notice it at all.  Just my perfectionism again.=)

Actually, I collected it a good week ago, but I didn't manage to get a photo even as good as this one (and it isn't the best, I know....) for a few days.

As I type, it's in mum's room in a care home near Leeds ready to be taken back with her to her house on Monday.=)  Glad to both see this project come to final fruition (as well as to see that mum liked it!) and to get mum out of residential homes and back into her own.

I realised that I also haven't shown you the completed Lizzie*Kate 'Autumn' button-up piece and that the last update was 'at about 85%'.  Just need to re-press it and then I can share it with you.  In the meantime, here's hoping I can get something done on my second needle painting piece as I've been out of action the past few days.

Have a good weekend!

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014

Detail: 'Sunshine and Flowers' Sampler Framed!

0 What's new in my stitchcrafts world

I remember, several years ago, someone saying to me that when someone goes all out on something one month, they tend to drop to lower than average levels the following month.  My recent blogging history would seem to bear that out, wouldn't it??=)  Actually, I've had some rough spells during November, but seem to be pulling up somewhat now, so here we are again, getting our act together and posting.

The first thing I have to show is the recent sampler finish all laced around a board.  Sir and I spent some time together working on framing issues on Monday evening - that is, he cut six pieces of card and I mounted the sampler onto the largest one of them.  Here are the front and back views.

After he'd cut that first piece, he then did me five squares on which to mount my little DMC stumpwork kits, as shown completed here.  Only four are shown here although I did work five of them.  One was mounted in a card for Sir, so I'll need to re-work one so that it can complete the set nicely.  I have a wall mounting idea for this series that will look much better with five than four pieces, so it'll be delayed a short while whilst that gets going.

This is how far the Lizzie*Kate 'Autumn' piece has got.  I didn't touch it for a fortnight and still haven't got much done since re-picking it up!  However, as there's an extended free listing event over this coming weekend on e-bay UK, I must press on so that I can get it sold on.  One lady has bought all the other three, so I expect I know where it's going next...

Something I'd like to do is really master needle painting, so I've got my Trish Burr 'Beginners' book off the shelf and decided to pitch in on this one to start with.  I also decided to have a go with my Pipers silks on it, which may turn out not to have been the wisest of decisions...  They're really quite fine and two strands of Pipers floss silk is equal to just one of regular stranded cotton.  Could be ideal for very fine work, should I ever feel the urge!

Below is the 'floss toss'.  I've drawn the design out twice as I may have a go at doing it in another colour way as well.  The appallingly blurred shot at the bottom is how far I've got - not very!

Last Friday saw me heading up to Harrogate for the Knitting and Stitching Show.  It was quite a day and not for the expected reasons!  Three out of my five buses were late, causing me to lose an hour of my precious little time at the Show and then to get home an hour late.  If that weren't frustrating enough, my complimentary ticket was thoroughly non est when I got the desk!  I couldn't say what had happened to it and who, if anyone, messed up, but the clerk on the desk, despite it not being at all busy given that it was 12:30pm already, declared it 'wasn't his responsibility' and declined to help me get in touch with the exhibitor who'd promised the ticket.  (Yes, in his position, I indeed would have!)  Anyway, I was just thinking that I had to choose between £15 for the ticket and slinking off with my tail between my legs, when I remembered that I had the mobile number of the blogger who I'd arranged to meet for a cuppa and a chat.  So, Rachel Wright of Virtuosew Adventures was my good angel that day.  She hared off to the relevant stand, explained the problem and then came over to where I was waiting with one of the team's own exhibitor pass to get me in.  Whew!  Was I ever grateful!=)  Rachel, mwah!=)

Here's what I bought:

The silk fabrics on the left are fat quarters and they're to be used as backgrounds for the needle paintings I hope to work in the fullness of time.  The other packs are some organza pieces from the Rowandean stand.  I thought they might be fun to play with and they were only £1 per pack.  Two of the overdyed threads were for pieces planned/in progress and the other two were 'useful greens'.  Softly variegated greens, like some of those by Gentle Arts Sampler Threads, can work well in freestyle pieces.

I also got a couple of fabric paint things - a mixing grey, a transparent extender (to make pastel/more transparent shades etc) and a pearlescent paint, and some four seasons type buttons which I got in the hope they would do on my Lizzie*Kate pieces.  However, what didn't click at the time is that the original buttons have holes in them and so lay quite flat on the fabric.  All these that I got are the type with a lump behind and almost certainly won't do.  Drat!  I'll have to think of something else now!

Anyway, I think that's all I have to share for now.  This has been my 500th post!

What have you been doing??

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: What's new in my stitchcrafts world

0 Completed sampler photos!

Well, this is it, the finished thing.  It's not mounted/stretched yet as I don't have the necessary size of board in stock, but I gave it a press the other day and took some shots anyway or else I may have had to keep you waiting ad infinitum!

I started to blog about this piece on 9 April 2012, so I will have started to stitch it around the 7th.  It was finished on 21 October 2013 meaning that it took about 18 months to complete.  However, that's a bit misleading as I didn't work on it actively for about half of that time, so it was more like a 9 month project in reality.  It was rather challenging in parts and I learned some new things and simplified others so that I didn't have to learn too much new stuff!  Hope you enjoyed it all anyway.=)

Now, time for something new.....

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: Completed sampler photos!

0 Belated Work in Progress Weds Post - 24 Oct 2013

Yippee!  The last Work In Progress Wednesdays posting I will ever need to do on this piece!  Yes, it's finished and I am THRILLED to have got through to the end of it.  It took over 18 months, although there were two long periods when I didn't work on it, but even so, it was a long project and it feels great to have it all completed at long last!=)

Above you can see the side trellis areas cut and below shows them all filled in.  I confess to having departed from the pattern here as, although the main trellis stitch wasn't hard to work, the length of the bars required working a sort of half stitch at the top and that led to my having trouble attaching it securely to the top section without pulling the stitches down badly.  I realised later that I could have done that OK by actually putting the threads through one of the fabric holes underneath the satin stitches but, a) it's too late now; and b) who knows if it would actually have worked that way either??=)

Above here is the bottom right hand section and below the bottom left showing the completed beading and the large X shapes that the side trellises would otherwise have been worked in - I managed them fine here.

Here's the gate area all cut out above and, below, you can see the first parts of it complete, although I did take that top left part out and did it again later on.  I was just taking all the shots I could up until we left for London on Monday morning.

Later on that day I finished it off in the Travelodge room and then took it out of the frame and took it to show show Sharon Boggon, who I met in person in London on Tuesday for afternoon tea!  Sir and I had an interesting few hours' chat with Sharon and her hubby, Jerry.  We learnt quite a lot about aspects of life in Australia - something we rarely have chance to find out about here.  One sees plenty of US related things and we have experience of life in continental Europe and the Far East, but Aus was a relatively new subject for us, so it was great to hear more.  I came away feeling that I understood another view of life so much better and had really learned something worthwhile!  Sharon and I also compared notes on our stash and how Brits, Americans and Aussies approach stitching materials and stash collection, whilst our blokes discussed PhDs, academia and joinery.=) Here are Sharon and I together with the finished sampler:

I consider this piece to be a tribute to the effectiveness of the Work in Progress Wednesdays idea!  I've finished three projects over the last year thanks to the weekly update deadline - this one, the Brazilian 'Rolled Roses' piece and the stumpwork rabbit (this last also spurred on by Anna Scott's 'Finished in February' event earlier this year), and have one left to go now - the peacock feather.  After that, I'll have to start something new in order to keep on joining in!

"Where are the finished samplers photos?" I hear you cry!  Well, I haven't taken then yet.  I want to get the piece properly pressed and then stretched around a mounting board ready to take to the framer and will take a good number of shots then.  Can't promise when just yet, but it will be soon, that's for sure.  At the mo, it's a crumpled mess that needs a bit of TLC before being fit to be seen.

On Saturday, I'll be updating you on the cross stitch piece and introducing you to 'Art Every Day Month', which I hope some of you will be inspired to join in.  Until then!=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: Belated Work in Progress Weds Post - 24 Oct 2013

0 Work in Progress Wednesday - on Thurs 26 Sept 2013!!

I haven't made huge strides this week and I was too busy yesterday to post an update, but here it is a little late (and still Wednesday somewhere just West of the International Date Line....).

I inserted the french knot lupins, which I can't say I enjoyed.  I don't mind french knots in small doses, but these were a bit of a bore to stitch, so I was glad to get the out of the way.

On these two shots, you can also see that I put in a few of the remaining beads, just leaving the section near the bottom scroll to do after the upper section has had the cutwork done.  Of course, you can't put beads under a snap frame bar, although ordinary stitches don't suffer by it too much.

I also discovered and inserted a few missing 'x's from near the beaded area and, as you can see below, made a start on the 'look through' piece that will be fixed behind the large square box when that's cut out and a few filling elements put in.

So, apart from those last beads, (about 15 mins work), the surface is now complete - HURRAH!

Time to get the trusty old petit point scissors into action.  I'm not nervous of cutting threads as a general rule, although I will feel a little more cautious than I normally do when doing the larger areas.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: Work in Progress Wednesday - on Thurs 26 Sept 2013!!

0 Work in Progress Wednesday - 18 Sept 2013

It's that time of week again and here's the latest on the sampler project.

This first photo shows the girl with all the cross stitches completed.

Whilst I was working this section, I was paying great attention to the quality and neatness of my little 'x's.  This came as a result of reading some of the show judges' comments on one American lady's blog and hearing the judges at work on a TV programme I saw on the iPlayer.  They said, "If we're going to nit-pick, and we are supposed to, then..." followed by a minor flaw in the piece they were judging.  This was a relatively high profile event, but I understood that the blogged one was smaller scale (albeit one with far more categories going!), so it seems that standards can be very high no matter what type of event is in the question.

I took a couple of photos of a stitched area with some that looked a little uneven in places, but it didn't show on the photo!!!  However, one could see the flaws with the naked eye and, show or no show, judge or no judge, I like to do quality work so I applied myself to keeping things more even.=)

Points that came up for a bit of criticism by judges were flaws in mounting and framing (one wasn't properly stretched and so it was very loose in the frame), stitch tension issues and trailing threads visible from the front.  This latter really is easy to prevent, although it's more of an issue when using evenweave and linen fabrics than Aida.  One needs to always make sure that starting and ending threads are neatly trimmed and not left sticking out at the side of the body of stitches.  Also, finish off a thread and restart it in a new location rather than just trailing the thread across the back.  Especially with dark threads and a light fabric, this looks terrible and is so easy to prevent.

Here's our girl outlined with back stitch and given French knot eyes,

I've also put in the two lupins which are at the 'back' of the group in cross stitches in order to create a sense of depth.  The more foreground ones will be done in French knots.  I just need to experiment to get the right combination of strands and wraps so that they cover well and look neat enough.

Here's our gardener in context and you can see from this that, apart from finishing the lupins, there are only the beads to add in the lower section and the surface work is finally complete on the main piece!  There's just a square to do which will fit in behind the large box next to the girl as a 'look through' element.

Cutwork coming up soon then!  Some of it looks a little scary as it means trying out new filling techniques, but I plan to do some dummy runs on a scrap of hardanger fabric.

Speaking of hardanger, Wendy, I totally agree with you about the so-called 'hardanger' scissors being useless.  The blade tips were so wide that you couldn't even use them on 22ct hardanger fabric, never mind this one, which is 32ct linen!  Happily however, Sir managed to fix my old petit point scissors and they're fine again.=)  They had got a bit blunt, but every time I ran the blade against the knife sharpener, it pushed it back slightly, so that the two blades ended up too far apart to be able to cut properly.  He pushed them back together and they work!=)  I suppose this could happen with larger scissors too, but these being so very tiny, it made a real difference.  Anyway, that's that problem solved, I'm delighted to announce.
=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: Work in Progress Wednesday - 18 Sept 2013

0 Work in Progress Wednesday - 17 July 2013

It's been a long time since I was able to post to this challenge as, up to this month, I hadn't worked on my sampler since mid February and didn't want to include my three recent stumpwork pieces in it.  The photo above is the last one I posted a few months ago.

I was hoping to get quite a bit of work done on it whilst I was away in Germany earlier this month, but as so often happens when I'm away, I didn't get much stitching done at all.  In fact, I only got to replace the first three of the five words here:

I'd long felt that the purple just didn't 'go' here and so the first thing I wanted to do was to replace it with green.  Got that done just this afternoon and I think it looks SO much better than the purple did.  Although it was a nuisance to unpick and restitch a section, I think it was really worth the time and effort.

After that was done, I moved onto working on the final part of the pale green scrolling and the green part of the cross stitch pattern in the bottom left hand corner.

And that's as far as I've got so far, but I'm delighted that it's back in progress and moving on towards completion again.  Here's the whole piece as it is at the moment:

I hope to have more to share with you about this time next week and to keep up with the Work in Progress Wednesday reports as regularly as I can until both this piece and the old peacock feather are done.=)  The next part to do is to fill the flowers in the gaps in the green sections at the bottom and insert the lower 'V' shaped scroll part, which is just like the one near the top, but without the large leaf motifs.

What have YOU been working on lately??

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: Work in Progress Wednesday - 17 July 2013

0 Work in Progress Wednesday - 13 Feb 2013

I've been looking forward to Wednesday this week so as to be able to post about all these projects!  This makes a pleasant change as, so often in the recent past, I've been wondering what I was going to scrape together for a WIPW post!!

Again, I've worked on all three projects and made what I feel is significant progress with them all.=)

First up, the old peacock feather. This one is progressing the most slowly, but then I actually work at this one at my desk as it's helpful to have the table there to both lean the hoop on so that I have both hands easily free to control the springy rayon threads and also somewhere to lay out said threads without having to put them in an awkward place.  It's not as easy to work in there at times.

As the Chinese say, 话说回来 (speak speech come back - 'having said that'), I have done some on it and feel that it's beginning to take more shape now.  There's still plenty to be done (sigh!  I'm longing to get this one off the list!), but it's coming along at long last and that's all to the good!

Now, on to the rabbit and here's a little someone whose also taking shape rather well.  First, I finished off the shading (although a few more pieces were put in after this photo to plug up a few gaps and thin patches.

Then along came the fluffy tail!  I took a lot of WIP photos of the process, so there'll be a tutorial coming up on how to make fluffy patches, i.e. ghiordes knot stitch.  There are some more to do for the garden patch of this piece, so I'll wait until that's done and I can show more uses of the stitch.

This is the detached ear in progress.  WIP photos are also collecting nicely for it so that I can do the long-delayed 'wired fabric elements' tutorial as a complement to last year's popular 'wired needlelace elements' tute.  That'll come when the butterfly (next stumpwork project) is done and, again, various uses can be shown.

Now for the sampler and I've had a very green week where every single stitch has been green!  This series of three photos shows how much work was done in each of the three sessions I've spent on this piece:

Finally, here is the overall look of the piece right now.  It looks a bit dark towards the top as the fabric is loose there just now - I only put the top gripper on when I'm working on it so as to reduce pressure on the stitches there as some are covered by it.

This coming week will, I hope, see the rabbit piece finished, the left hand side of the feather done and the rest of the green work completed on the sampler, which includes replacing the lettering with dark green.

What have you got planned for this week?

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: Work in Progress Wednesday - 13 Feb 2013

0 Work In Progress Wednesday - 6 Feb 2013

Wow, look!  I've got progress photos on all three projects to show you today!  I'm delighted!=)

First of all, on the left you can see the current status of the peacock feather piece.  I put in two lengths of green-mix couched threads along the left hand side, also adding a little bit of satin stitch where they meet the 'stalk' so as to fill in the gap a little and create the right shape.

The next move is to add in a more brown row and then to do the fronds that begin to splay out somewhat.

It's not easy doing a peacock feather as so many of the colour changes are along the fronds, (or whatever I should call them - I'm no ornithologist), so it's not really possible to get them exact - unless one were to specially dye threads for the design.

Next is the turn of our lovely, cute, chubby little bunny.  As you can see, I made quite a lot of progress on him yesterday (you get a lot more done by not watching TV at the same time....) and hope to finish the shading completely during the next session I spend on him.  Then it's on to the ghiordes know tail and I think I'll make a tutorial out of that, so I'd better do it in good light!=)

Last, but by no means least, is the sampler.  Yesterday afternoon I started and completed the extra trims on the rose cross stitch area that I showed last time.  There are two shades of beading, two fly stitch leaves, two spider's web roses and a few lazy daisy stitch petals.

Here's the full length of the piece as it stands right now.

As I'd got about as far down on the piece as I could go, I've moved it up in the frame now.  I'm not sure how well that will work out as I don't think it's far enough up, but it can't go any further thanks to the beading on the top section.  I may well have to re-transfer it back to the 17" side bars, which fit in the whole design.  We'll see how it feels as before I didn't find it comfy working in such a very long frame.

I've decided I don't like the colour of the lettering.  It doesn't look as bad here, but in real life the purple is too red and doesn't match well.  It looks fine on the lilac background, which is an alternative on the pattern, but I think that, on green, the lettering should be either dark green, brown or even grey.  I'll wait until I've worked the rest of the surface elements before making a final decision on colour, but it's not staying as it is.  I just don't like it at all!

Something else I'm not sure of now is what colour to work the girl's dress in.  She's to appear in the space on the left of the square and the pattern states a blue dress, but I don't really think it goes well with the rest of the colour scheme (nor do some of the lupins, which are also supposed to be blue, but that I will be changing to be pinks and purples as on the cream based version of the design) and am considering changing it to light yellows instead.

So, over the next week I hope to complete the left hand side of the feather, the body, tail and perhaps also the wired ear of the rabbit and press well on with the rest of the pictorial part of the sampler.

I've also selected my next WIPW big project as, according to the challenge guidelines, the project should be at least 20 hours long and so, for starting new ones, I want to make sure that WIPW is my weekly larger project update.  So, after the sampler come a pair of rather nice cross stitched ladies - one medieval, one Tudor - with all sorts of fancy elements including rayon threads, beading or various sorts, petit point faces and hands and so on.  So, not your ordinary cross stitch, but with something a little special.  NOT that there's anything wrong with cross stitch!  I remembered feeling quite disgusted when someone spoke disparagingly of 'cross stitching bears'.  All forms of embroidery are worthwhile and valid and it doesn't matter who designed it or whether it's worked for fun or for serious business, commission, study or exhibition.  The only time I would find something questionable would be if the subject matter was distasteful in some way.  So there!  Cross stitch is great!=)  I love all forms of stitchery and am happy to indulge in any that take my fancy at any given time.  No snobbery allowed here!!!LOL :)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: Work In Progress Wednesday - 6 Feb 2013

0 Work in Progress Wednesday - 30 Jan 2013

A belated Work In Progress Wednesday posting.  I was in Leeds over the last two days and, whilst I took my rabbit with me and even put 2 or 3 lengths of thread in on him (wow!), I didn't get back in time to take a photo in daylight, so I decided to leave it until today.  First though, the sampler:

Above, work done on Friday 25th

Below, work done on Saturday 26th

Now to the rabbit and the first photo shows the stitching creeping ever further towards the left hand side of the piece!

Whilst at my mum's and chatting with her, I filled in the bit I'd started the day before and, less noticeable on a photo, I also put in a fair number of stitches towards the left hand side - plugging tiny gaps, so to speak.

I reckon that, if I manage to do as much per day on, say, 4 or 5 days per week, I may even finish this piece one day soon!!  I had hoped to finish both this one and the feather this month, but bad health and lack of enthusiasm held me back somewhat.  Still, at least two of my three pieces are moving inexorably towards completion!!!

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: Work in Progress Wednesday - 30 Jan 2013

0 Work in Progress Wednesday - 16 Jan 2013

These two are what I have to show you on my large project - Cross'n'Patch's 'Sunshine and Flowers' sampler, the waterlily green version (with certain changes to suit the worker!!).  As you can see in both shots, I completed the square box that you might have noticed I included a little picture of the first two sides of on this Monday's CED post.  The second shot also shows the completed green cross stitches in this section.

To be honest, I had hoped to get further and to have all the cross stitch flowers inserted too, but this last week hasn't been a very stitchy one!  However, let's hope for more next Weds.=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2013

Detail: Work in Progress Wednesday - 16 Jan 2013