Finish Number 18!

After a week or so of what seems like endless wrapping and weaving - A Confetti of Hardanger is finally finished!

 

I think it is quite possibly my proudest finish to date, not least because I can remember being totally petrified of stitching it three years ago when I purchased it!  That is the joy of stitching though, because with an extra three years stitching experience under my belt when it came to it, this design wasn't so terrifying after all!  I may even stitch it again, but this time the uncut version, as alternative stitches are offered in the chart for stitchers that might not be ready to take out their squissors just yet!

 

There was a time, a few years ago, when I avoided doves' eyes like the plague, never mind stitching a filling stitch inside anything other than kloster blocks!  It is a good reminder that any new skill takes time, patience and above all practice - you can't become an expert over night.  You learn so much in stitching by your own experience and often making mistakes is the best way to learn (which is why I always remember to go under the last "leg" of a dove's eye ;)).  My CoH isn't perfect by any means, case in point - my buttonhole bars bear more than a passing resemblance to Cornish pasties........dare I share a picture....

 

 

Excuse untucked cut ends :)!

 

The point is, despite its imperfections, I'm thrilled with the overall finish and it reminds me of the progress I've made as a stitcher over the past few years and that is a good thing.

 

This means I now only have one WIP left, my goldwork, which I am just not in the mood for right now.  I also have fabric for my Butterfly Quote and freebie project, they both need finishing.  As Mr Milkybar Kid reminded me this week, stitching is supposed to be fun not a chore and I can do what I like - so I will be starting one of my Summer stitching pieces this weekend!  It will be so lovely for a change, to just stitch little crosses!

 

I've only really stitched on about 12 days of this month, so feel I would really like to get stuck in to a new start (or starts).  With Wimbledon starting on Monday I'm thinking this will be a good opportunity for an IHS FORTNIGHT not just Weekend :) and an excellent time to unplug from social media and focus on enjoying my stitching (not to mention apparently we are to expect a heatwave in the UK next week.......I won't hold my breath though!).

 

Hopefully I'll have some progress to show in my next post - it depends on how exciting the tennis gets!

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 

 

 

 

WIP Update!

Not a great deal of stitching has been going on at Milkybar Towers this week, so I'm going to have to get a move on if I want all my current projects to be finished before the start of the best sporting event on the planet ;).

I've cut the border for the final part of Confetti of Hardanger and am looking to get that finished next week hopefully:

 

I've also been chipping away at Jodyri Butterfly Quote and just have the word "world" to stitch, so looking for a finish this weekend then it will be off to the fabric shop to find suitable fabric and trimmings!

 

 

I just love this colour!



I've also picked my colours for my thread challenge pieces this month, I think I must have been influenced by all the blue sky we've had around here lately!

 

The colour combination for my hardanger piece this month may prove interesting, but I had that Watercolour in my stash so I figured I might as well use it and step out of my comfort zone!  My freebie piece this month is a bit selfish as it is no longer available, it is by The Sampler Girl aka @bzmama on IG aka Tanya Marie Anderson.  Nowadays she is much more about the knitting and yarn, so if you love that too check out her ravelry page, blog and vlog!  I do miss her Jane Austen inspired designs, but I have a few in my stash to keep me going yet ;).

 

Here's to having a more productive week next week!

 

Sidebar:  Thank you to everyone who entered my vlogaversary giveaway last week and who left comments on my video.  There were 170 entrants and the winners have been drawn and notified and their charts will be in the post in a few days!

 

 

Have a good weekend everyone and Happy Stitching!

WIP Update!

I've spent the last few days switching back and forth between projects that require no thought whilst stitching (TV stitching :)) and projects that need my concentration!

I'm still stitching away on Jodyri Butterfly quote (TV stitching) and should be able to get a bit more done by the end of the month, so I'll show that one then.  However I have reached my monthly goal on Confetti of Hardanger and completed parts 10 -14!  Although not every filling stitch is perfect, stitching white on white does hide a multitude of imperfections :).  Here it is, along with a little glimpse of some of the filling stitches:

 

 Most of the filling stitches I had worked before in other projects, but picots, curled V in a fan and edelweiss were new to me.  I need more practice with edelweiss, but as this was the first time I'd stitched one I'm not going to beat myself up about it!  It's all about tension..........which I hate! I wasn't the biggest fan of picots either (they tend to divide most stitchers and indeed knitters and crocheters!).  I appreciate that they make a nice silhouette, but they are a pain to get evenly sized and spaced!

 

 

The offending picots!

 

I've really enjoyed stitching this project!  I remember thinking when I first signed up for the original SAL on it back in 2012 that I wasn't up to the skill level then - it's nice to see that my stitching has progressed!  I will admit though that I have some terrible hardanger habits, I tend to eyeball the number of wraps and weaves rather than count them........something to work on..........

 

Part 2 of Milady's Blossom Garden was also released, it was only a small part again and required just an hour or two of stitching, so I figured I might as well put it back on the frame.........

 

 

 

This part included the first drawn thread band using hemstitch and diamond hemstitch.  Oddly in the photo it looks as though I used a cream perle, but it is definitely white the same colour as the fabric!  I love drawn threadwork and am on the look out for more involved drawn threadwork band samplers.  For someone who was once afraid of cutting into her stitching I seem to have overcome the fear pretty well!

 

As far as monthly goals go, I just need to give my goldwork a bit of attention and we're done!

 

Happy Stitching!

Progress on Confetti of Hardanger

I've been plugging away on the buttonhole stitch border of Confetti of Hardanger this past week and it is finally complete along with parts 5 and 6.  As I said on Instagram, I will never win awards for my buttonhole stitch but it's done!  Stitching white on white and having one hole shared by five stitches in #5 perle isn't always easy and all those corners ugh!

 

 

Each of the inner cut squares are a part in themselves, but I think the part that will take the longest will be the final part where I have to cut the whole of the kloster block border and add in doves eyes and buttonhole bars.....think that's a month's work right there!

 

Here are some close ups of Part 6, wrapped bars:



 

 

 

And Part 7, woven bars:

 



 

Finally, earlier in the week I had my penultimate delivery of my Jodyri monthly threads and FOTM which is one of my favourite Limited Editions ever - Amethyst (in Brittney Opal):
 

 

 

My only stash of this month - the sister induced stash diet is obviously working :)!

 

Next month sees me get thread number 250 - the last in the regular cottons range at Jodyri.  From June the ten thread a month club will be starting at number one again so an ideal time to join :)!

 

According to my stitching plan for the month, I have part 8 of CoH and some goldwork to do before month end - as well as "finish finish" my freebie thread challenges pieces for the month, so that should keep me out of trouble!

 

Happy Stitching!

Hardanger - Don't Fear the Squissors!

It might come as a surprise to you, but I actually hate starting new stitching projects.  Don't get me wrong, I like picking a pattern, kitting it up, cutting fabric and the eventual stitching of it - but I hate staring at that blank piece of fabric all ready to stitch on in the frame.  I start to doubt myself: is the fabric the right way around, is my starting point really 3 inches in from the edge/in the exact centre of the fabric, are my thread choices the right ones?  I hate those initial first stitches and it's why I dither over new starts.  I've had two projects buzzing around my brain so I just decided to start them on the same day and get the worst over with!  One was Box of Delights and the other was A Confetti of Hardanger by Bee's Needleworks.

I've had Confetti of Hardanger in my stash since 2012, when it was offered as a group SAL as part of the Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group, a group run by the designer of this chart, Abi Gurden.  I've wanted to stitch this chart since then, but actually waiting this long proved fortuitous as the perles I've chosen to use for it didn't exist then, but they do now!  The perles I'm using are hand dyed by Jodyri Designs and Michelle is one of the few dyers I know to hand dye matching perles in #5, #8 and #12.  I'll be using Jodyri's beautiful Alaskan Beauty perles for this one, along with possibly some complimentary DMC solid perles and white, the mainstay of Hardanger stitched on 25ct white lugana:

 

The pdf chart comes with very detailed instructions for each of the 14 parts, so even if Hardanger is new to you, everything you need to know is included.  There are a few filling stitches in this one that are new to me, so I'm looking forward to adding them to my list!

 

Here is Part 1, Klosters and Extended Klosters stitched in #5 perle in Alaskan Beauty:

 

 

 

Here is Part 2, Cable Stitch and Doubled Back Stitch stitched in #8 white perle:

 

 

 

White on white is a bit hard to see so here are a few close-ups, Cable Stitch:
 

 

 

And Doubled Back Stitch, which was the first time I'd ever worked a stitch from the reverse of the fabric!

 



 

The hardcore Hardanger (aka cutting) doesn't begin until Part 6, so I still have a few parts to go before squissor fear sets in!

 

I've also had my stash for the month arrive, my monthly thread and fabric from Jodyri Designs as well as a fantastic book, The A-Z of Whitework:

 

 

I've never been a fan of generic stitch dictionaries, I much prefer books on specific techniques and the stitches and facts relevant to them individually.  I was so pleased when I discovered that the A-Z series was being reprinted again as Search Press had bought the rights to them.  I didn't want to pay up to four times the price for an OOP copy!  They are a brilliant series of books and I think, along with the RSN guides, tell you everything you need to know about individual embroidery techniques.  Mary Corbet has fantastic reviews of these titles on her blog, so no need for me to go into detail.  I've got the A-Z of Goldwork on order too, which hopefully should be arriving in May.

 

Last but not least, it's about time I got on with my Operation Threadporn projects after two new starts, so here are my proposed thread choices for my projects, the finishes to be revealed at the end of the month, (yet more Wildflowers, Mo's Silks and Silk Mill silk):

 

 

 

Happy Stitching!