Finish #43 - A Flamestitch

 

 



3 skeins of black later..........

 

Happy Stitching!

 

PS  There are a few more finishes that have been added to the tally in the tab at the top :).

The Band of Two Thousand Eyelets

Just a very quick post to say two things!

Firstly I've finished the eyelet band on A Flamestitch and I am very pleased with how it has turned out!  I love the colours and the shading - AVAS continues to be a joy to work with and my favourite solid brand of silk!

 

I've also completed the plants and flowers in the cross stitch band:

 

 

 

 

All that is left to do on this one now is the flamestitch band and to fill in the cross stitch band with black.

 

 

I also wanted to say a big thank you to Mii Stitch!  I was very lucky to win her giveaway of the chart  Pink Sparrow Sampler by Brenda Gervais.  It arrived on what turned out to be a very stressful and upsetting day, so was a welcome ray of sunshine!

 

 



 

It goes without saying that this one has been added to the Projects for 2016 list :).

 

I had thought once I had finished the eyelet band on A Flamestitch that I would move on to other projects, but it is such a beautiful simple stitch that I may just stick with it until the finish - simple and easy is what I need right now!

 

Happy Stitching!

Endless Eyelets!

The end is in sight though - only one more band of eyelets to go on A Flamestitch!  I had toyed with the idea of replacing some of the eyelets with other stitches (Rhodes and rice) but decided against it - it is a reproduction sampler after all.  Eyelets really aren't all that bad, here is where I got up to:

 

I'm still head over heels for this one, but will put it down for the month once that last band of eyelets is complete.  There are other pieces waiting patiently in the wings!

 

Speaking of which, last Saturday I finished off  Jane Austen & Me:

 

 

 

I adore the finish, Moose Drool and all!  The other advantage of 40ct is that with a smaller finish an "off the shelf" frame is a much more likely prospect, so I shall be keeping my eyes peeled..........

 

Changes may also be afoot in my stitching plans for next year, with an acronym (well at least the way I say it it is!) and an initialism featuring heavily in my plans :).

 

Happy Stitching!

A Much Anticipated New Start!

Any of you that have been following my needlework adventures since my YouTube days may remember a video I did last Summer on my top three wishlish charts for 2015 which I planned on stitching.  Red by Mirabilia was the first, Plum Pudding by Glendon Place was the second and now begins the journey of stitching the third :).

I'd never been one for reproduction samplers, that is until several years ago when I discovered Nicola's wonderful blog and exquisite stitching.  After following her stitching journey through several beautiful Scarlet Letter pieces, I knew one day I would have to stitch at least one of Marsha's samplers myself.  As I'd decided that in 2015 I would be stitching what I want when I want and not be tied down to my usual designers - this year seemed perfect timing to fit a Scarlet Letter sampler into my stitching schedule!

Being the type of person that I am, I read everything that I could on Scarlet Letter samplers, I've never been one to jump in feet first and panic later!  I'm so grateful to Nicola and Jo and all the contributing bloggers on the various Scarlet Letters Years blogs for taking the time to explain and photograph their work.

I had a few questions about fabric choice - Edinburgh or Floba?  Who better to ask than Nicola herself!  As Floba was a fabric I'd not tried before, Nicola very very kindly sent me a sample piece so that I could see its merits for myself.  I took the opportunity to give it a trial run and stitched up this little freebie by Blackbird Designs:

I loved stitching on Floba!  It's lack of slubs and fine appearance compared to 100% linen made it the perfect choice for me for whatever Scarlet Letter chart I decided upon.  It was a given that I would stitch the sampler in the charted AVAS d'Alger as I adore stitching with those silks.  I find by planning my projects early that I can work large 100% silk projects into my stitching budget and thereafter it encourages me to stitch from stash as much as I can :).
 

All that was left now was to decide on the sampler!  I have a real love of bargello/Florentine/flame stitch (call it what you will), so the solution was obvious and screamed at me from the Scarlet Letter catalogue - it had to be 🔥✖️!

 

 

35ct cream Floba and the recommended AVAS d'Alger

Now you can see why this start is much anticipated as after being in the pipeline for over a year I can FINALLY put silk to linen - well linen mix if we want to be 100% accurate :).
 

So here is my start!

 

 

 

It goes without saying that stitching on this one was well worth the wait - I absolutely adore it!  For someone who loves stitching fonts and lettering, it really is a wonder that it took me this long to stitch a reproduction sampler!

 

 

Now I really should put this down and work on my Operation Threadporn pieces for this month - including a freebie in commemoration of a much anticipated TV programme returning to UK TV screens for its final series:

 

 



 

But maybe I'll do just do one more row on Flamestitch...........

 

Happy Stitching!