The Queen Sampler

I finished the topred flowers row.

Now I can start the Queens row.  It was recommended to start on the arcade above the queens so I did.

At each end is a large rose done in tons of queen stitches.  Not my favorite.  I sure wish I could remember how Amy Mitten showed us an easier and quicker way to stitch queen stitches. But for right now I will concentrate on the arcade.
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Peacock Feathers

I've been working on the Peacock's feathers.  I really goofed them up! I read the directions last week and was making assumptions and relying on a faulty memory when I started.  I assumed the directions would go left to right on the nine feathers. So I started on the left side. Wrong. The directions started with the middle of the nine feathers. Oops. Well, I decided that the order didn't really matter. I thought there were two of the feathers worked with fine gimp. Wrong, only one. So when I cut the gimp pieces in half I nearly ran out. What an idiot I am!
I did get all the padding felt pieces stitched down. At least I didn't mess that up.
Then I started a third feather wirh emerald metallic plate, I used the wrong technique and had to take it out again and start over.
Somebody ought to take this away from me before I mess up even more. But this is a new day of a new week and I am trying to be extra careful  and READ THE DIRECTIONS immediately before I begin again.
Ugh.

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Definition

The definition of colostomy:
     Colostomy is a lifesaving techique.
     Colostomy is what you can wake up to after septsis surgery.
     Colostomy is very different if you have an innie as opposed to an outie.
     Colostomy is a cruel and unusual form of torture.
     Colostomy is another word for pain.
What can I say?  I had a bad night.

This is all I have to show today, my progress on the Assissi spool bird.

I think I'll take a nap.
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Slow

I am making slow progress on the peacock.  The wispy feathers are all done and I am padding the eye of each feather.  There are nine and one is done. I can't wait to see how a whole done feather looks.

I can start to see the end of the tunnel here.
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Something New

I ran across this kit the other day.  I bought it from a shop in Australia.

 It came with a nicely finished spool to mount the stitching on.

I thought "backstitch, well that's easy". No it isn't. Some stitches are over two and some are over one. It is very easy to get off.  I decided to try and get the outline of the bird in first then fill him in. We'll see how it goes or if I just want to stomp on it.
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Queens Sampler

This week finds me working the flowers band anice the queens. I am changing the colors a bit. There are nine flowers in the band and I am on number 6.

Soon I can start the Queens!
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A Finish!

Sometimes when I go to blog I remember that "Oh yeah, I was going to recharge this thing". It was dead. I get spoiled since I have to recharge my IPad everyday but this chrome thing only needs it about once a week. That's my excuse.

So I spent Sunday finishing the tape mesdure cover off. I had it all stitched front and back.

Then I cut comic board and padding for the top and bottom and gather and laced the stitching on it.

Lastly, I used Palestrina stitch around the edges.  It's not as nice and neat as I wanted but at least it is done.

I might have to start thinking about what to start next !
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They're Here

Guess what came in the mail yesterday? 

My new scissors in a wooden case.

They are gorgeous and have a very sharp and tapered tip.

And they fit into the scissors case perfectly.

I am not going to just admire them or keep them in their wooden case. I'm going to use them!
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Looking Ahead

I finish up the chart page on the Queen's Sampler and looked ahead to see what comes next.  Yes! it is red flowers, Queens and more red flowers. There is a lot of double running outlining each element first.  Linda Vinson didn't fill in her red flowers but I want to fill in mine, These next two chart pages are going to take a while.

I read Lorna Bateman's book about how she stitched the bees and snail. It sounds pretty easy.  She actually gives two ways to do it.

 I was trying to clean out a bin of stuff by my happy chair.  I got tuckered out before I finished so now I have a bigger mess than I started with. But I needed desparately to clean the bin out. Maybe after lunch I'll have the energy to finish!
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Wispy Feathers

I worked a bit on the wispy feathers of the Peacock.  It is slow going but this is the most interesting design element.  I love the shiny thread.  I'm afraid of running out but I know that is unlikely. I wonder if this thread is Bijoux thread. I've used that kind of thread on a mermaid and it was perfect. There are three colors used in the Peacock. I'll keep plugging away.
It's a little hard to see.

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Queen Sampler Update

Just a bit more to go and I am done with a chart page.  I haven't checked what comes next.  I'm hoping it is the Queens.

My new scissors didn't come yesterday. I did get my order from The Silver Needle.  I got the automatic of Just Nan's Heather Hedgehog and her House.

I also got Flander's Fields biscornu and threads.

Once I finish the tape measure cover, I get to start something new!
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A Quick Post

This is a quick post as I have an appointment this morning.  Here is the completed Versailles scissors case.

The only thing missing is a pair of scissors.  But don't worry, I've ordered a lovely pair and they should arrive today!

Then I put a few more greens in the watering can.

I'll put in two bees and a snail.  That will make the top complete. The back has a spider webb and more insects.
Have a great day!
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Progress

Progress on the Peacock is slow bur steady. I put the chenille around the tail scallops.  I was happy that it looks like it is supposed to look.  I wasn't sure if I could get it angled correctly but Jenny's directions are great.  Next I put on the fettucini.  It is Italian ribbon that looks like shiny thread wrapped around a paper core. There were three colors of green. Again I was worried about getting the angle just right but it all worked out. 

I started on the feathers.  It is a little hard to see way over on the left side. This part is going to take awhile but it will be the most beautiful part of the peacock.  What a treasure this will be when it is all done.
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Almost!

Well, the opinions were unanimous.  Fewer lines of cross hatching.  So I decided to take the extra lines out.  Now the stitching is done and the finishing has begun. There is supposed to be coral stitch around the edge but since I wasn't happy with the coral stitch on the pin disc, I made some twisted cording using DMC 832 #5 which was in the kit.  I cut out the satin pieces, cut the comic board and padded it.  Did a gathering stitch around the satin and laced it on to the padded comic board and sewed all the pieces together. BUT I could see the permanent ink lines around the edge and the twisted cording was not going to hide it. I could kick myself for putting the outline on there in the first place. No, I couldn't live with it so I took it completely apart!  

I cut the comic board smaller so no lines would show. Then I did the whole rigamaroll again: gathering and lacing all three pieces and then sewing them together.

You can still see a little of the permanent ink along the top edge of the front but I can cover it with the twisted cording.

Almost done!

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Twist my Arm

I am trying to figure out why I am so unmotivated to work on the tape measure cover. It could be easy, quick and done. I think it is the instructions or lack of instructions.
Use whatever colors and type of thread you want. Make whatever flowers you want.  Use whatever stitch you want.
I want it to look nice like the model. How exactly did the designer stitch the model?  That's what I want to know. Is that too much to ask?


Luckily I have the designer's book so I can find flowers I want to put in the watering can.  So far, it looks okay.  The green is getting lost, not bright or dark enough. Mostly the model has french knots and lazy daisy stitches. So I'm going to put lots more green on it.
So anyway, here is where I am.

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Bling

I got some sparkly bits on the Peacock's tail.

  I love how it shines.  I haven't worked with fine gold plate before and I wasn't sure the needle wouldn't distort or break it.  But everything was fine! Then I put on the sequins (paillettes).

Sometimes using invisible thread is a pain but it was fine.  I love how the light catches it. Next is fettucini.
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The Queen's Sampler

I had a page finish! I just have the half of four rows to finish another page,  It is great to see progress especially on a BAP.

I must warn those who will be stitching this sampler that two of the symbols in the color key are very similar and easily confused.

4625 and 4113 both have a circle symbol. But one is bigger than the other. One is light tan and the other is a deep red. On the chart the smaller dot is much smaller. I accidentally stitched the wrong color. It's not a big deal and I am going to leave it.  Also some of the greens are very close in color and I have accidentally confused them also.  Again, no big deal. The perfectionist in me would have preferred to have stitched the correct color though.

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Which One

I was almost done.  Only five daisies to go.  But I had to see what happened to the design when I added more cross hatching as the pattern called for. Then I had to leave it for a day to figure out which side looked better.  It is a dilemma. This side with fewer cross hatch lines looks more neat and more even.

Then this side makes the bouquets stand out more even though it is less even. I haven't added the daisies yet to this side.

Here is a complete photo:

I'm still thinking about which side wins but it will probably be the more lines of cross hatching.

What do you think?

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Pin Cushion

I have a ton of pin cushions. The last thing I need is another pin cushion. But when I see a cute one, I am tempted to make it. I saw a fish pin cushion on The French Needle.  I love fishy things. I thought I could probably make one like it.  I could buy some hand dyed velvet and some felt and try my hand at sewing one.  Then I thought heck with it, I'll just buy it.  So I did!  It came in the mail yesterday and it is adorable.

He looks like he needs a name.
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Dancing Lady

I've gotten a few of the pieces to Dancing Lady embroidered. I'm finding it hard to do going through the sticky Solvy stuff. I was complaining to a friend and she suggested that I use a needle grabber to help me.  Well, duh, why didn't I think of that? I think I'll order a couple different ones and see which suits me best.


Then I got my beads from Michael's and tried my hand at drawing her face and hair. Luckily I have plenty of beads to practice on until it looks good. Not bad for a first try.



I expected Dancing Lady to be much harder to put together but as I work on her I think she will be easy.

Now where did I put that colly bird I made??

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Tape Measure Cover

At least I started this.
First step is to split stitch around the watering can. I only had the right color in #12 pearl cotton so that is what I used. What is the right thread to use? Who knows? That information is not included in the instructions. I'm not quite all the way around. I'm not very happy with it. It looks kind of rough but I think I do long and short stitches next. Let's hope it gets nicer looking as I go along!
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Versailles

It is ironic that this project seems to be going the fastest among my new starts. Maybe it is just easier to pick up and work on.  I am very happy that the embroidery looks way neater than my Pin Disc with the same design. A little practice and I can see improvement in my stitching.
This is the scissors case front. After I wrap the white chain stitch I will do the cross hatching again. Fingers are crossed that it goes well.
There is also a needlebook in this set.
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A Tale of a Tail

I don't have much done on the Peacock's tail.

 I trying not to be concerned whether it is perfectly done or not. There is gold plate and a paillette that goes on each petal. I'm hoping that hides any imperfections and makes the tail look sparkly.  I have been tempted to get out my pliers to pull the needle through.  It is hard to stitch through the layers. At least there is some progress.
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Update on the Queen Sampler

The row  that I am working on is going to take awhile. Sometimes I feel like the designer wants to make it more of a challenge or try to use the stitches from the original sampler.  There seems to be some prestege in stitching reversibly. My philosophy is why make stitching harder than it should be?

 This row has some specialty stitches.  You really need to have Amy Mitten's book about the Montenegrin stitch called Autopsy of the Montenegrin Stitch.

  I had the book but had never used it until now. It is a great resource for showing exactly how to do the stitch in whatever direction you need to go. But four rows of Montenegrin stitch in three different colors for the vine was a bit too much so I changed it to two regular cross stitch rows and two Montenegrin rows in the middle. So far, so good.

Then I had to look up the spiral trellis stitch for the grapes on YouTube. I'm still not sure that I'm doing it right as the outlined corners are usually an angled stitch.
This is how far I've gotten:

The leaves were supposed to be a specialty stitch but I just made them cross stitched

How can it be June already?

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