Of Dragons and Pyramids

Been stitching. My Egypt Garden now sports two completed pyramids!



Close up of some bling:


And, because I can never enabling any and all of my stitching friends, I want to be sure to point out the Chatelaine WIP-Slayer Contest that is about to commence on the Chatelaine Yuku Community. Contest Guidelines found here. Contest beginning photos found here. Enjoy the photos even if you are not going to play with us. :-)

Love me some pyramids, but they are intense stitching. So, after two pyramids, I decided to take a little break and stitch on and old, old WIP, Dracolair's Red Dragon Bookmark.



Cross stitching is nearly done, but he's got quite a lot of back stitching. Good thing I don't mind back stitching. Can't really tell from the photo, but I subbed DMC Light Effects for DMC 321. I can honestly say I've never stitched such a small design with SO FREAKIN' MANY quarter stitches. OMG.

In happy stitchy news, I am the next "initiate" of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pattern. So, I've been playing in my stash to see what fabric and fiber I want to use when the pattern arrives in my mailbox. Definitely a chance to use something fun from those Dinky Dyes oops packs I've acquired over the years. Stay tuned!

Happy Dance x2!

I finished something. Two somethings, even. Admittedly, neither is a very large project. BUT, my WIP count now goes from 10 to 8. Quite satisfying.

Here's Autumn Leaves (by From Nancy's Needle), the counted canvas work project I referred to in yesterday's post. Belinda has definitely enabled me. I think I'm glad.



I did change the Overture overdyed fiber to Caron's Wildflowers in Fiesta because I wanted more of an autumn palette. I did follow the directions so that each of the leaves show near identical color changes, but I did not do so for the rest of the design. I wanted a more random look.

My other finish is Block B2 of Celtic Quilt by Chatelaine Designs.



Stitched on 32ct Silkweaver solo to match the other blocks. Stitched as charted except for subbing Eterna minitwist silk for the NPI solid color silks (which regular readers know I dislike in texture, sheen and expense).  I'm stitching these as individual blocks and then will make them into an actual quilt rather than stitching this as one huge design. I now have six of sixteen blocks completed.

As I said, I now have 8 WIPs. One I can probably finish in an evening, should I be so motivated. I'm trying to tell myself I have to finish it before I can start the preparatory stitching on the DebBee's Designs class project I signed up for yesterday. Three finishes in one month are definitely worth a new start, don't you think?

New Obsession

And, this one is not my fault. It's Belinda's. After seeing her wonderful finish of Autumn Leaves designed by From Nancy's Needle (scroll down her blog page to see it), I *had* to stitch it. If all goes according to plan, you will see a HD of my rendition of the same design tomorrow. I just couldn't stay awake long enough to finish last night. LSU's dismal performance just sucked the energy out of me.

Autumn Leaves is my first real venture into counted canvas work. I'd wanted to try it for a while, and just never made the leap. I've really enjoyed this piece. It's a good first one. But, in typical Cheryl style, I find myself wanting the next canvas work project to be more challenging. So, today, I found myself signing up for this class to be taught at my LNS that specializes in needlepoint:



Isn't it fabulous? It's Diamond Delight 9 by DebBee's Designs. The LNS owner is going to help me change the colors to more autumn tones as the purple really isn't my style. However, I really love the different techniques and stitches. And, I'll be using a wide variety of fibers, some of which I've never used before. I should get the supplies to do the prestitching sometime next week. I'm super excited!!!

Thus, a new obsession is born. :-)

2011 Stitching Goals - EPIC FAIL; 2012???

So, the only 2011 goal I managed to achieve was to attend 4 Moonlight Stitching events at my LNS. The rest? Well, let's call it a "rebuilding year". After all, that's what the NFL teams say when they have a disappointing season, right? Yeah.

Of course, a status report on 2011 goals brings the question of what to do for 2012 to the fore. I can honestly say I have no real idea. There, I said it. I have no real stitching goals. With so many of my friends participating in various WIPocalypse and other SALs and posting lofty goals (on which they are likely to make excellent progress), I feel woefully inadequate.

I've never made so little progress on my goals as I did in 2011. Most of them I never touched on. I realize this is my hobby and it's about the fun. I've never met all of my goals, but I usually bat at least .500 if not better. But, in the vein of "if you first do not succeed, try, try again", here goes nothing.

2012 Stitching/Crafting Goals

~ Make a t-shirt quilt for Diva as a graduation gift.
~ Finish Egypt Garden for DH.
~ Stitch and finish some smalls, new starts and current WIPs.
~ Net reduction in WIPs by year end.
~ Attend bi-monthly Moonlight Stitching at the LNS at least 4 times.

That's all I'm committing to. ;-) The quilt project should be interesting. I'm sort of a newbie quilter. I've been sewing since I was a teenager, but never quilted really. An awesome stitching friend, who also is an amazing quilter, helped me find the t-shirt quilt instructions. They seem easy to follow and fairly simple, so I think I can handle it. And, if I get stuck, I just might know someone who can give me some helpful hints. LOL.

Here's to a more successful stitching year in 2012. I hope it is for all of you, too!

Honey, They're Home!

My new framer had a nice surprise for me today. It's an overcast day, so I had to use flash and the colors are not quite as true as I'd like (esp. MTM) but I just could not wait to share!

Chatelaine's Medieval Towne Mandala: Mat is linen silk that reflects the light and so picks up all the turquios-y colors in the design. The frame and filet are from the mouldings created for the Biltmore restoration. Will hang in my office at home - the walls are a medium violet/lavender shade.





And Chatelaine's Hanging Gardens of Semiramis: Mat is suede. Will hang in the hall right outside my office at home.





And finally, Chatelaine's Medieval Times. No mat because I love this fabric so very much. Hard to see in this pic how well the reds pop on the fabric. This will either hang in my bedroom or my office. Need to see where I like it best.

Yeah, I stitch.

And, here's the proof:

First a Happy Dance - Celtic Quilt, Block A4 by Chatelaine Designs



And a progress picture of Egypt Garden, also by Chatelaine Designs



Not so much progress on EG since last photo. Eh, whatever.

Actually, there hasn't been a whole lot of stitching the past few months due to Diva's senior volleyball season. That's winding down, so I'm starting to think about my stitching for the remainder of fall and winter.

I pretty much punted goals for this year. Just didn't happen. As a result, I've felt the lack of direction. Part of my problem is that Nativity Story Table Runner took so much longer to finish than I expected. I've also reached the portion of EG where I get bogged down. Feeling slightly burned out on it. This happened at the same stage when I stitched it before. I need to put it down for a while, but I feel guilty about it. I just need to finish the darn thing already.

There are so many things I want to start!!! Like yesterday. But, I have seven WIP slots, and that is still too many on an ongoing basis. At least for my comfort level.

I need ideas. So, I'm asking for opinions. My current WIPs:

- Egypt Garden by Chatelaine Designs (approx 60% complete)
- Evening in the Park by Chatelaine Designs (approx 60% complete) see a trend here? yeah, the 60% mark is where I tend to get bogged down in just about any BAP. And, I have to confess that I don't really love this design. I like it, and want to finish it. But, I'm not in love.
- Misty Morning Vineyard by Chatelaine Designs (less than 10% complete)
- Celtic Quilt by Chatelaine Designs (5 of 16 blocks complete)
- Elizabethan Sweete Bag by Chatelaine Designs ( 80% complete) Another project I like but no longer love. Hard to get motivated to finish as all that remains is one over one ON BLACK FABRIC.
- English Garden Sampler by Teresa Wentzler (less than 10% complete) I love this. But I hate the slow progress of the confetti stitches. Zaps my motivation. But, I do love the project and the fabric.
- Various Christmas Ornaments - I have several in various stages of completion. I will probably always have an ornament going as they are good travel projects. I just need to be better about actually finishing them.

Things I want to start sooner rather than later:

- I want to stitch the other three seasonal arbor designs by The Drawn Thread. I stitched Autumn Arbor earlier this year and loved it. Took me about 10 days of my stitching time.

- I want to stitch Halloween ornaments/smalls.

- Of course, there is my Stitching Bucket List. It is in need of some revision. But a bit of a moot point right now as I don't want another large or BAP project until I finish at least one more WIP.

So, stitching friends, please help me with ideas. I'm feeling like a sailboat in a calm sea.

2011 Chatelaine Smalls Exchange - PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

I got a package from Australia!!! Wanna SEEEEE? Silly question. Of COURSE you do!



Yes, I'm a tease. But really, I got a Golden Ticket (apologies to Charlie in the Chocolate Factory)!



There are two, actually. The paper is so shiny. Makes my inner crow positively giddy. :D But, yes, I will open them. Look what Wendy sent me!



And look! There is stitching inside, too!


Excuse my not so stellar photography!

Now you HAVE to see the close up!



Isn't that needlebook to die for?! Wendy's stitching and finishing are just perfect! And, I love the extra goodies she included. A true Chatelaine stitcher, she included a skein of SNC Coastal Seaweed. How many Chatelaine's use that one? And, of course, the needles are much needed and appreciated. I went hunting an #28 just the other day.

The design is the Strawberry freebie recently released by Chatelaine Designs. So fresh and fun! I just love it! AND, I get to claim the honor of posting the first pictures to the Chatelaine BB for the exchange! BONUS!

Thank you SO much, Wendy. I already treasure this needlebook. :D