A new year filled with challenges

A challenge was issued by Sandie W., list mum of crazyquilting friends, to finish our UFOs, WIPs or as I prefer to call them WISPs (works in SLOW progress). The one I have chosen first to finish is a small Hardanger project. This is supposed to be intended as a sachet BUT upon completion I will use it as a Christmas tree ornament for 2007. I really don't have that much more to do........ just some needle weaving, picots and dove's eyes around three sides. This piece is done on 26 count linen with #8 and #12 perle cotton. I have already added the seed pearls although they should be added last. I'm one of those stitchers that just can't seem to wait to do last things last so........... the pearls are already on. It is a little hard to see them here but they are on the upper and right hand side of the "ships wheel" design in the middle. When this is finished I will try to post it again as well as my second project which at this time has not been decided upon.


A stitching challenge has been issued! Sharon B (sorry Sharon I forgot how to insert your url here) of inaminuteago (listed in the sidebar) is leading us this year in exploring a new stitch each week. This is something I am really anticipating and was particularly pleased that the first stitch to explore is one of my favorites - Herringbone. I have chosen to make my fabric pieces 4" x 6" to fit into postcard archieval sleeves for easy reference and it also means I don't have to do an extensive amount of stitching.
The first piece of fabric is 27 count linen and the top two left-hand stitchings were done with some of my hand-dyed crochet thread..... the first stitch is of course the basic herringbone and the second one is a criss-cross stitch which is new to me. The right hand stitch is double herringbone done in Ginny Thompson Flower Thread. The middle stitch is a 3/8" yellow (shows white) satin ribbon couched with the GTFT. I really enjoy the couching of ribbon with the herringbone. Above the ribbon are some straight stitches and below is another row of traditional herringbone. The last "stitch" in this group is a laced herringbone ....... the base stitch was with #8 perle cotton and the wrapped lacing was done with #12 perle cotton.

The next fabric piece is white 14 count Aida and I began with the middle stitch in #5 green perle cotton doing two rows of herringbone on the diagonal - that one was fun to do (as well as challenging) and I hope to use it in a seam treatment on a cq square. Next I did the top stitch with #5 red perle cotton and laced it with some eyelash knitting yarn. Sharon did say to be creative! The last stitch of this group is ladder lacing done in two shades of #5 perle.

On the top right I cheated a bit. I just received my newest book by Judith Baker Montano "Floral Stitches" well, on p. 132 in that book was this Herringbone, Straight Stitch, Lazy Daisy and French Knot design. I stitched this on 18 count linen with #5 perle cotton for all stitches except the Lazy Daisy where I used shaded yellow #20 crochet thread. I substituted bronze seed beads for the French Knots. What a gorgeous seam treatment for cq this will be.

The last piece was done on 18 count Aida with the top design done in standard herringbone and a reverse with an added straight stitch in the center....... done in GTFT ....... I really like working with the flower threads can't you tell? The 2nd stitch is triple herringbone..... foundation thread is a dark blue #5 perle cotton, the middle thread is a bright blue #8 perle cotton and the top thread is a soft lime #16 perle cotton. The next is closed herringbone done in #20 crochet thread followed by tied herringbone with the base in #5 perle and tied in #12 perle cotton. The last two stitches are not really easy to see. The largest is done in my hand dyed crochet thread (a different coloration from the first one) in what I would call a "honeycomb" pattern and the last stitch is done with 2 strands DMC floss in sort of a mountain shape - diagonal. One important thing I have learned is that I need to use darker threads so the stitches will show up better in the photos. Up close as I see them everything looks just fine but photos here need darker threads. Hopefully my next set of stitches will show up better.

Ah, now for my very first round robin - a couple of months ago I joined the Stitching Post list and have made some wonderful new friends (the list mom, ktj, was already a special friend from other stitching groups). Right off the bat a round robin was presented and I jumped on board. As you can see my design is not all that spectacular and I "interviewed" several stitch patterns before deciding on this one. One reason was this design, although I used several colors (one of which doesn't show up here) this could just as easily be worked in one solid or even a varigated color.