Some things I’ve seen lately….
Happy Summer!
Scenes From a Back Yard
Tag: Dragonfly
Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!
Wow, I skipped a whole month again! How did I ever have time to update weekly back in the old days? That must mean I am much busier now than I was then, though it’s hard to imagine, considering I had two soccer players on the road every weekend 11 months a year back when I had an update every week. Of course, I am a lot more tired, so maybe I am that much busier 🙂 At any rate, it’s time to get caught up, since Spring is more than half over already!
I forgot to post my 2nd Chatelaine mini bellpull finish, Mini Mystery J, which I finished back in January. It’s on the same linen banding the MMI was on:
Okay, that’s taken care of… Now, when I left last time, I had just gotten the blackwork jellyfish out. I think I worked on it a bit over a week, and got a lot of the bell fill pattern in, as well as some bubbles:
When I put that away, I got out GP Plum Pudding; I worked on it for a couple of days, but it really wasn’t grabbing me. Fortunately, I was saved by an impulse start – Joan Elliott posted an Easter bunny freebie on her FB page, and I was compelled to start it instead of pretending to work on PP. Here’s a pic of the finished top – 28ct Silkweaver Dreamin’:
I did not get a picture of the bottom side, since it only took me a couple of hours to stitch it, then I started assembling it. And just as a reminder to myself, I really don’t enjoy putting biscornus together – I always have a pucker of extra fabric left at the last corner (strategically hidden in this photo):
And since Plum Pudding really wasn’t calling to me still, and because I got my Market Order:
I had yet another impulse start on that Saturday afternoon after returning from the March PINS with the Ink Circles charts above. I had just gotten a couple of cool greens from Thread Gatherer, so went stash diving, found 2 greens and a Gloriana orange that went together really well, and an opal Silkweaver called Spring Garden (which does not show up in the photo at all – it’s very Rainbow Sherbet colored, green & orange), and made this:
I actually ran out of Tapestry Green before I finished the last corner dragonfly & corner motif; fortunately, I had just gotten it a month or so before I started this, so when I ordered another, the dye lot was a match. IF this fabric had been 32ct, I probably would have had enough.
At the March & April PINS, I worked on Stoney Creek Life is a Journey, and finished Block 4, and started the border on the fifth:
And then finally, Plum Pudding actually wanted to be worked on. I will continue on through tomorrow, probably, but am happy that I will be about 1/3 done when I put it up again:
I will probably get a Chat out next – Hummingbird has been screaming, though I may need a break from purple for a week or two, so IC Anatolia might actually come out first. We’ll see. I could finish Celtic Banner with another rotation, and my travel piece Field of Sunflowers would be a quick finish, too, I think, so maybe one of those will come out instead….
In other news, the Younger Sailor has graduated his school and is now at his first permanent station in Virginia, not too far from DC. The Older Sailor still has a few months of school, but hopefully we’ll know his first assignment before too long. We miss our boys! But we don’t miss all the vehicles all over the place, since DH talked me into getting a Jeep for our weekend car; we have to get the Miata and the VW out of here! Too many cars, too much shuffling out in the driveway!
Until next time, Happy Stitching!
* EDITED to note that my blue grosbeak – at least what I have seen this year – is definitely an Indigo Bunting instead. I am sure I have also had a blue grosbeak (it has brown spots in the blue & black on its sides), as well, but the blue bird pictured here ain’t it.
As the World Turns – an Update
Well, I don’t know about you, but I have been busy, busy, busy since I last posted. Aside from the 10 hour days at work, there are lots of other things going on, including welcoming another sailor into the family:
His RTC Ship was the Arizona:
He’s now off to Virginia for his schooling. He’s on a great adventure, just like his big brother 🙂 The world is literally wide open for both of them – I hope they make the most of it! Meanwhile, mom & dad will just stay here and play with puppies, I guess…
In stitching news, I am not entirely sure where I left off last time, so I’ll just jump in with – Celtic Banner! I am 3 bands and the remaining border from being done! I worked on it for 3 weeks, so I could make sure I got the compass rose & the directions done. Here is the overall – on 36ct Days Gone By, instead of the Glenshee called for:
And here’s a detail of the area I worked this time – the compass rose and the directions, and of course, loads of border…:
It’ll be good to get this one done – one more rotation ought to do it. Then I decide if I frame it or make it an actual banner; since I live in the land of heat & humidity, probably a frame just to keep it protected. But who knows? Since I used the Caron silks in it (I think it called for cottons), I can’t wash it, so banner might not be the best idea. This is one of the very first designs I found on the internet all those years ago – it’s the only MLI I own.
I did actually pick up a side WIP a couple of weeks ago and jammed to get it done in time for a Finish-fest last weekend at Jackie’s house 🙂 I think I posted my impulse start of the bonus design on the back of Prairie Schooler’s When Witches Go Riding a few months back; I thought it would be a quick finish, so I did:
And then I finish-finished it into a flat fold – I found this great paisley fabric at JoAnn’s, and actually Jackie wanted some, too, so grabbed another yard for me for…
We made scissor fobs that day, too, but I haven’t taken a picture of mine yet, since I am not sure where it ended up – I kind of brought all my stuff home, and put it in the craft room, and haven’t sorted out since I left for graduation a few days later. I’ll find it later today when I do some more finishing of my Fall exchange 🙂
And lastly, I’ve been pushing to get my Vickery Dragonflies done, too – I want to get it done because it’s one of the oldest kitted-up projects I have, and also because I am debating on going to a fair this year, IF I can get stuff framed in time, which is not that likely. Mostly I just want to get it done 🙂 I am about 1/2 done with the 3rd dragonfly & flower – have started the miles of backstitch, just to break up the monotony:
I can’t see this jazlyn at IHOP, the holes are just too small in the less-than-great light we have there, so I think I’ll just keep this out on the stand at home and see if I can get it done this week. I’m probably screwing up my whole rotation with all this side stuff – which reminds me, I need to show you another impulse start that I forgot I worked on since I posted last… Some bad person posted this on FB, and though I did my best to ignore it for several days, I finally caved, and got this Blackwork Jellyfish from Ajisai Designs – I ordered a fat half of 28ct PTP Mystic (BEFORE their Christmas in July sale, so I KNEW I’d get it), and also ordered beads and sequins – yes, sequins! Here’s my start:
Okay, I think that’s it for now… I knew I was forgetting something, since it’s been a while since I posted. I’m not even going to pick from the Project Randomizer until I get some of this other stuff out of the way, so like I was saying above before I distracted myself, I’m not sure how the rest of my rotation is going to get touched by the end of the year 🙂 Oh well…. I still have a Christmas exchange to finish (though it is past the 1/2 way mark, so should be done w/time to spare). I need to spend less time at work – it’s cutting into my schedule 🙁 Until next time, Happy Stitching! And just because I couldn’t fit an Olympic update in here like I usually do, GO USA!!!!
