Patchwork Rug – Square 9 Completed

I started this square on March 1st, and I completed the actual square in exactly 2 months. But it took a couple more weeks to get the wide borders done. So here is Square #9.

And with this square, I have completed the 3rd row of this huge rug.

This morning my DH helped me scroll the canvas so I can start to work on the last row of three squares. It will take a little longer for the next square since I have that large border to stitch on two sides of the square since it’s a corner square. I’d love to finish this rug by the end of the year, but I know that isn’t going to happen. I have too many other projects that I want to stitch as well.

Baluchi Rug – Progress 23

I’ve filled in the two small rectangles and all the patches in the area I was working on. The borders are all more or less even with the stitched sections as well.

Then I scrolled the canvas just a little so  you can see how much I have left to finish the rug. There are only 10 rows of stitching below the zigzag border which is started. This coming week I’ll do the two octagon shapes and then work on all the other areas across of the piece to make them even with the octagons. Just over 7 inches to go! This rug has taken so long to stitch – a smaller size but so complicated.

I will have two finishes to show you next week though – and maybe a new project started.

Raymond Crawford’s Christmas Train – Gift Car 4

I’m getting close to the finish now. I finished the two packages in the center of the car – one off-white and gold Neon Rays and then the black package. The stitch guide did the black package in dark gold Frye Werks. I decided to do my own thing. I did the Milanese part of the Oriental stitch using the red/green/gold Kreinik #16 braid that I used as ribbon on the large red package on the right. Then I filled in the spaces with the dark gold Fyre Werks. And I’ve filled in the background around all the packages in the middle as well. Now I’ll stitch the ribbons and bows.

The Christmas tree was done using an overdyed floss from Needle Necessities and the Leaf Stitch. I know there are little bits of red ornaments showing through in some places, but they’ll be covered with red crystals, large red beads and the large gold beads I used on the engine. I didn’t like the way the stitch guide did the tree and I’m not using Color Infusions (Memory Thread?) from DMC to make a garland either.

Over the next week, I’ll stitch the last two packages, finish the background, and sew on all the ornaments for the tree. I hope to have it completed by this time next week.

Pet Shop by Elli Jenks – Progress 12

Stitching the fence and filling in the gaps in the fence took longer than I thought it would. (Everything seems to take longer than I thought.) I haven’t completed all the outlining of the fence, but enough is done for you to get the idea. The window on the lower floor is almost done as well. Such a well-behaved little dog too. The gap in the fence looks big enough for him to escape from.

The second story of this side starts just above the highest brick you see above. So next time, I’ll have the first floor completed and will be working on the windows and walls of the second floor. I’m getting there….

Baluchi Rug – Progress 22

I’ve made some progress. The outlines for the patches have been redone and I’ve started filling in the spaces. Borders on the left side have been worked on. Two more rectangles have been added to the center motif and I’ve started outlining the last flower.

This coming week, I’ll work on the scroll border on both sides and try to complete all the patches that are outlined. And I need to start filling in the rectangles and octagons for the center motif. Once the patches are done, I’ll scroll the canvas up so you can see how much is still left to do.

Gossamer Fractal – Progress 6

My slowest project ever and it’s only 8″ by 11.5″ in size. I’ve just finished another half page of the chart. The dotted line above the design shows the exact middle across the top of the design.

I’ll continue across the top to finish the page I’m working on. When that’s done I’ll work across the space below where I’ve been stitching. I’m almost a quarter of the way done, but it goes so slowly. 45 minutes a day, about four times a week is all I can handle on this project. It will get done eventually.

Laura Perin’s Holiday Ornaments #2 – Last One Done

I finally get to cross something off my To Do List! This is the last of the four ornaments. Here is Laura’s version:

My oldest granddaughter loves teal – just like me! So I looked for threads to use on Congress Cloth and found #8 perle in two shades of teal, an overdyed #8 perle from Needle Necessities, a dark teal Sprinkles, and #8 silver Kreinik braid. (I forgot to take a photo when the middle section was done so I cropped the finished photo to show you the center. Sorry it’s not super straight!) The center section stitched up very quickly!

On the last ornament I showed you, I used the lighter color around the outer edge. This one definitely needed the darker color around the outside. The Sprinkles was difficult to use on this smaller count canvas, so it was used sparingly. I’m not sure I’d use it on Congress Cloth again. But I think the overall piece is great and I know my granddaughter will love it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed watching this series of ornaments from Laura Perin. And I hope you’ll try changing colors on a project that you are working on (or will be working on soon). I have the threads to do these as Laura shows in her charts, but this was so much fun to play with. They take on different personalities when you change the colors. I even thought about doing the same design in three different colors just to show you how it changes the look of a design. Play a little – I bet you’ll love the results!