Rhapsody by Amybear - Week 1

The supplies for Rhapsody have been on my pressing table for over a month.  As soon as E. Mears was finished, I started getting the Rhapsody project ready for stitching.

Marking the canvas was easy... with one exception.... the designer suggests putting the letter and number designations onto the canvas.  Well... I put in half of the letters and then decided that I placed them too close to the actual work area.  Not really an issue and but if it really starts to bother me I have Ceramcoat ready.  Then I started putting in the numbers -- with the amount of space available not an easy task, so those numbers went onto the edge fabric.

The stitching has barely been started but I am sure that this will be a fun project with all stitching done with one strand of Watercolours on 18 count canvas.  My color selection is trying for a tropical look - but - with overdyed threads the result isn't always what I expect.

Rhapsody - Week 1

Pillowcases are fast and fun

It's fun to be able to start and finish a project in one day!! Really, it was a couple of hours and I had two great pillowcases.  I will keep track of the time with the next one because I'm curious to know how long it actually takes.

Today I made two dino pillowcases.  The one at the top that is folded in half goes super fast because it is just one piece of fabric.  The second case was made using the burrito (or rolled) method.

These are links to websites that show how to make the second pillowcase - same process with different presentations.

Rainy Day Quilt School
http://www.rainydayquiltschool.com/Rolled%20Pillowcase%20Pattern.pdf

MaryQuilts.com
http://www.maryquilts.com/pillowcase/

There are a variety of pillowcase patterns at allpeoplequilt.com for the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge -- great inspiration!
http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases/freepatterns/index.html

Stitching with Lizzie - Week 30 - Complete!!

Elizabeth Mears Sampler - Completed 27 July 2011

This morning I completed the stitching for the Elizabeth Mears reproduction sampler.  I haven't decided how I am going to sign it, but that doesn't really count as part of the the stitching.

I am completely delighted with the way it turned out -- mistakes and all!  This is the largest and one of the most beautiful pieces I have stitched completed.

Am I the only stitcher that would pay more for a chart if the designer would provide some overlap stitches from one page to another?  I had been away from the cross stitch world for some years and with recent purchases of large charts I have been dismayed (putting it nicely) that designers have dropped the overlap section.  This is forcing me to make copies and do a cut and paste activity to be sure my stitching is in the correct position when moving from one page to the next.  The chart for this sampler is an example of the lack of overlap.  Perhaps it is now the industry standard -- but seriously, how hard can it be to add a couple more rows the the page?

In spite of the shortcomings of the chart for this sampler, it was a great stitch!

Stitching with Lizzie - Week 28

Elizabeth Mears at week 28

This fabulous house looks so much better in person!  This week I have, once again,  spent several hours working exclusively on the Elizabeth Mears sampler.  I am hoping that by this time next week the house will be complete even there is still quite a bit to be done.

Stitching with Lizzie - Week 27

Elizabeth Mears at Week 27

Wow -- what a difference a week makes!  The castle is stitching up quickly -- even for me, one of the slowest stitchers on the planet.  Once the gable is complete, the remaining stitching is simple cross stitch. Perhaps an August finish??

I've tried a couple different ways to work the checkerboard brick work -- putting in a whole section of white and then filling in with the brown, working on a diagonal, putting in the brown and then filling in the white....etc.  In my opinion, it is easiest to work in horizontal rows with two needles -- put in the white, fill in the brown and then drop to the next row.