Metallics: What a Pain

Below is what I've done the past two days:

I stitched about two hours each day.  Most of that time was spent dealing with metallics in one form or another, and boy, was it a pain!

Both the white (DMC B5200) and black (DMC 310) were combined with Kreinik blending filament.  It creates a nice sparkly effect and it isn't usually horrible to work with.  But for some reason, the black blending filament shreds and separates and refuses to cooperate.  I'm sure it's just a bad batch, but it's making me nuts.  For the time being, because I don't want to wait for a replacement spool, I'm just carefully searching for stitchable lengths and that's working so far.  I have two more medium-sized areas to stitch in black.

The gold is #4 Very Fine Braid and I'm using two strands.  Because it's a metallic, and because it comes on a little spool, it can be curly and springy and bouncy and generally uncooperative.  And that's just one strand.  Two strands each doing their own thing are quite frustrating to work with.  There are some tools and techniques to make it easier:

     -Use short lengths.  I like to use about a foot.
     -Use a thread conditioner.  I use Thread Heaven.  Some people like beeswax
     -Use a laying tool when dealing with multiple strands.
     -Consider alternating your metallic work with stitching with easier threads
     -Meditate.  Take deep breaths.  Go as slow as you want.

2016's Christmas Angel

It's a Madonna, really.

But first, my progress on Thursday.  I almost finished the white head.  That's about one hour of work.  I would have liked to have done more, but that was all the time I had.  Unlike sleep, a little is better than none.  It's better than an antidepressant, anti-anxiety, and meditation together.

But sometimes the to-do piles get in the way.  (That's a to-do list, but in physical form.)  Seeing those around and not being dealt with causes anxiety.  So I have to balance.  I had hopes of stitching today, and I still might, but it's not looking likely.  So, hopefully, tomorrow.

Back to the Madonna.  I stitched three of these:  One for Nancy, my mother-in-law, one for Lynda, my best friend, one for me.  I also used to do one for my mom, before she passed away.

I also recently started a new type of stitching journal:  I take a picture of each day's progress.  This doesn't allow me to keep track of the hours, and I need to make sure I do that.  But it does allow me to see the image grow.  So, without further ado, the 2016 Christmas Angel Stitching Journal:

The pattern is Told In A Garden's 2002 Free Christmas pattern.  Did I mention it's free?  The above is the second iteration of the project.  I hadn't started the new journaling-by-picture method when I did the first one.  I did that one almost exactly as called for, only changing the skin tones into over-one, as is my wont.  But I felt like the beads on the clothing areas were too large.  They didn't seem to fit well with the clothing.  So, for #2, I substituted petite beads.  I wasn't 100% happy with that either:  I felt the pearl trim was too off-white.  Still, I liked it a lot and am considering entering it into the county fair later this year.

I like to take a picture of the back, too.  My backs aren't perfect, but they're not terribly messy, either:

Now she's a Frida Kahlo Madonna.

Next, the dreaded finishing:

I don't know why that's upside-down.  Anyway, I finished #s 1 and 2 at the same time.  That's the completed stitching with batting and backing fabric.

Cardboard for the back and acid-free foam core for the stitching, complete with centering marks.

Fronts and backs all laced.

Angel #2 completed.

Angel #1, for a little contrast.

Angel #3 was also finished, but not Finished, because I'm going to finish all my angels together when I complete them all.

Getting Going Again

When I read over my previous posts the other day, I noticed a theme that came up over and over:  My favorite aspect of stitching is seeing the image "grow" out of the fabric.  I like seeing the blocks of color that make no sense at all, then finally resolve into an image.

The above is a Christmas ornament mounted on stretcher bars.  I left it just like that for a few days, just to admire the blankness of it.  Then I got to work:

Day 1 (what can it be?)

Day 2 (it's starting to make a little sense)

Day 3 (today) 

(you might know what it is, but then again, you might not)

Sometimes I think I should make a flip-book out of these pictures.

This is #5 of 8 ornaments that I did for this past Christmas.  I was finally feeling motivated, but also guilty for not stitching in so long, so I had DH and boys each pick out an ornament from 2015 and 2016.  This is JazzBoy's pick from 2015.  I've finished stitching 4 and I'm pretty proud of that.  

Ornament #6 is also mounted on stretcher bars, waiting to go.

#7 needs fabric and I just need to wait for a good time to get to Shepherd's Bush to buy some.  I actually ordered some online, but I couldn't find the exact fabric called for, so I tried to substitute.  It turns out platinum is not the same as gray.  So I'll need to see it in person.

#8 is more problematic.  It calls for specific threads--from Romy's Creations, I think--and I could only find one place to get them.  I duly ordered them in November but one of the threads is backordered so I still don't have them.  I've had a couple of pleasant email exchanges with the company, but they don't know when it will arrive, so at this point I'm just going to wait.  I guess if I don't have them by April or so, I'll just use some DMC equivalents.  But this is what happens when you wait too long to order supplies for JCS Ornament Issue projects.

I also actually finished TIAG angels this time, and they will make an appearance soon.

Resurrecting the Blog

Well, it's been a few years.  A lot's been going on, but not a lot of stitching.  Virtually everyone who reads this is family or close friends, so they know what's been happening, but I'll give a little recap:  Since I last posted, I've hiked the Grand Canyon and Isle Royale, broken my leg--on the stairs, not on a hike--had a pulmonary embolism, and lost my mom. 

I've gone months at a time without stitching, which is really sad, because stitching is what keeps me sane and calm.  Sometimes I just couldn't find the motivation.

I've been thinking lately, though, about why I started stitching.  I wasn't really exposed to needlework as a child.  Although my mom could sew really well, she hated embroidery.  I thought cross-stitch was hopelessly old-fashioned, only done by old people with no lives.  And I really hated those cross-stitched geese magnets.  I thought they were so ugly and tacky.  I still do.  

In my early 20s I moved to Utah to go to school and one evening my roommate and I had a friend from Ohio visiting.  My roommate and friend pulled out their cross-stitching.  I wasn't very interested, but somehow I was given a small pattern and a few supplies, so I joined in.  And I loved it!  That is, I loved doing the cross-stitch.  I thought the pattern was unattractive and uninteresting.  But I loved the process.  And I was good at it, too.  Of course, cross-stitch is hardly difficult.  I thought I would just do the needlework because it was enjoyable, then give away the simplistic, wretched items away.  

Well, it wasn't long before I found out that there were a lot of beautiful, challenging patterns out there and I've been moving forward ever since.  I expanded my repertoire of needlework techniques and I learned that stitching gave me space to breathe and think.

I made a concerted effort to get back to stitching a few weeks before Christmas.  And recently, I thought I should start sharing it again.  

I reread the blog and noticed there were some projects I had finished and some projects I hadn't made one iota of progress on.  Well, that's typical for me.  I wrote about knitting a lace scarf here, here, here, and here.  I see that I lost my gray yarn.  Well, I never did find it.  So I bought some pale green, and I started over, and I finished it.  That's a close-up in the upper left.  Here's a longer view:

It's a little short, only about 38 inches, but I'm pretty proud of it.

I'll be mainly focused on needlework and other fiber arts, of course, but I reserve the right to post about anything I want (rest assured, political posts will be few to non-existent).  I'm not any more reliable about posting than I was before but I'll do my best not to let the blog die again.  I'm not any better of a photographer, either, but I have an iPhone and it takes clear pictures even if they're not well-composed.

I've finished a few Christmas ornaments, and I managed to finish a TIAG madonna this past Christmas.  I have a couple of ornaments in progress right now.  I've bought a couple of sewing courses at Craftsy.  I plan to learn to tat ice drops.  They're all the rage right now and make great gifts, especially for people who knit me an afghan out of the blue.  I plan to tat a small doily for an unnamed recipient.

So I'll see you again in this space in a day or two.  Or three--but I'll make it back here.