Monday, February 27, 2017

TUSAL - February 2017

The explanation for the Totally Useless Stitch A Long is at Sharon’s It’s Daffycat blog. CLICK HERE for all the details.

This month’s orts are (again) all from Jane Turner since I haven’t yet finished Band 8.



Not as many days checked off on my silly stitching days calendar this month - only 9, but that's not too bad.

Working on slow stuff right now – tricky or complicated stitching that demands a lot of focus. It’s pretty cool to watch the spiral trellis “bumps” take shape. I’ve only done two rows on the lower one, but you can see the spiral lines forming.


See those orangey flower things on each side of the in-process spiral? I think it’s very cool the way the two squares make a center with points all around it, but that detail is all going to be lost – the center gets a spiral trellis bump, and then every other petal gets filled with spiral trellis also. Some of them in rather odd colors.

It’s tempting to change those in some way - such as misreading the symbol in some of those petals. ;) Then I could stitch them in the peach color rather than the very grayish light taupe - the symbols *are* quite similar. And my Jane is already an adaptation rather than a reproduction as I’ve changed a couple of the thread colors because they couldn’t be seen on the ground fabric. But the rule-following “do bee” in me can be hard to shout down. Ah, well. Will see what fancy strikes when I start stitching the petals.

Band 8:

All:

Probably would have had more progress if I hadn’t lost my needle last weekend and spent hours since looking for it. One of my favorite needles (of course), the *old* DMC brand with the very skinny eye that holds threads snugly instead of letting them slip out every time you tug just a bit. Seems they’re no longer made ... or not made that way anymore – phooey.

Dug through the thread box, carefully went through all the pages in my pattern folder, and the stitchy bag, and every bit of clothing I was wearing. Gingerly slipped my hand into the crevice between the chair arm and seat. Repeated all steps above three ... or four or even five times. Ran the vacuum thoroughly listening for that telltale pting! Nothing. Have I mentioned I’ve never lost a needle? Pins yes, needles, nope – always searched until I found ‘em. But that might just be because if I left ‘em, I would certainly find them later – in my foot!

After spending all my stitching time searching for the AWOL needle, I finally, reluctantly concluded the thing had been eaten by the chair or turned into smoke. Failure – ugh.

What practically jumped out of the thread box the first time I opened it yesterday? Yeah, guess my slightly bent, missing needle had had enough vacation. Sigh.

Happy stitching, all!


>^..^<

6 comments:

  1. This is absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous. And glad you found your MIA needle--and not in your foot!

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  2. Wow! The spiral stitch is amazing! So very pretty!

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  3. The Spirals look great.
    Funny story about the needle, but at least you didn't step on it.
    That's the way it goes, you find something you really like, and then it gets discontinued. :(
    Marilyn

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  4. Those specialty stitches are amazing, Deb! They give the piece such a wonderful look and depth...

    You've never lost a needle before?? Amazing! I have no idea where mine go to hide, but I hope they are all enjoying their freedom somewhere together :) Glad you found it again!

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  5. What a gorgeous piece this is becoming. I love all the padded and 3D stitching, it really brings it all to life.
    Do you do Facebook and do you belong to Nicola Parkman's Sampler group? I am sure she would love to see this piece.
    Glad you found the missing needle too!

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  6. lol about the needle! Sounds like what happens to me. isn't it frustrating that our favorite needles are no longer made? I like John James Petites size 28. They are made, but no longer made in England. And the quality is no longer what it used to be -- such a pain. Anyway, such lovely work! I would change the colors of those future spiral trellis's. Why not? Make them the color you want them to be. Maybe there's a mistake in the color guide. :D

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