More Stitching....

 

Small Progress....

You Might recall, Dear Readers, that I ambitiously started a couple of new petit-point embroidery projects a few weeks ago. Because it is Winter and I am indoors, I have managed to make some progress on them! I apologize in advance for any blurry photos... it is also unrelentingly dreary and dark, making it difficult to get good photos here in my dark old (under-lit) antique house. But you can see in the above picture that I started to add the blue background to the central section of this carpet. It is one of Janet Granger's kits, on 18 count canvas, stitched with wool thread. I do just love the way these wool carpets feel... and they look wonderful in the dollhouses too. The reason I have not made more progress on this one  (besides the now completed Christmas Card project) is that the frame is a bit too small for the 9" square pattern of the carpet. I have not made any progress solving that dilemma. So instead, I have focused on the Other large carpet I started, the Chinese blue and white carpet kit from Phyllis Stafford. And you might recall, I had decided I needed to design a better central motif for it, adding dragons of my own design.

I am not sure what I last showed you, 

but I have been working out the scale pattern for the

body of the dragon.

 

 

Because I am designing it myself,

 I mark up my chart for a small portion,

 then stitch it to see how it looks. 

Here is the chart ... so far! 

I am only drawing one half of the central design, 

I will flip it and stitch the other half in reverse.

Here you can see I have started the outline for the second dragon...

 they are chasing each other around the sun!

I needed to be sure the two are spaced correctly

 and don't infringe too closely on each other's space.... 

even one stitch differences can make a problem! 

And it is soooo easy to get off by only one stitch...

 (already happened on the dragon's tail...!)

Here I have added a little of the sky blue

 background for the central medallion... 

just to see how the dragon looks against it...

Here I have stitched the scale pattern a little farther.

 It is quite challenging at this thread count (40 stitches per inch),

 so I have to be sure to not try to stitch it at night!

As for the Baktiari Carpet kit, Dear Readers, 

I have nearly completed the main carpet.

 

The instructions say that if you want to add a fringe (which I do)

 then you must stitch another row of the garnet color

 on the top and bottom, plus a row of the fringe color,

 before you take it off the frame and bind the edges.

And that reminded me that I wanted to try

 to stitch a couple of "cushions"

 using the extra canvas at the right

 before I removed it from the frame.

So I made a start

.

I made a start....

 and I made a few mistakes!

(Sewing it at night.... 40 count canvas...)

I didn't plan ahead for the border pattern repeat...

But I figured it was too late to change it....

So I'm winging it!

 

The border doesn't repeat exactly....

 but I think it will work anyway.

And I realized I did not make the shape of the cushion square...

But that can be fixed for the next one....

'cause there must be more than one cushion!

 

And that's as far as I got, Dear Readers,

Lots of stitching.... 

and very Small progress!

A Few More...

 

  Stitches And Rocks...

I Had nearly finished the stitching, Dear Readers, on the background of the Medieval Ladies Tapestry before I left for my Travels all those weeks ago. And once I returned, it was not difficult to complete. I don't know about you, but I do get so absorbed in these projects, I almost don't want to finish them! Except that I know I will Love looking at them when they are finished and installed in their home. And I must confess, that the final steps involved in order to truly be "finished" with these tapestries, adding the tabs for hanging them and sewing a backing, do not excite me one bit... and tend to take a loooong time to get done. But meanwhile, let me show you the completed stitching!

I think it turned out as well as could be expected of a "hybrid" design!

And here it is with the other Ladies Tapestry... 

so you can see just how well they go together

 and suggest that they were once all one Tapestry!

All I need to do is hem the new part, add the tabs etc.

We can pretend that I'll have it done in no time.... 

while I go sweeping off to stitch my current obsessive project....

The Baktiari Carpet.

You might be able to tell I have been attempting to get

 all the outlines complete for the "lozenges" 

in the middle of the carpet.

And as I was working on the ones at the bottom,

 I noticed that I had counted wrong on the "legs"

right below the "knot" where they join each other...

most of the lozenges have only two stitches before they spread apart....

 but on the bottom row they need to have four stitches!

(If you need to see a reference picture,

 the partly stitched beginning in the previous post will show you!)

Fortunately, I was able to un-stitch the parts that I had done wrong!

Above you can see it after the removal of the mistakes...

Here you can see I have started to lengthen

 those "legs" to four stitches long...

(If you get out your magnifying glass and count very carefully!)

And while I was wrestling with those few stitches, Dear Readers, 

I was also trying to reacquaint myself with the rock-painting process

 for the door surround on the Lords Bed Chamber door!

Here I have glued the vertical pieces in place already....

 (you didn't need to see them being painted, did you?)

But those were the easy ones...

It took the entire next day to cut, fit, prime, paint

 and glue the remaining five rocks!

And I didn't get to the grout painting, 

which needs to be done to tidy up

 the courses of the rocks.

(Dare I say the rocks for the Bed Chamber are done?)

And as for the few stitches on the new carpet...

I finished fixing the Lozenges and then some!

As I am sure you have noticed, Dear Readers,

I find it impossible to only sew a "few" stitches!

Just a few more.... 

and a few more..... 

and a few more....

Stitching Progress....

 

 And More Stitching Projects....

I had Hoped, Dear Readers, that I would have completed the background stitching on the Ladies Tapestry by now, but other things have intervened and slowed the progress to a crawl. The Too hot weather of the past few weeks did not help, but I also worked on other lagging projects, some of them RL and some of them in the mini homes. We got a break from the extreme heat but didn't get the rain we needed until today. At last it is raining! It might rain all night and into tomorrow! Such a relief after the drought we have endured all summer. Suffice it to say, my attention to mini details has been scattered at best, with nothing finished and little to show. At least, that is how it feels to me, but when I look at the past few weeks I have accomplished a few small things! And I have kept at the stitching as much as possible.

Here you can see the background slowly surrounding the Ladies....

It is SO satisfying to see the dark ground

 bring out the colors of the gowns and the blossoms!

And here you can see that I am nearly finished....

Except that I got distracted by the Next stitching project....

Which will be a Doozey!

Can you even see the stitches....?

This is 40 count silk gauze...!

It is a kit I bought several years ago at the IGMA Show in Hartford,

 but quickly discovered that it was beyond my skill level

 so I put it aside.

It is a kit from Phyllis Stafford, IGMA Fellow

 and embroiderer extrordinaire. 

Sadly, she passed away last spring.

I think the pattern is gorgeous....!

But look at the chart!!!

(This is why I put it away so quickly!)

But now I have much more experience with 40 count stitching,

 and stitching from black and white symbol charts too.

I feel bold and adventurous....!

I jumped right in.... determined to get it started at least!

I use my magnifier for this scale work.....

I really wanted to see how it would look,

 with all the colors for this lozenge in play....

only to discover I had made a counting mistake in the yellow threads....

 way back in the beginning....! Way too late to unstitch!

But it is only a tiny one-stitch mistake that

 might never be noticeable once the carpet is complete.

So I will keep on stitching, Dear Readers, 

making good progress on my Projects!