The big reveal - December OMG complete!

It's after Christmas, so I can FINALLY reveal the "semi-secret project" I've been working on for a few months. I'm thrilled to say that the JOY projects were well received by Mums on both sides of the Atlantic, too.

The finished pieces are 12" in diameter, stitched on "Christmas Red" linen and mounted in wooden hoops I painted white. I finished the back with blanket-stitched felt, which turned out reasonably tidy.

There were no half stitches, but there were some unique stitches that added interest to the project:

And as with a lot of designs, the backstitching and beads really made the piece sparkle!

I'm so pleased with how they turned out ... but also pleased to be able to refocus on my big stitching project.

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts; you can see all the monthly projects on the December Link-up Page.

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal December Linkup

Swan Stitch-a-Long, part 5

Hi everyone! It's time for another stitch-a-long check in. I love this stitch-a-long; we all get to work on our own projects at our own pace, then cheer each other on every three weeks! If you fancy joining us, Avis is the person to contact. 

Here's where I was last time...

And here's where I am now:

I've finished stitching the lower part of the center leaves and filled in two parts in the center background. I still haven't sat down and finished the feather outlining on the left-hand swan; that's my #1 task in the next three weeks. After all the counting and staring on my other Super Secret Project (reveal to come soon!), just filling in the background and the leaves was quite a relief!

lots of lovely background fill!

So stitching the rest of the feather outlines is my goal over the next stretch -- lots to do here as for some reason this takes me a long time ... but when it's done, it will make the swan stitching easier!

Remember the really uneven scallop shapes in the bottom banner? 

(I mean, really, that far left scallop is a half, and in the middle there's a great big one!!!)

The piece is 222 stitches wide, so I also plan to chart out the replacement pattern. But I don't think I'll stitch it until the main pattern is done. 

My fellow stitchers are all working on amazing projects -- I love seeing them all taking shape! Click over to their blogs and have a look for yourself!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah,  Connie, and Clare.

Our next update will be Sunday, January 13 -- till then, wishing you a very merry Christmas and a magical 2019!

Mind = Blown

Saw this today and am still feeling slightly stunned by it:

I still can't believe this works ... and it's fiddly with multiple strands of floss ... but... who knew there was a better way to thread a needle???

Hats off to Good for bringing it to my attention!

Friday Finish : the T-O-R-E-N banner

Ever since our little neighbor Toren was born, I had been playing around with the idea of making a banner of nautical flags spelling out his name, since his parents are boaty people.

I did a little research into which flags represented which letters, sketched out the dimensions on paper, and bought some felt. I did, however, struggle with one thing ...

WHICH WAY WOULD THE FLAGS BE ORIENTED???

I mean, if this flag was the T:

and you were hanging it horizontally... would it actually look like this?

So I referred to West Marine -- a nautical supply store with locations nearby and a well-designed, very user-friendly website. Here's their image for the T flag:

I decided that that teeny strip of white on the left edge meant that's where the "hanger" is. 

I also discovered that the flags don't have to be square -- that if you wanted them as rectangles, you just stretched the design. 

Thus reassured, I got to work, and finished the flags the day before the birthday party. One final thing -- and to be honest I'm not sure I was right.

Does this banner read T-O-R-E-N (which, if you read the flags from left to right, it does...), or, if the string of flags was hanging from, say, a mast, would it read N-E-R-O-T? #askingforafriend

Swan Stitch-a-Long, part 4

Hi everyone! I'll just come straight out with it -- I haven't done much stitching on the Swans project these last three weeks. It's been pretty crazy, including our holiday in Beijing (so great! travelog posts to come!!!), the Thanksgiving holiday here (and, as an e-commerce manager, the Black Friday / Cyber Monday madness around it), and spending most of my stitching time working on my Super Secret Project ... with a December 24th deadline...

However, some progress *has* been made, and I am pretty happy with it!

I finished the last big of edging of the lower leaves, and have filled in a lot of the satin stitch on them. I also decided to do one little bit of the light blue background just for a break. That's the nice mindless stuff that I think I'll work on a bit more in this next three weeks. 

Here's something odd I noticed: in the bottom banner, the scallop shapes are really weirdly uneven. That is going to drive me crazy in a finished pillow... so when the time comes to stitch the edges, I think I'll just chart out something similar... but EVEN. 

I am sure that the next three weeks will result in little progress... but one stitch at a time, eh?

My fellow stitchers, I am sure, have been much more productive, and I look forward to seeing all the amazing work they're doing -- click over to their blogs and have a look for yourself!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah,  Connie, and Clare.

Our next update will be Sunday, December 23 -- can you believe how fast the year has gone by?

December OMG : the semi-secret project is in the home stretch!

It's December, so it's time for another OMG! November wrapped up very well -- though I didn't achieve my goal of all the double-strand stitching, I did manage to get 75% of it done, and really feel like I have turned a corner. And I PROMISE that at the end of December I'll be able to share what the project really looked like!!!

For December my goal is to finish the stitching *and* actually finish making up the piece. So there's some double-strand stitching to do, a bit of single-strand stitching, and (gulp!) the beading. But I can do this -- I've got 24 days, and no odd travel plans. So here we go!

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts; you can see all the monthly projects on the December Link-up Page.

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal December Linkup