First, pretend you're listening to.....

Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey". You know where it goes like this:
baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

 baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,

taaaa daaaaaaaaaah

boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom

He's done! But not finished, you know what I mean; The stitching is complete, finis, ich bin fertig. Aren't I brave to show you this before I've cleaned up all those loose ends? Oh well I am just excited about this piece and well, I have no shame.  It's not like you haven't seen them before, although I know there are many of you out there that I'm scaring. The next step here is to remove from the stretchers and give it a good zig zag a few times around the perimeter edge of the stitching, thusly, ensuring that none of the tie-offs move around.

Oh I think he is soooo cute. He's stepping right off the canvas with his pink toes and GPS aka tail. And he's a big fella. These are 18x18" Evertites. Ruth Schmuff has added her special touches to this project including the Sundance Designs drop beads on the bottom of the canvas. And....the ribbon.trees.....no regrets here, if you could see the texture that was achieved you'd understand why I'm not sorry about the ribbon. The Lorikeet used in the larger tall trees was a dream to use; it's soft yet sturdy. I just love it and will use it whenever suitable.

His larger than life face was first padded with a felt cutout, then stitched over with Burmilana, another favorite thread. His nose is several layers of Frosty Rays; I went vertically, then horizontally then vertically ensuring amply puffy pepto pink nose leather (that's what the professionals call it).  His body is stitched in nothing less than Vineyard Silk, naturally-like butta- for a smooth, shiny, regal coat.

The background was fun and fast! Using differing combinations of Gloriana and Sparkle Braid made the background both sparkly where it was supposed to and softer where it  wasn't. Just not on mine. I stitched it just the opposite of Ruth's directions, no not intentionally, on accident. But you'd never know.

Those deco looking leaves at the top used Gloriana's Duchess Silk and Silk Lame Braid. Ruth really knows how to choose threads.

For finishing, take a look at Ruth's creative framing here, adorable and very clever. I want a pillow. I have exactly what I want in mind and hope I am not too diappointed when I can't find it. Fingers crossed.

CONGRATULATIONS NCPAT OF NEEDLEARTNUT!

In celebration of ticking past the 20,000 mark on the blog counter, and in an attempt to show my gratitude to you as the first visitor to comment after reaching this milestone, I have a "thank you for visiting" stash giveaway for you. Sort of a stitcher's hospitality basket. I hope you'll send me your information soon so that I can get your gift off to you right away. I'm excited it was you Pat!

Silk RIbbon

Hi all,

Well I've calmed down and I learned a few things. First I practiced with my stash and canvas using a smaller sized ribbon, 4mm on 14ct because it is what I had available. The original materials used are 13ct canvas with sizes 7mm and 13mm ribbon.

Just using the smaller ribbon helped me to understand that ribbon size made a big difference in how everything looked. Plus I learned that ribbon isn't necessarily supposed to "lay" like threads; it's wider than the hole it's going through or coming out of and might not be smooth and flat, or even neat depending on the stitch and materials involved.

The photo on the left shows the stitch using smaller light colored ribbon. Lo and behold it laid neatly, cooperated and covered very nicely. Also in the photo is a sample sewn in the same stitch with the darker larger ribbon I had left. If you enlarge the photo you will see how bulky and puffy the larger ribbon looks and how easy it is to detect a mistake. I find the use of large ribbon isn't all that forgiving. But that could just be me looking through my "mag eyes". It didn't help either that I was expecting something completely different than I should have.

The effect of using the larger ribbons on this project was to look like leaves on a tree, large bulky leaves giving the tree dimension. The 7mm was used on the top two-thirds of the area and the 13mm was used on the bottom third. In addition, by my not pulling the ribbon far enough through in most cases and too far in others was also a problem leading to my frustration. And I was not watching my back which is why I got into trouble with the "wad" in the first place.

For me, this chosen stitch and ribbon is exactly what was needed for the so-called artichoke trees. I can't think of anything else that would have been as effective. No, it was just me jumping into something that needed more time and attention than it looked. Live and learn that's why we're here. So after all is said and done, I feel I must continue to practice and get more comfortable using ribbon techniques and then I'll finish up this fun and fabulous project. Thanks for stopping by again today, hope you have a wonderful week to enjoy in peace and good company.

I've made a

HOT MESS of things. Look at this wad (no other word) of silk ribbon nonsense. That (on left) is the back of this front (on right). I've been keeping this mess to myself and then just decided I had concealed it from you long enough. Time to come clean and share my misery. How thoughtful of me.

This is the final part of my cybermystery and what you see is the latest of a minimum of 5 attempts at filling in the last space on the project. The thread (River Silks Silk Ribbon) is beautiful, plentiful and all the other positive "ful"s you can think of. It's not sold in Colorado mind you, but it's readily available in other parts of the country. The problem is me. I've used up all but a scant yard of all 3 cards included in the kit; more than enough for most. The stitch, is very simple as in not complex. Go up at A, come down at B and pull until it starts to curl. Piece of cake. Not for me.

The photo on the right depicts my version of the Japanese Ribbon Stitch.  It starts out really nice and uniform, then I accidentally pull the ribbon too far through and that's it. Forget about making an attempt at correcting it, it just makes it worse. So I lived with the non-uniformity, accepting that after so many tries I'll just have to settle. Kept stitching and when I turned it over to bury my thread tail, I found what you see in the photo on the left. A big tangled mass refusing to come loose in any other way except by taking a pair of scissors to it. Hot mess.

So now I'm stuck until my thread arrives. Unable to work on this large piece over the past several weeks, and now that I'm back to normal again and able to proceed, it hasn't turn out so well. Sometimes the best laid plans, or stitches for that matter, just don't cooperate....and I had such high hopes for a finish.  Looking back, I should have taken a piece of canvas and ribbon from my stash and practice, practice, practice. Which is what I will do until my RS ribbon arrives. Thanks to a good friend advising me to hold the back of the stitch in place while stitching, I should have better luck. Meanwhile, I'm not going to ruin my weekend over it, I'm going to the fridge.....

"Needlepointers"

magazine arrived yesterday much to my delight. Normally I stop whatever I am doing and tear (figuratively speaking) through the issue ogling at the photographs and ads. Oh yes, I don’t miss a single ad; how else would I discover what stash I need? Except yesterday I didn’t get to it right away and I forgot about it! Well, it was lost in a relatively small stack of mail that shouldn’t have been delivered in the first place, i.e. newspaper fliers, aarp stuff, bills.

This morning as I “stumbled to the kitchen to pour myself a cup of ambition” I spied with my little eye the corner of said magazine peeking out from under the other stuff and voila! this morning’s entertainment revealed. Sudoku be off with you and take your eraser with you I have other fish to fry.

It's a stellar issue and while perusing I noticed an ad or blurb on a new stranded silk thread from Planet Earth, Silk Opal (somebody out there knows how to name a thread); brand new to me, never heard of the company. But it looks like something I would enjoy using and I'm sure I’ll soon be on the hunt and will let you know, if you haven't already tried it yourself and you could let me know. Then Zweigart  has new Congress cloth colors including Khaki, Spice, Merlot and Country Blue for future stash enhancement; it's on the list as I pride myself on keeping a cut of all colors on hand, just in case. Seeing these and an ad for Kreinik I remembered that recently I found, in limited quantity, a few colors of DMC’s Memory Thread and Kreinik’s Holographic braid. Both products are certainly wonderful to look at,  likewise to use I'm sure.

One thing leading to another and since I had my camera out I took photos of  my new threads and more beautiful beads that I ordered from Robin Atkins' website. Robin has a unique selection of beads and all those that are pictured here are from her.

In the next day or two I should be receiving a supply from Fire Mountain Gems on the advice from a thoughtful reader pointing out that she thought their catalog was the phone book when it arrived. I just checked it all out online and sure enough they had some pretty special beads that were hopelessly irresistible; especially when one is trying to build up one’s bead stash. That should do it for now with the beads.

Thank you for making it all the way down here; I have three ornaments that I want to show you that are on the verge of being finished and those will be up by tomorrow so I'll have some stitching to share then. See you soon.

Beads Glorious Beads

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to be drawn as one of the four winners of Robin Atkins giveaway of her first book, "One Bead at a Time" now out of print. It arrived and the obsession began. Many of you know that I've never been an avid beader, I loved the way beading embellished my stitching, but I've never been good at it. Didn't know how to choose, place or attach beads. Plus I was always stabbing my fingers with those thin needles.

That was then this is now. After reading my prize book and then purchasing the companion book, I was hooked. DD and I took a trip up to Frisco, CO to a bead shop that we had visited once before. Luna's Beads and Glass has more beads than you can poke a needle through. I nearly lost the nest egg, not because they are unusually expensive, but because there are so many temptations. I'm not good at resisting temptations either.

Luna's also offers a variety of classes. And as a cool coinkydink, I learned that Luna's shop owner has studied under Robin Atkins. Small world. I wanted to show you some of the fabulous gems I found. I went for color and shape since I don't have any particular project in mind. But I'll be ready once I decide.

Check out Robin's blog Bead Lust and get inspired. On her website, she also has beads for sale and other accessories like needles, beading thread and stuff like that. Beautiful stuff. Robin's books can also be purchased on her website. I used to think that most beads were used for jewelry making and that in large part is a true statement, but using your imagination to embellish your needlework, or create, of all things a bead journal, opens many possibilities for expression. It's all so fascinating and oozes of creativity. I'm just getting started on this odyssey and cannot wait to make something wonderful. Heart to Hands gives ideas on what type of project to start but also includes 20 different techniques for creating  forms, textures and even ruffles. Oooo a bead ruffle. BTW "One Bead at a Time" is now available as an eBook on Robin's website. Thank you once again for stopping by for a visit today, I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the wonderful beads available; I write as if this is something new but I know there are many bead artists out there that have been practicing this art for years, it's only new to me.

Quilt Show (off) Today

I have been collecting quilts for a long time and wanted to share a few of them with you. The number I have does not indicate the years spent in finding these treasures. Please do not make the mistake of thinking that I know what I'm doing while collecting these quilts, or hold me to accuracy when it comes to the information I write about them. I simply collect them as hand works of art by someone much like myself' a lover of creating beauty with a needle and thread. There are two that were handed down to me from great aunts long since passed and one that I purchased from the quilter nearly 30 years ago. All the others I have found poking around antique malls.

I only purchase quilts that are in good repair, no stains and those that are neatly hand quilted and also affordable to me.  One of my favorite quilts was purchased as a training lesson in restoration. It's colors are vibrant, the stitching is lovely, but there are a few patchwork pieces here and there that have disintegrated over time for one reason or another. It's the Dresden Plate with yellow centers shown. Look closely and you'll see the damage. I have yet to begin my restoration process namely because I haven't a clue as what it entails. But I thought I'd give it a try someday.

Then there is this one in my beloved "signature color" of turquoise. A beauty. The pink and white quilt on the right above with the signatures is called a "Community Quilt" and though I have no history on these (or any others for that matter) apparently this was made my many members of the same quilting club. The green Dresden Plate is the one I purchased from a quilter in Maryland in 1982 for $85. I wish I knew more about these lovely blankets and the quilters that made them, but for now I just keep them safe and appreciate them more and more every time I bring them out to breathe a little. Maybe someone out there may care to chime in and tell me more about any of them.

I cannot sit at the computer for any real length of time and this has given me the chance to at least say hello. I do thank you all for your thoughtful posts concerning the state of my side. It's slow healing and nothing to complain about. I have been stitching on small things and each day I make a little more progress on my cyber mystery piece. Thank you for stopping by today for a visit. If you blog, you know how much visitors mean to us. Take care til next time.