2008 First Happy Dance

Wow, did I just post a few of days ago? I find it hard to believe that I'm posting again so soon. Then again, remember I said I'll have a finish soon? Well, I kept my word and I can't wait to share my first happy dance of 2008 with all of you. A little late, I know, considering that it's almost May - halfway through 2008. Anyway, here it is... drumroll... ^.^

Design: Blond Beauty Cameo
Designer: Passione Ricamo
Fabric: 28 count Silkweaver's Wildberry Sparkle Reflections Lugana
Fibers: DMC & Rainbow Gallery Treasure Braid Petite
Beads: Mill Hill Beads

Did I leave anything out? If so, feel free to ask. Thank you so much for all your compliments on my "L". Carol R, I didn't use the recommended floss or fabric. There wasn't any given. The designer did however suggest Vikki Clayton's hand dyed silk and since I like the blue and red on the sample piece, I decided to stick with that but with a twist of my own - variegated floss. I picked the fabric not only because I thought it would look nicer than just plain white but I wanted to give it an "aged" look. I'm very pleased with the result so far :)

The Capital L

As you can probably guess from the title, yes, I finished the "L" of "Love With A Capital L". Thus, without further ado, here is a close up picture of "L", stitched with Vikki Clayton's Flag II in premium silk.

It took me about one week to finish stitching this! Surprised? Well, I wasn't joking when I said I find it complicated. I think a huge part of that is because I was trying to get the reds and blues to flow nicely against one another so that it would give the illusion that the "L" is actually made out of one length of thread, especially at the parts where it crosses, it would be either red above blue or red below blue and not just a single colour. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm making a muck out of my explanation. Anyway, that effort combined with the frogs that visited uninvited, all I can say is, I'm surprised I got it done in a week. Thankfully, I'm stitching with Vikki Clayton's silk which from what I gather from forums and other stitcher's blogs, doesn't fray so easily. That has certainly proven true to me for I was able to reuse the floss even after frogging. And here's a picture of how the whole piece looks to date:

Flag II sure does matches perfectly with my Examplar Blueberry Soup and Ox Blood, doesn't it? My only regret is that there isn't more purple in the floss to truly make it a tricolour thread. Oh well! I've put this away for now to work on Passione Ricamo's Blond Beauty Cameo. I'm so, so close to a finish I can almost feel a jiggle in my body. A happy dance is certainly on its way. Stay posted!

Stash and More Stash!

Caution: Picture Heavy Post

I've been a bad, bad girl. Why? I've barely been stitching but instead... well, rather than trying to explain, I'll let the pictures do the talking instead. This is what I've accumulated since my last post:

Q Snaps 13" x 13" & 17" x 17"
Antique White Belfast Linen 27" x 36"
Opalescent Antique White Cashel Linen 18" x 27"
Tacky Bob
2 Pairs of Gingher Scissors
DMC 2 in 1 Thread & Yarn Cutter
Stoney Creek (Lanarte) - Spring Ride

Scissors & Thread Cutter Up Close

Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid PB 66, PB05 & PB10 (x2)

Silkweaver Wandering Ivy 32ct Opalescent Jazlyn 18" x 26"

And last but not least, what I wanted to show off most of all:

Vikki Clayton Hand Dyed Fibers - Papillon Creations "Love With A Capital L" Silk Packet

I chose the colours Flag II for the Letter L, Examplar BlueBerry Soup for the primary colour and Examplar Ox Blood for the secondary colour. This will be my first time stitching with silk and I'm so excited. The fibers are so vibrant in real life and lovely to touch. To give you a better idea, here's a couple more pictures of the silks up close:

Examplar Blue Berry Soup, Flag II & Examplar Ox Blood in Premium Floss

Flag II

Aren't they lovely? I've decided to stitch it on Zweigart's Vintage Country Mocha (marbled) Belfast linen to give it an aged look. What do you think?

HDF Silk on Zweigart's Vintage Country Mocha (marbled) Belfast linen

This is what Love With A Capital L will look like when it's completed:

Papillon Creations - Love With A Capital L

After all that S.E.X., I'll really should concentrate on my stitching. However, my needle has not been completely idle all this time. I've made some progress on "A Lazy Afternoon".My friend will be moving into her new place sometime this month so I had better start working on it more and stop getting distracted. I completely blame my lack of attention on this:

Yes, it's another Passione Ricamo design. Found in the March issue of The Gift of Stitching Magazine it's Blond Beauty Cameo by Laura Lattuada. I completely fell in love with her when I saw her and immediately think she'll look perfect on this piece of fabric I've had for the longest time. It's 28 count Silkweaver's Wildberry Sparkle Reflections lugana. I've been diligently working on her. I named her Elizabeth because she reminds me of the heroine in "Almost Heaven" by my favourite author, Judith Mcnaught with her green eyes and blond hair. Hopefully she'll be finished this weekend so I can concentrate on "A Lazy Afternoon" again. Who knows, I just might have my first 2008 Happy Dance sooner than I expected.