Back At It

I've gotten back into stitching over the past few weeks and have posted some new content to our new blog home at www.thewaterloofords.com. Come check us out!

New Stitching Project
Passing It On

A New Home

Not sure if anyone is still listening, but I thought I would post this just in case. I'm consolidating our blogs onto our new domain: www.thewaterloofords.com. All the stitching posts and commentary can now be found at http://thewaterloofords.com/stitching.

See you there!

Re-starting point

October 16, 2009
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

I thought I would post a picture of the work-to-date on the "Spring Fairy" I'm working on. Since taking this picture, I have finished up more of the wings, and should finish them up tonight (minus the backstitching).

Yet another fairy...

Ok - one day I'm going to do something with all the completed fairy pieces I have hanging in the closet. Until then, I guess I'm just going to continue adding to the collection.

A few years ago I started working on "Spring Fairy" by Teresa Wentzler as a companion piece to "Summer Fairy". Because of the mistake I made when I did the summer fairy (stitching it on 22ct fabric), to make the pieces match the Spring fairy must be on the same material. These are some of the tiniest stitches! Last night I got it all set up on the stand, and collected all the floss (57 different colours, making up twice as many thread blends). I even had a chance to do about an hour of stitching.

At least now I have a project to work on that I'm interested in doing!

Long time, no stitch!

Hi. My name is January, and I have fallen off the stitching wagon. It's been almost 4 months since I picked up a needle.

Not sure what happened. I finished a great piece, started a new one, stitched for about 10 hours on it, and quit. I started the Michael Powell "Christmas Lights II" piece, and then promptly lost interest. Maybe the pattern just didn't speak to me. Maybe I wasn't in the mood to stitch. I don't know what happened...

Alas, winter is upon us, and that means time spent in the basement doing laundry and watching TV. It could also mean quality time spent with my stitching. I think tonight I'm going to sit down and look at my patterns and see if there is something that gets me interested in stitching again. I sure hope there is...

"Lilly of the Woods" - Mirabilia

"Lilly of the Woods" - Mirabilia
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

I'm done! I'm done! I'm done!

She took forever to do (after a long hiatus in December and January), but she was well worth the time! She is going to get framed, and I'm going to hang her in my office at work...

Here are my stats for the piece:

Stitch Count: 207h x 222w
Finished Size: 13" x 14"

Date Started: July 17, 2008
Date Finished: March 7, 2009
Elapsed Time: 245 days

Total hours: 144.5
Days of Stitching: 45
Average hours/day: 3.07

Decisions, Decisions

Well, I haven't posted in a while, but I've been working on the "Lilly of the Woods" fairy, and she is coming along very nicely. I've just got the wings, some of the branches, and beading left to do. I think I should be done by the end of March, but probably sooner.

Now that I'm close to being done, though, the mind has turned to what is next...? I can't just stitch a piece for no reason. I have to have a purpose for the piece - a gift, a hanging location (real or imagined), etc. So last night Mom and I brainstormed for the next two pieces, and here is what we came up with:

Christmas Lights 2 - by Michael Powell
Secret Garden 1 - by Michael Powell

The Christmas Lights piece will be a gift, and the Secret Garden is going in our dining room.

Now I'm anxious to get the fairy done, and move on to the new piece!

JEKJ - M Designs

JEKJ - M Designs
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

Finished this one at the end of July 2008 for our front hall. I just wish I could have found a darker purple for the K... Oh well.

Another one bites the dust...!

YIPEE!!! I finished my letters last night! It is so exciting to finish a piece – and I’m actually going to get this one framed!

Next: “Wee Baby” by Heart in Hand Needleart. It’s just tiny, so shouldn’t take too long. After that, it’s on to “Lilly of the Woods” by Mirabilia. THAT will take a bit of time… :)

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

"The Tenth Gift" by Jane Johnson

I took this book out of the library yesterday, mainly because I was excited to see a book that centered around embroidery. It is historical fiction, set in both the 17th century and current times. I’m only about 30 pages in, and so far it’s pretty good! The author has done her research on embroidery and materials in ages past… Its very interesting!

See more progress on: finish cross stitch projects

My Stitching Record

In the past I have tried to keep track of the time I spend stitching with pen and paper, but it never worked for me. So, being the geek that I am, I created a mini-spreadsheet for myself in Google Docs. So far I'm tracking how many days stitching on a piece, the elapsed time, the number of hours so far, and the average number of hours per stitching session. Really exciting stuff, I know!

If you are interested in seeing my stats, you can check it out here.

Back at it....

Well, after taking a month long break, I’m back into my stitching. I’ve finished the J and the E, and have started the K. My daughter was quite excited when I finished her E…

I’ve started keeping track of my stitching statistics. I’m not quite sure why I need to know how many hours I’ve spent on the project (69.75), how many days of stitching that is (25), how many elapsed days since I started the project (96), and the average number of hours per stitching session (2.79). Its interesting to me, at least…

Jan

Onto the next project...

So I actually started my new project last night, after finishing the Petal Fairy. My next project is to do four alphabet letters from M Designs “J”, “E”, “K”, “J” – one for each member of the family – January, Eowyn, Kiera, James. Everyone is getting a different colour – blue, red, purple, and green in jewel tones. I’m using Thread Gatherer Silk ‘n’ Colors fibers – I love the variation in shading.

Once it is framed, it will hang in our front hall.

I'm done! I'm done! I'm done!

I finished the fairy last night, and I’m so happy with how it turned out. Now I just hope that my daughter likes it when she grows up (she is 1).

On to the next project!

"Petal Fairy" - Mirabilia (WIP) Update

DSC_1185_edited-1
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

Well, here it is... The work-to-date. What is left to do is the wings, the top of the flower branch, and the flower heads. I figure I should be done by the end of February... depending on how diligent I am, that is.

"Stretch the magic dragon" - Teresa Wentzler

P1020376
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

I started this piece in 2002 (I think), and I still haven't finished it... Not sure if I ever will, now that I pretty much just have the border left... Not really exciting.

Finishing and starting

Why is it that when you get close to the end of a project, and you know what you want to work on next, it gets harder to finish? Shouldn’t it be easier? You would think that would be the case with the excitement of the new project, but I just want to pitch the current one and get started…

"Petal Fairy" - Mirabilia WIP

"Petal Fairy" - Mirabilia 1
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

So this one is actually on my stand. Right now. I should really be stitching... I really enjoy stitching Mirabilia patterns. They are detailed, and delicate, and sparkley! Its been about two weeks since I took this picture, and her skirt is almost done. From there, its on to the legs and the bottom branches.

And as always, the question "to bead now, or later"...? Now, I think. I hate going back!

"Watergarden" - Chatelaine WIP

P1020379
Originally uploaded by Waterloo Fords

It's sad. I was so excited when I started this piece. I was going to do it, and then do 5 more, and then a mystery... it was going to be great!

And then I started it. And it went fine. The centre pond was so nice, and the top corner was going great too. I was even loving the bead work (those Delica beads are fan-freakin-tastic!)...

Then I realized I was going to have to do three more of those corner ponds. And three more of those frond-y things. And I quickly got bored. I'm sure that over the next few years, it will make a re-appearance on my stand, but it will take much longer for me to finish than I thought...

What's in a name?

Wow - it's really hard to find a fun, clever, and unique name for a blog! So I'm on my second name here. I started with January Stitching (seeing as my name is January, and its about stitching - genius!), but it seemed boring, and not likely to be found. So then someone suggested "Life in Stitches", and I thought it was great... Well, turns out there are a TON of blogs with that name...

I'm not sure how much the name really matters, but when you grow up with a name like January, you are kind of used to the unique-ness, and its tough to get over.