Finish - Block M

Hello everyone!

I'm happy to report that my total lack of progress on Boreas lately was for a reason - I was working on a surprise Father's Day gift for my dad!

We're both Michigan alumni so I knew he'd like the gift :) I was surprised at how long such a simple pattern took - this was nearly a month of work! I'm back to stitching Boreas now and very happy to be working on it again.

-Leigh

New stash

Hello, world!

Sadly, I don't have any progress to post, but I did want to share the fruits of my recent trip to Jo-Ann Fabric:

This is for a new pattern that I haven't been able to start just yet, but I'm so excited about it. It's fun to look at all the bright colors, since Boreas is a little on the muted/drab side. It even has metallic thread! I've never used metallics before, and I understand they can be a huge pain to work with, but I think the effect will be worth it!

(I'm sure eventually I'll look back on that last sentence and curse myself, but that will be another day!)

- Leigh

Boreas progress - week 3

Boreas is coming along swimmingly! I feel like I'm really getting the hang of things. I've made peace with all the waste knots, and I am starting threads by stitching over the tail when possible - there's so much confetti that I can't always do that, but it does help when I can.

When I finish the current column, I think I'm going to try stitching two columns at a time instead of juts one. Someone online (I can't remember where I saw it) said they found things go a lot faster that way, so I'm gonna give it a shot!

In other news, this weekend I'll be taking advantage of Jo-Ann Fabric's floss sale to kit up something new!

-Leigh

Boreas progress

Small update!

I've finished the second column! Some very exciting dark blobs are developing :)

I also got my first needle minder from Robot Mom Sews on Etsy! It arrived very speedily and I love having the little fox watch me stitch.

- Leigh

New start - Boreas

I've started my next big project - Heaven and Earth Design's Boreas! This chart was given to me by the lovely Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher as a prize for her blogaversary giveaway.

This project is a LOT of firsts for me: it's my first HAED pattern, my first time stitching on evenweave, my first time parking, my first time stitching one over one, my first time using my Lokscroll frames. It's a very different experience than stitching over two on Aida, but I'm happy to say that I'm LOVING this project so far!

Progress as of 5/7/15 - page 1

I've just finished the first column in page one. Since I'm new at this, I have a LOT of questions. If anyone has any advice or can point me to any resources or blog posts, I'd be really grateful!

• I'm liking the Lokscroll frame, but I'm having trouble getting good tension compared to my Q-snaps. Is that just a difference between Aida and evenweave? Or is there some trick to getting the fabric more taut? I'm rolling the scroll bars as tightly as I can, but I can't seem to get the fabric how I want it. It's something I can live with, but if any of you have tips, let me know!

• I'm stitching one over one on 28-count evenweave. I'm pretty much stuck with all these waste away knots, right? I can't use the loop start method since I'm only using one thread, and I've heard of pin stitches but I'm not sure that'll be any easier. Again, I can live with this, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something!

• I'm really getting the hang of parking, which is awesome, but it seems like most people I've seen don't stitch one column at a time, but rather multiple columns at once. How does that work? I'd totally get it if I were still cross-country stitching, but with parking, I need a place for all the knots so I'm not sure how I could work more than two column at a time. Is it okay to stitch column by column? Or am I going to end up with horrible grid lines? What strategies do you all use for working down the page?

• I guess my biggest question is that this first column has gone well, but I'm not sure how to approach the "big picture" of the entire first page. 

Any tips and advice would be very much appreciated!

- Leigh

Framed cabin!

Look what I picked up yesterday!

I'm incredibly happy with how it turned out and now it's hanging in my living room with pride!

Tiny update

Two small things:

I've taken the cabin in to get framed! They did indeed say they could mount it for me, and it should be ready in about two weeks. I can't wait to share it with all of you!

I'm nearly done prepping the fabric for my next big project! Once I start stitching, I'll let you know what it is, so stay posted :)