Menagerie Blocks 9 & 10

Menagerie is caught up again.  Or it was for a couple of days!  Instructions have already been posted for the next steps!  This picture is of the whole thing to date.  I'm still liking the soft monochromatic colors.  Now I am thinking I will use an aqua/tan overdye for the background. 



OK, details: The blocks I just finished are #9 & #10. Block #9 is Bargello and #10 is Round & Square stitches.

I  agonized over this square.  I thought I needed to be very creative since Bargello is "my thing".  Well, that wasn't working out so I decided to just do a simple Rectangular 4-Way.
The round & square stitches didn't really inspire me, so I kept it simple & small.  Smyra border with Daisy eyelets & ray stitches.

Menagerie Block 8

At last!  Another section of Menagerie complete.  This one is Diaper Patterns which are not exactly my favorite things.  But with the help of Ann Strite-Kurz's book and Margaret Bendig's article in a 2008 Needlepoint News, I finally figured out several patterns.  Some are adapted and some are exactly theirs from the wonderful patterns from those two ladies. 
Bargello will be up next.  I am holding off on the blackwork, redwork and whitework as they will be my background.

Here is the whole thing to date:

Menagerie, Blocks 3 & 4

Earlier this week I completed Blocks 3 & 4 of Menagerie.  This is Block 3, Eyelets.  I had fun with this one.  I did not want it to be right at the top or bottom, so I located it kind of in the middle on one side (see Whole Thing photo below).  I used the Wildflowers overdye (#001) and Splendor #S961. 

I worked the Algerian Eye border first and experimented with the sequence of stitching.  I found that the one that seemed smoothest to me was where I worked the 4 straight stitches first, and then the 4 slanted stitches

Next I worked the Round Eyelet, increasing the size a little.

Finally I worked the "irregular" eyelets.  I like the look of the overdye on these.    There are 2 almost regular rectangles.  When stitching the irregular ones, I found it best to skip a few holes to prevent it from being too heavy.

Next up, Block 4, Tied/Crossed Stitches.  I am amazed at how much you can pack into a 24x24 thread square!
First I did the corners in a Sprat's Head, using Splendor #S945.  The instructions had this stitch with the long side at the bottom.  Since I wanted a "corner", I went to the internet and found ANG's version which was just right, although mine is smaller.  The Splendor gives it a lovely sheen.
Next I decided to use a Rice stitch in one quadrant and a Double Leviathan in the opposite quadrant.  For these I used the Wildflowers #001 & tied them with #8 Kreinik #013.
For the center I used a Tied Windmill with the same threads.  I wanted to use a couple of the "spot" stitches for the other 2 quadrants & settled on the Squared Herringbone and the Herringbone Leaf, neither of which I had done before.  For these I used Splendor #S926 with just a touch of the Kreinik.  Finally I kinda filled in the "empty" areas with Smyrna Crosses in the Wildflowers. 

Here is what the whole thing looks like now:

And I am caught up with another project!

Menagerie, Blocks 1 & 2

Menagerie is the new Mystery Project by Karen Anthony through ANG's Cyberpointers chapter.  We are periodically given stitch types to explore & create a sampler.  We were given several designs to use, but I decided I only wanted to do 18 of the stitch types, so created my own design.  You can see the basted outline of my overall design in the photo to the right.  (You'll probably have to click on it to make it big in order to see the outlines.)

I have completed Block 1 (Hilton Stitches) and Block 2 (Rhodes Stitches).  I had a LOT of trouble working out the Hilton block.  I just couldn't figure out an arrangement I liked.  Finally, I used my Mad Miters (see below) technique to break up the block in an unusual way and used that to place the different stitches.  It worked!  Then I filled in a lot of the blank space with the Hilton Stitches called Theresicas, which is
kind of a pinwheel.  I haven't decided yet if I will fill in the background somehow.  I'll wait to decide that later.

Block #2 is Rhodes Stitches.  I only used 2 because I have done many Rhodes stitches over the years, beginning back in the 70s when I first discovered Mary Rhodes' books!  The picture to the right is a detail of the first 2 blocks.

I will decide later if I"m going to add an outer border, or inner borders.

Addendum:  The Mad Miters technique is part of the Mad Miters Bargello class that I will be teaching through ANGs Cyberpointers in a few months.  Registration for that class opens April 1.  The class is Bargello, but the layout technique can be used for many things.  Click the link above for information about the class.

Boink & Ringing in the New Year FRAMED

This week I picked up two pieces from the framer: BOINK and Ringing in the New Year.


Ringing in the New Year was Karen Anthony's design for the ANG Cyberchapter January meeting. I am really glad we decided to go with a simple dark red frame and no mat. I will be giving this to my Mom for Xmas this year.






Boink is the Book of Ink Circles mystery piece that I completed last year. I am really pleased with the framing, I was not sure they could get the mat to fit as perfectly as they did.

Ringing in the New Year Finished

I finally finished Ringing in the New Year. The background took awhile! I quite like the mostly red color scheme. I am now a big fan of "light coverage" backgrounds! I think I will have this framed & give it to my Mom for Xmas.

Ringing in the New Year Progress #3

Ringing in the New Year is all done except for the background. And I made considerable headway on that! I did discover that I should have started the background in the middle of a side, instead of in a corner. But, since there are now 2 threads open in the center of a side, I will fill that with the Mosaic Stitch which will connect the borders. Problem over! I will have to rip out a little bit of background on the left side. I have decided not to put anything in the remaining 2 corners. I think it is fine the way it is and more might make it unbearably busy!

Ringing in the New Year Progress #2

I do work on several things at once! Besides the Mystery Retreat project on weekends, during the week I'm working on this Ringing in the New Year project as well as a Bargello or two. Ringing now has a completed center and I have started on the outer square. Got the 2 ribbony things done, they aren't exactly the same, don't know why but I can't see that it matters! Started the background which is similar to the background of diamond, same thread, different stitch. Got one Jessica in, maybe tomorrow I'll do some more of those.

Ringing in the New Year

I've been working on Karen Anthony's "Ringing in the New Year" which she presented through ANGs CyberChapter during the January meeting. I decided to stitch it on Red canvas, since I had some, and use just red & silver metallics. I put in more "fireworks" than Karen did! I wanted a little more "solid" look, so I am filling in the background with a light coverage version of the Pavillion stitch, using just one strand of Needle Necessities overdyed floss. It's looking OK so far.