I've been getting more things finished, but this time I did them myself! Yay me! They may not be as perfect as a professional would do, but it sure cost less!
First up, Gardener's Alphabet "T" put into an acrylic trivet. The back has a piece of cork on it. This is the easiest finish there is, just trim and stick it in there! I did have some trouble getting it straight though and it would have been better if the stitching hadn't come right to the very edge. Sorry about the flash reflection!
Next is a tote bag. I've had this zippered tote for several years, my husband brought it home from a convention. I use it all the time as a project bag and one day the light went on! Cover the logo with a piece of needlepoint. Duh!! I had this Mad Miters in my portfolio and it fit just right over the logo. I purchased the brown edging and sewed it all on. Fortunately, my sewing machine has a free arm, or I wouldn't have been able to do it!
And then there's the Bargello Christmas Stocking. I debated about having this finished into a "real" stocking, or just finished flat. I purchased some ready-made dark green welting. I had a fat quarter of christmas fabric. Ok, I'll give it a try. What do you know! It actually turned out pretty well, as a real stocking. A little wobbly around the heel & toe, but still - not bad for an amateur. Maybe I'll use it for cards this year.
I found another small Mad Miters that was started as a class model. It had all the basting and a tiny bit of stitching. So I finished it. It's only 5x5. Used Silk & Ivory and Neon Rays Plus. Played around with different stitch lengths. I like it. First finish of 2016. It goes in my Mad Miters portfolio.
Sometimes a good idea just goes bad; everything does NOT always turn out the way you planned!
I started this piece to have something "easy" to work on after cataract surgery & before I got my new Rx glasses. I had already planned it out and chosen the colors. Well, I can't blame this mess on anything but bad luck and bad choices.
Ok, so learning experience! What's wrong with this piece? Several things.
1) The Bargello pattern I chose for the background is much too large. 2) The triangle is too small for the size of the rectangle in which it rests. 3) The overall color scheme of the background is much too dark.
1) This Mad Miters has 5 centers in the background and 3 in the triangle. I have used this pattern many times, but in this case it doesn't work. Because there are 5 centers, the spaces are too small to get enough of the pattern in except in 2 sections. I had to use a different pattern in the triangle because those spaces were waaaaay too small to even consider that pattern.
2) In order to work well in a Mad Miters, the triangle must be equilateral, that part is OK. But it is much too small. I think it should have been at least an inch taller and an inch wider, 2" would be better, but then it may be too much triangle. Perhaps a square would work better.
3) The Watercolours I used as the basis for the background was a lousy choice! In the skein it appears to be navy and aqua, however, it turns out there is very little aqua, making it mostly navy. Also, as often happens with very dark shades, it is too thin to cover well on 18. I originally had planned for the triangle to be more of a chartreuse base, but that looked really terrible and I had to find another Watercolours to work in there. It isn't too bad, but it is definitely NOT what I was looking for.
Back to the drawing board for a Mad Miters with a triangle in a square or rectangle!
While sorting through my studio, which is still not organized from moving, I came across 2 small unfinished Mad Miters. They were in different stages as I had used them as models for a class. So I went ahead and finished them and now they can go in my Mad Miters Portfolio. (Doesn't that sound official?!) They are 5" squares, so if I ever need a quick gift, one could be popped into a box or made into a pin cushion.
It still puzzles me that I can't get 2 pictures to be next to each other! And that I can't update my blog unless I use Chrome. Oh well....
Hi! Here I am! We are still in moving mode, but it'll be several weeks before we can move into our new house so I have a little bit of stitching time! I can't start anything new because all of my stash is in storage, worry, worry....
Anyway, my stitching is all on WIPs and I have actually finished something!
Octagon in a Square is the latest of my Mad Miters craziness.
The last time you saw this, I think I had just started the center. The Octagon is done in Mad Miters and the surrounding areas are straight Bargello.
This is not my most successful experiment! But it's OK, we learn by doing, so they say! The cable pattern I chose was difficult to work with in the Mad Miters part, and these are not MY colors. It is supposed to be liberating (or something) to work outside your comfort zone, but this may have been TOO far out of mine!
I will try to post somewhat regularly now, but only once a week till we get settled. Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Octagon in a Square is coming along, slowly. I have a good start on the right side. I will probably start the Mad Miters part of the right side the next time I work on it.
This is not the fastest Bargello pattern I've ever stitched!
I'm baaack. We spent a week at our Reno house where the weather was just lovely! And it was good to catch up with old friends.
I am nearly half way with Octagon in a Square. Now I will work the other side of the background because I have decided that I will begin the other side of the Octagon based on the right side background. Then the middle section of the Octagon will see those two come together.
Well, it makes sense to me!!
It still doesn't look like much, but I have worked on this quite a bit. It is not the quickest pattern! I have just barely begun one section of the Mad Miters part. I may change the little diamonds (in the MM part), not sure if I like the pink continued there. I'm thinking I may use the overdye to outline them, then fill them with a metallic. Decisions, decisions....
Oh boy, here she goes again! If you remember my Diamond in a Square, this is the same idea: Bargello surrounding Mad Miters. The inside of the octagon will be Mad Miters; you can just barely make out the basting for it. It is just about ready for the MM to begin.
I am going to be teaching Mad Miters at the ANG chapter in Boise, ID. The class decided they want to do a small project, a 5" square, with just 3 centers. So, I made two new models for them to study.
The blue one uses 5 shades of blue plus a metallic. The aqua uses 4 shades of aqua plus a Watercolours.
It's finished! The latest Mad Miters experiment, Mad Landscape, is finished. It was an interesting experiment, I enjoyed stitching it, but it isn't quite as spectacular as I would have wished!!
For those of you who know Mad Miters, this particular nightmare has 24 centers! It uses the basic zigzag pattern and I'm glad I stuck to that - any other pattern would have been impossible to keep track of.
I haven't decided if I will frame it or just put it in my portfolio. If I do frame it, I'll certainly post a photo for you.
The Mad Landscape is coming right along. The dark green section is finished except for one color that I ran out of. DH is bringing a skein of it back from our Reno house. This thread is a discontinued wool tapestry yarn called Orchidee. I used to use it a lot for Bargello and have a ton of it, but of course it is in our Reno house!
The brown section is about half finished. I am really enjoying this piece. It is fun to work on, just about every stitch is a mystery!.
My Mad Landscape is coming along. There's just a wee bit of blue left to do, all of the purple is done and the dark green is getting there. This is quite a demanding project! I can work on it with the TV on, but I do tend to lose track of the show! I get so focused on the Bargello that I don't even hear the TV.
I have amended my original plan of making all the "centers" the same. In the larger areas, there are so many centers that I am letting some of them "just happen", in the Mad Miters way.
This project is relegated to weekends only right now and I hope to get a start on the brown part next time.
This may be my most "mad" Mad Miters to date! It is a landscape. Sort of.
I painted the canvas. But not very well. I just wanted the different sections to not have a lot of dandruff due to all the different colors I'll be using.
I am starting each "center" the same and will compensate in between. I think.
I already need more colors, a trip to my LNS is required!
This may end up on the scrap heap, but it is an idea I have to explore!
Transitions is almost finished! The Bargello stitching is finished. I have filled in some of the "centers" but I'm not happy with most of them. I like the copper "star" that is about in the center. I definitely do NOT like the aqua thing, upper left and will take that out. I'm not sure about the 2 areas where I put Jessicas (a little below center of the teal section & above center in the green section); I may add beads in the Jessicas and see how that looks, although I'm pessimistic about that. Now I'm thinking of looking for beads instead of stitching for some of these small areas. Especially the small one on the far right. I almost have a feel for how I want it all to look, but the ideas haven't surfaced yet!
As you can see, I have made considerable progress on Transitions. Column 1 is now complete and Column 2 nearly so. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of next week.
This is the most Mad of the Mad Miters I have done! So far I have used many different colors of Watercolours and Silk & Ivory, with just a few metallics for accent. The metallics don't show up very well in the photo.
Once everything else is complete, I will fill in the areas I have left blank. I will probably use decorative stitches, possibly some Hilton stitches if I can find the right ones for the spaces in question.
Update: As described in previous post, I have used Method #2 (equal quadrants) in the section to the left of the large diamond, and a little below it. The orange-y color shows it most clearly.
I had an idea, what can I say?! I know I have a gazillion WIPs, but I just had to do this. Actually I have dropped everything else for now.
Those of you who have taken my Mad Miters class may see it here. This is a really nuts Mad Miters! Not only does it use a diagonal pattern, but it changes colors in each "column". I am using dozens of colors & threads. What you see is Column 1 complete, and Columns 2 & 3 working. I'll start Column 4 today.
So far I have learned that a diagonal pattern used in a 4-way can be done two ways! One is to mirror image the pattern at the miters. Two is to make each quadrant identical. So far I have only used #1, and as you can see, the pattern never changes direction. I will use #2 next.
Ooooo, this is so much fun!
The Mad Miters for the class is finished. It is intended to become a glasses case, but I don't know if that will ever happen. So, imagine a vertical line down the middle. that is where it would fold to become a glasses case. Fun that the 2 sides would be different!
I will be teaching Mad Miters as a workshop for the local ANG Chapter. Most of the class will be making a glasses case, so I thought I should stitch up a Mad Miters glasses case!
I've got a good start on it as you can see. I used an Overture Rainbow Tweed overdye that I had in stash & then pulled Silk & Ivory and Neon Rays in some of the colors from the Overture Rainbow Tweed.
I don't recommend the Overture Rainbow Tweed for Bargello. It is a 4-strand thread but it stitcks together when you try to separate it. I only need 2 strands for the Bargello. It is not a very strong thread once it is stranded, so I don't know how well it will wear for a glasses case! Oh well, we learn by doing! It is a pretty thread though!
Since this will be a glasses case, I only put the border at the top. Normally, I put a border all the way around a Mad Miters to stop it.
NOTE: I have apparently lost my mind. I am not using Overture, it is Rainbow Tweed!
You thought you'd seen the last of Mad Miters? Well, no!
The instruction booklet is now available on my website!
So, if you or someone you know missed out on the workshop, you can still learn this fun technique!
http://www.lizartneedlepoint.com
