Framed

I finally got some things framed:

Twister, finished 2012, this piece will hang in our entryway along with other black/white/red things.

Mystery Retreat, Las Vegas, 2009, this huge project has been finished for 5 years!.  I had it stuck on my wall with tacks in Vegas, but now it is finally properly framed.  I actually use this piece as a stitch sampler and refer to it often!

My version of Jean Hilton's Puzzle Purse, my "Puzzle Piece".  The Puzzle Purse was a Cyberpointers' SAL in 2013.  I did not want a purse, so reworked the design area into a square.  It was quite a challenge, which was Jean Hilton's intention!  I'm pleased to have it framed now.

Puzzle Piece, FINISHED

It's finished!  My Puzzle Piece (not a purse) is finished!  Happy, happy dance!!!

 

I concentrated on this piece in an effort to finish it before the end of the year and I've just made it.

 

This was an incredibly intense project.  Every section required multiple decisions.  Even though I sort of planned out a lot of it, deciding where to use the different area designs from the Puzzle Purse book, I still had lots of decisions to make all the way.  And towards the end, I couldn't fit any of the area designs into my remaining shapes, so I pulled out all my Jean Hilton books and chose stitches from those.

 

I think the biggest mistake I made on this piece, was not to see it as a whole.  I tended to focus on each area individually and that was a mistake.  It is going to be a very busy piece no matter what, but if I had been looking at it more as a whole, I would have arranged the colors differently and used fewer colors so that the center Bargello diamond would be set off more. 

 

That being said though, I do like this piece.

 

Puzzle Piece, Progress #4

I have been working on my Puzzle Piece, hoping to get it finished before the end of the year.  I don't think I'm going to make it, but I'm still trying.
I didn't work on it for several months and just got it out again a few weeks ago.  It is a fun project, but it does require me to make constant decisions about stitch placement, color & thread.  Sometimes I just don't have the energy for all that!
I have two bags of threads for this project - one has the threads I've used so far and the other has possibles.  More & more threads are migrating to the "used" bag!  I can't believe how many different threads I've used so far.

Puzzle Piece, Progress #3

 

While we were in Reno, I worked on my Puzzle Piece.  I have completed 4 sections in

addition to the large Bargello section.  After the first two sections, I decided not to follow the order of the sections as written in Jean Hilton's instructions.  Instead, I spent a couple of hours with the book choosing stitches for my piece according to the size of the various sections to be stitched.  So now I have sort of a roadmap to follow.  It isn't set in concrete and I still have to decide which threads to use in which sections.  But at least I have a starting point!

 

 

Puzzle Piece Progress #2

Last night I finished the Bargello section of my Puzzle Piece (not a purse).  This is an ongoing project through CyberPointers.
The beads were my inspiration. I bought them about a year ago in San Diego when I was looking for beads for a different project. I didn't use them and they have been waiting in the wings! I like that they kind of look like cabachons, but they're beads.
I used a Watercolours overdye for my color base and several different threads, picking up the colors in the beads.. 
I'm really pleased with the way this turned out.

Puzzle Piece

I am doing Jean Hilton's Puzzle Purse with the ANG Cyberpointers group.  I did not want to do a purse, so redesigned the outlines and I finally got them all stitched.  The pattern calls for #8 Pearl for the outside square and #5 Pearl for all the rest.  I found the #5 to be much too heavy and did all of it in the #8.
I think the Bargello comes next.  That will go in the large diamond and I'm thinking about setting some stones in there first.  I have a bunch of turquoise/aqua stones I have been collecting, so will see if any of them will work here.