Weekend Progress Report: 4/10/11

Monday was devoted to my Crazy January Challenge Day 3 project: Homespun Elegance's The Stitcher. I got most of the alphabet and motifs stitched, leaving only the letters and motifs on the far right of the central box to stitch today, bringing things full circle for the week. Instead of the recommended all-the same mother of pearl buttons [to be purchased from Homespun Elegance] I used a variety of mother-of-pearl buttons from my stash ... different sizes and dfferent shapes ... I really like the effect. If you click to enlarge the photo, you will be able to see the variety more clearly ... some of the buttons have carved designs and others have shallowly etched designs. I think they add a lot of texture to the finished piece. Most of these buttons were purchased from Farm Fabrics, a great source for vintage buttons and trim. I did purchase the small scissor charm since I had nothing of the sort in my stash. That makes one more finish for my Crazy January Challenge projects.

And this was another week when I spent most of my stitching time on TWs Autumn Faerie: stitching on it exclusively Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. [See photos on the last few posts.] I even put in a bit of time on it Saturday morning working on a leaf or two and some more back-stitching ...

... but then I switched over to beading The Ice Dragon's Kingdom since my order of Mill House beads and Kreinik VFB arrived from 123stitch in the Saturday afternoon mail. Of course, I was all set to kick myself from here to there since I hadn't read the fine print on the DD chart ... I should have ordered two packages of the necessary beads instead of one. Happily, the chart was wrong, not only was one package enough ... I had about a quarter of a package leftover. I always enjoy the gentle rhythm of beading, I find it very relaxing. And the color of this particular bead was just lovely - the photo doesn't do it justice: an icy blue with a crystal sparkle about the edges. Perfect for this piece. Incidentally, the very slender Bohin #28 Tapestry needles are fine enough to make excellent beading needles. And it is very nice indeed to have a second Crazy January Challenge project finish in one day.

Just to round out the evening, I picked up my Day 4 January Challenge piece: Homespun Elegance's Witches Stitch, Too. I can't say I got very far, just a few more rows in the flooring ... but progress, even minimal progress, is still progress. But it is too soon for a photo ... maybe later this week.

It's still early enough in the month that I am not unduly worried about the rest of my monthly goals: the encrusted crazy quilt square, Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan and two UFOs of my own design, the Fertile Circles needlebook and the Beach Find Pansies panel. There's still plenty of time left to attend to them especially since I have a 10 day Easter break coming up soon. Who knows ... I may even catch up to my self-imposed goal of a motif and two letters a month on the Quaker Sampler and a block a month on the afghan [met those goals for January only], as well as mastering the boullion stitch for the crazy quilt and finishing up my two UFOs [haven't even worked on these goals so far this year]. It is also my hope to finish Homespun Elegance's Witches Stitch, Too. That would make three Crazy Kanuary Challenge finishes in one month.