A finish and some framing

I finished Hot Air Balloons. Maybe one day I'll sew some binding around the edge, but probably it will just go in the drawer with the other things.

I framed Irresistible Iridescents (and it looks much better in real life)

And Desert Diamonds

And Winter Scenery. This one looks a bit funny as the picture was taken with it flat on a chair, but I've rotated the photo so you can see how it's supposed to hang to make the 'lollipop'

Desert Diamonds and other progress

I finally finished this class. I actually finished it back on the 13th of December, but I didn't get around to posting it on the blog. So here it is now.

In the evening sun.

Trying to be clever and get the stitches to show up - not sure it worked, but I still like the photo.

Before it was finished, showing the difference between having the background and not having it.

I also had a new year start (or two). I chose Echoes of Elizabeth by Gay Ann Rogers as it's been sitting in my stash calling to me for a while. And since I was doing that I also pulled out Heart of Elizabeth as the two go together. I don't have and aren't interested in the Portrait of Elizabeth, so I think these two are all I'll do of the Elizabeth pieces.

Echoes of Elizabeth

Heart of Elizabeth

I'm thinking I might finish the border on Echoes and then finish up the heart before returning to Echoes.

There has also been more progress on Hot Air Balloons by Audlem Mill too. I'm hoping to have this finished before long, and then I'll work on the third old WIP I pulled out before choosing another group of three.

And I started on the next (and last) round robin which should probably be the first thing I concentrate on stitching.

Last of all, here's my finished by others, but not me yet, round robin :) I have a plan for the corners and borders, and then I guess I'll fill in any gaps that look obvious. But I could still change my mind on what I want to do.

Class updates

Here are updates on the two classes I'm currently working on:

Twas the Night Before Christmas:

Desert Diamonds:

Desert Diamonds

Finally back to Desert Diamonds. I've now finished all those French knots. I don't normally mind French knots, but this time I was doing them in Ombre, and it wasn't the most peaceful of past-times.

And another of those arty shots to get the colour and knots better. Note, I said better, not perfect.

Desert Diamonds

I haven't managed to stitch much lately, so I'm still only on lesson two, and lesson four is due out next week. Oh well, I'm not too far behind so there is still hope.

The first panel of French Knots didn't go so well - I couldn't decide which direction to do them in, so they look a bit untidy. But they were a right pain to do, so it's unlikely that I'll take them out. However, you never know, I might really dislike them when I get to the end and redo them. For now though I'll keep working on the rest - the second panel is much smoother as I've figured out the best direction to do them in.

Desert Diamonds

I finished lesson 1 just in time. The very next day I got lesson 2 - and here's my progress so far.

I love these type of projects because the progress is so easy to see.

Desert Diamonds

And band one finished - all caught up with the lessons now:

Desert Diamonds

Another update on this. I was hoping to finish off lesson one (the tie-down stitches) tonight, but it looks like I'm rapidly running out of time to get off this machine and over to the stitching.

And here's me trying to be clever and get one of those wonderful arty shots. This is the best I came up with - most of the rest were barely fit to be seen in public (lol) It does show off the colour and the gold better though.

Desert Diamonds

Here is last nights progress on this. I am now behind though as lesson 2 came out today, so I'd better get a shuffle on to catch up. My photos just don't seem to be getting the colour of this very well. It is lavenders with gold Kreinik Ombre accents. Now that I've started to add the gold (the bit that looks white in the photo) it's really starting to come alive.

Now it's back to stitching.

Desert Diamonds

I've just started a new class from the Shining Needle Society called Desert Diamonds from Lisa Willis of Stitch Elegance. I've only done the first step so far - I fluffed around for ages with the edging of the canvas and mounting it. Not sure why I put kept putting it off, but I did, so I've only just started the stitching. At least I am still stitching the current lesson - so I'm not behind yet. I'm hoping to keep up so that I can then justify joining another class I want to do with the ANG Cyberpointers chapter.