Elizabeth Harborne - Day 20

I worked on the sampler for about two hours on Sunday and so here are some pictures to show my progress after Sunday night's stitching.  I changed things a bit from just double running stitch to fill in the petal areas of the large flowers as per the chart to more pulled thread variations - seemed like a good idea at that moment.  It looks fine and the few closeups within the chart show a difference between the chart and the pictures so I figured doing something a bit different will be okay - I just needed to have some varety last night I think.  Again, the satin stich direction is my interpretation - there is no way of knowing what direction these stiches had on the original sampler - perhaps one was horizontal and the other vertical to show off the differences in texture and light effects when using silk(?)

Started back to work and am picking up on other needlework projects too so the progress on this sampler will be a bit slower now.  Ironically, I got another cold/cough virus from someone within five days of 'feeling well '!  This time it is not as severe as the last set of bugs so I hope to get this out of my system and then get a chance to regain my immunity and get over the weakness...

Elizabeth Harborne - June 23,2013
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - June 23,2013
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - June 23,2013
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - June 23,2013
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - June 23,2013
The Song of my Needle

- sorry about the delay in my posting this ... I was having trouble posting this on Monday and then got busy with other things ... finally took the time to upload the pictures this evening ... hope you like the changes and the incorporation of some pulled thread work .

Will be working on a silk embroidery piece this weekend so am not sure how much progress I'll make on this sampler  ... will try to spend at least two hours on it though..
Have a good weekend!

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 19

Didn't get much done on this band last night - there are some issues regarding stitch direction etc, that are not really labelled clearly in the instructions and not viewable on the photograph provided.  The central small five  petalled flower (between the acorn and the main stem) is supposed to be only outlined in double running stitch in ecru with bullion knots in the center.  When I stitched it that way it was hardly visible... so this is one interpretation below....not sure if I fully like it ... we'll see.

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 19
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 19
The Song of my Needle

By the way, for those of you who may be wondering - I didn't win the giveaway for the sewing box... I was quite disappointed since I had 'blogged and posted' almost every day which in theory should have increased my chances ... c'est la vie.
Interestingly, I blogged daily not for that reason though but more because there were people who contacted me to tell me that they looked forward to seeing my daily progress....it was good to know that there was something  I could do even when I was feeling lousy that brought a bit of pleasure to someone's life.  It was also good to focus on something productive and get back to stitching samplers again - there is something very appealing to them.

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 18

I've been full of anticipation for this day ever since I started stitching this sampler which is quite uncharacteristic for me - you see, today is the day that Nicola picks the 'winner' of the neat little box that was the incentive for starting this sampler when I was home sick ... the deal was that the more often you post on your progress on her blog the more chances you get to 'win'.... well, the box is really neat...
We have been through some rough times lately and I guess  my defenses were down  when I read about the giveaway -being sick and all- so I started yet another project (this sampler) and learned how to post and then started this blog within a few days of my first post on her blog....and in a way that alone is a 'win' because not only did I gain the benefit of this experience but also got to 'meet' a number of you through emails. I am thankful for all your kind comments.
The thing is that I usually do not 'win' things ... I've been known to have let other people in front of me out of politeness and then they 'won' with the raffle tickets that would have been theoretically in my hand - This has happened more than once so maybe this will be the time??!   I just can't believe that I am so excited about this idea of  possibly 'winning' it... my husband said that I should just buy it but that wouldn't be the same ... it is a 'karma' thing I guess or at least that is what I made it up to be in my mind.... this is getting too complicated to write about so here is the progress after last night's stitching  :


- just have the band I had skipped over before to finish half of this fairly long sampler now....

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 18
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 18
The Song of my Needle

 This is the last band on Page 1 completed


Elizabeth Harborne - Day 18
The Song of my Needle

 I had stopped stitching the dark blue band for various reasons - the Holbein/double running stitches were  charted over two threads for the larger motifs but actually changed position on the stem like connection to the base stitches so one could not easily stitch the alternating bands in a reversible fashion in a sequential way.  The only way to stitch it sequentially over two would be to make a thicker stem connection which is not how it was charted - example on the left side of the band (shown below) ... this way also made the larger motif look fatter.


So, to 'solve' this issue, I opted to stitch all the smaller motifs across the entire band first and then come back to stitch the larger motifs as charted, changing the needle position to make the stem thinner the way it was charted... looked nicer than the thicker stem ... interesting compensation to make the design look more cohesive...  

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 18
The Song of my Needle



So, here is that row completed

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 18
The Song of my Needle

.... wish me luck!... hopefully I'll 'win' .... thank goodness HOPE springs eternal! ;)
Have a good weekend!




Elizabeth Harborne - Day 17

Here is the progress after a bit of stitching last night and this morning - interesting designs achieved with simple stitches and some unconventional counting (some places over two, some over three, some areas are stitched to 'fit in' a space)

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 17
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 17
The Song of my Needle

Plan to work on it this evening and make a good dent into finishing these bands ....  it will be hard to put this aside....
Have a good weekend!

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 16

So here is last night's progress - this now is marking the end of Page 1 of the chart to give you an idea.
It is a long sampler and I have another equally interesting page of patterns ahead... will continue on this until the weekend and try and get the bands shown finished.

Day 16 Elizabeth Harborne
The Song of my Needle

I want to also thank all of you who commented on either blog or emailed me directly - I am glad you enjoyed the almost daily 'progress reports' and I am really glad that some of you truly learned things from the pictures... Thanks for your compliments and especially for all your supportive comments... this 'blogging thing' is an interesting experience.

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 15

Didn't get much stitching done last night unfortunately - too exhausted -
only got a small band finished

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 15 - way behind plans!
The Song of my Needle

This is just about at the end of the first page of the chart.... interesting stuff ahead but I will have to put this aside and get back to some of  my other projects by the weekend....

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 14

Well, all the plans for the weekend regarding stitching activities fell by the wayside!  I did not even put one stitch in on any of the projects....had a good time watching the French Open Tennis matches, the Belmont and movies instead!  Concentrated on getting some of the other things done also.

So, this the progress after stitching a bit last night ...
this sampler is marked 'advanced' but it really is not so 'advanced' at all ... the flowers are cross stitch! Not long armed cross stich - basic cross stitch...

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 14
The Song of my Needle 

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 14
The Song of my Needle 

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 14
The Song of my Needle 

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 14
The Song of my Needle



So, that is it for now.... some progress made last night.....

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 13

Had a productive two hours of stitching yesterday - not uninterrupted but focused so things are looking better and better on the health front... plan to work on more intricate things over the weekend as a final test.

Anyway, I decided to continue working on the narrower band  (on top in the picture below).

Elizabeth Harbone - End of Day 12
The Song of my Needle

Too bad I did not have a larger picture of the original sampler so I could study stitch direction.  Texture and playing with the way light reflects off silk or even cotton thread depending on the stitch and stich direction adds an amazing dimension to these samplers. So, I decided to 'play with' and 'interpret' the placement and stitch directions for the satin and bullion stitches and this is the result.  Also, I decided to do a 'comparitive study' of all  the various ways of making bullions - on the frame, positioning of needle and also did the same stitch 'in hand'.

Here are some pictures of my progress as of last evening -  taken at different angles. Can you see the dimensional differences between the bullions worked on the frame and in hand?  The ones on the right in the flower shape were worked in hand and appear to be plumper even though they have the same number of wraps etc.

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 13
The Song of my Needle  

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 13
The Song of my Needle  

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 13
The Song of my Needle  

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 13
The Song of my Needle  

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 13
The Song of my Needle  

 



 I hope you can see the dimensional differences in the pictures ...

I decided to switch  and use the 'old' 3megapixel camera in the last few posts because they upload to the blog faster ... the 16MP resolution was taking too much time to even post something.  I'm still experimenting on the technology front so do let me know... have the photo editing software etc. but have not taken the time to 'figure' all that out yet....lots to do on many other fronts first as I resume my 'normal schedule'.

Enjoy the weekend!
My plans include the French Open Tennis finals, this sampler, and finally testing my faculties on a Japanese embroidery project.

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 12

Day 12 - my last post showed very little progress. I tried to sit down and stitch a little even though I was pretty tired... needlework is a way to have time for 'myself' even if it is just for a short time each day. I skipped down to the easier band but throughout the hour of trying to focus I could not shake myself of this uneasy feeling that something was not quite right... I checked things but they 'looked okay' on a quick inspection.....
So I sat down this evening to continue, uncovered my work and I noticed what was wrong right away... I didn't pick up on this when tired last time but it stood out clearly today!

So here is the mistake - off by one thread - took one second of unfocused activity to create it ....


Elizabeth Harborne  - Off by one thread!
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - restitched the entire vertical column
The Song of my Needle

Today's stitching time started out by taking some of the work out and restitching it

Elizabeth Harborne -  fixed in no time!
The Song of my Needle 

and then this was the progress for today (about 2 hours) 

Elizabeth Harborne - Progress Day 12
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - Progress Day 12
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - Progress Day 12
The Song of my Needle



Elizabeth Harborne - Progress Day 12
The Song of my Needle

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 11

Finally feeling well enough to resume 'normal' activities and playing catch up on all aspects of life... still fighting some weakness so this is all I have done in about an hour late last night...

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 11 (about an hour)
The Song of my Needle 

Elizabeth Harborne - Day 10

Day 10 - Elizabeth Harborne : some progress
 
First of all,  I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of you who emailed me directly or posted a comment to me here or on various other sites... I really appreciate all of your input and will spend some time digesting it all.  There is a lot to think about and I am amazed at the response.  Thank you for all your supportive comments.

I finally felt well enough to resume some of my work related activities in the morning - but it resulted in getting home exhausted by midday... anyway, this is all the progress I made in the evening but didn't have the energy to post it last night.  Had a headache all day today but still managed to get out of the house and do something fun ... it was great day to do so... but it means no stitching tonight.. just uploading these pictures is taking forever for some reason tonight!

Anyway, here is the progress as of yesterday - May 31 :




Day 10 Elizabeth Harborne
The Song of my Needle 

I don't believe that I have ever stitched a band like this before - nor do I remember observing anything like this before 


Day 10 Elizabeth Harborne
The Song of my Needle 

Day 10 Elizabeth Harborne
The Song of my Needle 

Decided to 'skip down' to an easier band below the wide band because of my general fatigue ... this too proved to be an interesting band and a first - seahorses? waves?..
So this is the way it looks at the moment :

Day 10 Elizabeth Harborne
The Song of my Needle