Twilight Duel Update #27

Hello! I am afraid I have not been very active with any social media the past couple of months. Life has been good and it has been very busy. I hope to get back to blogging regularly soon. I really miss all of you blogging buddies!

This month I did manage to add 2,535 stitches to the Heaven and Earth Designs "Twilight Duel" cross-stitch project I am making for my youngest son.

I love this piece of art by Ruth Thompson!

Although I am primarily working on page 15 (where the white dragon's wing is emerging on the right), when I finish a 10x10 grid on the chart, I add one strand of floss to page 3 (the blank spot beneath the bit of the black dragon's wing on the left) - as several of you noticed last month.

My son is eager to see the dragon's full face, so I also added a strand of floss to the dragon's head when a 10x10 grid of page 15 was completed. (Some of those only required 1 or 2 stitches, so the progress is not easily seen.)

Percent Complete:
Project:          38.27% (It was 36.55%)
Pages 1-2:   100%
Page 3:          40.84% (It was 37.16%)
Page 4:        100%
Page 5:            1.83%
Page 6:            0%
Pages 7-8:   100%
Page 9:            5.06% (It was 2.98%)
Page 10:          0.25%
Pages 11-12:   0%
Page 13:     100%
Page 14:       53.34% (It was 26.23%)
Page 15:         2.93% (It was 1.26%)
Pages 16-18:  0%
Page 19:     100%
Page 20:         3.72%
Pages 21-24:  0%

Thank you for visiting!
-Renee

TAST Weeks 9-11

Week 9: Couching Stitch

Couching is one of my favorite methods for creating spider webs.

I couched 5 spokes of size 5 white perle cotton down with a single strand of white embroidery floss. 

Then I wrapped a strand of the pearl cotton around each of the spokes to create the web.

Since this project will become a bag I plan to use, I also tacked each "wrap" around each spoke with a small couching stitch. to hold the web in place. 

Week 10: Cretan Stitch

I have seen such beautiful crazy quilt seams created with the Cretan Stitch. This seam was inspired by the work of my friend, Christine, of Patchwork Allsorts. (The inspirational seam may be seen here - it is the 6th photo.) 

The cretan stitch was embroidered with pink size 12 perle cotton. Pairs of detached chain stitches with green size 8 perle cotton created leaves.

Beads created flowers, completing the seam. The seam is different from Christine's, but her work gave me the idea.


Week 11 was a break from TAST, allowing participants to catch up, if needed.

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

TAST stands for Take a Stitch Tuesday. It is a personal challenge to learn a new embroidery stitch each week. The challenge is hosted by Sharon B. of Pintangle. This year the Beyond TAST challenge is available to those that have completed TAST in the past. You may learn more about TAST and Beyond TAST here. There is a Facebook Group here. (The work shared is incredibly inspirational.)

TAST Stitches I have yet to share here:
Week 12 - Stitch 11: Chevron Stitch
Week 13 - Stitch 12: Sheaf Stitch

Beyond TAST Challenges:
Season 1: Running Stitch
Season 2: Isolated Stitches
Season 3: Couching and Laid Work

April 2018

Happy April!

Wow! One-fourth of this year has zipped by already. 

We have a lot of big milestones in our family this year, so I suspect 2018 will feel like a whirlwind and December is going to be here in the blink of an eye.

March was a month I spent on-the-go more often than not. What crafting time I did have was mostly spent cross-stitching.

Progress on March goals:

1. Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM "Hammock Time" Block and It's a "Wild" Life BOM "Dear Meadow" Block - fabrics were selected and applique pieces were traced

2. UFO Challenge 

February: Red Barn - borders added

March: Messenger Bag Embellishement - added 2 seams & a motif

3. Cross-Stitch 3,125 Stitches - 5,815 stitches added

2,075 added to QS Red Hearts

1,684 added to Twilight Duel

1,965 added to Fractal White Tiger

91 added to SK Effects of Caffeine

4. Exercise Plan in Bullet Journal - I have been walking 3 times a week and have a schedule written out for April.

5. Declutter Living Room - DONE!

April Goals

1. Make progress on CQJP 2018 blocks (the next one will use the colored fabric in the photo above.)

2. Make progress on a UFO project.
#5 was selected for April - for me that is to embellish this Christmas block.

3. Add 3,000 stitches to my cross-stitch projects, with at least 1,300 of them added to QS Red Hearts.

4. Exercise - once I kick the bug I have, my son and I are doing a couch to 5K running plan.

5. Catch up and keep up with replying to comments on my blog!

Most Viewed Posts in March 2018

1. March 2018

2. QS Red Hearts Update - March 2018

3. March 2018 UFO Progress

4. February 2018

5. More InCoWriMo Happy Mail

Thanks so much for visiting!
Renee