July 9, 2019 Tuesday

The First Day of My Remodeled Websit

Resolutions for Stitchers

1.  Take all the pent-up anxiety about perfection and redirect that energy toward creativity. Open up your minds and think of creative  possibilities you can bring to your needlework, ways that will personalize it and make it distinctly yours.  Here are two ways to start:

Oops you made a mistake and you face a lot of ripping.

Ask yourself, is it really a mistake or a variation?

You do have to rip if you crossed most of your crosses in one direction and suddenly you started crossing them in the other direction, yep no way around that. Why? The real reason for good technique is that it allows all your attention to focus on your design (where it should be).

You don't have to rip if you made a leaf one row bigger than the design called for. This is obsessive behavior that needs redirecting.

You do need to rip if you make something so large it is out of scale with the rest of the design; you do not have to rip if it is barely noticeable.

You do not have to rip if you mixed up colors and the design is not exactly as the designer's model. For heaven's sake, if it looks OK, stop obsessing.

You do have to rip if a color or texture is not in harmony with the rest of the design.

You do not have to throw away a design if you run out of a dye lot.

If it looks like you are headed toward thread shortage, don't use the thread to the last strand, save at least 1/4 of it. Buy some more and decide where and how to introduce the new dyelot. I actually prefer to work with multiple dyelots. If you pay attention to lights and darks etc., they can bring an added depth to your design.

2. In memory of Audrey Francini, my generation's greatest needlewoman, slow down. Needlework is not a speed contest. Audrey was the slowest stitcher I have known. She was also the best. I have a couple of great stories about Audrey and her speed, I'll tell them in the next couple of mornings.

3. Forget about the Needlepoint Police. They don't exist except in their minds. You may meet people who think they know it all. Good for them, I applaude their confidence, but I don't buy into it.

I have probably told this story a dozen times but it is worth telling again and again. Years ago a friend wrote to me and asked, will this Kreinik braid look good with this silk?

I replied, beats me, try it and see.

Friend: whadaya mean you don't know, you're the teacher.

My reply: if the Immortal Artists Of The Western World don't know without trying, how would I, one mere mortal needlework teacher? (There's a bit more to thsi story too, I'll tell the rest another time).

All this goes to say once again, there is no real right and wrong, there are problems of course. The best way to find solutions is to think creatively.

Those are my New Year's Stitching Resolutions for 2021, still good for 2022

Reminders for me as well as for all of you.

March 28, 2023 Tuesday     

My Surprise Sale is on for three days: today, Wednesday and Thursday.

If you order my kit for the Crown of St. Edward, I will mail it by Priority on April 20 and you should have it in a comfortable amount of time before May 6.

Here are a couple of updates about the Crown: Jan has finished stitching her Crown and her corrections and thread amounts are in the post. Soon as I receive them, I will corect my instructions and assemble the kits.

I have everything here and set to go.  I have waited for the proofing corrections and while I've waited I've been working on Snow Maiden.  I am happy to report I have made substantial progress.

March 27, 2023 Monday     

This morning on Queendom Website, a small relic of the past, a postcard of the Crown of St. Edward from the Coronation of Elizabeth II  70 years ago. Now we will watch as Charles III is crowned.

My sale of Crown of St. Edward, the Stitched Edition opens tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. California time,

I am scurrying this morning! As soon as I finish writing this column, I will send out Newsletters with a first peek at My Crown.

Then tomorrow my sale begins.  I will mail the kits on April 20 and they will arrive in plenty of time for the festivities on May 6.

Off and running this morning!

March 26, 2023 Sunday     

I had a lovely day yesterday. I was supposed to be working on my Crown Sale. I didn't, so I will have to hustle today and tomorrow.

In the life of every project I design, I work blindly for most of the time: I have a drawing I usually work from, I have some minor sketches that are trials of various small areas, I have a pile of threads in various colors and values, and as I said, I work on hope and faith that it will work.

There comes a day when I can see that the parts are indeed fitting together, the die is cast, yes I have a long way to go, but the design is working.

It is three years plus since I took the first stitch on Snow Maiden; yesterday was my Magic Day, the day I could envision that Snow Maiden will come together.

Picture me very happy.  Time today to work on my Crown Sale.

March 25, 2023 Saturday     

Three days till my sale opens!

I've made three crowns belonging to the British Isles, the new one is the fourth and is the largest and grandest in the collection.

Why now for a sale of a Crown? This Crown plays an important role in the Coronation of a Monarch: it is the Crown he or she wears at the exact moment he or she is crowned.

Larger, more Bling than any other, my Crown Ornament has 7 little baggies of beads, many of them from my vintage collection.

I'm looking forward to posting it!  It is so far my Grandest Crown.

March 24, 2023 Friday     

I spent yesterday laying out the threads for my New Surprise Crown. Yes, I have everything and I will put together Crowns as soon as I have the final thread count from my proofer. I know she is stitching right along because I heard from her yesterday afternoon.

4 days to go till I open my Surprise Crown Sale right on Queendom Website's home page. On March 28 at 8:00 am I will open the sale. Between now and then I will write a bit of history about my Crown.

My reason for choosing this Crown, besides the amazing Bling possibilities: it plays sucn an important role in a Coronation and it has some amazing stories. I look forward to telling them.

If you do not belong to my Stitchalong Room on Facebook and you are interested in a Tiaras and Pyjamas Party in the early a.m. on May 6, please do join!  I will be writing observations and tidbits all day long and hope you will share your progress too.

March 23, 2023 Thursday     

About my Surprise, a new Crown for May 6.

I thought I would take orders starting next Tuesday, but ship the Crowns on April 20.  

Why? I got behind: I finished the Crown and the Instructions later than I hoped and Jan is proofing the Crown right now as I write this column.

The beads, all 7 little baggies of them, are all put together; canvases are cut, I just have to wait for the final thread count to put the theads together and make any corrections to the instructions before I print them.

If I mail them on April 20, a little less than a month from now, people will have them in time to dress up pyjamas by putting tiaras on their heads and watching all the pageantry from Across the Pond.

March 22, 2023 Wednesday     

A bit more about EIIR's Crown compared with Queen Victoria's, this morning, a couple of questions about the future, and then  tomorrow morning the first bit about my Surpise.

I had hoped to tell you all about it, but must wait a little while longer. But I will tell you a bit and hope for patience.

It has been fun to revisit my Royal days.

March 21, 2023 Tuesday     

This morning Crown #5, Elizabeth II's Imperial State Crown.  Is it the same Crown as Queen Victoria's?

More tomorrow morning.

Now what is this about a Surprise at the end of my Parade of Crowns?  Coming soon. Ready for an event?

Likely, but more about it all very soon.

In the next few days life around here will be very busy. Happily Snow Maiden is at a good stopping place and she is going back into her drawer for a while as MacSoph my computer and I prepare for our Surprise.

March 20, 2023 Monday     

Since I began my Parade of Crowns here on Queendom Website and on Facebook, I have had emails asking if I will ever sell the patterns for these Crowns.

My answer is this: watch for A Surprise coming at the end of the Parade of Crowns.

Time to stop stitching for a while and tend to preparations for my surprise, only a few days off now.

A timely Surprise indeed, so timing is essential.

I'm off now to see how the proofing of the Surprise is coming along....  

March 19, 2023 Sunday     

This morning a Coronation  Portrait of Queen Victoria wearing the Imperial State Crown as my Parade of Crowns continues.

My escapades with Turkeywork continue: yesterday a bit of Baptism by Fire: I had to rip out a day's worth of Turkeywork and learned the answer to my question about stability.  In ripping out what I had stitched, I found out stability of the stitch isn't a problem. I had to work hard to rip it all out.

What happened? My problem wasn't the execution of the stitch (once I solved the hand movements the stitch is relatively easy to do), my problem was the allocation of space. As an area of plain white flat Diaonal Tent Stitch looked great. When I stitched the Turkeywork it was so pronounced that it overwhelmed the space.

It took me a while to figure out what to do to fix the problem. My solution: back the Turkeywork off from Snow Maiden's face by a couple of rows.  Happily it worked.

I'm back on track.

March 18, 2023 Saturday     

Turkeywork! I don't know about Turkeywork.  If you are a fan of Turkeywork and have done a lot of it, would you be willing to answer a couple of questions for me?

As of yesterday, I have a second area almost worked. The stitch is much easier to work now that I have found out hand positions that help me isolate each loop. The other bit I discovered that eases the stitch: make the loops slightly larger.

I committed a sin for a second time: I stitched about 3/4's of the area and decided to clip it and see how it looked.  I found out I can clip bits so long as I leave a nice amount untouched where I am working.

I am eager to see how it works around Snow Maiden's face, both across her forehead and under her chin. With all the loops under her chin, she looked more like her father with a bit white beard.

All in all it has been interesting to use a stitch I have disliked for as long as I can remember.  I still have the option, if I wish, of cutting it all out and converting to French Knots and my trusty Bunka Brush.

A journey into the unknown....

March 17, 2023 Friday     

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

This morning I have posted Crown #3, the only one of my Crowns that I stitched with almost no guide.

Do you know to whom it belongs? I say 'belongs' in present tense because it has no past tense.

I am having a great time these days pulling out beads again from everywhere and auditioning them for Snow Maiden. So am I making progress? Yes, some progress, but not entirely there yet. Almost.

More auditions today, and with the auditions some stitching. Slowly I am adding the Overstitchings to the masses of Diagonal Tent Stitch understitchings.

Operational work is 'slowly.'

March 16, 2023 Thursday     

This morning a short history of my Crown #2, a small crown in the Coronation Portrait of Elizabeth 1.

When I stitched Elizabeth 1 back in 2008, I didn't stitch a crown for her.  It was only 3 years later when I stitched Catherine the Great that I thought of stitching crowns.  I made Elizabeth 1's crown into an ornament also, but most people who stitched it framed it.

Tomorrow Crown #3 in my Parade of Crowns.

Yesterday I spend the entire day doing Turkeywork and by the end of the day I had completed and cut a small band of it. I am now going to play with beads for Snow Maiden and see if I like the Turkeywork with the beads.

I reserve judgment for a while longer.

Fun day ahead.

The Ides of March, 2023 Wednesday     

Today I have posted Crown #2 on Queendom Website's home page.  Do you recognize the Queen who wears her Coronation Crown?

The Ides of March, always important in my school years because I had 5 years of Latin and I was a literature major in college: an important day in both.

It is so cold and pouring rain outside. No walk today, brrr. I am going to curl up with Snow Maiden today and work on her Turkeywork. I have devised a variation that reduces the bulk and makes it much wispier.

Today I should finish the first bit of it, cut it and see if I like it. It looks good on the doodle, but I never know till I try it for real. If I don't like it, I will cut it out and revert to my Bunka Brushed French Knots.

Time will tell.

March 13, 2023 Monday     

This morning I will start my Parade of Crowns. I found my photos of them all, so I will add one and then describe it the following morning.

Some interesting questions: how large is the ruby? (realy a spinel), how many jewels? When was it made and where is it now? All tomorrow moning.

I am curious, by the end, to know if anyone has all of the crowns? Anyone actually made them all? What did you do with them, frame them or make ornaments out of them?

So did you survive the time change yesterday? At one point I was  used to 8 hours time change once or twice a year so I hardly notice an hour.  I am delighted to have the extra hour of daylight in the afternoon. Lovely!

.The Crown of St. Edward,

the Stitched Edition