This week’s SBQ was suggested by yours truly and is:

What for you means to achieve mastery as a stitcher?

The permalink to this post is:
http://blog. blondelibrarian. net/archives/ 2007/10/sbq- master-and- queenie/

Happy Stitching!

Renée

***

There are a few “aspects toward mastery” in my view.

1. The skill - one masters more and more complex and challenging designs.

The understanding - linked with skill, because it is impossible to pass through advanced challenges without putting some thinking and develop understanding - not only how, but why something is done the way it is. The difference between average and advanced stitcher would be that the first is just employing hands and the second is also employing some gray matter toward the project.

2. The attitude

One’s attitude to what he’s doing. Is it just a hice hobby that can also help interact with other people or even play cool (tons of dollies and blinkies can help achieve that, no matter that it will distract so much from the initial topic that some would wonder is this person actually stitching or just happily jumping around). The opposite is a more serious perception of the craft beyond hobby, having deeper roots in one’s life and activities. A person may not be doing it for a living, still their living to contain this, too.

3. The Sensing

The Sensing simply means to have True Sight. A person sees Art in a piece, and also he distinguishes when there’s no Art but mere scratching of the surface, or rubbish. This is same as a good ear in music. IMO the ratio of stitchers with such “true sight” is around 1: 30 or even bigger. Few distinguish between “melodic” designs and rubbish. But aesthetic accessment in my opinion can be learned, if of course a person wants to.

So, to achieve these three levels means to achieve mastery.

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Jennifer
(http://astitchinwri nkledtime. blogspot. com/) and is:

What are your favorite online stitching supply sources?

The permalink to this post is:
http://blog. blondelibrarian. net/archives/ 2007/10/sbq- sources/

Happy Stitching!

Renée

I used Sew and So  a couple of times in the past and am very pleased with their customer service. (seems few companies actually have the business culture and know how to communicate properly with customers).  The negative side is that Sew’s prices are quite high.

I am also glad that Patterns Online  exists. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t get the TW’s I have now - at least not in the next couple of years. I wish more of the renowned designers submit their patterns there.

Many stitchers have been hesitant to participate in RRs due to concerns about many issues- ranging from the piece disappearing (mail service, participants quitting, etc) to objections over quality of stitching or the themes/designs chosen.

The solution - a Virtual Round Robin.

• You pick the theme.  (Your theme could be, for example TW corner motifs/ borders/ etc., Châtelaine borders/tiles/etc. or something along such lines)
• You introduce your theme and list of acceptable designs (most likely ones you already have, or seek an excuse to purchase   )  It is best if they come from the same designer, or have a similar style, though blending 2 or 3 is possible.
• Every two months or so, the next person in the RR will choose the next part for you.  The moderators will be assigning the RR participant rotation order when the sign-up period closes.

If this sounds like fun, sign up in the current Virtual RR, and then post a new topic on that board introducing your theme, stitching parameters, motifs and so on.

Link for signing up for Virtual RR #1 

And more border progress. There was an awful lot of over-ones, but they’re now done.

Here’s my border progress. I am very curious and hurrying to work on it to satisfy my curiosity. *g*

Some things of note. 

All the colors are coming out much darker than on the reference photo. I also noticed on some people’s photos the design  has lighter colors than mine. For example on this one

http://image24.webshots.com/25/7/28/90/36572890uEnJfj_ph.jpg

But my result will rather look like this

http://image07.webshots.com/7/8/24/1/106582401IEpdEQ_ph.jpg

 Quite a difference! I suppose the only reason is the lighter version is coming from the kit and there the colors are different than in the book. I like the way my colors are coming out by now, as the other version looks too yellowish. (that means I am lucky to have this version).  

The over-one areas: I really enjoy working over-one (it’s not my first time but in the past I was doing it with a bit different technique). But I’d say that it does have some negative sides. You put the same amount of work and it takes the same amount of time to do full crosses over-one, but the result is a # of times smaller and less visible (or often almost invisible). Close colors placed together are almost non-distinguishable. The big letters look very good, but the tiny ornaments are IMO not worth to apply all the color changes the chart is calling for. Over-one is most suitable for detailed body parts like faces, hands and occasionally for some decoration ornaments.

***

Прогрес на рамката.  Излиза че най-вероятно има две версии на този дизайн, като едната е от комплект, а другата е публикувана в книга. Тази, която имам, е по-тъмната, но на повечето снимки е показана по-светлата (жълтеникавата). Аз лично предпочитам по-тъмната.

 Техниката “през едно” която се вижда върху миниатюрните орнаменти и буквите, е подобна на гобленовия бод 1:1, но се шие с кръстче. Тази техника е най-подходяща за шиене на лицето, ръцете и понякога на отделни малки орнаменти, но не винаги си струва да се шие, защото количеството положен труд е същото както при обикновеното голямо кръстче, а това което се вижда е значително по-дребно и понякога едва различимо.

There’s one symbol in the chart which does not always appear exactly in the middle of the square - a black-filled “p”. It is placed that way for a reason, but there are no instructions given as to where exactly to stitch it. To some the answer might be obvious, and it did came to me after some thinking, but still it does need to have some additional guide of the principle of placing this symbol.  I understood the idea from looking at the finished reference photo (it was large enough to notice where this symbol was stitched).

The black-filled “p” in the middle of the ornament

should be done this way:

Similar principle applies to the symbol in the middle border, which surrounds the castle. 

I think this is an important information for all those who will work on this design.

***

Има един символ в схемата, който не винаги е разположен точно в средата на квадратчето - черно “p”. Особеното му разположение има причина, но няма специални обяснения къде точно да се шие този символ.  Черното “p“ в средата на този орнамент трябва да се шие както се вижда на сканираното изображение. Подобен е и принципът при малката рамка, обграждаща замъка.

has eyes. It’s so expressive that I have a bit creepy and eerie feeling. Almost like looking at an ancient manuscript.

Ето върху какво работих през последните дни:

Teresa Wentzler’s Jeane Love’s angel

Какво ми хареса в този модел:  Оформяше се много по-ярък и симпатичен, отколкото на примерните снимки. Хареса ми финото преливане на цветовете върху ръкавите.

Не ми хареса: перата върху крилете са малко в повече, което прави крилете да заемат повече място в цялостната картина. Крилете изглеждат повече пухкави отколкото елегантни.

Ангелите са безполови, но често срещана практика е да се рисуват ангели-мъже, жени, деца, та даже и животни, така че в този случай не бих критикувала дизайнера на този модел. 

Моят следващ проект ще бъде Castle Sampler. Доста голям и величествен дизайн; и има около 47 смесени цвята. Подготовката на тези цветове обикновено ми отнема повече от една вечер.

***

This is what I’ve been spending my crafting time on.

The design was not impressing me initially, but I have someone whom I promised a stitched b-day present. She is very religious and I decided it had to be with a religious theme. I could find no better option than this design; actually when I remembered about it, it instantly felt like best fitting for the occasion.

What I liked: It was gradually coming out much nicer than on any photos. I loved the smooth color transition effect on her sleeves. Also, the frame colors do not contrast so unpleasantly as they do on most reference photos.
I think that the design also fits well for the dedication.

Didn’t liked: The amount of feathers on wings is a bit too much, so her wings take too much space on the picture. The wings look rather furry than elegant.

*Angels are gender-less, but it’s a common practice to make distinctly female, male, kids and even animal angels, so I wouldn’t really judge the designer for this.

My next project will be medium (for me, having the ~40×60 CM means this one falls under medium category). I wanted to do it since long time, and now the time has come - Castle Sampler. I am very curious how it will turn out, and sure there will be lots of progress photos. For a start, it has around 47 blended colors. I already started to prepare them, but usually this takes more than one evening.

Btw, I saw an old TW design that is seemingly not listed on the website. Basket of apples

I’ve never seen it before.

edit: and Camelot Sampler is already in my wish list.