Needlequest - Blackwork 31 May

I’m continuing to work on the blackwork fillings.  I made a counting mistake on E, so I’ll have to figure that out.

 

I won’t finish this in May, but I do hope to finish this piece while it is still 2014, since I already stitched in the year.  Check out Sew in Love to find out more about Needlequest.

Kushiro Visit

I’ve been stitching pretty much non-stop since our trip to Kushiro during Golden Week and am just now sorting the photos. Kushiro is on the east coast of Hokkaido.

Our hotel was next to the waterway, across the street from the EGG and MOO buildings.

 

 

The Kushiro Art Museum was just a few blocks away.  When we visited, there was a photo exhibit and a doll exhibit. Unfortunately, photos taking wasn't allowed in the museum. We met the doll artist and I bought a couple of post cards of the dolls.

 

We visited the Kushiro Marshland Observatory.

 

Ted took lots of photos.  I posted about the cranes and animals we saw and he photographed here.

We ate dinner at a “grill your own food at the table” place one night.  We had two grills at our table so Ted could cook meat on one and fresh seafood on the other. I don’t know about the rest of Japan, but these restaurants are very popular in Hokkaido.

I’ll tell you about the rest of the trip another day.

Work in Progress Wednesday - a Day Late

Not much progress on the queen. I did this one bead cluster.  The necklace makes me kind of nervous so I’m taking it slow.

The table cloth is coming along.

 

Not much progress on the big projects this week, but I’ve been working on some other small things.  I hope to have more to report on the big things next week.

2014 Smalls SAL - Needlethreader Fob

This month I’ve made a fob for a needlethreader.  The designer is Denise Harrington Pratt, who was also the designer of the Jubilation Box and the Summer Sampler Box and set of little toolies that I finished in 2013.

This fob was stitched on 28 count evenweave with silk threads.  The beads are Mill Hill seed beads in #11 and #6.

 

It’s so cute, I want to make another one.  I’m linking up with Stitching Lotus, hostess of this year long stitch-a-long.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - # 112 Feathered Chain Stitch

Here are my samples of TAST 112 – the feathered chain stitch.  I tried using perle #5 (variegated), perle #8 (grey) and two strands of cotton floss (green).

 

Check out Pintangle to learn new stitches and to see what other stitchers are doing with the stitches they learn.

Monday Morning Star Count - Quilt Top!

Here is my completed top!  I’m quite pleased with it. 

I know, I know, the quilt is only ½ done, but completing the top is an accomplishment for me. I've been working on this consistently for about ten months.   It measures about 73”x82”. Now, I need to buy batting, put together a backing piece, and make about 210 individual hexagons for the backside edging.  After hand piecing my hexagon quilt, I’m planning to hand quilt it.

I’m linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts. 

Needlequest - Blackwork 25 May

Here’s my progress this week.

I’ve finished the alphabet letters and the year (2014).  I probably shouldn’t have stitched the year until I was closer to the end, but maybe that will be incentive to actually finish this year.

 

To find out more about Needlequest, check out Sew In Love.

Only in Japan - Umbrella Vending Machine

Tablecloth Progress

This tablecloth fabric is pretty to look at and so nice to touch.  I’m stitching in hand to avoid any kind of hoop marks and I really like holding this piece. It’s smooth and soft.  I look forward to seeing this finished on my table.

Shaken

This month our car was due for its shaken. Shaken is the contraction of Jidosha Kensa Torokuseido or automobile inspection registration system, in Japan. Shaken are required every two years to make sure vehicles are fit to be on the road. Everything possible has to be checked, then fixed, in order to pass the shaken.

Nothing was wrong with our car and it passed.  The cost was 122,000 yen!  Good thing we didn’t need to have anything fixed.

Work in Progress Wednesday - the Queen's Cap and Starting a Pocket

This week, I stitched the pearls and gold beads on the Queen’s cap.

 

I started with one of the side pockets of the hussif.

before

 

One of the things I like about this kind of stitching is that I can do whatever pops into my head, with whatever thread I put into the needle.  If I don't like it, I just add more stitching.  Sometimes, I add more stitching even when I do like it. Come back next week to see what I add....