Monday Morning Star Count - I Need More!

I joined all the strips into one big piece.  I spread it out on the bed and discovered it’s not wide enough.  If I put borders on it, it would have been enough, but without borders, I need another strip of flowers.  I’m guessing I need 50 or 60 more, so I’ll be back to basting hexagons. 

 

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

Aztec Stitch Bookmark Finish

Here it is.

 

After nine years in the UFO pile, I was able to finish the bookmark in just a few days.  How many more UFO's do I have that are within days of finishing?

Bookmark Progress

After finishing the scroll stitch around the outside, I cut and pulled out threads.

 

 

 

I’m using four colors of DMC perle #12 for the Aztec stitch – 931, 932, 3753, and 3033. This is the front and back of the first six rows.

 

I've done six rows of each of the four colors.  Now I’m ready to start again with the darkest blue.

I like how this looks.

The Old Bookmark Project

I pulled out this project yesterday. The directions say Aztec Stitch Bookmark by Pat Rozendal. Handwritten in the corner is “January 2005, Cardinal EGA program, also April”. The directions are still available here.

It looks like I barely got started, then put it away. I can’t remember why I didn’t continue working on it. Maybe I only attended one of the two guild meetings or maybe I made a counting mistake? I don't remember.  After nine years, isn’t it about time to get back to work on it? I've made a start.

Take a Stitch Tuesday 101 and 102 - Triangular Buttonhole Stitch and Beaded Triangular Buttonhole Stitch

I’m still trying to catch up!  Here are TAST stitches 101 and 102 – the Triangular Buttonhole Stitch and the Beaded Triangular Buttonhole Stitch. I think both could be great edge stitches. My sample uses perle #5 (yellow), Impressions (brown), and soy luster (blue) for 101, and  soy luster (blue) and perle #12 (ecru) with purple beads for 102.  If you’d like to join in and learn new stitches, check out SharonB’s TAST.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Plants Around the Pond

This week I worked on plants around the pond. The plants are made from overdyed floss, crewel wool, petite very velvet, cotton ribbon, and soy luster.

 

 

Linking up with Sharon B's WIPW on Pintangle. 

Take a Stitch Tuesday # 100 - Beaded Eastern Stitch

Here is TAST stitch 100 – the Beaded Eastern Stitch, the beaded version of last week's stitch.  My sample uses perle #12 (ecru) and soy luster (red).  If you’d like to join in and learn new stitches, check out SharonB’s TAST.

Monday Morning Star Count - Runner Finish

The runner is finished and I’m quite pleased with it. 

 

Now I’m ready to get back to the big quilt.  Stay tuned.

I’m linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts.  Check out the other epp projects and feel free to leave encouraging comments to all the other participants!

Sampler Pear VII

Here is my latest stitched pear.  I probably wouldn’t have chosen to stitch this alone, but since it is one of the set, and because it is March (St. Patrick’s Day), I stitched it.  I used 28 count linen and the called for DMC threads.

 

To see the first seven pears I stitched, check out this post.  If you’d like to stitch them yourself, the charts are available free at Samplers and Santas.

Ten Year Old Letter

Next week it will be three years since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  There have been many news stories lately with updates on the area and the people.  One story that I thought was particularly moving was about parents who just received a letter written ten years ago by their daughter who went missing in the disaster. She graduated from high school in 2003 and went to work as a tour guide in Kyoto. In January 2004, when visiting the Meiji-mura museum in Aichi Prefecture, she took advantage of a service they offered.  She wrote a letter to her parents, giving it to the museum to post ten years later.  She wrote about her feelings about leaving home and going to work as a tour guide, about recently becoming engaged, and about whether her parents would be grandparents when they received the letter ten years later.  In the meantime, upon her parents' urging, she quit her job and moved back to her hometown, which was where she was living at the time of the tsunami.  She went missing and is presumed to have died.  Recently her parents received her ten year old letter, having no idea it had been written or of the feelings their daughter expressed.  She wrote: “Mom and Dad you’ve done so much for me, so I want to return the favor to you from now on.”

How fragile life is and how fortunate they are to know how their missing daughter felt about them.

More Rice, Please

Ted’s gone this week with the Outdoor Winter Activities class.  They are staying at a youth hostel with an onsen and doing things like snow shoeing, snowball fighting, cooking outdoors, cross country skiing, and all kinds of other snowy things.

I’m at home, watching the tsugumi eat pineapple on our snowy balcony and stitching.

 

All day yesterday I worked on this diagonal rice stitch project that will be this month’s Small SAL, if I can get it done by the end of the month.  I still have a lot of rice stitches to do!  I don’t want to tell what this is going to be yet.  You’ll just have to check back on the last Wednesday in March to find out.

 

 

Sampler Pear VIII

Another pear stitched!  This is pear #8 and the seventh of the twelve I have stitched. For this one, I used 28 count linen and two strands of the called for DMC floss.

 

Here are the other six I have stitched.

 

When I get all 12 completed, I will finish them all at the same time to be tree ornaments.  The charts for all 12 are available free at Samplers and Santas.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Slow Progress is Still Progress

I’ve stitched all week but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of progress.

I’ve continued with the accentuate overstitching and have just the loop of the tail left to do with that.  The photo doesn’t show the sparkle, but it’s there.  It's well worth the time it takes to stitch over every stitch.

On the RSN garden, I’ve added a small yellow flower section.

 

On the small garden, I’ve worked on the lower section.  There’s still a lot to do!

Posting each week on my big projects is keeping me working on them.  Yes, I’m still starting new ones, but I’m not putting away the old ones.  Check out the progress other stitchers are making at Pintangle.

Take a Stitch Tuesday #99 - the Eastern Stitch

Here is TAST stitch 99 – the Eastern Stitch.  My sample uses perle #5 (yellow), perle #8 (pink), and perle #12 (blue).  If you’d like to join in and learn new stitches, check out SharonB’s TAST.

Monday Morning Star Count - I Love This Edge!

This week, I joined the outside edges, pulled out the templates, and flipped the edge hexagons right side out.  Next step is to stitch the back-side inner edges down.  I love how this hexagon edge looks!

 

I’m linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts.  Check out the other epp projects!

Hina Matsuri

Tomorrow (March 3^rd) is Hina Matsuri (Girls’ Day) in Japan.  I first posted about this holiday here.

Check out Queenie’s Needlework to see some beautiful Hina Matsuri ornaments.

These cute little Hina Matsuri sweets were a gift from two of my English students.  The inside is sweet bean paste and the outside mochi.

Twelve Months to the Double Nickel - March Edition

This month, I want to cut down on sugar.  I’d like to say I’m going to quit eating all sugar, but I know that is not reasonable for me.  My baby step plan is to give up bottled drinks this month and carry my own water bottles.  In the US, if I bought a drink, it would be a diet soda (I know, not healthy either, but no kcalories).  Here, there are very few choices when it comes to diet drinks, but bottled teas are popular.  My favorites are lemon tea and milk tea.  I can’t read the ingredients, but both taste sweet, so I’m sure there are a lot of empty kcalories in them.

I’m walking (January) and stretching (February) more than I did before, but I still want to work on consistency.  Baby steps…

I’ve started a new project.  My plan is to finish it by the end of the month as my March smalls stitch a long item.  The whole thing is going to be diagonal rice stitches. Check back later in the month.