March 26, 2012

Deborah: TAST 12 - Barred Chain

The pink whipped (partial) wheel is my second attempt; I used a perle cotton which I think is too heavy for the motif. I do love that design, though. On the right is another completed whipped wheel using variegated thread with a zig-zag chain on the border.

Barred chain.

..and I will post photos of how I incorporated it in my CQ block later today on my blog. 

I must be getting old. Some weekends - which I so look forward to and make such plans for - it takes me  most of Saturday to decompress and get focused. Of course I have housework to do- with two dogs and four cats just sweeping up the animal fur takes a while - but I even getting an early start I find I need a few hours in the morning to wind down. Then I take my walk, usually, and that takes another hour. So the day I had such plans for (as in "I'm going to jump in at 7 am on Saturday and get things done!") is slipping away. 

Yesterday the weather was spectacular, one of those perfect spring days. Just a few clouds, bright blue sky, temperatures in the low 70's and a nice breeze. I met seven friends for lunch at Garrison's. We've all worked together in the past and try to get together at least once ever couple of months. In March, three of us have birthdays so we were celebrating. One friend topped her lunch off with their B-52 Cheesecake" - which includes Bailey's Irish Cream, Kahlua, and ameretto in the filling, an Oreo cookie crust, and a chocolate ganache frosting. She passed it around so we could each have a bite - it was divine.

And here it is almost 6 am already, and time to get ready for another work week. Have a wonderful week, ladies!


12 comments:

Connie Eyberg Originals said...

Your flower isn't bad. I wonder if you gave it slightly longer spines and used a thinner thread for the spine and this pink as you have here...maybe? The wheel looks great. I like the zig-zag chain around it.

Work tends to get in the way of life. I'm an early riser (around 4-4:30) and dig right in to my stitching. It is keeping the momentum going later on due to interruptions that I have a problem with.

Suztats said...

The flower is pretty, and I agree that a finer thread might add a more delicate look to it. It's a really nice design. Your whipped wheel looks good with the chain border.

Debra Dixon said...

I think both of your motifs are really good--with a little practice and the right combination of threads, you will master that flower!

I love the chain border on your wheel. That's an idea to add to the stitch motif stash.

Judy S. said...

Your stitching looks great, Deorah! I think your pink flower looks like a really fancy fan! Good job on the barred chain; whatever weight thread you chose for that one worked perfectly.

Deborah M. said...

I need coffee first. ;-)

Deborah M. said...

I'm going to try what you suggest with the flower using regular DMC & more spines - kind of a combination of both experiements.

Cyra said...

Love your combination stitches on both whipped wheels Deborah. Is the pink one whipped over elongated detached chains? I remember seeing that tutorial somewhere. I think it was you who pointed it out to us.

Deborah M. said...

That's right - instead of long straight stitches. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but when you finished the wrapping part, you pull the chains open and stitch them together.

Deborah M. said...

Thanks, Judy. It was plain old DMC embroidery thread.

jenclair said...

I really like your whipped wheel with the zigzag chain circling it. The barred chains look good, too, Deborah!

Carol-Ann said...

Echoing Jenclair, zigzag chain circle great and your barred chain lovely and spiky.

Peacock said...

Nice stitching, Deborah! I really like the way the varigated thread worked on the red whipped wheel.
When I work a whipped wheel or a half-wheel, I often find it helpful to use my needle to pack the stitches down toward the center every row or two, especially at the beginning where the spoke threads are so close together. I love the pink and green color combination that you used! Just lovely.