Susan: CQJP2016 Block

First, the bare block for February:

And then the first seam. This started as Val Bothell's stitch #95, but it went south from there.

I have another one started, a motif using one of the templates from Sharon Boggon's 2nd template set. I like how it's going, but I'm backstitching it, so it's taking some time. Maybe by next Tuesday.

Susan: October CQJP - One Seam

If you're only going to do one, it should be a bit fancy, don't you think? This was inspired by a Kathy Shaw design from TSiTM #126. Bear in mind I did say inspired by, not copied from, so if you don't see any similarity, don't worry. LOL I haven't pressed it to get rid of the markings yet.

Cy - CQJP & TAST catch-up

CQJP

Would you believe I have just this week started my October block.

My trip to UK helped me to get a bit behind with this project, but I hope to play 'catch-up' over the next couple of weeks. 

Later today all my kids will be home for Christmas, staying here on the farm for as long as they are able to.

They pretty much fend for themselves and enjoy each other's company, and have a great laugh. I'm looking forward to it too.

We have declared that this Christmas will be a 'home-made' Christmas. No bought presents.

It will be so much fun to see what they have all created for each other.

I'm expecting a few surprises along the way from the 'not-so-creative' son. I'm sure we will all be laughing till our jaws ache by the end of Christmas day.

It will be an interesting Day.

So, on to the CQJP and TAST.

My naked block for October

TAST stitches follow:

The first is a variation of the Portuguese Border Stitch. 

I threaded a bead onto the 'ladder' part before stitching the wrapped bits up each side.

I'm not sure I got the side bits right for a Portuguese border, but hey, I'm in experimental mode.

 Next is the  Knotted Cable Stitch.

And then I added the Arrowhead Stitch in a combined lime green and blue metallic thread.

Next is the Berry Stitch, or I think I might call mine the 'Triple Berry', as my variation has 3 chains stacked together. I like this effect but wish I'd used a better contrast for the centre chain as it doesn't show up very much on the grey fabric.

And..... just in case you are missing my crochet, haha...... here is a piece I made yesterday as part of a 'home-made' Christmas present. The flowers aren't attached yet as I need to make some leaves and arrange them before I stitch them all in their final places on this vintage looking wrist-band.

I love the coffee & cream colour scheme. It needs blocking yet.

  Seasons Greetings   

to all my friends, followers, and co-stitchers here.

I wish you all a very 

  Happy Christmas  

Happy Stitching

Angela~ the Miraculous Medal

The TAST stitch for this week was exceedingly simple and for that I'm grateful.  I've had major back and knee pain this week so a quick & easy project suited me just fine.  It also gave me a chance to use a couple of large Catholic medals that are way too large to use on my saint pendants.

I used arrowhead stitch to accent the 2 vintage medals, the green as a kind of ribbon for them to hang from and the yellow to accentuate the rays of light that come from the rings on Mary's fingers.

Nov. 22, 1830.  St Catherine Laboure's vision from the Virgin Mary told her of a medal to be designed and this is it.  Mary was wearing rings which showed rays of light emanating from them.  When the saint asked her why some did not shed light, she answered that "Those are the graces for which people forget to ask."

Susan: 2nd Border and TAST

Since I did the border 1 reveal last week, and am still working on beading, here's the naked border 2. And here is the part I've done so far:

Two arrowhead seams on the left, and some serpentine work on the right. Love that little skinny lace held down by the beads.

Judy~Arrowhead Stitch~ November Reveal TAST

Here she is, strumming her banjo and practicing Christmas Carols even though her dress isn't all that festive and the grass is still green. The arrowhead stitch is on her sleeves (surprise, surprise!) and also on her shoes. To me the appearance of this stitch isn't all that different from the fly stitch. Am I missing something? One more block to go and then I can start working on the quilt. First, though, I'm going to gently wash the blocks and then press them. Oh, how I hope the blue lines disappear like they are supposed to. Speaking of quilts, I have a couple of recent posts on my blog with photos from the Block Party Quilters' annual quilt show earlier this past month.

TAST: WK 48: Arrowhead Stitch

The TAST Stitch for the Week of November 29 is the Arrowhead Stitch.

 

For more information & instructions, check here on Sharon B's blog.

Photo Courtesy of Pin Tangle