Wednesday, June 07, 2017

Unstitching

When I last posted, the air conditioning for the house wasn't working. On the 2nd, the repairman came and found that the fan in the outside unit needed to be replaced. Luckily, he had the part and could install it right away. Expensive, of course, but a/c is a necessity to endure summer temperatures here in the Tri-Cities.

The roses are still glorious and the deadheading chore has begun. Actually I don't mind doing it as it gets me outside in the mornings or evenings - the best time of the day around here.

I've spent a little time in my stitching chair, time mostly spent unstitching my progress on Hello Spring.

Hello Spring

You see that stem rising from the lower flower? It is now correctly placed. I had it coming up from the top flower and had even stitched the blue flower on the end of the design before realizing that was a mistake that couldn't be fudged. Sigh.  All of my Sunday stitching time was spent ripping out stitches. And then I didn't stitch for a few days, as sometimes happens after ripping out. But this morning I got the ball rolling again.

Have you tried the pin stitch start that Vonna demonstrated in her latest Flosstube video? If not, you really must - it's a total game changer! Here's the link to her demo: Vonna's Pin Stitch Demo. She starts at about the 8 minute mark in the video.

I had heard her talk about using the pin stitch to start a new thread, and I had even watched a few demos, but went along on my merry way until the other day. Finally it occurred to me to give it a try and I've been hooked ever since. Now it won't work in every situation - like stitching over one thread - but for that Victoria Sampler Christmas Tree Farm and all those little snowflake xs falling in the sky it'll be amazing!

VS- Happy Birthday Sampler
On the Happy Birthday Sampler, I jumped back up to the top of the sampler and got the birthday cake almost done. Those two rows of multi-colored floss are done in the plait stitch - so lovely.

Have a blessed, stitchy week!

10 comments:

Vickie said...

Gosh that birthday cake is awesome! Guess the pin stitch wouldn't be my thing, since I stitch almost always one over one.

Pamela said...

I just hate to have to unstitch! Both pieces are looking lovely.

Robin in Virginia said...

The birthday cake sampler is looking good. Sorry that you had to rip out your stitches; here is hoping it is smooth stitching for the rest of this piece.

Marilyn said...

Sorry you had the visit from Mr.Frog.
Both are looking great though.
Love that Birthday cake. :)
Marilyn

ALICE MARGAUX said...

Two lovely pieces of stitching. I love the colours in the Birthday. Sunny greetings from New Orleans, Alice

ALICE MARGAUX said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Sorry about the frog!
Love the plait stitching in the cake, those special stitches are really worth the time for the lovely effect they give.

Julie said...

I hope Mr Frog has hopped off!
The cake looks fabulous.

Barb said...

What a lovely cake. We just spent a week in Alabama celebrating Miss Hannah's 4th birthday! I ate too much of the real thing!! I am so tired. Playing non-stop with a 4 year old is exhausting and wonderful at the same time. But when grandma lives almost the country away, I had to make the most of every minute!

Brigitte said...

Good that you fixed the mistake on your spring piece after all the unstitching you had to do.
That birthday cake looks gorgeous. Lovely colours.