Homeward Snake

 

Back up the freeway we drove towards home, and the traffic was rather bunchy (when is it not in LA?!), so I got out the Snake in The Garden for more stitching. The offending one is on the right hand side, much too thick of thread in the wrong color.

I used the other color of red tharead that I had along in my to-go bag that was a much thinner weight and went around the oval in-between the green stitches. I think it's looking much better. Still not sure what to do about the chicken scratch stitches in the red oval--either take them out or leave them?

There's how the second oval looks with just the new lighter weight and more correct color thread around the outside in-between the green stitches. I think I like the look of that oval now as is, so I'll be taking out the offending stitches on the first oval I stitched.

Kawandii Around and Around

 

More stitching got done on my kawandii, I'm circling around into the center. Adding new fabrics as I go.

There are a lot of pins hanging out, which is not the best for an on-the-road project. Ouch.

The tools I'm using, I really love this thread, WonderFil Spagetti 12wt in a nice sage green. 

Freeway Snake Stitching

 

Down the freeway we went, and as I wasn't the one driving, so that meant I got to do some stitching on the Snake in the Garden. This green section in the lower right hand corner is now finished.

Here's how it's looking now. There's one bright green section left to do. 

I started doing this stitching on the red oval in the lower left hand corner and decided that the thread was too bulky and the wrong shade of red, so I stopped myself from continuing on. But I've just found the correct red (the one above), which is a lighter weight thread and a couple shades darker. I'll try that out and see if it makes enough difference.

I am still struggling a bit with what to do with the black and white print that goes down the left side of the piece. I really like how it looks now, unembellished and most importantly that it's free floating, anchored only by the red ovals. It's not like it is going anywhere, and this piece is meant for the wall so it won't get washed. I thought I might do French Knots (or just a stitch) in some of the white or black squares (in the corresponding color) so they don't show up. Decisions, decisions...

Davenport Trees & Sky Stitching

I was actually wandering on a Wednesday, yesterday that is. So, here's the stitching that I did while I was away. Two more lengths of variegated blue embroidery thread have been added to the sky in Snake In The Garden while I waited for my plane to board.

It was a rainy and windy morning in Spokane, so I was very glad I was inside stitching.

Also, strangely, there were birds indoors at the Peet's Coffee in the airport. They were nesting up above on top of the giant monitor screens that display great outdoors scenery. You know, like where the birds are actually supposed to be. I can't imagine they get enough calories out of the scone crumbs on the floor from Peets.

And this time, during the visit, I got to stay in the fancy old hotel, The Davenport, which was all done up for Christmas. Isn't that such a lovely tree?

The second floor was hosting a raffle fundraising event for the Spokane Symphony, so I went upstairs to check it out and got a great view of the big central lobby tree.

There were nine fully decorated trees (that's the LEGO one above) that came with "major prizes", actually they were prize packages worth $1,000's. It was quite a to-do, was absolutely packed with families in the evening, but still very fun to walk around and enjoy.

 

By Land, By Air

 

There was lots of rainy driving coming back from Portland. As I was only navigating and not driving (thanks friend Jaye), I got to work on the rest of the sky on the Snake in the Garden.

Definitely coming along.

A few days later, I was in the Spokane airport, stitching away as my flight home got delayed several times by the FAA/government shutdown silliness (and high winds).

I was very glad I was prepared to sit and stitch for a while.

Road Stitching

 We traveled up to my SIL's for Rosh Hashanah dinner, (Shanah Tovah! It's finally 5784) so I got to do some road stitching. I wish I'd taken a picture of the lovely table, but I think I was too busy eating the fabulous brisket that she made for us. As you can see I am using the great project bag that friend Jaye gave me.

Road stitching is what I call it when I take out my on-the-go bag to avoid the stress of being a passenger in freeway traffic. It's safer for everyone, really. Except for me vs, the needle of course.

My trick is to pre-thread a needle with floss before we are driving, that way I can at least get started easily.

One thread's worth done at a time will eventually finish this piece, right?

Hands On

 

Here I am, using some waiting in the car time today to stitch on my to-go project as my son gets his wisdom teeth taken out. This is a collage "scene" with a lot of machine stitching and hand-beading. You can see the beads on the right. Note, this is a closeup, not the whole piece.

Just some little chicken scratch stitches with the lovely Spagetti (I agree with you spell-check, very dumb spelling of that product) embroidery thread and a nice big needle.  The fabric on the left is a cotton/linen/hemp woven checkered fabric that I dyed and over-dyed. It's one of my favorite fabrics I've ever worked on. The way the fabric took the dye in layers of color, and how it transformed as it was washed several times, the oils from the hemp really do get released and it ends up with a very soft hand.