Tuesday Stitchers import: Tast wk 4 and CQJP progress

I did not think about today being our last group reveal for the month! I was thinking that I had another three days of stitching before the month is over, and I feel like I still need it! Considering my late start, the stray cat, the snow, and the power outage, I got quite a lot accomplished and am feeling pretty well about my progress overall so far. I am not ahead of schedule by any means, but I guess I'm not too far behind schedule either.
My BJP has wandered, so I will need to add a supplemental post for that once I locate it again.
One disadvantage to my wedge-shaped blocks is that they are difficult to photograph. :P Small price to pay, though, as I am loving this project so far!

Those who have been checking in on my main blog (another-hobby) know that my life was disrupted by the intrusions of a stray cat. He was so very skinny that I couldn't put him back outside in the snow to freeze to death, so for now he is in my bathroom making himself comfortable. He cannot have range of the house yet because I have a pet rabbit, and his health is my higher priority- so the stray cat is in quarantine for now while he gets nursed back into better health and non-contagion.
I decided to commemorate the stray cat by adding an applique patch to this month's wedge:

I used a rubber stamp and a "Stazon" ink pad to put a cat image on a scrap of the sea-green silk that I used for piecing my wedges. Then I used a strand of silk reclaimed from an old sweater and newly dyed to the color I wanted to outline the image and add furry details. I used DMC floss for his eye color and DMC metallic (doubled over through the needle) to make his whiskers. Then I traced an oval around him and used buttonhole stitch (tailor's knotted variety) to turn the edges under to create a nice applique. I trimmed excess allowances after the buttonholing was complete, and blind-stitched the patch to my block using the same thread I'd used for the buttonholing. That took a surprising amount of time, but I am happy that I did it-- I think he turned out pretty cool, and I learned a lot in the process that I am sure to use again!

I used this month's TAST stitches to embellish the block further, but did not want to limit myself to just using one month's worth of TAST stitches because I felt that it would create a discord over the course of the project if each month only featured that month's TAST stitches, so you will also find bullions and chain and tatting and other stitches and techniques in the embellishment of this block.


(You'll probably need to click on the picture for a larger version in order to see any of the detail, and maybe even use the <"ctrl"> <+> command to zoom in.)

The bottom two patches of color are going to remain without embellishment for now-- the peacock's body is going to overlap them, so any stitching that I do there will mostly be covered up. I will wait until I am close to assembly to add final details in that area, when I am certain how much will be seen around the edges of the body.

That still leaves a lot of undeveloped space on this block-- I confess I was depending upon the final three days of the month do finish up the stitching-- I wasn't thinking about today being our final group reveal of the month! I will probably need to add a supplemental post on the last day of the month. Hopefully I will get the rest of the stitching done!-- I do not do much pre-planning to my stitchwork; it develops itself as I go, much like doodling, so I am not entirely sure what more will/ needs to be done on this block.

Feedback is welcome! suggestions and critiques are also welcome from all viewers. :)

The whole wedge looks like this:



I plan to add some more stitching to the purple rays at the top of the wedge, at the minimum. I will also be leaving space for the addition of my BJP mandala to be added just above the heart. I will probably wait until the end of the year before adding the mandalas for a couple of reasons: 1- the weight of the beads would be very cumbersome as I continue to stitch the wedges, and 2- I might decide to place the mandalas onto different blocks based on aesthetic reasons rather than keeping each month's mandala with that month's wedge.

Surprisingly, I did get my TAST homework for the week done as well!

The postcard size makes it very transportable, and the sampler mentality makes it easy for me to stitch upon under chaotic circumstances that would be unfavorable for my peacock.