Tuesday Stitchers import: TAST wk 12- barbed chain, CQJP, BJP

Grandma bounced back from hip surgery in two days. I didn't get much stitching done because I had strep throat. Hmm. Maybe there's a life lesson or two to be found in there somewhere!

At any rate, I didn't get a lot done, and I do have valid reasons (the busy convention weekend, strep throat, visiting my grandmother and my family). Now I am asking myself whether I am: 1- hiding behind excuses instead of doing my Work, 2- being unrealistically diminishing about the work that I do accomplish, 3- unaware of my deepest priorities (like spending quality time with friends and family) and, because of that lack of awareness, thinking that I have more time to do my (e.g. stitching) work than I really have... or some combination of the above or some unspecified addition to the list.

For the sake of my sanity, I'm going to run with the working assumption that the best description is option 2: I'm being too hard on myself. I'm actually doing quite a bit of work, and it is good work, but it doesn't measure up to the imagined goal I set for myself, so I don't realize right away what I HAVE accomplished because I am too focused upon what I have NOT accomplished. :P

What I have NOT accomplished this month:
I have not yet started stitching on my CQJP wedge.
I have not yet started the current TAST challenge (wk 16: French Knot)
or the previous TAST challenge (wk 15: Stem Stitch)
I have not added to TAST wk 11 (whipped wheel) which at least got started (barely).

Okay! That's enough whining!!

What I HAVE accomplished is so much better to talk about!

I made a BJP for February! yay! yes, it's April now, and yes, I had a BJP for February, but it wasn't the one that I WANTED to have for February, it was my spare January BJP that I misplaced (so I had to create a second January BJP). Ever since, I've felt determined to make a real February BJP, one featuring heart-shaped beads. :)


I also got a good start on my April BJP, and am confident that I will be able to finish it before the end of the month. It features a charm with a labyrinth pattern to represent the explorations of imagination and fiction (the science fiction writers' convention) and also the joys of gardening (by connection with the idea of hedge mazes). I had been thinking of the colors of the tulips that arose in my garden this month (orange-reds against the green foliage), but the beads I chose were closer to turquoise than green, so it's ended up with more of a southwestern feel: turquoise and agate, Tucson Arizona where we used to visit my husband's father.


I did some work on TAST 14: Satin stitch


And I added significantly to TAST 12: Barbed Chain. I had a lot of ideas of experimental variations that I wanted to try, and some of them turned out pretty nifty! Although the magic chain variation did not turn out the way that I had hoped it would, it's still kinda interesting.


And while I did not start stitching on my CQJP wedge yet (It requires a level of focus and thoughtfulness that hasn't been available to me at the busy convention or while my head was blurred with fever or while my family needed my attention), I did get some busywork stitching done on my CQJP prototype! This little peacocky tail fan is the prototype that I stitched up as a concept test before investing all my time and materials in the larger silk version. Since it is made entirely of printed fabrics, I decided to let the fabrics take primary focus and use my CQ stitching in a supporting roll by controlling the color spectrum of the threads that I would use. As much trouble as they are, somehow metallic threads seemed the best choice-- they would stand out against any of the prints, yet still read as "neutrals", plus they would add a nice shimmer and textural interest. I've chosen gold threads against the greens, and copper threads against the purples.