No one is home

[cinzia]

Hi everyone,
well I have decided not to upload any stitches until a few people either catch up or return from holidays... seems as though life is getting in the way and so I thought it would be a good time for another break. As I am only home for four weeks and then away for another month how about everyone use that time to catch up.

I know it is only April but I propose that we start up again 1st of July. I will do a bit of advertising through the general forum in June and hopefully we can have some more takers for the second half of TAST.

Don't take this as an opportunity to give up though... use the time to catch up or experiment with those stitches you have already started... and don't forget to post pictures so we can all enjoy your work.

[Maya]

Great idea. Now there's no reason to lag behind.Looking forward to the second half of TAST to begin in July.Happy holidays everyone.

[Gina E.]

Hopefully by then I will have caught up and done some decent samples of the stitches. I've been searching my embroidery books for the stitches I've had difficulty with during the TAST weeks, and I have found instructions for most of them. But one that I cannot find anywhere is Sharon's Oyster stitch. Does that come under another name, does anyone know? Or did Sharon invent it herself?

[cinzia]

If you click on her link just to the right of this message it will take you to her page andyou can ask her yourself. I have found Sharon is really helpful

[Joy Vale]

Hi Gina, I found Sharon's instructions for Oyster stitch here -
http://inaminuteago.com/stitchdict/stitch/Chain-oyster.html
She says it is part of the Chain stitch family. ...Joy

[Ruth Palsson]

Gina, When you try oyster stitch, the first stitch needs to be quite small - I used Pearl No 8 and picked up 2 threads before I was happy with the result.

[Joy Vale]

Hi Cinzia - A good idea to start again in July - gives me plenty of time to catch up - have only just started to work on my band sampler with the TAST postings - went back to the beginning and am working from there.

[cinzia]

Great Joy - I look forward to seeing what you do. I too started on a band sampler and then tried other formats but I think I still prefer the band.

[Ruth Palsson]

I also think a band sampler is the way to go, particularly if you are short of time as you can just do a row of a new stitch, but can do more if you have some extra time. I have thought about doing an ATC sized bit for each stitch, or several stitches, but then I would have to come up with a design each time. By doing a band sampler, I just have to do rows and I then have it as a record for the future. For some stitches, I do something more organic when I feel so inclined.

[Laura Wilson-Anderson]

Whew! I thought I would end up behind by ages, but now I see that you are breaking until July! I just now am cutting fabric and sewing the pieces together to start a band sampler, and thought this would be a great way to jump-start it. And now I can work on getting caught up without getting behind! I have preliminary pictures on my blog, but think I may end up making a different blog for the sampler.

Laura
Roving Weaver

[cinzia]

Looking forward to seeing what you do.. welcome to the group

[Ruth Palsson]

Hello Cinzia,

Hope you enjoyed your cruise. I got back from Africa last night - we had a great time and I felt safe enough all the time. I felt perfectly safe 99.9% of the time. (If you miss the bus at 5.00pm and decide to walk back to your hotel and then take a wrong turn, you are allowed to feel a little unsafe for a while!) I would say to you and Paul - go to Africa. If you go on an organized tour, you will be perfectly safe. If you decide to drive yourself in some countries it may be a bit trickier. I would happily hire a car and drive around Namibia and Botswana. My philosophy is that countries generally look after their tourists because they bring money into the country. I know that occasionally tourists get caught up in something very unpleasant.

Now onto sewing matters. I like the idea of starting again on July 1. I am going away again in a few weeks. I will continue working ahead as I get time but will not post until you have initiated that stitch, or I may do some other sewing that I want to get done. Mind you, organizing my photos from Africa will take some time.

[cinzia]

Welcome back Ruth,

Glad to hear you made it back safe and sound. My youngest son is planning on going to Africa when he finishes uni to work with Doctors Without Borders so I assume we will make the effort to go there. Must say it was reassuring to hear that generally it was safe.

We are off for our next holiday in three weeks time back beginning of June and then we settle down to life at home for the rest of the year.... haven't had the chance to get into the embroidery although I have actually sorted out my things and printed some more pages in an effort to get the guilt trip started... we all need some motivation :)

Oh guess what?.. don't you hate it when people start with that question giving you no idea what they are going to talk about? Well I have just had my first online class accepted by Quilt Campus. It is now at the final checking stage and then they will schedule it for later this year! Can't wait.