Project Notes: 26 Stitches Rainbow's End Quilt

Started a new project at Sampler Club a few weeks ago at Acorns & Threads - 26 Stitches by Drawn Thread:

26 Stitches Chart Image from Drawn Thread

But, of course, I'm not following the thread or fabric directions - where's the fun in that?

26 Stitches Rainbow's End Quilt Stitching Materials

I'm stitching each square individually using my Rainbow's End collection on 32 count Lakeside Linen linen in Magnolia, and when I'm done, I'm going to QUILT THEM ALL TOGETHER! Yes, that's right, not only do I get a fab show piece for Rainbow's End (main goal), but I also get to learn a new skill - Bonus!!

So far, I've finished 5 of the 27 squares

Finished squares as of 10.31.2011 - A, B, D, G, J

Square A in Rainbow's End Multi - love the way the red blended into the orange here!

Square B in Rainbow's End Orange

Square D in Rainbow's End Green

Square G in Rainbow's End Red

Square J in Rainbow's End Blue - those Jessica stitches are pretty, but such a pain!!

I'll post a new update on the project every two weeks - check back and see how I'm doing! If you've stitched up a version of 26 Stitches, I'd LOVE to see it - leave me a comment below!

Happy Stitching!

Skeining Day 10.30.2011

Help me decide on next month's giveaway

If you won next month's giveaway, what would you want most? A gift certificate to my etsy shop? Or maybe a subscription to Thread Club? Head over to my Facebook page to vote in the poll, and help me decide on the prize for next month's giveaway!

I love swaps!

Look what I got in the mail from my twitter friend Amy today - travel project bags! I love them :) Thanks Amy!

A Year of Twinchies Update

I finally have decided on a finishing technique for my twinchies - mini-hoops! What do you think?

Twinchie 000 - Halloween Chalice quilt square cross stitch

Twinchie 001 - Rainbow's End Cross stitch (featuring my new Rainbow's End Silk Palette threads!)

Twinchie 002 - Sparkly Space Invaders cross stitch

I have several more stitched up, but the camera has decided to die, so this is it for now. Happy Stitching!

October's New Releases are live!

Head over to my Etsy Shop now and take a look! Those Silk Palettes would make excellent Christmas presents!

You want some Halloween orange? I've got your Halloween orange!

Check out this fab April's Army treasury, featuring Intellect (the perfect thread for stitching pumpkins, if I do say so myself!)

Introducing Silk Palettes

This month I'm introducing a new product to  my shop - Silk Thread Palettes!

Each Silk Palette consists of one variegated thread and a set of semi-solid threads, one for each color in the variegated colorway. All are spun from 100% mulberry silk, and give great coverage on a variety of fabrics/counts. The Palette debuting this month, Rainbow's End, contains six semi-solids - each month it will range between six and nine. These sets make a fabulous gift idea - who doesn't love the thought of opening a cute little package to find shiny, luscious handspun silk thread inside?

I'm offering these in a few different ways, so you can choose the one that works for you:

• Purchase just the colors you want individually (in 10 or 50 yard skeins)
• Purchase the Semi-solid set (in 5, 10 or 50 yard skeins) at a 10% discount off individual skein prices
• Purchase the Deluxe set with both the semi-solids and variegated colorway (in 5, 10 or 50 yard skeins) at a 10% discount off individual skein prices

This month, every purchase of a Rainbow's End Deluxe Silk Palette set will also include the Rainbow's End Twinchie cross stitch chart (designed by yours truly!):

Designed to be 2 inches square on 40 count fabric, you could also easily stitch this on 36 or 32 count without needing two strands.

Rainbow's End is available to Thread Club members starting October 7th during this month's pre-sale, and will be available in my Etsy shop on October 18th. Look for a new Silk Palette every month at Dragonflylotus Designs Handspun Thread!

Etsy Treasury Feature

I love when I find one of my threads featured in a treasury! :)

'A Northwest Autumn' by BellaRosina

Beautiful items from the PDX Etsy Team in Oregon! The Northwest fall colors are all alive in this pretty treasury, including the native Douglas Fir!

Samba Paper Rose Trio - Hand... perfectlypaper $35.00	Grapefruit Ginger Handmade S... RootsSoapCo $5.50	Journal Sketchbook Handbound... AvalonShipping... $43.00	OOAK Autumn Fairy Crown Birc... forestwhimsy $24.00
Special Edition 0711-03 hand... handspunthread $5.00	small button wallet ettarose $16.00	Flutterby Honeycomb Girls Sk... lilsquirtzclot... $35.00	Sunflowers and Dalias togeth... cawilco $20.00
Happy Hands Beeswax Lotion B... OwlandAcorn $3.00	Forest Green Handbag crochele $35.00	24 Gold Cowgirl Snaps Pearl ... CowgirlSnaps $9.00	Misty Bridge - Fine Art Natu... KellySmithPhot... $20.00
Autumn - Feng Shui Mirror ma... EyePopArt $28.00	Saffron... 1 pom PomLove $4.50	Deep Dish Pie Plate WilsonRiverPot... $38.00	bamboo baby dress washday $58.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Daily Inchie 2.0: A Year of Twinchies

If you've been with me for a while, you probably know about my Daily Inchie project (365 inchies during my 29th year). Unfortunately, my move to Vancouver last month derailed the project, so I decided to take the month of September to re-evaluate what worked and didn't work with the initial project and start again today, October 1st.

Goals
Just as when I started Daily Inchie 1.0, I have two main goals:

1. I want to be creative every day. While I love spinning, once you've decided on the thread set-up, there's not a whole lot of creativity in the actual thread creation. And Lord knows my job-job (compliance analyst) provides no real creative stimulation. 
2. I want to have a finished product that is beautiful, display-able, and tells a story. I love the idea of marking life's little milestones with something tangible, and photography just doesn't do it for me.

What Worked

• Having a portable project with me at all times is a huge plus.  
• Working on small, reasonably quick projects gives me a sense of accomplishment. I often get stuck in larger projects about half-way through. (Yes, I am a serial WIP-er!)
• I love the idea of a definitive deadline (X must be done by Y) - without solid deadlines, I'm really good at putting things off for more pressing projects (and, to be honest, more time screwing around online). 

What Didn't

• Daily Inchie 1.0 taught me that 1 inch square is really small - really, really small. I was unable to use some of the charts I wanted without resorting to very small count, like my Power Girl on 40 count silk gauze
  
  
  This time, I'm bumping it up to twinchies (2 inches square).
• Having to complete 1 (and only 1) inchie per day doesn't really work with my life, especially now that I am traveling to Seattle once every other week for work. Some days I could have finished 2 or 3, and others I really struggled to finish one.This also prevented me from working on more labor-intensive inchies (you'll notice Power Girl does not have any friends).
• Having a separate blog for the project resulted  in me largely ignoring my main blog. This time, I will be hosting the project updates here, with daily images on Flickr.

The New Plan

• Timeframe: October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012
• The Goal: 360 twinchies
• The Commitment: I will work on at least one twichie every day, but I am not required to finish one every day.
• The Proof: I'll be posting photos of my daily progress to Flickr, and weekly updates and project pages here.

I've got the first twinchie half-stitched in my bag as we speak. The Year of Twinchies has begun!