I’m a bit late writing about progress made in November on the SOTM projects. My excuse is that I was at the Christmas in Williamsburg retreat for the past week. Stitching and classes/lectures took priority over blogging! The retreat was wonderful and our weather couldn’t have been better so a good time was had by all. I even won the first door prize at the Friday night Banquet!
This is the beautiful tree outside the main building of the Kingsmill Resort, the retreat venue.
SOTM projects are winding down and just about everyone expects to finish in December. The Thanksgiving holiday took precedence over stitching time as this has been the first time in two years that many of us have been able to spend time with our family and friends. But no one is complaining.
Brenda is almost finished her Stratigraphy piece that will be placed in her newly-renovated guest bath. The colors are just gorgeous!
Barbara has finished Petite Arabesque and it is now at the framer. Another beautiful piece! Maybe the December blog will have a picture of it framed.
We’re all looking forward to the rest of the pieces in December!
We’re closing in on the final months of this year’s project – and progress is being made! I find it hard to believe that we are three-quarters of the way through 2021.
Our members who are stitching the ANG Stitch-of-the-Month project, Stratigraphy, have completed 26 layers using nine different stitches. A little birdie tells me that in October they will be stitching another seven layers of the project! We’re all looking forward to seeing the complete picture.
Brenda – coordinating with her newly remodeled guest bathDiane – original colorwayRobin – mimicking the Grand CanyonRosie – USGS colors
And a couple of us are finally completing our 2015 SOTM Ruby Razzle Dazzle.
Nancy – working on the fourth ribbon!Linda – FINISHED!!!!
July is now history and our group continues with our projects. We are now officially in the second half of the year! We are still meeting on Zoom but hope to begin in-person meetings soon.
Stratigraphy by Jennifer Riefenberg (ANG’s Stitch of the Month project)
Brenda is matching the color scheme in her guest bathroom.
Diane is using Jennifer’s suggested colors.
Rosie is using a USGS Stratigraphic Column.
Sue is picking colors as she stitches.
Other SOTM Projects
Tina is working on Feuilles d’Ananas by Susan Hoekstra, which was ANG’s and NJNA’s 2016 SOTM.
Melita completed her 8-Pointed Star by Kathy Rees, ANG’s and NJNA’s 2020 SOTM, in her own colorway.
Nancy is working on Ruby Razzle Dazzle, NJNA’s 2015 SOTM, in the sage green and purple colorway.
Linda is also working on Ruby Razzle Dazzle in the terra cotta and blue colorway.
We are now halfway through this year’s stitching projects. While we are still meeting on Zoom, we are hoping that we can resume in-person sessions this Fall.
Those who are working on the ANG Stitch-of-the-Month – Stratigraphy – have now stitched 14 layers of strata using six different stitches. Their projects are really taking shape!
Brenda
Diane
Robin has chosen to start a new series of strata using several of the layers previously stitched.
Robin
Rosie
Sue
Holly has completed her project – Kathy Rees’ Star – and is thinking of making it into a pillow.
Melita is nearing completion and has used a striking background color.
Although she finished her Star last year, Janice did send in a picture of her framed piece. I just love the framing!
Nancy and Linda are making considerable progress on Ruby Razzle Dazzle, which was our 2015 SOTM project. Could there be a couple of finishes this year?
We are at the end of May – the unofficial start of Summer. The weather over the past few weeks has been quite variable with 90-degree days followed by 50-degree days. Climate change or just Springtime in New Jersey?
Our NJNA SOTM group is still meeting virtually although many of the COVID-era restrictions are now being lifted. We hope to get back to seeing each other in person someday soon. In the meantime, Zoom check-ins are sustaining us.
Progress is being made on the ANG SOTM Stratigraphy and we’re starting to see some color changes on the stitch layers.
Brenda
Diane
Robin
Rosie
Barbara continues to make progress on Petite Arabesque when she’s not visiting the grandchildren!
Barbara
And Jacqui is busy with Asymmetrical Copper.
Jacqui
Linda and Nancy are both working on Ruby Razzle Dazzle, although in very different colorways.
Linda
Nancy
We’re looking forward to the halfway point in June!
Once again it is time to show off our Stitch-of-the-Month projects. Our group is still meeting on Zoom, which provides us with some interaction while we stitch, but we are all missing the in-person experience. We continue to hope that we will be able to gather together soon.
Those in the group who are working on Stratigraphy have incorporated a third stitch into the design.
Diane
Rosie
Robin
Brenda
Barbara is moving ahead with Petite Arabesque.
Barbara
Linda added the center petals to Ruby Razzle Dazzle and Noelle has started her version. Nancy is making progress but is too shy to share a picture yet!
Noelle
Linda
Our newest NJNA member, Melita, has joined our SOTM group and is working on ANG’s 2020 Stitch-of-the-Month project – Star by Kathy Rees. Her colors are delicious!
Melita
Melita’s Thread Selection
We are looking forward to our April gathering to see more progress on everyone’s projects!
Our intrepid group of stitchers is continuing to make progress on the various Stitch-of-the-Month projects for 2021. With meeting restrictions still in place, we again met on Zoom to catch up with each other and to report on stitching.
Stratigraphy, the ANG 2021 Stitch-of-the-Month project, continues to intrigue the group, even those who are not stitching that project this year. A new stitch will be introduced each month and then will be combined with previous months’ stitches to create the layers.
Brenda is using colors in one of the bathrooms in her house as inspiration for her colors.
Countertop, Accent Tiles, Towels
Brenda
The Grand Canyon is Robin’s inspiration.
Robin
Rosie chose a USGS theme.
Rosie
Janet is one of our turbostitchers, so she has already completed Asymmetrical Copper, which she also squared off to turn it into Symmetrical Copper.
Janet
Barbara is making great progress on Petite Arabesque.
Barbara
A few group members decided to work on past SOTM projects, either as new starts or to finish projects that were hibernating!
Sylvia chose A Different View by Kurdy Biggs of Threedles NeedleArt Desgins, which was the NJNA SOTM in 2014. The stitching on black canvas is just stunning!
Sylvia
Holly is working on Star by Kathy Rees, ANG’s and NJNA’s SOTM from 2020. She is using threads from her stash.
Holly
Tina realized she had miscounted and put aside Feuilles D’Ananas by Susan Hoekstra (ANG’s and NJNA’s 2016 SOTM). She’s corrected her mistake and will use this year to finish the project.
Tina
Nancy and Linda both chose Ruby Razzle Dazzle by Ann Strite-Kurz (NJNA’s 2015 SOTM) for their 2021 projects. Nancy admitted that she found the canvas easily enough but then couldn’t find the threads. She finally realized that she had put them all back into her stash! Fortunately she was able to recover them all.
Nancy
Linda
I’m looking forward to seeing more progress in March!
What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time our SOTM group gathered to start on the 2020 project – for most of us it was Kathy Rees’ Star, the ANG Stitch-of-the-Month. We lasted two months before COVID forced us to find an alternative means to meet. As with many other groups, we had a crash course in Zoom technology. While we miss the in person sessions, at least these virtual gatherings provide us with the opportunity to catch up with each other and share our project progress. It looks like we’ll be continuing our virtual sessions for the foreseeable future.
This month thirteen of us met during our morning session and nine were able to return for the afternoon session. We had no overwhelming consensus for our project this year, so the group decided that three projects would be selected – Jennifer Riefenberg’s Stratigraphy, which is the ANG 2021 SOTM; Jeff Kulick’s Asymmetrical Copper; and Laura Perin’s Petite Arabesque. As always, group members can also stitch a previous SOTM project.
Stratigraphy by Jennifer Riefenberg
Asymmetrical Copper by Jeff Kulick
Petite Arabesque by Laura J. Perin Designs
Stratigraphy promises to be an interesting project. Jennifer Riefenberg describes it as “a band sampler representing a cross section of the earth such as a geologist may see if taking a slice through time – complete with horsts and grabens (those pattern “offsets”), which are geologic features of fracturing (faults) and movement in the earths’ crust, often associated with valleys and ridges.”
Several of our stitchers are taking that description to heart. Robin is going to use a photo of the Grand Canyon as her guide for threads.
Rosie and Jill are both going to replicate map colors from the US Geological Survey (USGS), supplementing stash as needed. Since Rosie is using her stash, she has made a start on the project.
Sue C will be stitching hers in pastel colors as a true band sampler. Diane and Dee are opting for the Jennifer’s colorways as the subtlety of the gray palette really appeals to them.
Janet and Jacqui, as well as a few others who were unable to attend, will be stitching on Asymmetrical Copper. Both have picked their own colors with lots of red, black, orange, pink, and turquoise in the mix. Janet is also going to stitch it symmetrically! Jacqui did finish her fabulous version of last year’s project.
Barbara is stitching Petite Arabesque in the original colors as she had previously purchased the kit. It’s always a great feeling to be able to pull a project out of stash! I know a few others have said they would be stitching on this project, so expect to see more versions in future blogs.
Members of our SOTM group are encouraged to choose one of our projects from previous years if the current selection(s) do not fit in with their stitching style. Our newest member – Holly – decided to join the group after seeing last year’s project. She’ll be stitching Kathy Rees’ Star from stash, and has already made a great start.
A few of us are going to be stitching an older SOTM project from 2015 – Ruby Razzle Dazzle by Ann Strite-Kurz. Nancy and Linda had started the project that year but, for various reasons, put it aside before completing it while Noelle is just starting it. Linda’s piece is in Russet and Turquoise while Nancy is stitching in Green and Purple. Noelle will be using the original Red and Purple.
In the meantime, Nancy has finished her Star from last year, adding a border in one of her overdye threads. That border really finishes off the design!
We are all looking forward to stitching together this year – even if we must do so virtually. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will once again be able to gather for our monthly sessions.
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