Carol, our southernmost remote member, is also stitching her SOTM using Kathy Rees’ color suggestions, with a variation. Instead of Watercolours Polar Ice she has substituted Night Sky. It looks fantastic!
Stay well and happy stitching!
Linda
May25
May16
Another SOTM May Finish
Jacqui is one of our remote members and we usually see her only when she is in town to visit family. Our Zoom stitching sessions allow her to join us each month. She is stitching her SOTM project using Watercolours Almond and Creamsicle (gold) and Cinnabar and Cardinal (red). They look so rich!
Jacqui
Happy Stitching!
Linda
May14
Stitch of the Month – May 2020
Although we are still staying at home, the NJNA SOTM group is meeting via Zoom and making progress on this year’s project. Most of us are stitching ANG’s Stitch of the Month – an 8-pointed star by Kathy Rees reminiscent of a traditional quilt block. Each point of the star is a different stitch; the last four months of the year will cover the background.
All those who are stitching the project agree that the size of the project makes it very manageable for stitching each month. Since we all have other projects to work on, this SOTM allows for group stitching without a huge time commitment. The beginners among us are learning new stitches and the more advanced stitchers are refreshing themselves on how thread selections affect the look of a stitch.
Kathy’s model is stitched in reds (Watercolours Cinnabar and Cardinal) and blues (Watercolours Indigo and Polar Ice). Watercolours Caron Collection is a three-ply hand-dyed cotton thread with one ply equivalent to #5 pearl cotton. Other threads being used are Silk Lamé Braid, Petite Very Velvet, Mandarin Floss, and Neon Rays.
Several stitchers in the group have chosen Kathy’s colors and threads for their pieces. However, they do not all look the same! It’s really amazing how dye variations and thread travel paths affect the look of a piece.
Brenda, Janice, and Dee have all chosen the original colors and threads.
Brenda
Dee
Janice
Of course, our group just loves to change colors and threads, and we select our annual projects with that in mind. We’ve come up with some other lovely combinations. Unless otherwise noted, the overdye threads are Watercolours.
Jill chose Celadon and Emerald for her greens and African Sunset and Weeks Dye Works Begonia for the pinks.
Jill
Tina’s grays are Quicksilver and Dense Fog while her blues are Silver Blue and Blueberry.
Tina
Diane is stitching a variation of the original colors, using Williamsburg and Polar Ice for the blues and Williamsburg and DMC 814 Dark Garnet for the reds.
Diane
Robin is also using Williamsburg, along with Ticking, for her blues with Almond and Apricot Blush for the green/beige.
Robin
Rosie chose yellows – Creamsicle and Papaya – along with grays – Granite and Dark Suede.
Rosie
Nancy is using Grape and Fuschia along with Hudson Bay and Elderberry Wine.
Nancy
Ellen chose African Violet and Iris for her purples with Blue Lagoon and Tropical Seas for the blues.
Ellen
Linda is using African Violet and Amethyst for the purples and Wasabi and Guacamole for the greens.
Linda
It is amazing how different the projects look depending on the variation in the individual threads as well as the contrast between threads. Some stitchers manipulated the threads to get a mirror image within the point.
We’re looking forward to the June stitch and checking in with each other. Additional photos will be posted on this blog as others in the SOTM group complete their pieces.
Happy Stitching!
Linda
Apr29
Another COVID Finish
This piece is David McCaskill’s “Warmth of Color” that appeared in the January/February 2020 NeedlePointers. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to stitch it, and immediately started gathering supplies…good thing! Orange isn’t usually my favorite, but for some reason this just called out to me.
It’s been a lot of fun to stitch (a good companion to my operas 🙂 and I’ve learned some things. I’d never stitched on dyed canvas before, so that was interesting…Had to really pay attention when putting the canvas on the stretchers to make sure I didn’t stretch it out of whack…and had to be careful of my tension when stitching.
Three pieces started, three pieces finished!
Apr28
Even More 2020 SOTM
Here is Tina’s SOTM progress photo. Love the color choice.
Happy Stitching!
Linda
Apr26
More 2020 SOTM
Although we aren’t meeting in person yet, our SOTM group continues to work on the 2020 project. Dee is now caught up through April. She says she has always liked the Cashmere Stitch so this month’s section was really fun to stitch.
Happy Stitching!
Linda
Apr24
Another 2020 SOTM
Ellen has caught up stitching on her SOTM! Beautiful colors, Ellen.
Apr24
Finally Caught Up on SOTM 2020
Despite a late start, rethinking of my colorway and threads, and taking over as babysitter/preschool teacher for the past 2 weeks, I have finally caught up on the 2020 SOTM. I’m using stash and the same overdye in both colorways since it has both blue and burgundy. I was surprised I was able to find everything I needed in my stash.
Diane’s thru April
I’ve been able to stitch a little during “quiet time” and was very happy when my grandson wanted to sew with me. He made presents for his mom and his dad and has started one for himself. Fortunately I had cleaned up enough to locate some plastic canvas and a large needle!
Stay healthy and keep stitching.
Diane
Apr24
Need Another Project?
If anybody is looking for another project to stitch (!), EGA is offering an online counted piece by Margaret Bendig…take a look here:
The supplies it calls for are mostly floss, though of course you could choose other threads if you wanted. The cost is $35, but you do need to be an EGA member to sign up.
Apr15
Stitch of the Month – April 2020
Never let it be said that the SOTM Group is not dedicated … and adaptable. Despite Stay at Home, we still managed to get together via Zoom! We scheduled two sessions: one at 11:00 a.m. which is our usual starting time and one at 3:00 p.m. when we usually are wrapping up. SOTM members were encouraged to join either or both sessions so we could check in and see how the projects are progressing. We had 10 participants at each session; most were at both and a few attended one.
It was great to get together again, even though virtually, and catch up with the group. An added bonus was that the Zoom format afforded us the opportunity to chat with Brenda and Jacqui, who are remote members. So now we can put a few more faces to the names. We may repeat the experience even after we are passed the current situation so that members who cannot attend in person will be able to join us.
Without further ado, here are the April progress photos:
Janice M
Brenda C
Rosie L
Sue C
Robin M
Jill W
Mally B
Nancy W
Linda M
Sylvia has decided to work on A Different View by Kurdy Biggs this year. This design was our 2014 SOTM. She is stitching in the Black colorway which will be stunning.
Sylvia B
We’re looking forward to the May stitching session, whether virtually or in person.
Happy Stitching!
Linda
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