Progress Report - March 2013

Early in February, J’s car broke down and we car shared for over 2 weeks while awaiting spares and repairs. Getting both of us to and from one in one vehicle added nearly 2 hours to my working day and made a serious dent in my stitching time. As I could not stitch most mornings I have started stitching in the evenings again. That has not been ideal for either of my current projects. Any artificial light reflects of the beads and the needle is difficult to see against the dark fabric. I mostly worked on the seeded background in the evenings and saved the more intricate beading for the weekends. Somewhat surprisingly I have made good progress, so much so I thought that I might complete side one by the end of February. Unfortunately I was unwell at the beginning of the week and did not even feel like stitching for a day or two, so I did not quite reach that mile stone.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I have also been working on Tree Creepers but not progressed this as much as I would have liked. I find it really difficult to do colour matching under artificial light, even a daylight bulb. And, I am having way too much fun with my beading, truth is whenever I get a little stitching time I gravitate towards the beading. I have just under 2 weeks left to finish this piece, I am doubtful that I can do it in time but I will do my best.

© Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - January 2013

The last paragraph of my progress report in December 2011 was "I already know that I have taken on too much and will struggle to meet all of my goals but there is nothing that I want to cut from my list! It looks like being a busy year."

It did not take me very long to decide that I did need to cut something from my list and that something was TAST. Even so, it was a very busy year!

At the beginning of the year Camellias was on Frame One. My aim was to finish this phase by the end of February but I had a far more important deadline to meet before I could progress with it. Camellias is by far the biggest challenge that I have faced in Japanese embroidery so far; I found it very difficult to get to grips with long and short stitch. Lack of time and greater lack of confidence caused me to doubt that I would meet my deadline; however I persevered and achieved my goal. I also overcame my anxiety about this technique.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

The next piece to go onto Frame One was Queen of Flowers. Unlike long and short stitch, I was really looking forward to learning Fuzzy Effect at Phase VIII so my class in March was a far more relaxed affair than the previous year. As seems to be becoming a tradition, as soon as the class in Bournemouth was over, I put Queen of Flowers away to focus on other things. Apart from a few days stitching in the autumn, this piece has not progressed since then. I am not able to attend the Bournemouth class this March so I am not under any pressure to complete this phase by then but I would like to make a start on Phase IX this year, possibly in September. My aim is to complete Queen of Flowers by the end of August.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Embroidery Bridge Between East and West is still on Frame Two and has not progressed at all during 2012. I would still like to complete this piece but it is a low priority. I don’t expect to work on it much during 2013.

My first goal in 2012 was to complete Floral Melody; I completed it on the last day of January.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Frame Three remained empty for several weeks while I dithered about what to stitch after I returned from Atlanta. In the mean time I worked on a few smaller projects but eventually I put the Tudor and Stewart Goldwork Sampler on Frame Three and spent the next 4 months working almost exclusively on that. Although completed in October the piece is still on the frame. Taking it off and mounting it will remain a low priority until I need that frame for something else!

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

I resolved the dilemma of which frame to put my Phase V beading onto by purchasing a second 39 inch frame (Frame Five). No sooner had I finished stitching the Goldwork Sampler than I resumed work on the Pouchette. I am really enjoying beading at the moment and simply cannot find enough time for it.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Amazingly, Frame Four has remained empty for over a year but that is about to change. I have two projects vying for that position. The Oxford Branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild are holding a members’ exhibition in early spring. I would dearly like to submit a piece for it this time but am already concerned that I don’t have sufficient time to do what I have in mind. If I started now, I might feasibly finish it but the second project I want to do needs to be finished by early summer and that too will be a time consuming piece. I don’t think that I can complete both by the end of May. It looks like I am going to have to choose between them unless I put the beading away and concentrate on these two projects but I don’t want to do that either. It is more important to me to complete the second project, so I think that I will work on that next.

I have a really exciting trip to look forward in the first half of the year and an equally exciting class lined up for the summer. It promises to be great year I just need to find the time to fit everything in (and not take anything else on)!

Happy 2013

Progress Report - December

I am definitely not getting as much stitching time as I would like, especially at the weekends, but I am managing to fit in a little time most mornings to work on my Pouchette. I am making slow but steady progress. It is a good thing that I enjoy couching because my design involves a lot of couching and it is taking a very long time to do all the outlines. I think that it will be worth it because it does emphasis the swirly gold lines in the way I imagined. The Pouchette had a day out at The Big Stitch last Saturday and I received some very nice comments about it.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

In the evenings I have been working on the bird thimble holder. Another slow project! All of those tiny buttonhole stitches round and round and round! Actually, it is not all round and round, there was a little toing and froing for a while. I finally covered the entire body. It has taken me two months just to do that and that was only lesson one of four so I may be working on this little bird for some time yet.

© The Essamplaire/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - November

I’ve just returned from a Japanese Embroidery class in Garstang. It was wonderful to meet up with friends and spend four days stitching but it always amazes me how exhausting having fun can be!

With the gold work sampler finished and work resumed on a couple of other projects, now seems like a good time to make a progress report.

When I last wrote a report back in April, I was in a quandary about what to work on next. My dilemma was that I wanted to work on my Phase V beading, Pouchette, but would like to put it onto my 39” frame. I currently have Queen of Flowers on that frame and am loath to take it off even though it would fit onto a smaller frame. I solved the problem by purchasing another 39” frame!

No sooner was the last thread fastened on the gold work sampler than I was lacing the Pouchette into the new frame and this has become my morning project. It has taken a day or two to re-find my focus so little progress has been made thus far but I am beginning to settle back in to it.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I worked of Queen of Flowers at Garstang. There were three qualified tutors there so it would have been daft not to take advantage of their knowledge and expertise while I was there. Although it does not look as if I have made much progress with this piece very much, I put in a lot of stitching time. Fuzzy effect is a slow process! I am a little uncertain about the two leaves I completed but want to put other leaves around them before I come to any decision about them.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I cannot believe that I have nothing else to report! Apart from the Tulip Slip that I finished in June, all of my stitching time has gone into the gold work sampler!

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - April

For the first few weeks of the year I made a concerted effort to finish some of the projects that I had already started or committed to. I did well. The most important finish was Floral Melody. I had to complete this in order to enrol for the Phase V class. I finally complete Floral Melody at the end of January but I could not afford to take a break in my stitch schedule, I wanted to complete Camellias by the end of February so that Frame One would be available for me to begin Phase VIII at my Japanese Embroidery class in March. I did the finishing and removed Camellias from the frame the weekend before the class. At that time I was in the very unusual position of having three Japanese embroidery frames with nothing on.

I tend to work on a large project, usually Japanese embroidery or bead embroidery, in the mornings and at weekends. I like to have something smaller and less time consuming for the evenings. In January I concentrated on completing all of the Round Robin Doodle Pages and sent those off. I also stitched an overdue Colour Challenge Chinese Whisper page. These were all for swaps I had signed up for on the Embroiderer’s Guild member’s forum.

I then turned my attention to an on-line class – Chinese Flower by Trish Burr and before that had ended I had signed up for another on-line class – Purple Pansy by Tanja Berlin ... and before I had finished that I signed up for Susan Elliot’s e-course, Harikuyo needle book.

By the end of March, I had not completed every WIP (work in progress) but I had dramatically reduced them. By the end of April, I had started four new projects!

Phase VIII – Queen of Flowers has gone onto Frame One and was started at my annual Japanese embroidery class in Bournemouth.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Bridge Between East and West on Frame Two has not been out of the portfolio. Frame Three travelled to Atlanta with me for Bead Class and held Phase V, Pouchette for 2 weeks. I’ve had to take it off the frame to bring it home.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I rented a frame from the Center to do the Special Project so this also has had to come off the frame for the time being.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I took a Needlework Nibble to Atlanta, thinking that I would work on it in the evenings. As it turned out, I had very little time or energy for anything in the evenings but I have made a start with it.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

At the moment I am in a bit of a quandary what to do next. I would like to work on all of the projects that I have started recently but I need to focus on one. I would most like that one to be the Pouchette but it is slightly too long for the smaller frames so needs to go on Frame One. I don’t really want to take Queen of Flowers off the frame, although it would fit onto the smaller frames. There is also another project that I would like to work on, the Gold work Master Class sampler. I have mounted the fabric for this project onto Frame Four but it is not yet started. Decisions, decisions!

Happy Stitching

Progress Report – December

I have been setting myself goals and regularly reviewing my progress for a year now, so this month I want to review the last year and look ahead for the next 12 months.

My initial goals centred on my four Japanese Embroidery Frames.

At the beginning of the year Loving Couple was on Frame One. The embroidery was already done so I only had to do the finishing and mounting before taking LC to the framers. Next onto the frame was my Phase VII piece. I started Camellias at my Japanese Embroidery class in March. The long and short stitch techniques learnt at this Phase proved very challenging for me and I have not made much progress with it. I would like to start the next Phase in March, so my aim is to finish Camellias completely by the end of February. With everything else I would like to finish this spring, that may be a bit tight but this is my second highest priority deadline.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Embroidery Bridge Between East and West is on Frame Two. My goal was to finish this by the end of 2011. Not only have I not achieved that, I have done very little stitching on this piece during the past 12 months. Completing this piece was not my highest priority and other things came up that I wanted to do first. It remains a low priority but I would like to finish it. I don’t see that happening anytime in 2012.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I have spent far more time on Frame Three than any other. I have a bigger goal than simply finishing current projects that centres around this frame. In April Matsukawa-san will be teaching Phase V class in Atlanta. I want to be in that class but I cannot enrol until I have completed the beading on Phase IV. My goal was to finish Floral Melody by Christmas 2011. I did not make that deadline but I was really close. I estimate that I have 20-30 hours beading left to do. This is currently my top priority.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Floral Melody was on Frame Four at the beginning of the year. That frame has remained empty since I moved FM to Frame Three and I still have not decided what to put onto this frame next.

One of the 'things that came up' was Floral Glove. This took me far longer than I imagined it would but I thoroughly enjoyed the class, learnt a lot from it and am delighted with my finished etui.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

Another 'thing' was Chinese Flower. This also has taken far long than I thought it would and is not yet finished. I am nearly there and would like to finish it soon, say by the end of February.

© Trish Burr/Carol-Anne Conway

Neither of these was something that I had planned to do but proved to be too tempting when I heard about them. They did however, fit with my learning plan for the year. They both included instructions for long and short stitch, the very technique that I was struggling with on Camellias. From those two on-line causes I think that I have learnt a lot about LSS and one of the things that I learnt is that the Japanese method is different from the western method. It will be interesting to see if all that I have learnt will be of help or a hindrance when I return to Camellias.

Other plans for 2012 include an on-line course with Tanya Berlin. This is another LSS project – I think that I am becoming a little obsessed with this stitch! The course begins in February which is not ideal timing for me but this was another 'unmissable' opportunity!

I have also enrolled for the Cabinet of Curiosities online course – yet another 'unmissable' opportunity. What embroiderer hasn’t dreamt of making their own embroidered casket? This is a big investment in terms of time and money but, if the two courses I have previously done with Thistle Threads are anything to go by, it will be well worth it.

Finally, I have also signed up for TAST 2012. I never did complete all of the stitches first time around and I would like to fill in the gaps. I don’t intend to as much as I attempted to the first time, except for maybe for a few stitches that I feel should be in my set of samplers.

I already know that I have taken on too much and will struggle to meet all of my goals but there is nothing that I want to cut from my list! It looks like being a busy year.

Happy Stitching

Progress Report – November

Life continues to be busy and I continue to make as much time as possible for embroidery.

Various factors meant that Jon and I did not get a much longed for holiday in the sun this year. The upside for me was that I had a few days holiday to use up so I myself onto a couple of embroidery workshops. Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of Hazel Everett. The first I heard about Hazel was a gushing review of her new book by Mary Corbett. Then a chance meeting with one of her students led me to an exhibition of her work and the fact that Hazel teaches a gold work class practically on my doorstep! I should have spent the holidays working on my beading but instead I signed up for two 2-day classes in November.

During the first class we worked on a poppy which is mostly done in chip work. The class is very friendly and informal. Many of the group have been attending for several years and already know quite a lot about gold work but Hazel has the knowledge and experience to guide both the novice and the more experienced at a pace that suited each individual. As you can see, I didn’t get much done but I am a slow worker and gold work is a slow process. I don’t find chip work overly difficult but it is time consuming cutting the very fine purl into chips and sewing on each chip individually.

© Hazel Everett/Carol-Anne Conway

At the second class I started a Christmas ornament. We had a choice of two designs, one based on holly leaves, the other on a poinsettia or working on a UFO. We were also given a free choice of how to edge and fill the leaves. This meant that several different designs were being worked in a number of different techniques but again Hazel coped easily with keeping us all working steadily. I worked fairly constantly during the class but of course did not manage to finish my ornament in the two days!

© Hazel Everett/Carol-Anne Conway

Both of these have been put aside while I concentrate on Floral Melody. I did put in slightly more time than last month but seemed to make less progress. I am not sure why that is. Up until now, I have been fairly confident that I could complete this by Christmas but now that there are only three weeks before my target, I am beginning to have doubts.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I have also continued to make slow progress with Chinese Flower. I am really pleased with how this is working out and am gaining confidence in this method of working LSS. I just wish that confidence would spill over into my Camellias!

© Trish Burr/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching

Progress Report – November

I’ve put in just over 80 hours on Floral Melody to date, which means that I did a little over 10 hours last month. That is well short of my target but when I look at the difference between the October picture and this one, I seem to have made a lot of progress. I thought that the smaller motifs would go in quickly but I am amazed at how much I done in such a small amount of time. Most of the small flowers are done, only a dozen or so remain, then I will start of the leaves and stems. Completion by Christmas seems a realistic target now and I’m still enjoying this piece immensely.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I’ve also made some progress on the Chinese Flower. Again, I have not done as much as I would have hoped. I’ve nearly completed lesson three and am pleased with what I have done so far.

© Trish Burr/Carol-Anne Conway

I had a four day Japanese Embroidery class at the end of the month. I took Camellias with me to work on. With all that I have learnt from the Floral Glove, Chinese Flower and the lesson with Phillipa Turnbull I was feeling quite confident about working on this Phase again. That is until I got started, then all of my doubts and anxiety about LSS came rushing back. I really don’t understand why I get so stressed about it. I completed the two tone flower on the right-hand side. I don’t like it but I won’t be removing it because I honestly don’t think that I can do any better at this stage of my journey.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

So as not to leave the month on that pessimistic note, I had a great time at class. It was wonderful to spend some time with friends just stitching. Plus, starting tomorrow, I have a two day class in gold work with Hazel Everett to look forward to :-D.

Happy Stitching

Progress Report – October

Despite my hissy fit on Monday about missing out on stitching time, I have stitched most days this month and am still making good progress. I have now put in just under 70 hours on Floral Melody and at the end of last week reached one of my goal posts – I have completed all of the large motifs and started on the myriad small motifs. I’ve been itching to do some of these so it was quite difficult to persist with the larger motifs until they were done.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I have also made some progress with Chinese Flower, well good progress I suppose but I rather hoped to complete this by the end of the month and I fell well short of that target. I am really pleased with what I have done so far. I’ve completed the first two lessons and have already learnt a great deal from this on-line course but I think that the best is still to come.

© Trish Burr/Carol-Anne Conway

I haven't done any work on the Travelling Pages or post cards that I still need to do!

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - September

I am really pleased with the progress I made in August. I have been getting up earlier so that I can do some stitching before I leave for work. I haven’t managed a hour every day but I’ve done slightly more on others, especially at the weekends. Even though I had a week with virtually no stitching (when I scratched my eye) I’ve put in over 40 hours on Floral Melody this month.

I estimated 130 hours stitching time for this design. Looking at how much I have done in 40+ hours, I think it is going to take even longer (I always underestimate the time required to do something!) but if I average 40 hours per month, I should be able to finish it by Christmas.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I managed to finish Floral Glove before the end of the month, but only just! I am pleased to have it finished and pleased with the finished article but I am far more pleased to have started my next project. I’ve been itching to do this for the last 5 months. When I was struggling with the long and short stitch on Camellia’s I thought that Trish Burr had launched her thread painting correspondence course solely for my benefit. I’ve only stitched one small element so far but this is now my evening project.

© Trish Burr/Carol-Anne Conway

I have also stitched the last three Round Robin Travelling Pages. Some of these are starting to find their way home so I will soon be able to show pictures of my contribution. I have one more Travelling Page on a different subject and a couple of postcards still to do.

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - August

The decorating is finally finished (all bar a couple of small jobs the electrician has to come back to do). It still took the first to weekends in July to finish everything. The following weekend we gave the kitchen a thorough spring clean. The next Saturday I spent at Art in Action and Sunday was generally tidying up in preparation for visitors. J’s sister and brother-in-law were over from Amsterdam for the last week of July and, of course, we wanted to spend as much time as possible with them. You’ve guessed it; I’ve not had much time for embroidery!

With little time and little motivation it has been slow going doing the finishing on Floral Glove, but I am getting there and if I knuckle down to it, this should be finished in time for September’s report.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

I’ve started the beading on Floral Melody, hoorah! I have been doing a little bit before work each day for the past week. I estimate that this will take me approximately 130 hours and I want to complete it by Christmas. There are only 144 days until Christmas so I have to aim to average about an hour a day, every day. Eek!

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I completed one more Travelling Page this month. These have been such fun to do and this one was a theme particularly close to my heart. I have three more TP’s to do in this series and another in a different vein.

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - July

Perhaps I should write a progress report on the decorating since most of my days off have been devoted to that! I’d love to report that it is finished but alas it is not. It is however very nearly finished.

I had one day out to play with beads with a friend. I also had an entire weekend of stitching when I managed to finish the gold work on Floral Glove. I then had a couple of days off sick but felt so lethargic that attaching a few spangles and seed pearls was all I could muster enthusiasm for. I even managed to get a few of the spangles in the wrong place so I will have to redo those! All of the embroidery on Floral Glove is completed; I now have to make it up into a scissor case. I am far more motivated to do the embroidery than the finishing so this has languished the last few days. However, I am determined that this will get finished so have banned myself from starting anything new until it is done.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

I have also made significant progress on my Japanese bead embroidery, although I have not actually attached any beads! I did the finishing on Poppy Pouch and removed it from the frame then moved Floral Melody from its temporary frame onto frame three. This is a psychological milestone rather than physical progress. It means that I can now begin beading Floral Melody in earnest and frame 4 is also available for a new project but I haven’t decided what that is going to be yet!

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

On the subject of Poppy Pouch, I have been working on a crochet rope handle for the pouch in the evenings. My friend Sue taught me how to make a crochet rope a little over a year ago. Since then I had been making a rope with Black FAB (frosted aurora borealis) beads that appear to be dark denim blue. Initially, I really struggled with the technique and made very slow progress. I kept the beads and crochet hook in my handbag and worked on it when I had some time on my hands. When we broke down in the snow last December, I whiled away the hours waiting for the tow truck with this project. A few weeks ago, I started doing some in the evenings; it doesn’t require too much brain activity so is nice to do when I am too tired for anything more demanding. Somewhere along the line the penny dropped and I finally crocheted a length long enough to make a necklace.


Buoyed by that success, I threaded the beads for the handle in a 2 white, 1 gold repeat on white thread. I’m not entirely sure when I started work but I managed to make a couple of inches every time I worked on it and over the course of the month made enough rope for the handle.


Looking back at the first post in this series, I am reminded that my aim was not merely to report what I had done but to actually set myself some goals. My goal for frame 1 was to finish Loving Couple so that the frame was ready for Camellias. I met that goal, so my new goal for frame 1 is to complete Camellias by February 2012. That seems easily achievable but I know how things can languish so must keep reminding myself of this goal. For now though, Camellias is resting!

Embroidery Bridge Between East and West on frame 2 is also resting. The goal for this project is to have it finished by the end of the year. Again, that seems easily achievable but this dead line is a low priority so it may not get done.

Floral Melody is now on frame 3. My goal is to complete this by the end of the year. This deadline is my highest priority.

My immediate priority is to finish the Floral Glove.

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - June

I had twelve days off in May. Nine days were spent decorating (yes, still decorating and still not finished!). The other 3 days I spent with girl friends. A group of us went to Edinburgh to see an exhibition of Japanese embroidery. I have so much to blog about if only I can find the time!

Embroidery got no days this month. That’s not to say that I have not done any; I still try to do 15 minutes before I go to work each day. That has been patchy to say the least and I have not done any Japanese embroidery or Japanese bead embroidery at all!

I have made a little progress on the Floral Glove. It doesn’t look very different from the last report but I have done some work on it, honest!

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

I shall be glad when the decorating is finished; I am getting very grumpy about the lack of stitching time!

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - May

Thirty days hath September, April, June and November ...

I was working for sixteen days, in Venice for 4 days, decorating for 6 days and at a Japanese Embroidery open day for one day. That left just four days for embroidery!

On one of those days I stitched from early morning to late evening but I was watching the Royal Wedding at the same time. Another day, I went for a walk with my Mum with the hope of hearing the cuckoo for the first time this year (which we did) and one the remaining two days, stitching was squeezed inbetween, shopping, cleaning, washing etc, etc.

If it sounds like I am making excuses for the lack of progress this month, I am.

Camellias does not look very different from a month ago but I have made a lot of progress with learning Long and Short Stitch. Having said that, something is seriously hindering my progress with this piece. When I find time, I will blog about both my progress and the obstacles.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

When I realised that I was making no progress with Camellias, I decided to turn my attention to something else but not completely different. I began Floral Glove several months ago but it had gone into hibernation. Now was a good time to revive this project and I have made reasonable progress given that I have has so little stitching time. I have a lot to blog about this project!

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

In addition, I have done another Round Robin Doodle Travelling page. These are a lot of fun, but I cannot blog about them until the Round Robin is complete.

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - April

Wow, I can hardly believe that April is here already. March has been and extremely busy month for me both at work and socially. The last three weeks at work have been really intense. I have rather enjoyed the intensity of it but the extra hours and level of concentration throughout the day have left me feeling rather exhausted in the evenings. I would not have much to report this time had it not been for my week in Bournemouth at the beginning of the month.

Phase VII, Camellias is now on Frame 1: I am always a little dismayed by how little gets done during my week in Bournemouth but I remind myself that it is a class and I am learning new techniques. I have done a little more since returning home but I am still trying to get to grips with the techniques. I feel that this Phase is more of a learning curve for me that any other since Phase I but I want to succeed at it so am willing to take my time to understand it. This is the piece that is calling my name the loudest at the moment so expect to be working on it whenever I can in the coming month.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Frame 2: Embroidery Bridge has not even been out of its case this month.

Frame 3: While at Bournemouth, I spent a little time at the end of each day filling the space around the flowers with Tataki-ume (random seed beading). All of the beading on Poppy Pouch is now done but I have some finishing to do. When the stitching/beading is complete I lose interest to some degree. I am not so interested in making it into a bag as I was beading it but I want to take it off of this frame so that I can put Phase IV onto it and begin beading that in earnest. Maybe I will allocate a day or two of this month to doing that.

Phase IV is currently on Frame 4. I have yet to decide what I will put onto this frame when Floral Melody moves onto Frame 3 but I am in no hurry as I have more than enough to be getting on with at the moment.

I also stitched a Needlework Nibble, great fun, and I will blog about that soon, and another Round Robin Doodle Page but that will have to wait until the RR is complete.

This month I have another exciting new project starting.

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - March

Around the beginning of each month I plan to review what has been done in the previous month and set new goals for the coming month.

Frame 1: I have done the finishing and laced Loving Couple onto mount board ready for framing. I will take LC, unframed, to Bournemouth for my tutor to assess before having it framed. I would have liked to frame up my next Phase piece ready for class but there was a delay in delivery so I will collect the fabric and frame up on the first day.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Frame 2: I took Embroidery Bridge Between East and West away for a stitching weekend and made reasonable progress. I really like how this piece is developing and hope to give it some more stitching time soon.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Frame 3: Most of my stitching time has been dedicated to Poppy Pouch and it is coming along steadily. I did not quite meet my target of finishing by the end of February but it is nearly there. I estimate it will take 3-4 hours more stitching to complete this and I hope to do that this week.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I did not do any work on Frame 4 but nor did I expect to. I want to move Floral Melody onto Frame 3 before I do any more to it.

I also completed 4 travelling pages (I will blog about these when I know they have been delivered), 2 Round Robin Doodle Pages (to be blogged when the Round Robin is completed), crocheted a hat and made a necklace.

In March I go to Bournemouth for a 5 day Japanese Embroidery class (woohoo!), that will set the tone for my stitching for the coming month. I usually find that when I return from Bournemouth I only want to work on the Phase piece that I began in class, but I don’t want Poppy Pouch to fall by the way side. Hopefully, I can finish that in the next few days.

Happy Stitching

Setting Goals

I have a difficult relationship with time. I’ve never been able to manage it, keep track of it, or make best use of it. If times marches on then time and I march to a completely different beat.

To me time is erratic and unpredictable when logic tells me it should be constant and measurable. When I think that I have plenty of time, it speeds away from me, hence, I am always behind time. Time is the bane of my life.

I’ve been thinking about how I can make more time for embroidery, particularly my Japanese embroidery and beading. In the past, I have devised many plans for managing my time more efficiently but none have worked for me. I think it is time to take a different approach. Rather than focus on time, I am going to get SMART. I am going to get myself some goals that are Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Relevant – Time-bound.

I am going to start with four goals for February based around my four Japanese embroidery frames.

Loving Couple is on the first frame. This is my largest frame and the one I prefer to use for my Phase pieces. I have finished the stitching but need to do the finishing. I can then mount Loving Couple ready for the framers. I want to complete this by the end of February.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Embroidery Bridge Between East and West is on the second frame and has been for over 3 years. I am getting together with some friends this weekend for an embroidery weekend. I am going to do some stitching on Bridge. I won’t be able to finish it this month but would like to complete it this year.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Poppy Pouch is on my third frame. This is my main project at the moment. I have been doing a little nearly every day and it is steadily progressing. I have now done all of the couching on side two and can now move onto the flowers. I would like to finish Poppy Pouch by the end of February. This may be a little tight but if I continue to do a little each day, I think that it is achievable.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

My fourth frame is less substantial than the others. At the moment I have my Phase IV beading on it but I think that the eventual weight of the beads may be a problem. When Poppy Pouch is finished, I will transfer Floral Melody to frame 3. I would like to use this frame for projects that take less stitching time. I will probably start with the Double Cherry Blossoms fan.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I have other things on the go but don’t intend to set goals for those just yet. I want to see how I get on with these main objectives first. I plan to do a progress report and monthly objectives at the beginning of each month.

Happy Stitching