A bit of headway

I finally got some more stitching done--that I don't plan to rip out--on the quilt sampler piece. I still have been ripping about as much as stitching!

The upper left-hand corner is done and I've settled on what to do with the center. The rest of the stitching will be done in the yellow as a background to the flower. I think it will add brightness to the center. I have some ideas for the lower right-hand corner, too.

Now I'm looking at the designs and wondering if I should backstitch them. I think it would change them a lot--I'm not sure whether it would improve them, though. I think I'll begin by backstitching around the outside of each square, perhaps in a dark brown, and then see what I think.

Thanks to Jane of World Embroideries, I have a finished project to show. She taught biscornu finishing at our guild meeting on Monday and that spurred me to dig out a pieced biscornu I'd begun but never completed. It's done now and I even found a painted glass button that matched perfectly. (The other side has a very nice orange-yellow Bakelite or early plastic button--a photo is on Flickr.) I really love these bright fabrics. (Moda)

Also at the meeting on Monday, we were given our summer challenge project. This year it is to create a geometric design to fit into the 6" square trivet we were given. I really enjoy these summer challenges which have varied from "stitch what makes you happy" to "finish up UFOs." Last year we were given a chart that had no key--the color choice was up to us.

I came home and got out the graph paper and began jotting notes. Looking at it later, I noticed that most everything I noted was based on what I'd been doing most recently--Sashiko (the quilt show t-shirt), pulled thread (the Hardanger project), quilt pattern (mom's sampler).

My first thought was cut paper designs. I know that particular concept came from Sharon B's class on studio workbooks. I envision some sort of 1950s squarish Os in various sizes. I didn't have any colored paper handy so that idea hasn't been recorded yet.

What would you do?

I'm getting ready to go on a holiday. A friend and I are going to drive to upper New York State to visit another very good friend, Susan, that I've missed terribly since she moved east. Road Trip! I can't wait...

I hope to post while I'm gone--probably with very little needlework content, but hopefully with some nice landscape and nature photos and perhaps photos of some of the great food I'm looking forward to!