At long last my Denise rug is completed!  There are over 66,000 stitches in this little rug.  I decided to try a new style (new to me) of edging instead of using my usual overcast stitch.  I tried using a "braid" style stitch which is best described in this YouTube video.  I really enjoyed trying out this stitch and once I got the hang of it, it went very smoothly.  I like the square instead of rounded profile I got with this stitch and am very pleased with the results.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of the edge due to the black floss.  Sometime when I finish another project with a lighter color I will try to get a good photo of it.

This is the first of my stitched rugs that I will be offering for sale in my Etsy shop and can be found HERE if interested.  Over time I may offer other stitched items as I make them but for now, this one has the honor of being my first!

I am happy to say I have now finished the main stitching on my rug!  Here it is still in its frame, awaiting the next stage of completion.  Now I will be blocking it for the next few weeks before finishing the sides of the rug.  I have decided not to put a fringe on this rug so will need to overcast all 4 sides.
Once this rug is fully completed, I will be offering it for sale on my Esty site.

Now that this one is finished, I will be taking a break from stitching rugs and will be working on a project of my own that I have been working on (off and on) for the last 3 years.  I am trying not to get distracted by thoughts of another rug.  However, since I always have to have at least 3 projects on the go at the same time, I will also be working on creating stitched upholstery for a miniature chair and some miniature cushions, all my own designs.

I am also in the process of determining the best designs for my CNC machine that will allow the mounting of stitching projects so will be cutting more room screens and fire screens.  Once the design is perfected, they will also be offered for sale on my Etsy store.  

​Stay tuned for more updates...

Since my last post, I have been dividing my time between creating fun things on my new CNC machine and working on my rug.  I finally feel as if I am on the homeward stretch now.  I am currently working the light blue background around the top half.  Once that is done, I will only have the center to finish.  It always feels good when I pass the halfway point on a particular project because I then know that I may soon start the next one.

I have also been having a lot of fun with my new machine and have been cutting out my new creations to see how they look.  So far, I haven't had to tweak much in my designs and it is so satisfying being able to create something out of my imagination and see it come to life. 
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I have decided to expand my blog from only stitching projects to include other projects I have created for my shop.  I think it gives a more well-rounded view of my activities and those of my daughters.  My youngest daughter has agreed to join me in my miniature venture and is currently working on writing a miniature book for me.  Heather absolutely loves to write and is currently working on a full-length book she wishes to publish eventually.  I am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with for me. 🙂

Since my last post, I have made quite a bit of progress on the middle and am almost finished the center motif.  I think I can now say that if I lump all of the stitching together, I am now halfway finished - maybe a bit more.  The second half of a rug always seems a bit tedious because you have already stitched that part on the other half so it doesn't seem as exciting as when you first see a design element come to life.  I always enjoy seeing a design come to life.  It is such a satisfying feeling!
By the time I get to the second half of a project, my thoughts start turning to the next project I wish to do.  This time, I am not sure what I want to do.  Our Petitpoint group will be stitching a set of elements to cover a miniature wingback chair so, since none of my rug patterns are calling to me at the moment, I think I will do that.  I have the perfect chair to use for the project and have already taken it apart to get the templates for the fabric needed.  Now I have to decide on a design to use!  Luckily, I have a bit of time before I will start stitching it because I will not be starting until this rug is done.
​Until next time, Happy Stitching!

As you can see, I have gotten a bit more done on the center motif this past week.  As I am stitching with the black again, I am having trouble mis-counting again but this is coming to an end now and I am enjoying filling in various other colors.  I will be very pleased once I am able to fill in the first half of the middle completely and begin on the second half.  
​This week, I am looking after my 2 year old grand daughter so won't get much stitching done. It is fun though because I haven't seen her since Christmas eve, due to the lockdown.  It is wonderful that she still remembers me!

This past week, I have been having a lot of fun working on the middle sections of the rug.  I have decided to work from the corners towards the center.  The main corner I am working is the bottom left, but if I have a lot of thread left in a color I won't be using close by, I have been ending the thread and working the opposite corner.  This is why the opposite corner has a lot less finished.

You will notice that there are a couple of threads that are still attached to the little motif on the left side near the halfway point of the side.  These threads lead upwards, away from my stitching and are placed outside the stitching area of the rug.  This method is called "parking" your thread and is used when you are going to be using that color again soon but don't wish to count to the next place you are going to use it.  I often make mistakes if I have to count too far without other stitches close by for reference, so I do this to save the thread until I have done some more stitching close by and can count easier.  It saves me having to end off my thread and start again. I keep the end of the thread far away from my stitching area so that I don't accidentally stitch the end in with my work. 

​Sometimes stitchers will leave the needle threaded with the color and "park" the needle on a magnet they have attached to the side of their frame (or if using foam core, they can poke it into the foam on the side).  This way, they have multiple needles in use and don't have to keep re-threading their needle when switching to different colors.

I will also "park" threads if I am using a dark color and have a light color to stitch between the dark color and the next dark area.  This is because if you carry the dark thread across before stitching the light color, it will show through.  If the dark color runs across the light area after the light area is stitched, it won't show through.  Ideally, it is best to run the dark thread under another equally dark thread to get to the next dark area, but sometimes this isn't possible.

This past week I completed the first of the inner two borders and am now working on the last border before I begin the center pattern.  These last two borders are going so much easier now and I am becoming excited to start on the middle!  As you can see, I couldn't resist doing a little bit of the outlining for the first motif in the corner.  I did this mostly because I was using up some black thread that I still had a length of when I finished the last diamond.  I didn't want to end it off and restart later so I continued on.
Now that I see it there I can see how it will help me with the blue section of the inner border, so I have decided I will continue outlining motifs close to the border so that I know where to put the blue and will hopefully prevent mistakes in counting.  For now, I will continue the red then fill in the diamonds.

At long last, after many, many re-starts of areas, my outer two borders are finally complete! This is a celebration day for me.  🙂  There is one tiny spot that isn't completed in the wide part of the border (can you see it?).  Hint: it is in the wider part of the left border.  I will fill that in when I am working with that color doing the next border rather than fill it in now. 

After I have finished a section, I go over it visually to see if I have missed any single stitches and fill them in.  I found a couple of black stitches I had missed and a few whites which I fixed.  The last section I had missed consisted of several stitches that I knew I could see easily so I decided to wait until I was once again working with that color.

Now I am working on the next border, as you can see on the bottom and right side, and it will be the same elements as are in the outer border.  I began it last night and still found I was having difficulty counting it out properly.  However, this time, unlike last time, I caught the mistakes early since I had the wide border to use as a positioning reference.

Hopefully, by next week I can have the next two borders either done or well on their way to being done.  Then I can start on the fun center.  There are less black stitches in the center so I hope it will go quicker.  Despite my new glasses (which are working wonderfully) I find it very difficult to see the individual stitches when I am looking at the black ones, whereas I can see every single individual stitch in any of the other colors.  Not sure if this is just me or if others have this difficulty.  For me, it makes stitching this quite a challenge, but a welcome one since it gives me such a sense of accomplishment when I complete an area correctly!

During these last 5 days, I have been filling in the border a bit and it is coming along quite nicely.  My first photo was taken against a light background, as I generally do and then I realized I couldn't see all of the work I had done on filling in the white outlines.  Therefore, I took the photo again on a dark background.  
In filling in the borders, I alternate between doing easy no-count sections inside areas I have already outlined, and doing outlining where I have to pay attention more.  I do this, firstly to make sure I am alert when doing the counted parts and, secondly to relieve boredom of filling in sections.  This way I can get all of it done without getting too bored. (I tend to get bored if I do too much that is easy and like the challenge of creating new motifs in the pattern)
Hopefully by next week I will have more of the black filled in so that the borders will look more completed.  I find it interesting that borders seem to take so long and it feels as if you haven't accomplished much and then all of a sudden they are done!  I look forward to that day. ​😉