I had a good, productive May for Theme-a-licious.  May’s theme was “May Memories,” a month to focus on pieces that you’d acquired via a class.  I have two of those, both through Stitcher’s Hideaway, and both got some nice TLC time.

First up was Pocketful of Peppermint from Blue Ribbon Designs.  I took this class in October 2010 as my first ever stitching class.  We worked on a related ornament in class that covered all of the specialty stitches.  We received all of the supplies for both ornaments and the sampler, which Belinda went over during class time.  I wound up using my fabric from the kit for ornaments, so I’ve pulled from my own stash to start it.

Pocketful of Peppermint by Blue Ribbon Designs
Stitched on 36 ct Legacy from Picture This Plus
(with recommended floss)

I normally am a center starter with projects, but I wanted to try a different technique and do all of the squares for each motif first.  A good chunk of the specialty stitches are in these borders.  So far I’ve used rice stitch (bright yellow in top left), smyrna cross (green square directly below it), and plait stitch (brown square).  The rest so far are basic crosses.  The plait stitch took as long as all of the other squares put together.  It’s a easy stitch, but just takes a while to develop.  I’m about halfway done with the border squares… should get those wrapped up next round.

The other piece is Four Seasons of Mystic by Jeannette Douglas Designs.  Jeannette taught this piece this past October (2011).  It’s a very pretty, delicate sampler with lots of different stitches and lots of fibers that I’d never used before in class.

Four Seasons of Mystic by Jeannette Douglas Designs
Stitched on 32 ct Examplar by Lakeside Linens

This round, I did the vine divider between Spring and Summer and finished the outside border (which is done in wool). I somehow ended off by one single stitch when I completed the border and cannot for the life of me figure out where the missed stitch is. So rather than bounce around, I’ll be working the different seasons in order – at least to start for placement. Hopefully that will pinpoint where the mistake is.

Regardless of the mistake, I’m pretty happy with how the border turned out. There are three separate Lorikeet Wool colors in the border: Highland Garden Lt. on the left, Fallen Leaves in the center, and GT Tahoe Blue lt. on the right. I think I was pretty close with my color match when I changed over each color – the bottom right is the only real “hard” switch, and that’s where I caught the mistake.

I also did some work on a couple other projects, but that’s for the WIPocalypse post later this weekend.  :)

My June plans are going to veer off of Theme-a-licious.  I have a serious itch to complete some projects that are quite close to finishing, but they don’t really match the “Jumanji June” theme, unless you count my office being the jungle.  I’ll be clearing some of these near-finished projects off my plate instead.

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So, revisiting my goals for May…