colliemommie | Entries tagged with needlework

This is a wedding sampler I made for my cousin and his wife. It was a little challenging to come up with a design; he's very casual, and she's a lot more formal, plus I don't know her well. She is from Japan, so I wanted to reflect that. The cranes are from the design book Oriental Cross Stitch by Lesley Teare, and the border design is modified from that book. The alphabet I designed myself. The entire thing is backstitch, except for the red on the crane's heads and the gold on the borders. I'm planning on finishing it with a red mat and a narrow black laquer frame.

Stitched over 2 on 28 count linen. DMC floss and Kreinik #8 braid. Finished size 9.5"x6".

Just realized I have this pictures from way back in March. This is another Jeannette Douglas band sampler. I used the thread pack from JD designs as well (got a very good deal on eBay). It uses Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Arts Sampler Threads, and some Caron Watercolors. This sampler was stitched for my dad, and it's now framed and hanging in his workshop.

Full sampler (click for bigger view):

Fabric is 28-count R&R Reproductions linen. Afraid I don't know what color; I bought it last January as part of a remnants sale bag at the Super Bowl Sale. It's a slightly yellow/creamy khaki.

Sampler top:

I love the cross-stitch picture at the very top. The trees are actually only two colors of green, but they're both Weeks' Dye Works verigated flosses, and I think the variation of color is great. I also like the native stone chimney on the cabin. The multi-colored band is a Caron Watercolors floss, so again, much simpler than it looks.

The legend is "A Home in the Woods", which I thought was perfectly suitable for my father. The pinecones are actually in the pattern with points up, but I think they looked a bit silly like that, so I flipped them. They have lazy daisy points and wheat stitch above, and might be my favorite part of this sampler.

Another picture with pinecones, because they are awful cute! The "stick figure" trees I don't think are very successful, but they help break up all the little motif rows.

The row underneath is hard to see because of the color, but there tends to be a row like that in Douglas' band samplers (The East Coast Sampler I did last winter had two rows of shell stitch that matched the fabric. Subtle, but lovely.). One of the things that really doesn't translate well in photos is the gorgeous texture of her designs, and the extra interest that brings. The "mountain lakes" blue band in this picture also has a lot of dimension to it.

Bottom of sampler. The text reads "NFK to JNF March '08". This was one of those happy mistakes. I was working this from the bottom up on a trip to Charlottesville. I counted single threads instead of over two threads, and ended up stitching the "lakes" band twice as far above the squirrell as it should have been. But that left the ideal amount of space for another row of the banded long-arm cross in the coral verigated (which I love) and a dedication line. Yay for serendipity!

Current Location: home
Current Music: x-files season 1

Finally got my pictures uploaded! Yay! Take that AT&T...you tried to thwart me, but I perservered!

This is a picture of the whole sampler. I stitched it on 28-count Autumn Blush Cashel linen, which is a gorgeous mottled sort of fabric, shading from warm cream to a rosy pale brown-pink. Threads were mostly cottons by Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Art Sampler Threads, with verigated silks by Gloriana.

I honestly think this is the nicest thing I've ever stitched. Quite proud of myself. This was intented to be a New England sampler, Connecticut specifically I think, but with very few changes it works nicely for Virginia.

( More detailed pictures and some explanation behind cut. )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: home
Current Music: Becket

I realized that, of the twelve or fourteen needlework projects I finished last year, none of them are still in my possession. It's a hereditary complaint, actually. Dad's the same way, makes all kinds of things from stained glass to furniture and then gives them away.

So this year I am trying to remember to take pictures of things before I gift them. January was a dead month for accomplishing anything, but I have two for February.

This is the first of a set of four cross stitch Santas from Prairie Schooner. 5" by 7" on R&R Reproductions 30-count Sea Fog Linen.

This is a pattern from Laura Perin's American Quilt Collection, Odd Fellows' Cross. It's about 9.25" by 9.25" on 18 count mono canvas. I love the pattern, this is actually the third time I've worked it, though I don't think these colors really do the pattern justice. Michelle wanted one to match her purple and teal bedroom, which is not a palette I'd ever pick.

Detail, to show how nice the stitches look...satin-stitched perle cotton looks almost too nice for something that easy. I love how the design minics white-on-white quilting. If you look at the "blank" blocks between the crosses, the pattern is either the same as the purple or a reverse of it. The teal is all one thread--a vareigated cotton from Caron Watercolors called Caribbean.

I plan on finishing my current project this week. It's a gorgeous sampler; I'm awful proud of it!