First... I finished my Blackbird Designs Garden Borders from the Abcedarian series...
this one stitched up very quickly for me and I LOVE how it turned out. That it has a house and an alphabet score big points with me, but then it also has 3 dramatically different borders...oh I LOVE that too! and these are all very pretty borders. The one at the top stitched up lickety split as it was a repeating count. I used the called for CC Camouflage which is a great green with lots of different values. Those leaf sprigs on the right side used different colors... GA Dried Thyme (perhaps my most favorite green) and CC Avocado which is very nice too.
As always I made a few changes in thread colors to this one... those little bits of borders on the right side I brightened up with CC Country Redwood and the light portion of GA Dried Thyme and some CC Copper. They were all suppose to be done in GA Garden Gate... which is a dark gray... and I have very little love for gray...it has its place but the less of it the better for me.
I did change out the the called for GA Grecian Gold for GA Country Redwood on the two quilty looking star motifs (as I quilter I see a Lemoyne star on the left and a sawtooth star on the right). Using the Grecian Gold with GA Caramel Corn gave me no contrast at all... now I chalk this up to the difference in dye lots from one skein to another... which always drives me crazy. I was happy that my skein of GA Mountain Mist was nice a turquoise-y blue this time... sometimes it is just washed out... I thought about making it a yellow house but truth be told I've owned more blue or blue shuttered houses than yellow houses in my life... so it can be a ode to the house on Morrison Place, and the one on Kampen Court, and the one on Pond Woods Lane...
As for the heart... 1904 is the birth year of my sainted Grandma, Catherine Wasser Damon, and those are her initials. The chart has you stitch the year over one thread and then fill in stitching over one... ain't gonna happen... if I could have figured out how to do the date over 2 threads I would have...
I really like this one from the Abcedarian Series... now I need to get it framed!
And for some real finishes that I'm patting myself on the back for... first up...that little bird on the hand dyed turquoise Aida I showed last week...
I did an hand ruched satin ribbon finish on the edge... I have never done that before but I remembered seeing how to ruch the ribbon somewhere on this big wide web and well... it works! I think it looks quite elegant... I filled it with crushed walnut shells so it has a little heft...
and here is a glamour shot!
it looks great in this dish as part of my Spring-y decor...
And I was so pleased with myself after this finish that I did another...
now I stitched this up and finished it all within about 4 days... I have no idea what has gotten into me... I wish this energy would stick around a while...LOL! The sampler is a free pattern from Marly at Samplers-and-Santas... check her blog out here. Look up in the top left corner under her header and she has links to the free samplers she has designed... I printed off several of them. This one finished a petite 2.5" wide and 3.5" tall before I added that fabric at the bottom. I had the snippet of velvet ribbon in my paper crafting stash which includes a large collection of ribbons and trims... and I'm soooo happy I have them... I love a pretty ribbon!
I stitched this on a scrap of 36 count linen of undetermined origin and used bits of mostly leftover flosses from my stash... CC Avocado, Cappuccino, Jakey Brown, Mulled Berries and Wheatfields... and a bit of GA Dried Thyme. I did the big A and B in Smyrna cross and the bottom border in one ply of Jakey Brown in a satin stitch.
And here is it's glamour shot...
and yes I have multiple "bowls" with birds... this one came from Pier 1 a year or two ago... I would like to add more smalls and it will be my version of the dough bowls.
So cross stitch wise I've has a very productive week. I have spent a considerable amount of time with my left foot resting on the ottoman and it feels a bit better but every once in a while still gives me a twinge. I should probably go have it checked out...but I'm resisting... I spoke with a friend who had a stress fracture in her foot a couple of years ago and she spent about 6 weeks with her foot in one of those air cast boots... I know I wouldn't like that... so we'll see where this goes.
I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts today and Super Mom - No Cape on Monday. I hope you are having a lovely holiday weekend... I'm going to my son and daughter-in-law's house this evening for BBQ dinner...don't know what we'll do tomorrow but I do know we'll come up with something. Maybe we'll go downtown to Taste of Cincinnati... my younger son went yesterday and ate some delicious stuff... it is always a fun time.
happy stitching-
carol fun
Oh that is a pretty, pretty sampler Carol. Your birdie finish is darling!
ReplyDeleteI thought of you as we went through all the floss and stitching projects we found in my MIL's stash. I will hold on to her large tackle box of floss until I know I have what I need to finish a few special projects I held out.
ReplyDeleteYou are really on a roll... I especially love that bird with the ruched ribbon edging!
ReplyDeleteYour little bird is so adorable. I love the Blackbird design cross-stitch.
ReplyDeleteThe little bird looks great. You are getting lots done with your foot up! Love the glamour shots!
ReplyDeleteTaste of Cincinnati sounds like a lot of fun. Your Borders has inspired me. I love some of you color changes, in fact I wrote them down. Your version appears much more lively than the one on my chart. Your finishing is really impressing me. That ribbon looks wonderful . I have never tried doing that. I can't picture how the ends meet. I guess I had better go to you tube and take a look. Hope your Sun. was wonderful and Happy memorial Day. I am off to listen to the program they do every year from Washington. Sometimes I cry but every year I am so thankful my son came home in one piece from Iraq!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your finishes! I really like your color changes. The bird on the turquoise fabric is sweet.
ReplyDeleteThe right side border is very intriguing.
ReplyDeleteGreat stitching. I like all your bird ornament / decorations and so admire your finishing skills. Hope the foot gets better.
ReplyDeleteYour cute little cross stitching finished projects are so pretty. Congrats on getting so much done. Hope your foot doesn't give you any more problems. I've been very bad about blogging this month. I need to get back on track. I feel left out of what's going on.
ReplyDeleteCarol, you really have been stitching up a storm! Everything looks wonderful and you did a great job on the ruching! Dried Thyme is also one of my favs--I have a number of different dye lots in my stash.
ReplyDeleteI know what the Taste of Cincinnati is but, when I hear that phrase, my mind automatically wanders to Skyline!!! :)
I really like Jingles. You have done a wonderful job. I am glad that I am not the only person who swaps out their pieces for Christmas.
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