Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Summer Stitching

Between the heat waves, changes in Beadboy1's schedule, and house guests, I haven't spent much time in my craft room or working on any of the projects I should be finishing. Instead, I've been doing some small cross stitch projects.

The first is an unusual take on Halloween, done in ecrus and browns which give it an elegant look. The design:
My stitching so far:
The other project is a Christmas ornament, from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Preview. The sooner in the year I start these ornaments, the more likely one of them will actually be done by Christmas. The design (Cool Christmas by Lynda Watkins and Angie Williams of Fresh Threads Studio):
So far:
I also found time to do a little blackwork stitching for the twelfth square of my 36 Squares. Blackwork uses the back stitch and a Holbein stitch (like a double running stitch) to create repeating geometric designs, which are great for filling in areas. Different patterns create darker or lighter looks, to imitate shading. For this square I used a tile flower pattern:
It took about three tries before I got the spacing right, though.

2 comments:

  1. I was googling Fresh Threads Studio and your blog came up. I love Cool Christmas, too. I'm on my fourth stitching of it. I did it twice in the colors charted, then converted it to peach and orange, and am now doing it in blues. Pinks and lavenders are next on my agenda. It's so retro-cute, and such a quick stitch.

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  2. Those colorways sound great. Will you be showing them on your website? I'd love to see them. And I love the retro feel too; I have some great Christmas-themed fabric from last year in pinks and turquoises.

    We seem to have similar taste in cross stitch -- I've also done the Shepherd's Bush Christmas designs from the magazine, and the Prairie Schooler Herald Angels!

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