Finally!

Finally completed. I put it off for far too long. On to the next! Pattern by Urban Threads, stitched by me. Sterling silver smooth passing thread #5 from Garibaldi's Needleworks, and Cadmium Green silk from The Silk Mill. I used Devere yarns silk (it's an incredibly fine filament silk) in Sterling Silver as the couching thread to couch over (hold down) the smooth passing thread.

Ornament 2018

I have started creating an ornament every year which I give to various friends and family members. This year, I just wasn't loving the pattern, and time was tight. This is the one and only ornament completed with DMC floss, and kreinik iridescent filament.

J is for Jessica

Hubby was making a table for our sister in law Jessica and wanted to have me involved somehow. So, we came up with the idea of monogramming the front of the cupboard door. I found a great design on Mary Corbet's website for this free pattern, and with a simple chain stitch in cranberry red, off I went!

Dire Cats Complete!

It is done! As in really, really done! I have gifted it to it's recipient long past. It was a gift to the family who took two of my foster kittens in. I feel like i agonized over every detail of this piece instead of just diving in which I've done with every piece before this. From stitch to thread color to thread thickness, I considered every single second I stitched. It was exhausting, but so much fun! Bright check goldwork that fills the paw was a little fiddly, and I need to get a set of metalwork scissors in order to cut it more precisely. I think my favorite part about this was the Blind hem stitch I used to attach the muslin backer! It had been years since I had even seen the blind hem, let alone done the stitch! I don't know that I ever had. A few youtube videos and a few tries and restarts had me stitching away though!

Dire Cats: Embroidery Done!

It is done! Well, the embroidery part anyway. Now I will make it into a banner wall hanging. This beast took months, I think because a lot of it was procrastinating. I knew what I wanted the design to look like, but I agonized over what colors should go where, what stitch, etc. The goldwork paw was tedious, but the result is just sublime! It's still on my sister-in-law's frame, so it's hard to see the top reads Dire Cats and below reads Fur & Purr. It's a little play on the Game of Thrones Targeryn house sigil. It will be a gift to the family that adopted two of my foster kittens. 

 

 

Moonlighting

I've been working on the Dire Cat project with lots (to me) of satin stitch and I needed a break, but needed to get my creativity out too. So, this came into being. Stitches used: chain, braided chain, lazy daisy, stem, French knots and a tiny bit of satin. It took about 2.5 hours from start to finish, and is about 2.25 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall, approximately.

This will be part of a collaborative project between myself and hubby for a neighbor. We're making their daughter a growth measuring stick, and this will go at the top! (Any bits of ink you see will disappear in a little while - air soluble marker.)

Framed Mjölnir

Apparently I'm not a great photographer. It's okay, I can live with that. There are some GLARING (to me) mistakes in this piece, but it's framed and I will not touch it as it is. I am seeing thread ends through the fabric, and the lightning bolts got messed with a bit when framed, so that the metal work isn't laying as close as I'd like to the inside embroidery. I just keep reminding myself to let it go.