Country Garden Stitchery

Thinking ahead about Valentine's Day chocolate came to mind and, of course, hearts. I wanted something different than red and pink. Color is one of my favorite things in the whole world. Nothing better than having all of my floss out around me organized by color in a huge wheel and I get to put them together to see if they sing or scream. I especially love the hand dyed colors because I can use less and get more in my designs. I chose just a few colors for my chocolate swirl project - purples and greens. I loved the combination. I have also been in a green mood with my knitting project. When my sister and her husband brought their sweet new baby girl to visit us in Nevada this summer we visited "Jimmy Beans Wool" in Reno and I bought some luxurious alpaca and silk yarn. I love to touch it. Seems to melt through my hands. I chose a fairly easy lace pattern - to me a lace pattern would be the only type to do this yarn justice. I just knew it would drape beautifully. It had ...

I have been working on Valentine design ideas and decided I would put one of them on my blog to see if anyone would like to try it out. If you have trouble printing it from here please visit my website as it should print from there, http://www.countrygardenstitchery.com/ I finished mine in an evening and made it into a cute patchwork tote. It is very easy. I used stem stitch on the hearts and large swirl flowers, back stitch on the small swirl flowers, lazy daisy stitches for the leaves and three wrap french knots for the smallest swirl flowers. I used one strand of Caron Collection Wildflowers in Eggplant. I stitched the design on some very white fabric with a subtle floral design on it. I love little bags and totes so I went through my fabric scrap box and found some pieces to make one. I trim down my finished design to about an inch around and begin by putting two strips of fabric on each side and then on the top and continue adding until you are happy with the size. Cut a back the...

I am working on a couple of valentine designs to add to my other February/Valentine's day designs. One in cross stitch and one in embroidery. i like being able to trade off between them. "Chocolate Swirl" is my cross stitch design and I will leave it to your imagination to picture what it will be like until I release it in early January. "Love Matters" is my embroidery design and I think I will make a pillow out of it. I love the colors and I can see it finished in a pillow. I have been reading a lot and I have been enjoying Anita Diamant's books. I have started "Good Harbor" because the summary really spoke to me at this stage in my life. Her books are so wonderfully written and help me to discover myself. I am planning on reading "The Red Tent" again. The sun is shining and it is very cold, but this afternoon it will be warm. I need a good storm. One of my favorite things is a good storm with solid gray clouds in different shades of gr...