Country Garden Stitchery

Sewing yesterday I decided to finish a few more projects. I already had the Moda charm squares around this little cross stitch called "Blossom Street" and I decided to put a back on it and make a small runner. I thought about making a wall quilt, but liked it this size. I thought it went with the small design better. I used chocolate brown flannel on the back and a decorative machine stitch using variegated rayon thread in golden colors. I used some fusible batting to give it some stability. I am going to do three art/craft fairs this summer and have been thinking of things to make for it. Tote bags are a good idea, especially big ones that hold a lot of stuff. I really like the patchwork look so I went through my fabrics and found some batiks and put them together. I liked the soft greens and bit of purple. I think I have a green/purple theme going without even thinking about it. Maybe I will check into the meaning of color and see what this tells me...

The rain and thunder inspired me to sew yesterday and put some colorful fabric around my latest projects. I've been using the shabby-chic technique lately in my runners where I use a scallop edge rotary cutter on the edges and then a decorative machine stitch around the edge to finish. Turns out nice, doesn't fray too much because of the scallops and is much easier than binding the edges. I am excited about my bookmark project this year (that is to just have a whole pile by the end of the year) and see what I've come up with and which colors I've used. Will be interesting to see if I am all over the place with color or consistent, so far I've been consistent - purple. The robins have been pecking in our yard and I enjoy watching them. There are two that like our neighborhood, they are good buddies I think. I admire their boldness, they don't scare easily.

I have been making small bookmark patterns lately. I hope to have a nice collection by the end of the year. Working with greens and purples now, but will probably be back to my favorite pink before long. Another green and purple inspired design I finally finished. Now I am trying to decide which fabric to finish it with and what to finish it as. I like being able to make small wall quilts and change them with the seasons or holidays. Easy to store and give a cozy feel to a room. I am very excited that I'm so close to being finished with my Mirabilia letter C project. The petite stitches have been a challenge for me. I like just simple cross stitches, no fancy stitches for me. She will be my first fairy in the house, very excited to have her!

A little bundle of red pansies. Pansies are one of my favorites to grow, but I have to keep them in a protected spot in a special pot because they don't do well in my fully sun exposed garden. Lovely blues and purples from Weeks Dye Works. They have great shades of blue in their floss collection. Looks like many colors were used, but really only a few. A great thing about hand dyed flosses.

My newest patterns are very small and dainty. A collection of three little flowers: an english daisy, gerbera daisy and little tulip. These are nice for using floss from your stash, they don't take much. I used hand dyed silks on Weeks Dye Works hand dyed fabrics. I am really liking those fabrics. Really nice colors. Some of the first flowers you see in spring are included in this cross stitch pattern. Bright and easy to stitch with only cross stitches used. Using just cross stitches is my favorite kind of stitching so I can just relax and stitch in kind of a "zen-ish" mindset :). For those of you who visit both of my blogs, sorry for the redundancy, but I had to share my pink watercolor collage here too. I have been in a spring pink mood I guess. Hope you have a weekend that is very good.