Country Garden Stitchery

I really like the green and purple theme. I've been making these runners made with wide pieces that sew up in no time and have quite a collection now. I like to display them on my hutch and change them with the seasons; this one looks like it would be good for January to me. Hope the picture doesn't affect your equilibrium :) I tried to capture the whole runner to show you. I finished my lavender houses cross stitch last night. It is the first design where I've used lazy daisy stitches. I love to do lazy daisies and French knots. I think they add a lot to a design. This design uses some of The Gentle Art's new colors - well fairly new to me - Moonlit Path, Victorian Lace and Crystal Lake. I love their names too. Really inspiring. and my newest adventure is an embroidered gown using hand dyed silks. Lots of billowing roses and other fairy dust or baby's breath type flowers sprinkled here and there. I think I may frame this one. I'll show you in a bit...

Really been in the mood to sew lately. That is a good thing - I went for quite a while without the inspiration and I was beginning to wonder. A different combination of red fabrics and an oriental botanical with red and pink blossoms in it for a change in the mix. The pink in the blossoms picks up the pink in the cross stitch design nicely. I initially had this design in a frame and decided it would look good as a big fluffy pillow. Some designs are only suited for frames, others are more versatile. Same with this little design called "Blue Daisies". I initially had it in a frame and pictured it in a tote. I like how it turned out. I like all the blue with a little lavender and green.

This is one of my favorite fabrics I've come across in a long time. Reminds me of the Adam's family. The black cats are so cute and the different characters. I tried to place the characters so it seemed they were looking at you from different places, peeking eyes everywhere. I put a little embroidered black pumpkin at the top too, on pink. I really liked the small bits of pink in the fabric too. I decided to finish my Christmas embroidery patterns I stitched last year. I had some bright colors of fabric that matched the colors in the hand dyed floss. Not the usual Christmas colors, but I thought it worked just fine. A little different. The batik fabric really picked up the orange, pink, red and gold in the floss. It is starting to cool down a lot outside and it makes me want to surround myself in colorful fabrics and make things.

The weather is a lot cooler, we've had some rain and I feel like sitting on the couch with my cross stitch project and a good podcast or movie, maybe both. I am almost finished with my letter C from Mirabilia. I am happy with how it is turning out since I decided to use Weeks Dye Works flosses rather than the Crescent Colors show in the pattern. I thought the colors matched pretty well. This is my first fairy project and I am excited to put her in my bedroom. I have a few other Mirabilia patterns to choose from, but I think I'd like to begin the Ashley's Roses. I love this one. I think it is because she has a "country girl" feel about her and I've always lived in the country. I also really like pink. I was browsing on Amazon the other day for a couple books and happened upon Gail Levine and David Christiana's new fairy book. I love the illustrations and the stories are very cute. I have all three now and am anxious to read this one. Ho...