Country Garden Stitchery

I've been putting some little Christmas designs on towels. I bought these organic towels off Etsy and they are lovely, but difficult to see through, so I just have to draw my design on it without a pattern. I've been using DMC flosses since they are colorfast and the colors won't run. I'm really enjoying this little project. The towels will also work well for basket liners so I am going to make a few with spring designs. I got a set of ten towels so will sell some and keep some. I have another style of towel I will be working on next. Those are lovely linen with a lacy edge. They are more of a table napkin size but would also work well for a basket liner or display on the hutch.

Since there is snow on the ground now and it will be near zero this week I found myself thinking of spring and decided to paint some apple blossoms and a clear robin's egg blue sky. It was fun for a bit as I imagined myself among the sweet fragrance in the warm weather; but I'm not ready for it yet. I am looking forward to the holidays and maybe some snow shoeing... This is my priscilla gown embroidery pattern. Lots of French knots - or you could use beads - and red roses. All stitched in hand dyed silk. I love silk floss. I bought some crisp white linen towels off ebay a few months ago to embroider. This was a fun project so I decided to hunt down some other towels to try and hand embroider. I found some on Etsy the other day and ordered two different kinds. They are from eco-friendly sellers so they are made of all natural fibers (very important :) and I am really looking forward to getting them. I'll show you soon.

This little pumpkin square pattern was in the October 2010 Create and Decorate issue and I stitched mine with Gentle Art Sampler Wool flosses. It was the first time I used the wool flosses and they were really fun to work with. Gail Mumford stitched the design her own way on a dish cloth using varigated wool and a half cross stitch. I thought it was really neat and wanted to post it. Our local art group, Sagebrush Sisters, is getting ready for our annual Christmas Fair in December. We decided to make grapevine wreaths to sell. I decided to do a natural wreath - I did add a few little golden colored bells and raffia- but otherwise it's all natural. It was a really fun project. I'll display it for a while in my house before the fair.

Another sewing day. Woke up before the sun this morning inspired and this is what I worked on today. I like to be able to create versaile patterns to make many different things. Ornaments, bookmarks and such. I like little things. I traced just portions of the patterns to make ornaments and dressed them up with lace and ribbon. These work up really fast. I like that too. And a little row of gifts. This picture shows the great red shade of the "Cherry Wine" hand dyed floss from The Gentle Art. Their floss is great. And this is my son Aaron (on the left) after he won 4th place in the state cross country race in Las Vegas on Saturday. Very proud and happy for him and I had to share it with you. :)

I really like French needlework and that inspired this trio of Christmas Box cross stitch ornaments. Lots of swirls and curls and all in one color. That can be relaxing in itself, stitching with one color. I added a little gold filament and a few gold beads for accent and sparkle. After finishing the blue Christmas tree I realized the backing was in the shape of a Christmas tree light bulb. Did you notice that? For the other ornament I used a floss called "Dickens Christmas" so I gave it the title, "An Ornament for Charles".