Well today's post is going to be a little different.  I have progressed a bit on the heart design but I wanted to show some of my past finishes.

First up is Arizona Star, designed by Laura J. Perin, in reds and pinks with a green border.  I really like the design but the colors didn't speak to me so I changed them to a bright pallet.

 

The second design is Odd Fellows Cross, also designed by Laura J. Perin.  I stayed true to the colors called for in the design but changed the border slightly.  This is one of my favorite designs by Laura so far.  I say so far because I have about 14 more of her designs kitted up and ready for stitching so another one may become my favorite. 

Tomorrow I should be able to show the finished heart design and then frame it and send it on it's way to Texas.

So a little more work has been done.  I decided to use a Peach cotton floss for the center section.  I am not a fan of laying floss or stranded silk but I do it because it looks so much better. Not sure how I feel about the color but what's done is done.  I next started a stripe on the left using Rainbow Gallery Splendor, also requires laying the silk.  Not sure if I will replicate the stripe on the right or do something else.  Ultimately there will be another stripe on either side with one canvas thread peeking through.  Since this is design as you go I have no idea what I'll show next time.

I have a friend that I meet about 41 or 42 years ago and she has been admiring my needle work. I said you never know when something might appear in the mailbox so I need to create something for her.

I thought about a heart as I have Victorian Red 18 count canvas and several different threads from my stash to quickly stitch up a design.  As you see I have an 8" square of Victorian Red stretched and selected several threads to work with.

 

I've worked on the design for about 3 hours or so and you can see if has none of the original threads I selected.  I started with Watercolours #248 for the hearts and am using WaterLillies #190 to fill in next to the hearts.  I was going to only have 1 heart but the design I worked out was too large for the frame I have so on to Plan B, multiple smaller hearts.

Ok so what now, I have no idea.  I'm designing this as I go and you will see the mess on my stitching table, not sure which other threads I will use but looks like the red design is now pinks, peach and lavender.  Not sure how that happened but I'll just go with it and see what the finished design looks like.

Earth is finished!! I have enjoyed stitching this design and really love the colors. The first photo shows the finished design as Kathy designed it.  The second photo shows my striped border, I always add a border for framing purposes.  I do not like the mat to cover any of the design so I add a border.  The third photo is a closeup of the striped border.

Next up is heart design that I am stitching for a friend.

I've been busy working on Earth and have rotated the canvas again.  I am stitching the third side and really making good progress.

 

 

I have an idea to stitch this as a de-constructed piece.  I will use a shadow box and stitch the rust brick design as the entire background.  I will then stitch the other design elements on a large canvas and then cut them apart and mount them.  The individual design elements will be placed on top of the background and mounted to show different depths.  This will be interesting as I have never done anything like this but really like the way this should come out.  Hopefully what I see in my mind can be achieved.

I have made a little more progress on Earth. I completed the waffle stitches on two corners along with the checkerboard squares.  Usually when I stitch a waffle stitch it is with Caron Watercolours and I can just whip through them.  These however are with overdyed silk floss so they have to be layed and that takes more time.

I've now turned the canvas to make stitching this side easier.



That's all for today, will continue to make good progress on this piece and am already thinking about what I will stitch next.  Could be another of Kathy's designs or Lone Star Cottage by Laura J. Perin.

Each day I come home from work and have a snack and then stitch for awhile before fixing dinner.  When I am lucky I can stitch after dinner for a few minutes.  I've made more progress on Earth.



Elements Series - Earth

This is a close up of the waffle stitches, I do love waffle stitches.  These are stitched with the 12 strand Gloriana Silk.

Not much else to write about except more photos as I go along.