Throwback Thursday - 2001 (Part 10)

With the tassel project finally finished, I was able to get back to some cross-stitch and silk ribbon embroidery. September began with


I Only Have Eyes For You

This Kidlinks design was stitched for my husband and me. At the time, this was "our song." 2001 marked our 10 year wedding anniversary, so I stitched it as our gift. It still hangs in our bedroom.

Silk Ribbon Embroidery Sachet

My local EGA chapter was planning to have a weekend retreat in which we'd learn a number of needlework finishing techniques. This is one of the pieces I stitched before the weekend. The sachet is designed by The Thread Gatherer, featured in The Needleworker magazine.

It has a linen front and a calico back. The front is stitched with hand-dyed silk fibers and matching silk ribbons. The design includes a ribbon spider rose, French knots, couching, four-sided stitch and bullion roses. The button embellishments are all from my grandmother's button jar.

The finishing technique learned on the retreat is a loopy fringe attached to the edge of the sachet after the front and back of the sachet were stitched together and the sachet was filled. The edge is a form of a ruching technique (gathering, ruffling, pleating). In this technique, the ribbon is couched by a floss, leaving a loop between each couched stitch.

Fall Bookmark

I stitched this bookmark for one of my friends in the quilt group that I used to attend weekly. The design is adapted from a pattern for a bread cloth border. I used variegated floss for the leaves to give them the look of the changing colors of Fall. I love how delicate the tendril is, appearing to sway in a breeze.

Holiday Penguin

In 2001 I wanted to make a Christmas project on the 25th of each month. I'd missed my August project, so caught up with this Christmas ornament. My daughters and I found a collection of these cute ornament kits at a discount store for only 99 cents each, so we picked out one for each of us. This is the design I chose for myself.

Each kit came with a wire that you twist around a pencil and turn into a hanger. The thread is not floss. It's a single strand of fiber in bright colors. They may have been a poly/cotton blend because the fiber was slightly stretchy and did not fray at the ends. That fiber helped to make for a very quick stich. The design is adorable.

Merry Tree

This is the second ornament in the series that I stitched. This was my September Christmas project. The smiling tree was for my daughter Jeanne. It was another very satisfying quick project.

At the end of 2001 I stitched a lot of small projects, so I still have about 15 more to share -- another 3 #throwbackthursday posts! It's been quite satisfying to see all these projects again -- especially those I've given away as gifts.