Bug Off, Baby!
This Halloween design is by Lizzie*Kate, one of my favorite designers. I bought the chart from a local needlework shop, kitted up with the fabric and sampler threads along with the cute spider charm that hangs off the tip of the moon.
This was my first time stitching with sampler threads. They are a hand-dyed fiber with subtle color variations. For best effect, you complete each cross as you stitch, rather than stitching by rows. This way the color changes gradually in your piece.
The fabric is White Birch Heatherfield by Wichelt. It felt itchy, like wool. It's pretty, with in little flecks of color sprinkled throughout the fabric.
The smart-mouth words on the front of this pillow had me toying with ideas on how to make the back of the pillow funny, too. I found this spider pattern on the Quiltmaker website. I then searched my fabric scraps and found some fabric that is a purple base with white dots. Three strips sewn together made the base of the pillow back.
I made a black fabric yo-yo for the spider's body, a first for me. I stuffed the yo-yo with a little fiberfill to make the body fluffy. Then I used purple buttons for the eyes.
I transferred the pattern onto the base, then stitched the chain-stitch legs with 6 strands of DMC black floss. I wanted the spider web to shimmer, though, so I chose a Kreinik metallic very fine #04 braid (032). It's stitched with an outline stitch. I tacked the stuffed yo-yo onto the fabric base between the spider legs. The finished size of my pillow is approximately 7-1/2 inches square.
This is one of those fun projects that elicits a smile each time I pick it up. I display it every year in October.
I bought the chart and frame for this tiny pattern when I was on the Stitcher's Retreat back in the spring of 2001. It was on that retreat when I learned to stitch petit point from Ruth Sparrow of Twisted Threads. That's how this piece is stitched, with one strand of floss over one thread on 32ct linen. This image is actually quite a bit bigger than actual size.
Though most of the chart is done in cross-stitch, the grapes are stitched with a colonial knot. I altered the design a bit. The chart has a star in each corner which I wasn't fond of. So I moved the cornucopia to the bottom left corner, and added the words "Give Thanks."
In all these years, I'm fairly certain that this is the only petit point piece I've ever stitched. Even with good magnification, stitches that small are too hard on my eyes. I've kept this piece for myself and display it on our mantle every November.
Stylized Vine Bookmark
I designed this bookmark myself. It was inspired by a border I saw on a chart posted on an auction site. I liked the use of blues and purple in the inspiration piece. My vine is quite a bit more angular than the original.
This was a birthday gift for one of the ladies in my quilt group.
September - Aster Bookmark
This lovely bookmark is from a flowers-of-the-month chart. All of the patterns are very pretty and detailed. This one has four shades of pink and three shades of green. That's a lot of detail [and work] for a bookmark.
But it sure is pretty. I gave it to my daughter Julie whose birthday is in September
Butterfly Fantasy
I adapted this bookmark design from a book of borders. The original pattern had five butterflies, so I picked my four favorite butterflies and stitched them.
The chart called for black backstitching and butterfly bodies. I thought that was too stark, so I substituted DMC 3371. It's a brown/black color that looks a little softer.
This was a birthday gift for one of the ladies in my quilt group.
Pansy Bookmark
I found this lovely design as an online freebie on a website written in Portuguese.
September 2004 had me stitching a slightly larger design. It's another of my favorites that I kept for myself. I'll post it in my next #throwbackthursday post.
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