Gracewood Stitches on Creative Poppy

I'm very happy to be associated with Creative Poppy, today they introduced my designs which may be downloaded in either English or French versions of pdf charts. Working with them has been a pleasure! This is their introduction of Gracewood Stitches

The pdf chart pages click here for English version and here for French

'Hope' is stitching rather quickly, I hope to post a photo in the next day or two.

Today, I'll share a photo of one of our 'neighbors'.

When the snow gets deep and it becomes harder for the wildlife to get food we put out a bale of alfalfa hay for the deer. This little yearling doe decided it would be a good place to bed down too.

Hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving holiday, ours was most blessed.

Hope Model, & Old DMC Cards

I was so happy to find an out of print DMC color card for sale on ebay. This one has actual floss for reference and it has already helped my color selections in designs.

There is a seller in China that is supposedly selling these same cards, but their feedback wasn't the greatest so I waited and found a seller in the US and happily, it soon appeared and I snagged it :)





The model for Hope is coming along and these are the colors and the conversion to HDF silk floss I'm using for it - DMC 725, Topaz to HDF Gold Rush 4229, DMC 726, Topaz-lt to HDF Gold Rush 4227. DMC 798 Delft Blue-dk to HDF Mermaid Blue 2329, DMC 799 - Delft Blue-md to HDF Faded Denim 2233 and DMC 800 - Delft Blue-pl to HDF Mermaid Blue 2317

I'm stitching it on an 18 count off white Aida.

We've had two winter storms dump about a foot of snow on us in the last 24 hours, hopefully, I'll probably have plenty of stitching time in front of the woodstove for some time to come. As you can see, our Zoe, knows a good place to be in winter.

Our bird feeders are full of suet and seed and our usual birds and some migratory thrush are camped out nearby and rush in during breaks of wind and snow and some like this thrush couldn't wait!

Harvest Hum Model Finished

Hope you like, Harvest Hum. It was fun to stitch and I think captured how this time of year feels to me. I'm still finding the box style enjoyable to work with and I am happy with the 'rickrack' style of border in the two shades of copper.

I hope to start 'Hope', LOL by the end of the day. I've chosen the dmc conversions to silk floss and will list them soon.

Harvest Hums Along

Stitching weather has arrived and I'm so happy it has. The business of harvesting fruit and getting things ready for their winter sleep is past, the nights are icy, the morning fields are heavy with hoar frost and the foggy mists are thick and enclosing. Definitely my time of year :)

Now it is time for making things with the apples and pears we've stored and making big pots of steaming things for warming the inside. And definitely time when you can cozy up with an afghan and your stitching with a sense of quiet satisfaction.

So Harvest Hum is definitely progressing. Here are a few pics.

This is also a time of inspiration, so I hope to be bringing a few more designs to you. Off to stitch and dream :)

Hope, a New Design

As promised, here is a new design. It is called 'Hope' and is inspired by the poem, Light Shining in Darkness, by William Cowper. Cowper experienced many dark days in his life, and yet he also knew that '..... Sometimes a Light Surprises...' Stitch count 195 x 189.

I designed it in colors of blue and yellow combining both flowing florals and geometric motifs to reflect how emotions can change from dark to light and from hard edges to soft curves.

I'll post my floss choices for the model soon.

It is available as a pdf download on the Patterns for Sale tab above and is now available as leaflets through ICG. It will soon be available through Creative Poppy as pdf chart downloads.

Trust Finish and a New Step in the Design Journey

I finished Trust yesterday and took a quick photo before taking it off the frame and putting Harvest Hum on. I am happy with the choices made in this piece and glad so many of you liked it too. The Tarts Knickers HDF floss in the bittersweet berries is just stellar. I'm going to have to make something else to use it in.

And I have a new step in this design journey to share with you. I had posted that ICG will be selling the leaflets both through their website and wholesale to retailers here in the US, and now I've also signed a contract with Creative Co. in Paris for distribution of my charts in pdf format in Europe. They can also be purchased through their website Creative Poppy.

However, this does mean that I can no longer offer the patterns I list with them for free to readers here on the blog. I will be adding more free patterns in the next few weeks and I hope you'll like the others well enough to purchase them. I will still be able to sell them here and on my website.

I also have a new design that I'll be announcing this weekend. I hope you'll like it and will continue to follow the blog and send me your wonderful emails, even though the large patterns will no longer be free.

Now off to Harvest Hum!

Coromandel Framed and Floss Selections for Harvest Hum

The Frame Guys, see links, have once again provided what I think is just the right frame for a piece. Here is Coromandel in its bronzed wood frame and it gives just the effect I was after. I do like this design a lot, I'm sure there will be similar ones to follow :)

Since Trust is going very fast, I've chosen the floss and fabric for Harvest Hum, since I hate that stitching frame to be empty!

I had a rather good selection of silk floss on hand and happily was able to choose from my stock so nothing has to be ordered. I'll be using an 18 count ivory Aida and the floss will be a combination of silks from Carrie's Creations and Vikki Clayton's HDF.

The conversions are as follows -

DMC 920 Copper md - HDF's Terra Potta 4325
DMC 922 Copper lt - HDF's Terra Potta 4321
DMC 728 Golden Yellow - HDF's Liquid Gold 4177
DMC 3821 Straw - HDF's Yellow Spice 4163
DMC 3362 Pine Green dk - Carrie's Valley Green
DMC 3363 Pine Green Lt - Carrie's Garden Green
DMC 504 Blue Green Lt - HDF's Jadeite 2461
DMC 368 Pistachio Lt - HDF's Yerba Mate 3135
DMC 718 Plum - Carrie's Plum Passion
DMC 154 Grape - Carrie's Purple
DMC 552 Violet med - Carrie's Violet
DMC 781 Topaz - HDF's Rum Scullion
DMC 434 Brown Lt - HDF's Bird Feathers 4107
DMC 869 Hazel Nut Brown vy lt - HDF's Jackalope
DMC 3820 Straw Dk - HDF's Carveza 45

I think the DMC I chose while charting will work well, as would the conversions to Anchor. I just love working with silk floss and that is why it is what I choose for stitching the pieces myself.