An Autumn Surprise!

I was rummaging thru my heap o' models the other day and came across an old favorite of mine, MINIATURE WILD GEESE. This was one of the very first patterns I designed using Watercolours variegated pearl cotton.


As you can see, I stitched it on the plain brown mono canvas (18 ct.) because that was all I could get in those days. And I used just one skein of the variegated thread, and a few skeins of ecru #5 pearl cotton. That's it -- no other colors or metallics -- because I was focused on highlighting the beauty of the thread with the classic simplicity of a traditional quilt pattern. I still love looking at this piece. And because it's such a simple, elegant design I decided to stitch it up again... but THIS time I wanted to try it on 24 ct. Congress Cloth and use Caron Collection's Impressions thread, which gives a much softer look to the piece.

And, oh yeah, I couldn't resist adding one solid color, one metallic accent color, and a few little acorns in the corners! It's the same pattern, just done in a totally different way:


Stitching this up on the smaller 24 ct. Congress Cloth made the little piece only 5" by 5" (unlike the larger version at the top, which was 6.5" by 6.5." on the larger 18 ct. canvas). Very cute, don't you think? (Would be perfect for a box top or pillow inset.) And if you really want to have a more contemporary look, you can omit the ivory background stitching and just leave the canvas unstitched - it looks totally fresh and modern that way, too.

Anyway, as a HAPPY THANKSGIVING TREAT FROM ME TO YOU: I'm sharing the "new, revised" pattern with you on my website. Check out the FREE PATTERNS page, and then print out the pages, if you want to try stitching this cutie up yourself! You can certainly stitch it up plain and simple - like the top photo - or you can choose the "jazzier" version....it's all up to you. Consider it a seasonal "THANK YOU" to all you stitchers out there who have been kind enough to buy my patterns all these years!