A Sweet Shadow Stitching Class

 

 

Here come the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, everyone!  (And in Northern California this week we'll be seeing high triple-digit temperatures -- with 107 in Sonoma, and 109 in Sacramento -- yikes.)  Which makes it excellent stitching weather - preferably under a ceiling fan with a cool drink close at hand...

With that in mind, I thought a small floral piece would be perfect for my next cyber class.  Something  easy, not too big, but still full of fun stitches, with one of the perkiest flowers around: pansies!  So here it is, my next cyber class, "LITTLE PANSIES: a shadow stitch project":

I offered this fun piece 'way back in 2012, and it seems a good time to teach it again, for all of you who are curious about "shadow stitching" and how you apply it to a canvas.  Here's what some of the stitch patterns look like up close:

The finished size of this piece is apprx. 5.5" x 6.5" with the pansy image printed on an 8" x 10" white piece of 18 ct. canvas.  Using a handful of DMC floss, and one green #5 pearl cotton (for the padded borders) you get to fill in the pansy petals with different easy stitches that also allow the colors of the canvas to show through, because you're only stitching with 1 ply of the 6-ply floss.  And as you can see, once the petals are filled, you get to use some easy embellishment stitches on top for extra texture and interest.  Of course there's a fun checked border to finish the piece (you know how I love those borders!)....

So if you'd like to learn some easy shadow stitching techniques, please saunter on over to my website and see all the LITTLE PANSIES class particulars.

Happy Summer Stitching, Everyone!

California Gold

 

 

California poppies are one of my favorite flowers.  Their brilliant orange petals swaying in the breeze always bring a smile to my face, whether they grow by the hundreds on rolling hills or all alone by the railroad tracks.  Just LOVE 'EM!

So I thought I'd release a previous cyber class I taught called "CALIFORNIA GOLD", since it's another floral in the tapestry series I've done over the years, in the same format as the popular LILAC TIME and HARVEST TIME.

 Here's what CALIFORNIA GOLD looks like in all it's golden glory:

 

This piece is so dang fun because you get to stitch poppies in small, medium, and large sizes, with a variety of thread types (floss and #5 pearl).  Here's a look up close at the different poppies sizes (and oh, they are truly fun to stitch!):

Then there is a richly elegant double border to create with an extra bit of metallic sparkle..(you know how I love a good border, don't you?) ....

And I especially love the way the variegated Watercolours and Waterlilies (076, Woodlands) spreads a warm wash of greens and golds all over the design - just like a rippling field of real poppies!

 So if you are a poppy lover like me, please skip on over to my website to see the ordering information for this new floral design, CALIFORNIA GOLD....