Friday Flowers: NEW DESIGN, Lavender Fields!

Okay, this post isn't really about my usual flower pictures, although here's a shot of the mixture of lavender and roses that went crazy in my front yard, earlier this spring:

But those sweet-smelling lavender bushes got me inspired to design a new geometric design (in the same vein as JEWEL BOX and NORTHERN  LIGHTS) called LAVENDER FIELDS:

I was really itching to stitch after looking through my stash of Watercolours threads, and pulled out a new color, 295, called "Mountain Haze".  Whoa -- fell totally in love with the soft periwinkle blues and greens, and had to design something with it!  It's worked on pewter grey 18 ct. canvas (but you can stitch it on the light blue or sage green canvas as well) and the design size is 10.5" x 10.5".  Lots of fun and easy components to stitch (after CAREFULLY counting all the green border lines - tedious, but absolutely necessary!)   Here's a look up close at one corner:
 

I stitched this model in a PURPLE & GREEN thread combo, but on the pattern I've also included a thread list for a TEAL & GREEN version, for those of you who prefer blues to purples....

So if you get weak in the knees for geometric designs.... and soft periwinkle blues/purples/greens/teals..... you gotta go check out this new design, LAVENDER FIELDS, on my website.  

Sometimes the next best thing to stopping and smelling the roses is to start stitching something NEW!!  HAPPY SUMMERY WEEKEND, STITCHERS....

Friday Flowers: Stitched Nasturtiums

One wonderful way to keep summer in your heart all year long is to stitch a bouquet of your favorite flowers.  A Sandra Gilmore canvas I fell in love with last year was the absolutely stunning FLEUR FETE, which features a huge bouquet of spicy nasturtiums.  The canvas celebrates Fleur de Paris' 40th anniversary, with nasturtiums (the 40th flower) and a ruby (the 40th stone)....

 It's a large canvas - 15" x 17" - and ahem, it took awhile to get it completely stitched.  Not that the stitching was hard; the stitches were actually very easy, but there was so much canvas to fill!  Lots of wooden table (done with blended threads), lots of background (done in a large, variegated blackwork pattern), and LOTS of different colored nasturtiums to stitch!  Here's a look at the flowers up close:

I decided to work all the leaves in matte DMC Floche, and all the flowers are done with DMC Floss.  I selectively chose some of the petals to pad, while most of them were done in simple diagonal satin stitch.

The antique vase, shown above, was stitched in simple tent/basketweave stitch, but worked entirely with metallic ribbon threads (Ribbon Floss and Neon Rays+)  to replicate a shimmery antique vase.  Then I went back on top and padded just a few of the vase lines to delineate the sunflower motif.

The last thing I stitched was the big ruby jewel in the lower left corner of the vase.  I debated whether to attempt it in beads, but there were soooo many colors in the ruby I chickened out decided against it, and instead worked it all in plain tent stitch, but using extra sparkly Kreinik 1/16th Ribbons.  And I'm glad I did -- it ended up looking surprisingly sparkly and remarkably like beads, so it turned out great!

So if you love nasturtiums as much as I do, and would like to have a bouquet hanging in your house all year round, please consider Sandra Gilmore's gorgeous FLEUR FETE painted canvas, as well as my new stitch guide (which is now available on my website).  In any event, both of those items can be ordered for you from your local stitchery store, so call them to get more information!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Fall Is In The Air

The hills and valleys of Sonoma County are ablaze with autumn color....

 Especially this week, everywhere you look the trees are bursting out in riotous colors...

Even the majestic old oaks are burnished in golds and yellow greens,

like this one I saw today when we went for our morning walk....

 Which reminded me to post this fun little Autumn ornament for you to stitch up

from threads in your stash:

Have fun with this cutie...

and Happy Fall Friday, Everyone!

Friday Flowers: Azaleas

Azaleas!  It's all about the azaleas this weekend of The Masters in Augusta!

I've been busy running errands, plus printing and mailing lots of my new 

SPRINGTIME WREATH pattern this week.... all in hopes of clearing my desk

and looking forward to a Masters Marathon, watching tv and stitching this weekend. 

But seeing those luscious pink flowers reminded me to pull out my AZALEA COLLAGE
and hang it in my hallway, to enjoy my stitched version of these elegant flowers.

 

Well, YUM,,, Love, love, love these springy pinks and greens!

What better way to enjoy these bright blooms than to stitch them so they never fade;

that's my way of thinking, anyway.

 

But for one of this weekend's projects, I'm gonna finish up my small "R is for Rabbit" piece,

from Prairie Schooler's Alphabet (oooh, and it's got  more pink & green, imagine that):

 

 

I'm stitching this 4" x 6" cross-stitch design on eggshell 18 ct. mono canvas, using 

4 ply of DMC floss in plain ol' Tent Stitch.  Easy peasy, really, and something

I find very tranquil to do in-between other large, complex projects.

I'm almost done.... so I'll certainly be hopping over to another project in my stack.

 

HAPPY FRIDAY, STITCHERS and

hope you have a restful and stitchful weekend, too!

 

Friday Flowers - A Corsage You Can Stitch!

 Amongst all these camellia photos I've planted a new pattern for you to find!

 

It's called CORSAGE, and looks like this:

If you like stitching different blocks of stitch patterns and flowers as much as I do, this pattern may be just the thing for you! (Oh, Yum, wouldn't this make a luscious pillow, inset in a rich velvet fabric?)

It's a small piece; just 8" by 8" on 18 ct. sage green canvas, but it packs a lot of fun stitching inside it.  I chose four of my favorite composite patterns and just played around with how they would look, using a variegated skein and a handful of matching threads. I also wanted to highlight one of my favorite flowers - the gardenia - so that's the flower I chose to stitch in the middle of the blue model (although the stitched flower also looks like a camellia as well).
 

 BUT WAIT!  Here's what's neat about this pattern: you can also choose to stitch a different flower in the center -- a simple rose (or dogwood) that looks like this:

 And here's how the flower looks in the pink version I also stitched up (although I could have also stitched the flower in pale pink, for an entirely different look):

 The pattern gives you thread palettes for BLUE, PINK, PURPLE and RED colorways, so you can start stitching without spending lots of time playing with threads...

In any event, there are lots of fun choices to make with this project; because you get to personalize it with YOUR favorite colors and flowers.  So if you're in the mood to stitch something flowery after a long cold winter, CORSAGE might be a good project to celebrate the approach of Spring!  ( By the way, I taught this piece as a cyber class a few years ago, but haven't released it to the stitching world until now.... so if you missed this fun project in the past, now's the time to add it you your stash! )
Please visit my website for more of the pattern details....  and of course,

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Friday Flowers: Pastels

Are you feeling springy yet?

Need some soft pastel flowers to get you in the springtime mood?

 If the flowers in your garden aren't blooming yet, you might want to create your own spring bouquet by stitching up this lovely pastel piece, called SPRINGTIME BOUQUET:

I just love, love, love the soft pastel colors of this design!  It uses a favorite variegated thread of mine - Watercolours 64 - "Pale Lilac" and here I've stitched it up with pink accent colors, but the pattern also provides thread suggestions for periwinkle blue accent colors (if you prefer more blues than pinks!)  It's stitched on a 14" by 14" piece of eggshell 18 ct. canvas, and the finished size is 10.5" by 10.5' -- it would make a fantastic pillow, I'm thinking....

The four central floral blocks are actually blackwork patterns, done with 1 ply of the variegated Watercolours, but the soft pastel colors create such a delicate look!  Here's what they look like up-close:

 

Lacy leaves, a fun ribbon border, and oh yes, ahem, those ARE Wrapped Roses in the corners. Fun to try, if you've never done them...but if they are not your favorite stitch (grin), you could avoid stitching them and just add sweet buttons or even purchase pre-made ribbon roses!

Please skip on over to my website and click on the SAMPLER COLLECTION to find out
how to order this lovely SPRINGTIME BOUQUET pattern.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Friday Flowers: a peek at a new collage

 

 

 

Recently, I realized I hadn't done a new flower collage in a very long time, and since I was craving some spring flowers, I decided to start a new collage design.  Here's a sneak peek at what I've been stitchingon this week:

Oooooh, I do love working with pinks and greens! (Are you the same way?) This one has been so fun to create and stitch...

I added the "dotted swiss" background last night; so now I just have to finish up a few bits on the flower, and then sprinkle a few gold beads .... and then I'm done!  (Well, I still have to finish up the graphing and instructions, ahem.)  But I'm hoping to release this new flower collage in the next week or so.

So check back again soon, and you'll be able to see the whole springy - and totally finished - design...
Happy Friday!

Friday Flowers

Signs of spring are everywhere, here in Northern California.  All over town, tulip trees are a mass of rich pink blooms, while my tiny tree in the front yard is just starting to unsheathe its petals

and even my small azalea is starting to blossom

as cyclamen in valentine colors burst from their pots...

 In the backyard, forgotten bulbs are rising up from the mounds of dirt

They bring the promise of Spring with all its warmth and color and hope for longer, sunny days.

For those of you still buried in the depths of winter, perhaps you'd like to create your own spring garden with my DAFFODIL COLLAGE.  This sunny piece always makes me smile when I look at it, and I've added it to my current wall of stitchery, so I can enjoy its joyful sunshine...

Stitched on the sage green 18 ct. canvas, those bright yellow and greens really glow, don't they?
Here's a look up close:

If you'd like to stitch up your own patch of never-fading daffodils, please visit my website: www.laurajperindesigns.net and then click on the SECRET GARDEN COLLECTION to find the DAFFODIL COLLAGE, along with lots of other spring flower designs....
HAPPY FRIDAY!

Hearts & Flowers Friday

 Deep in the midst of winter greyness a splash of color is always appreciated, isn't it?  Here are some flower bouquets that caught my eye on PINTEREST this week, and I thought you'd enjoy them too....and read on, Stitchers, because they tie into an exciting new design I'm releasing this week:

 After the popularity of my HOLIDAY WREATH, Roz Watenamo of Nordic Needle jokingly asked if I was going to start a new wreath series.  I laughed, but my designing mind immediately saw all SORTS of wreaths I could create and stitch.  The first one that really grabbed my attention was a wreath for Valentine's Day.  I started sketching, graphing and stitching and VOILA, here is my new VALENTINE WREATH:

As you can see, I couldn't decide which valentiney color to use - red, pink, or purple - so I used them all, and I just love the mixed colors on this!  This piece COULD be done all in one color family if you wanted to do that.  But I've also included thread options for a purple or pink velvet bow, which would definitely change the look of this multi-color wreath. Or, how about adding a few heart buttons, charms or lockets as extra embellishments?

And let me confess: it was soooooo fun to stitch up! I just loved coming up with compact ribbon designs to fit in the larger hearts. Gotta have a few Rhodes hearts, too.  And I added a few gold cameos on my wreath, to mix in some soft gold.... And padded hearts!  Oh so fun and easy to make with plain ol' pearl cotton.  Here's a close-up look at some of the hearts:

So if you are in the mood to stitch some really fun valentines for yourself or someone you love, please visit my website:www.laurajperindesigns.net and check out this delicious new VALENTINE WREATH!

Happy Friday, Stitchers!