A NEW Collage Design!

Last week I showed you some of my favorite flower collage for summer, including the ever popular CALIFORNIA POPPY COLLAGE:

 Well, I just finished a piece that perfectly compliments it, called CALIFORNIA QUAIL COLLAGE:

I've wanted to do a collage piece with a bird in the center for ages, but haven't been able to get around to it until this summer.  I realized a California Quail design would be a perfect summer-into-fall piece, so I got straight to work and stitched one up.  Instead of using the same "Woodlands" colorway that I used for the poppy piece, I went with the softer "Kelp" colorway, because the aquas, golds and browns have a Western pastoral feel, as well as a Southwestern desert feel.

And quail -- aren't they the cutest birds?  I was amazed as I was graphing him out, how many different colors there are in his body.  Lots of color changes as you stitch, but you're only using a few strands of each color, so it somehow gets stitched up pretty quickly....  Here's a close-up look at the quail, as well as a peek at the patterns in the boxes:

It's a fun one to stitch, with luscious squares of composite stitches, plus a handful of cheerful California Poppies!  So, if you're a California Quail lover, like me, this might be the next fun project for you.  Please fly over to my website and check out the new CALIFORNIA QUAIL COLLAGE information.

Ridin' Down a Happy Trail...

I've wanted to do another WESTERN COLLECTION pattern for a long long time. Perhaps a lot of you have already stitched my favorite fetish design called "TURQUOISE BEAR COLLAGE" that looks like this:
 

I love, love, love Indian blanket patterns, and have also collected carved Indian fetishes as well that I think make nice insets for my collages.  Over the years, stitchers have asked when I would be doing another "western" piece and for some reason it's taken me a while to get back to these colors, patterns and images that I love.

First, I wanted to create a companion piece to the turquoise bear design; this time featuring a jasper horse fetish I have in my collection.  I've been working on it on and off for the past year.... And finally, I''m happy to announce my new Western collage piece is DONE! And it's called the "LONG HORSE COLLAGE":

I had fun creating the western stitch motifs, like the blanket in the upper left,  the "horsehair" ribbon band at the top, the copper horseshoe... plus graphing out a stylized horse ...and then shopping for just the right jasper fetish stone to tie on his back:

Choosing a color scheme for this project was harder than I thought.  I collected a few different colorways - one lavender & brown that has a more subdued feminine feel; or there's the green & brown combo that has a lush forest feel to it - and I've included those thread lists as options on the pattern.  But for the model, I went with the blue & brown threads, because it's so typically western in its feel.  Here are the three color combinations with their main Watercolours threads:

At the bottom is the BLUE & BROWN version, using Watercolours & Wildflowers 260 - "Sticks & Stones" along with blue, rust and brown #5 DMC pearl cottons; plus a copper and blue metallic ribbon as well.

At the left is the LAVENDER & BROWN version, using Watercolours & Wildflowers 016 - "Bark" which also uses lavender, rust and brown #5 DMC pearl cottons; plus a copper and lavender metallic ribbon.

At the right is the GREEN & BROWN version, using Watercolours & Wildflowers 010 - "Fiesta" which uses green, rust and brown #5 DMC pearl cottons; plus a copper and green metallic ribbon.

Frankly, this design would look rich and western in ANY of these color combinations, and they all look terrific with the rust red horse!  And as I was working on this project, it brought to mind lots of happy memories of horses I've known and loved over the years, so it ended up as a stitched memorial to all of them....Truly a satisfying piece to stitch, on so many levels.

So, if you're in the mood for a nice Western project that will carry you down a happy trail of memories, please visit my website and read more about ordering my new LONG HORSE COLLAGE.