Another Hardanger Piece

Here's a companion piece to the WILDFLOWER SAMPLER I showed you previously. It's called BLUE RIBBON SAMPLER.


It features a totally different Hardanger motif in the center, with more blackwork elements, wrapped roses, and a slightly different ribbon border.

Again, it's stitched on ivory 24 ct. Congress Cloth, with a pale variegated thread - Caron's Wildflowers, 147, "Winter Sky." I particularly liked the blues and peaches in this soft colorway, and it really was the inspiration for the whole piece. [By the way, the Wildflowers thread is a soft, single-ply cotton with a matte finish, and very lovely to work with. It works perfectly on 24 ct. Congress Cloth, and it's nice because you don't have to lay multiple plies. You can, of course, also use 12-ply silk or 6-ply cotton floss on this project as well.]
Here's the center Hardanger motif:


You can see how nicely the diamond-shaped rows of klosters look like little flowers. Again, I used #8 and #12 pearl cottons for all the solid colors. And look how nicely the variegated thread shows off its colors as the straight-stitched frame around each Hardangered block. And notice those little eyelets that are used for flower centers in the outlying blackwork flowers....aren't they a good (and easy) way to create a little bit of texture?

And here are the various blackwork elements, as well as the sweet ribbon border (notice those little eyelet flowers mixed with the blackwork foliage):


I like the soft, faded colors in this piece, as well as how "traditional" it feels...it looks like an old-fashioned design, yet if you changed the colors - say, to bold reds and greens on a white canvas - it would look totally different.

I also like to mix & match different stitching techniques in one piece (or maybe you've already guessed that, huh?) I'm always curious to see how things looked mixed together: Hardanger and blackwork, variegated colors and solids, simple and complex stitches. The challenge is creating a balanced piece, where every element fits with all the others, so the piece is not only fun to stitch, but also remains enjoyable to look at long after you're done.

More Organization Ideas!

This is for all you Stitchy Stash Organizers out there....
(and you know who you are!)


Have you ever thought about keeping track of the different threads you use on each project? If you're the type of stitcher who keeps a journal with all of your stitched projects, maybe you should consider keeping little thread snippets along with your written entries. It might come in handy when, say a few years down the road, you decide to stitch a canvas or chart with those yummy colors you hand-picked for an earlier project. Now, which blue did you use that matched your sofa exactly?? If you had kept a thread card with the ACTUAL threads you used, you would have a much easier time locating the right threads.

Or how about this scenario: you want to use a fuzzy, textured thread but don't want to use that particular thread that drove you crazy...which thread was it that you SWORE you wouldn't stitch with again?!? Well, if you made thread cards for each of your projects, you'd be able to find out.

As a designer, I've found it's extremely useful to have access to the actual threads that I used on each project. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten calls or emails with queries about project threads; and in many cases, when threads have gotten discontinued, I'm asked to find substitute threads.

So, I've developed my own system to keep my projects organized with their respective threads: I make a Thread Card. I always make my Thread Cards at the end of the project, when all stitching is done. Just before I put all my threads back in their respective drawers, I cut and tape snippets of each thread to the card. It gives me a great sense of security to know that I have each project's thread palette in an easily accessible place, should I need to refer to it in the future.



Now, I must confess to you: my cards are rather a mess - not neatly scripted by any means. And I'd like to say that I have them neatly organized in a pretty binder..... but I don't. Rather, I keep them in a scruffy shoe box on a shelf. And let me tell you, I'm rummaging thru that box more times a week than I can count.... so they're definitely a functional tool that works for me.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this organizational idea with you, just in case you've run out of things to do and/or organize in your stitching life!

[Aside: In case you were curious: I found the blank/lined journals in the top photo at several discount places - Office Depot, Marshalls, Ross, TJ Maxx. Browse their book isles and you can sometimes find great journals to write in....]

Hardanger Wildflowers

A while ago, I showed you a few Hardanger valentines.

Well, it got me to thinking about another Hardanger project I designed several years ago for Nordic Needle. It's called WILDFLOWER SAMPLER.


I've always liked the delicacy of this piece. It's stitched on ivory 24 ct. Congress Cloth, and the finished design size is 10" x 10".

Initially, I wanted to do a bit of Hardanger, but also I wanted to incorporate a variegated thread (naturally), as well as some soft springy pastels. I ended up using Caron Collection's Wildflowers (a single-ply, matte cotton) in 088 - "Mountain Meadow" (one of my favorite colors, since it has a lovely mix of pinks, yellows, blues and greens). Along with #8 and #12 pearl cottons in soft pinks and greens. I even added a sprinkling of pink beads for added texture.

The Hardanger medallions in this piece always remind me of little flower bouquets, especially when the kloster blocks are stitched to look like flowers. As you can also see, I added some pink wrapped roses, to add even more flowers to the design.


And, as I was designing this piece, I thought I'd add some floral blackwork motifs as well...(why stitch just one technique, when you can add two or three more, for a little stitching variety?!?)


And to finish it off, a ribbon border that has a bit of blackwork and a few wrapped roses, too.


I don't think Nordic Needle carries this pattern any more. So check my website, under the Sampler Collection and you'll see it there.... (Now that I look at it again, I'm thinking it would sure look awfully pretty in pale lavenders and greens, perhaps using Wildflowers' "Lilac" or "Pale Lilac"....What do you think?)

What A Web!

I was cruising around the web this weekend, and found a few more interesting stitching/needlepoint blogs to add to my "must read" list. What a treat to find more needlepoint sites.... Isn't it always fascinating, educating and even liberating to see what other stitchers are doing on their canvases?

Here they are:

Stitches and More

The Cape Stitcher

Summer Louise

I really enjoyed looking/reading all of these blogs because they have great detailed photos of their stitching progress. They all provide even more threads, canvases, stitches, and ideas for us to consider as we tackle our own projects....

Which is really one of the best things about sharing things on the web -- not only are we creating something for our OWN enjoyment, but letting other stitchers see what we're doing expands the whole world of stitching, making us all a part of a really, really big stitchers community!

It's All About Organization

As any stitcher knows, so much of stitching revolves around organizing. Organizing your threads; organizing your patterns; organizing your beads; organizing your unfinished projects; organizing your finished projects.... The list goes on and on.

I've followed with much interest fellow bloggers who, in their quest to find the perfect system, are constantly organizing their stitching projects as a way of managing their stitching life. I'm fascinated by their ongoing determination to organize their projects by designer, season, technique, size - or anything else you can think of.

I'm particularly intrigued by the "rotation" method: rotating through your stash of unfinished projects so you get a little bit done on each project in its turn. I also love the idea of stitching by season: working on the appropriate designs, season by season, or holiday by holiday. Gosh, I wish I were that efficient!

My own method seems to be: "What am I in the mood to stitch now?" Which works most of the time, but sometimes I get stuck in that uncomfortable dithery place, where I simply can't decide WHICH project I'm in the mood for. (It's like trying to drive a car while stuck in neutral -- you spin your wheels, but don't GO anywhere, and just end up getting totally frustrated.)

I should also mention that as a designer, I classify my projects into two groups: 1) the WORK group (my own designs), and 2) the FUN group (other designers' stuff). While I'm constantly yearning to stitch on the fun stuff, I always guilty about stitching on it, because I have so much "WORK" stuff to stitch. (Yeah, Yeah... It's a tough life, but someone has to do it.) And since I have constantly changing deadlines, I am constantly re-prioritizing my project list, somewhat like a card dealer constantly shuffling his card deck!

Anyway, back to the organization theme... I've decided to try a slightly different approach to managing my stitching projects (the WORK ones). I'm going to try using the "Tickler Tree" that I've made (see above photo). I had one of those card holder thingys.... which I never remember to put cards in, but is too cute to throw out. So the other day, INSPIRATION STRUCK. I thought, "Hey, what if I made tiny cards with my projects on them, and put them on the card holder?" That way, I can rearrange them by priority and best of all, see at a glance which projects I need to get finished first.

Brilliant! So now I've got my Tickler Tree sitting primly in my office, quietly reminding me of all the projects I have to WORK on..... Time will tell if it's a good idea, or just something else to organize.....

Between Raindrops

We had lots of rain this past weekend. Finally.

In between the storms, I went outside and took these shots
of the flowers in my yard....


because, despite all the wind and rain, the flowers will bloom...


and continue to unfold...


...waiting patiently for the sun to come out again....

Valentine Threads

Several stitchers have asked me what threads I used on my "freebie" valentine model that I posted a few weeks ago.

Here are the threads I used:

First, I used a variegated thread (a #8 pearl cotton) that I dyed myself, so there's nothing QUITE like it out there....however, if you use Wildflowers (a single ply cotton from Caron Collection) in color 025 - "Holiday" or even 005 - "Nefertiti" (has some blues), you'll come close.

Then I used DMC #5 pearl cotton 436 for the gold solid color.

And also two of my most favorite soft metallic ribbon colors: Ribbon Floss 148-047 - "honey copper" for the gold; and Ribbon Floss 148-039 - "wine/red" for the deep red.

For the finer gold grid behind the heart, I used one of Kreinik's #4 Braids, in a vintage gold, 002V... but you can use any gold that you have on hand.

I hope this gives you some extra inspiration for stitching those valentines!

(And after I stitched this valentine in red and gold, I thought, "Gee, wouldn't that look pretty in gold and blue?.... or even gold and rose?" There are lots of color possibilities with this one, so have fun with it....)