Vineyard Colors

Instead of my usual Friday Flowers, I want to show you some of the gorgeous leaf colors on the various grapevines that are scattered throughout Healdsburg. They look like they've been lovingly hand-painted by small fairies during the night, don't they? Their stained-glass colors are a wonder to behold and I love looking at them up-close.... Prepare to be dazzled!!











(Are you feeling a little drunk on color??... hiccup...I AM!)
HAPPY FRIDAY!

More Fall Color...

Continuing with more of my patterns that have an autumnal feel to them, I'm going to show you my MALLARD DUCK COLLAGE (which uses that variegated Watercolours 10, Fiesta):


(I mean, really...when you look at this, can't you just feel the crunch of leaves under foot?...and hear the quacking and flapping of ducks rising above the water?)

This one is actually a sampler with lots of interesting stitches. I wanted to design something that would be suitable for the autumn season beyond Halloween, so I created RUSTY O'TOOLE:


Here's an easy fall sampler that has utilizes lots of variegated blackwork - all done on 18 ct canvas...it's called AUTUMN LEAVES:


And here's a design that has a decidedly southwestern feel to it, appropriately titled SEDONA SUNRISE:


I even have some autumnal kimonos.... Here's AUTUMN LEAF KIMONO:


followed by the CHRYSANTHEMUM KIMONO:


And we'll finish with something I see a lot of in my neck of the woods -- vineyards! Here's my VINEYARD BOUQUET, which celebrates the colors that appear in the rolling hills around Healdsburg:


Well, I hope that gets you into the mood for stitching something in those lovely autumn colors....(and oh, yes...the row of pumpkins in my blog banner are from another fall design of mine called PUMPKIN HARVEST!)

Time for Falling Leaves

It's that time of year when leaves are turning all sorts of lovely colors. How can you not notice the beauty of the trees, as they put on their show of changing colors? To celebrate this season, I thought I'd share some of my autumnal patterns with you.
Here's a quilt design called FALLING LEAVES


It's been a very popular design...and a bit of a challenge to stitch, with all those swirling quilt blocks! But I love the "feather-stitched" ecru border, and then that outer border of triangle "geese" blocks is always a favorite of mine. (Notice that the geese triangles are stitched with a variegated thread - Watercolours 10, "Fiesta", so the color changes create a nice surprise...)

And here's another popular quilt, MAPLE LEAF (also done in Watercolours 10, Fiesta, although I've also stitched it in forest greens and cranberry for a different look):



And of course there's INDIAN SUMMER


followed by INDIAN AUTUMN (they both use Watercolours 168, "Rainforest" which has more muted autumnal colors):



Here's FOUR WINDS, which I also consider a fall-ish design, too. (And yup, that variegated thread in there is good old Watercolours 10, Fiesta):


I'll finish showing the rest of my fall designs in my next post...stay tuned...

BOO!

The nights are getting cooler,


A chill is in the air...


Spooky ghosts will soon appear,


Scaredy Cats, BEWARE!


From Me to You: here's a big BOO! to all of you Stitchers out there....and of course,

Ghosties and Goblins and Ghouls, Oh My!

Katie Lou and I are having a tough time deciding on her costume for tomorrow's Halloween festivities.

Here are the options:


My favorite - HOBO DOG
("Hey Buddy....can you spare me a bone?...chicken's my favorite...
although them ribs you got are smellin' might good too...and I wouldn't say no to a hunk of that cornbread...")



DEVIL DOG
("Golly, I'm just the sweetest little angel...how could you think I'd EVER do anything bad?...it would never enter my mind...honest...")



PIONEER DOG
("Have I told you the story how my Grandpappy and Grandmammy trotted West under the covered wagons?...They bit some Injins on the way...and scared away them pesky ky-oats too...yessir they surely did...")



FRENCH DOG
("Oui, Oui, I have just had ze little stroll on the Chomps Elaysay....But of course I have a little bit of ze french dog in me. Pourquoi? Mon Dieu - because J'ADORE LES FRENCH FRIES!!!)



or Katie's favorite - FETCHIN' DOG
("Just throw it, throw it, throw it all ready!!! Come ON, forget the candy...I just wanna PLAY!")

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, Y'ALL...
HOPE YOUR DAY IS FILLED WITH LOTS OF TREATS!

A NEW Abstraction!

Well, I'm pleased to report that I've finished yet ANOTHER old project that I've had languishing in the back of my design pile. It's MALACHITE MAZE, the next in the abstract Impressionist Collection. I'm soooooooo happy to have finished this green beauty at last!


My inspiration for this piece was a hunk of real malachite, that I used to match all the green threads. I also thought that bargello patterns would echo the actual malachite rings, so I used two bargello patterns in the overall design. The focal point of the design is the central box with a four-way bargello pattern (something I've always wanted to try and this was the perfect use for it)....


The rest of the patterns are composed of easy stitches - just combined in interesting ways, using a variety of threads. As with my other abstracts, the patterns are worked in "thick and thin" areas - the outer areas are done with the thicker #5 pearl cotton threads, and the inner areas are worked in the same patterns, but with thin threads. This effect gives the piece some interesting texture and dimension, and I am always intrigued by the play of light and dark, thick and thin threads.


It has been awhile since I've done one of my abstracts, so it took me a bit of concentation to focus on the design.... But once I got back into my "green groove," I whizzed through this design in no time at all, AND enjoyed the process! (I was soooo relieved to see it finally finished after all this time - WOO HOO!)


And, for all you stitchers who might like to try this design in a different color, I do give you a list of the types of threads you need to pull if you want to change the colors.

If you are interested in MALACHITE MAZE, please visit my website and click on the IMPRESSIONIST COLLECTION page for more information.

Tricks or Treats?

A friend of mine gave me this cute, glittery sign that I hang on my office door this time of year:


Every time I look at it, I think, "Gee, that would look cute as a stitched project."
So this year, I sat down at the computer, picked out a nice fat font, scanned it into the cross-stitch software, then loaded it onto my website for a Halloween freebie pattern for all you stitchers. Here's the pattern. (You can find a printable version on my FREE PATTERN page on my website or you can hit the PRINT PREVIEW button on this page - under FILE - and then enlarge the page and print it directly from here):


The design count, including the border space around the letters, is 74 x 54.
The design size on 18 ct. canvas would be 4" x 3".

I'm not listing any threads for this little pattern, because I can easily think of a dozen or so fun combinations. Soooo, you'll just have to use your own creativity to pull the threads for this out of your own Halloweeny stash.

Try stitching the black outline in black Fuzzy Stuff, for a scratchy, witchy look... or maybe use a fun black metallic ribbon with orange and purple glints in it... And filling all those letters can be a real hoot! Use a variegated Halloweeny thread thruout, or perhaps stitch each letter in a different color....maybe a different metallic ... or HEY! how about some glow-in-the-dark colors?!?

And here's the one I stitched (it just took me two evenings) using all Ribbon Floss thread (BLACK: 148-202; PURPLE: 148-40; ORANGE: 148-035; GREEN: 148-056). Instead of framing it, I just wrapped it around a piece of mat board, so I can hang it from a door nob or drawer nob or maybe I'll just prop it up somewhere on a shelf...


Well, anyway, this is a fun and easy treat for all you Halloween lovers out there! ENJOY!