A Brand New Panel!!

Are you looking for a fun new winter project that has lots of happy colors and patterns and just plain boosts your spirits during these dreary winter months?  Why not consider my newest panel design, called SNOWMAN PANEL:

I wanted to create something fun and colorful; something that evokes the chill of a winter's day, but also has lots of happy colors -- in this case, I chose the variegated Watercolours 236 - "Appalachia" with its vibrant blues, greens and purples for my foundation thread, then found the #5 pearl cottons and metallic ribbons to match.  It's happy, happy, happy stitchin', I tell ya....

I had so much fun thinking up the different snowflake-like patterns to stitch in the main boxes, and then I definitely wanted the picture box to have a snowman.... and wait, I also had to add two cute bunnies!  Plus a few small pine trees give the vignette an extra wintery feel.  A smattering of crystal beads add a bit of sparkle as well.  Here's a peek up-close:

Working on the leventeen blue canvas was another perk for this project. (Or you could also use the slightly darker antique blue canvas, if that's available to you instead.)

So if you love snowmen.... or bunnies.... or anything with snowflakes.... you might want to add this cheerful pattern to your winter stash.  Please ski on over to my website to see all the other ordering information for this fun, new SNOWMAN PANEL!

Bunnies & Eggs For Your Easter Basket

Are you looking forward to celebrating Easter this weekend?

Do you have plenty of springtime projects to help you enjoy the season?

Here are some of my favorite Easter pieces that feature eggs and bunnies:

 SPRINGTIME QUILT

BARGELLO EGG

 EASTER EGG ORNAMENTS

 

my most recent SPRING SURPRISES

 

 DAISY O'HARE

 SPRINGTIME WREATH

 

 and last, but not least, HAPPY EASTER, HAPPY SPRING!

Enjoy your weekend, Stitchers!

Need a Little Spring??

"Spring has sprung,

The grass has riz;

I wonder where

Them bunnies is?"

Ooooooh, I've got bunnies.... and chicks.... decorated eggs... spring flowers....

and just in time for Easter, too!

It's my brand new pattern, called SPRINGTIME RIBBONS:

 Boy, is this a fun one to stitch!

Lots of fuzzy little bunnies and chicks.. I mean, how cute is that?

  

I stitched the bunnies and checks with the very soft Bella Lusso merino wool (but you could also use pearl cotton or floss).  And check out those cute little eggs!   Two different styles, but very easy to stitch...

I had a hard time deciding on which spring colors to use in this piece, especially since I used Watercolours 270, "Easter Egg" as the foundation for my palette.  Should I use mostly pinks? blues? lavenders?  Tough to pick a favorite.... so I decided to mix them all into the design for a very colorful spring basket!

Same with the choice of canvas: I could have done it on the pink canvas, the light blue canvas, the lavender canvas, or the sage green canvas, but frankly, I was curious to see what it would look like as a "white-on-white" color scheme, so I went with the eggshell canvas with gold flecks.  This finished model looks just like a yummy Easter cake.  Or like the cover of a big box of Easter chocolates.  In any event, you can choose your favorite color of canvas for this piece and it will look totally YUMMY, whichever color you pick!

And if you like stitching ribbons, like I do, you've got three different ribbons to work up, with three different floral treatments - not hard,at all, just plain fun!  I chose to use a different color on each ribbon, but if you have a favorite springy color, you could certainly do all the ribbons in the same color family.  Just something to consider....

Anyway, if you are craving a pastel treat for a springtime project, please check out my sweet new SPRINGTIME RIBBONS on my website!

Bunnies or Eggs?

So, what's your favorite Easter theme -- bunnies or eggs? 

It's hard to pick just one, isn't it? 

I love everything springy, so I think you can never have too many bunnies or eggs or flowers or baskets filled with candy!!

Here's an old quilt design that has a little bit of everything in it, SPRINGTIME QUILT, from my American Quilt Collection:

And here's a favorite piece of mine, BLACKWORK BUNNY:

And in closing, here's one of my new EASTER EGG ORNAMENTS:

Happy Mid-Week (only a few more days until the weekend)!!

Countdown to Bunny Day!

Here in Northern California Spring has definitely sprung.

Blooming flowers are peeking out everywhere 

and my garden is looking very festive.

Keeping with the season, I thought I'd share some of my spring-i-est designs with you this week, to put a smile on your face and a hop in your step!

Here's a springtime favorite, DAISY O'HARE, from my Sampler Collection:

She's definitely dressed up and ready for the Easter fun to begin....

 Hope your week gets off to a colorful start...

Stitching Miss Daisy

To celebrate the arrival of Spring, I thought I'd share some past spring projects of mine. The first that comes to mind is DAISY O'HARE. I was inspired to create a complex bunny figure that had LOTS of different stuff to stitch, in many different types of threads. (And sometimes, I just have to find a reason to stitch on pink canvas!)

Here's a look at her sweet face:


Her dress was fun to stitch, with lots of different threads and stitches to play with:



And the borders are filled with lots of springy stuff -- flowers of course, plus a gingham ribbon border, where you get a glimpse of the variegated silk thread in the bordering little checkers (I used Waterlilies 028, "Confetti"):


And the top and bottom borders have more Eastery stuff - more flowers, long tied bundles instead of gingham, plus little Easter eggs in each corner!


Someday I hope to stitch up a companion piece that has a boy bunny to keep Daisy company.... but until then I'll just keep stitching away at all my OTHER projects this spring...

A Gentle Breeze is Blowing...

Here's a canvas I recently finished stitching (still has to be framed):


It's a Curtis Boehringer canvas that I fell in love with a few years ago.

I've always wanted to stitch a velveteen rabbit of my own, so that's how I stitched this one - I used Petite Very Velvet for the whole rabbit.
Here's a close-up:


I had intended to stitch the flowers in dimensional stitches (padded satin and long satin stitch) and God knows I tried. But no matter how many times I tried - and with lots of different thread types, I might add - I just couldn't get it to look good. So I ripped out (I lost track of how many times) and finally opted to stitch everything with Ye Olde Basketweave Stitche.

And what the photo doesn't show is that all the daffodils and leaves and pink ribbons are stitched with a softly metallic Ribbon Floss, so there are subtle metallic glints on everything that isn't bunny.

And yes, I added the thin wavy breeze lines by backstitching them with a fine metallic thread.

And because I didn't want to stitch a background, instead I used a soft blue colored pencil to CAREFULLY scribble around the bunny and then smear (with ye olde index finger) to blur the soft blue background.

One of the nicest things about Curtis Boehringer canvases is how well they lend themselves to Basic Basketweave. Since the designer uses his signature swirls on everything, it's easier to stitch them in Basketweave, and just embellish a few things in accent stitches, rather than try and figure out how to incorporate lots of fancy stitches. Another stress-free option is to Basketweave Stitch everything - BUT USE LOTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF THREADS - and how fun would that be?!?

And because his designs are so beautifully composed and the images are so graphically pleasing, you can basketweave to your heart's content, and not feel guilty about it. Sometimes simple IS best.

If you're interested in seeing other Curtis Boehringer designs, check out his website (www.curtisboehringer.com) or browse around in ebay, where his canvases appear from time to time...

No Gnomes In My Garden

Some gardens have gnomes hiding in them.

They peek out from the flower beds, or even hang in little swings from the trees.

But my garden has a very small bunny I affectionately call "Bun Bun", after a rabbit my cousins used to have when we were growing up.

My Bun Bun pops up in lots of my garden shots because... well, he's just so darn cute!

Here he is in a patch of sweet wild violets that are scattered around my yard.

And he's joined by a rather large ceramic tortoise I just call Mr. Turtle. He's a very special turtle, because he was handmade by a very special artist at The Neighborhood Center of the Arts, in Grass Valley, CA. When I lived up in the Gold Country, I worked as the office manager for that art school for developmentally disabled adults. When I left NCA, they gave me Mr. Turtle as a parting gift....and he's had a special place in my garden ever since.

(He's got a goofy grin on his face because I guess he's been sniffing all the spring flowers!)

Anyway, I wanted to introduce these garden characters to you, because you'll surely see them again in whatever flower or garden shots I include here from time to time.

And always remember Bun Bun and Mr. Turtle's advice: DON'T FORGET TO TAKE TIME TO STOP AND SMELL THOSE FLOWERS....