Time Flies When You're Stitching!

I couldn't believe that it's been almost two years since I offered PATCHWORK PARFAIT as a cyber class!  I guess that's what happens when you've got your head down and fingers flying over multiple canvases month after month - grin...

 

Anyway, I think it's certainly time to offer this popular class again... so if you missed it the first time around, now's your chance to sign up!  It's a large piece - 11.5" x 11.5" on a 16" x 16" piece of 18 ct. eggshell canvas, stitched with a handful of gorgeous silk threads.   And to add extra spice to the color choices, I've taken out the two palest, spring colorways and added two bold, fall colorways - PURPLE and GREEN.  Here are the color choices for the October 2016 class stitcher:
 

 
Isn't that a yummy selection of colors to choose from?  And in case you're interested, the palettes are build around these variegated silk threads: 
TEAL =  Waterlilies 121 - "evergreen"
BLUE =  Waterlilies 229 - "oasis"
RED   =   Waterlilies 045 - "flame"
PURPLE = Waterlilies 231 - "ethiopia"
GREEN = Waterlilies 245 - "savannah"
And all of the colorways include matching Ribbon Floss and Kreinik 1/16th Ribbon threads as well. 

The nice thing about this project is that the stitches are NOT DIFFICULT, as you can tell from this detail photo:

Indeed, once you have the sections/borders counted out, filling in the boxes is very relaxing and quite a non-stressful project. A good project for working on over time, picking it up between other more demanding pieces.  I think of this piece as part geometric, part sampler....but totally fun to work up!

So if you want a gorgeous geometric sampler to work on this fall, please visit my website, and see all the other PATCHWORK PARFAIT class particulars and ordering information.

Take Me Home, Country Roads...

Do you like creating samplers with many different types of stitches?
Do you like stitching houses?
Do you delight in miniature landscapes?
Do you enjoy the blue/green/gold colors of summer?
....Then you'll definitely enjoy stitching my new COUNTRY ROADS piece!

It's stitched on 24 ct. Congress Cloth, so it has a finer, more detailed look to it, with a finished size of 9.5" x 11.25".  This patchwork quilt of fields and pastures is built around the variegated silk Waterlilies 257, "Spearmint" and I pulled out a varied palette of greens and golds to give it the look of a lush, summery day in the country.  Here's a detail photo of the buildings:
 

Here's a peek of my favorite section, with poplar trees, tiny grazing horses and a red tractor (psst: if you prefer cows, I've included a cow graph, too):

Very fun, but very fine work; nothing too taxing, except the fiddly counting of the border lines and boxes! I used 12-ply silk Splendor for this piece, but I also give DMC floss recommendations on the pattern.  Although I wanted the miniature look of Congress Cloth for this piece, it could be stitched on 18 ct. canvas, but you'd need a bigger cut of canvas (do the math from the design count).... And I can only guestimate how much more thread you'd need - at least double the listed amounts, since you'd be moving up from 2-3 ply on 24 ct. Congress Cloth to 3-4 ply on 18 ct. canvas.

Anyway, if you have a hankerin' to create your own small piece of country, please mosey on over to my website and see all the particulars on this new COUNTRY ROAD design! 

Springy Things

 

Are the flowers blooming where you live?

Does it get you in the mood to stitch some springy things??

One of my favorite spring pieces is LONG SPRING PANEL, which I originally stitched

in cool pinks and greens:

 

 

Then I loved this design so much I stitched it again in warm pinks and greens:

Both versions are yummy and I STILL can't decide which I like better!!

Then there is the fresh and airy SPRINGTIME BOUQUET, that reminds me

of a garden gazebo, covered in vines and climbing roses:

For a springy blue piece, I created this SPRING BOUQUET SAMPLER below, which is stitched 

on 24 ct. Congress Cloth with delicious Waterlilies 110 - "Hyacinth".  The stitched patterns

are a combination of "composite stitches" and "blackwork stitches" done in color.

The fun thing about this design is that it can be stitched in ANY color palette, if you first

choose a variegated Waterlilies thread you adore, then pick your solid colors to coordinate:

And for another light-filled springtime piece, here's BLUE RIBBON SAMPLER, 

which sneaks in a bit of hardanger amongst the blackwork flowers for a lovely lacy feel:

I stitched the above piece in blues and apricots - using variegated 

Wildflowers 147 - "Winter Sky",but again, 

you can change the colors in this piece just by choosing another variegated thread,

then matching the DMC #8 and #12 pearl cottons to it.

Just looking at these pieces creates the illusion of walking through a springtime garden, 

filled with colorful flowers waving in the soft breeze.  So if any of these pieces 

strike your fancy, please skip on over to my website and look under my

"SAMPLER COLLECTION" to peruse these and other springy designs! 

 

Celebrate the Bounty

Here are more of my designs that share the colors and feel of the Autumn season. 

(They are all available at my website,  in the Sampler Collection and Impressionist Collection,

if you are interested.)

 Anway, I love designing things that can be displayed for longer times during the year; so 

I've amassed quite a collection by now....

Rusty O'Toole

Prairie Star

 Long Autumn Panel

 Red Poppy Collage

 Turning Leaves

My latest stitched painted canvas, Fall Splendor

and last but not least, Pumpkin Harvest 

 

Have a lovely Thankgiving weekend, and I hope you manage to sneak in a bit of stitching, too!

More Fall Favorites

After I stitched a few fall quilt designs, I decided to broaden my approach and do some sampler-type designs that would be appropriate for displaying for a longer time in the fall,  and didn't depend on Halloween elements for their continued enjoyment.  They range from traditional designs to more

abstract or impressionistic pieces....

Here are some of my all-time favorites:   PUMPKIN HARVEST (which is basically a cross-stitch graph that is stitched on the plain brown 18 ct. canvas -- simple but elegant) 

RUSTY O'TOOLE 

 

 

AMBER WAVES

        

PRAIRIE STAR

 

and TURNING LEAVES

As the days and nights get cooler, it's delicious to stitch with these warm, rich colors, plus working lots of elegant patterns is another fun way to transition into the season of long dark nights -- now we'll have lots more time for stitching at the end of the day!

Hardanger, Anyone?

Now that the warm days of summer are fast approaching, I thought I'd share some light and airy pieces with you.... Several years ago, I played around with some traditional Hardanger elements, but added a few of my own design elements -- like a bit of blackwork and a few embroidery motifs, such as lazy daisy stitches, wrapped roses, and eyelets.  Add a sweet, delicate ribbon border and you have this piece, BLUE RIBBON SAMPLER:

 It's worked on eggshell 24 ct. Congress Cloth, and one of the funnest things about stitching it was using a fine variegated thread, like Wildflowers 147 ("Winter Sky") for the kloster work.  Here's a look at the elements up-close:

I enjoyed stitching up the first Hardanger piece so much, I designed a companion piece, using a slightly different color palette, called WILDFLOWER SAMPLER:
 

This piece is also worked on eggshell 24 ct. Congress Cloth, but uses the variegated Caron Wildflowers 088 ( "Mountain Meadow") with a soft sage green border color.  Here's what it looks like up-close:

 
So if you're in the mood for a softer, lighter project, that is worked on a finer canvas, please visit my website for more information about either of these unique Hardanger designs for your next summer project! 

 

And.... HAPPY FRIDAY!

Another Old Favorite

Talking about my FLOWER SAMPLER last week got me to thinking about another old sampler design of mine that has been ultra-popular over the years -- the SAMPLER QUILT:

It's a large design -- on 18 ct. canvas it's 12" x 14" and it basically used 2 skeins of a variegated Watercolours thread, 2 skeins of a medium and dark #5 pearl cotton, and a ball of ecru for all the background areas.


This design is so adaptable to so many colors and sizes, I can't begin to list them all. Just pull your favorite variegated threads, a few solid colors and start stitching - this is a fun feast for the eyes, let me tell you!

I've stitched this pattern at least four different times: twice on 18 ct. canvas in it's full size, once when I picked out nine of my favorite blocks and made a smaller square version, and once when I stitched the whole design on 24 ct. Congress Cloth.  The Congress Cloth version is a particular favorite of mine and looks like this (please forgive its ragged appearance...it has traveled a lot over the years and is a bit worse for the wear - but still fondly cherished):

Stitched on the smaller Congress Cloth, its size is approx. 9" x 11" and it has a delicious miniature look and feel to it.  But really, it's the colors that make it most appealing, don't you think?

For this model, I used  the silk thread, Caron Waterlilies 110 "Hyacinth", which only comes in Waterlilies and not the thicker Watercolours or Wildflowers, unfortunately...  Anyway, I chose periwinkle and orchid for the dreamy accent colors (Splendor silks, I think, but I don't recall the actual colors).  That "Hyacinth" colorway is totally yummy...and doesn't it make you yearn for a romantic misty spring morning? (... sort of a "Pride & Prejudice" kind of colorway - grin!) 

Sigh.  Just another springtime design I thought I share with you in this season of flowery abundance...

How Much is that Doggie in the Sampler?

The one that I showed you last week in my Hollyhock House sampler?

The one with the spots? ... She's not for sale.

That's KATIE, my part-Wire Haired German Pointer mixed with (I'm guessing here) a little bit of obsessive (in a nice way) Border Collie.

It occurred to me this weekend that all you dog-loving stitchers out there might like to have the graph I used to add Katie to my sampler. I fiddled around with her shape to get the right coloring in a very small area, but you can certainly adapt the design to suit your dog's size and coloring. Here it is for you to copy and use, if you'd like to add your dog to any sampler you're working on:


ANYWAY....my Katie Lou is a rescued dog, from 'way up in Northern California's Lake County, where (I suspect) she was a rejected hunting dog that was abused my some male (she's wary of all males, especially ones carrying sticks, unbrellas, skateboards, anything long and pointy) and she's terrified of loud noises (like fireworks, backfiring cars, anything remotely sounding like gunshots.)

Katie may have started her life as somebody's throwaway trash....but now she's my TREASURE - a smart, sensitive, priceless companion and I'm so grateful to have her in my life!

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.

Stitch With Me!

In my July 16th posting, I talked about all the geometric patterns that are appearing in decorating magazines. Well, looking at all those geometrics got me itching to start stitching some blackwork patterns based on those geometrics. I've been so focused on my other designs this year, that I haven't done any blackwork in quite a while and I miss it. So.....

Here's what I've come up with:


I've decided to whip up a little BLACKWORK MYSTERY SAMPLER for those of you who might like to give blackwork a try. Here's what I'm going to do: I'll post the graphs on my website: www.ljperindesigns.com, under the FREE PATTERNS page. Go there and print out the graphs. You might want to print out this blog page as well. [Aside: the graphs posted on my website are the best I can manage. If you need the graphs to be larger, please take them to a copy shop and get them enlarged.]

This little BLACKWORK MYSTERY SAMPLER will be stitched in THREE PARTS. Each part will add another layer to the design. The photo above shows PART ONE completed. (If you go back to my previous blog posting, you can pick out some of the geometric patterns I've used...)I will post PART 1 now, and in a week or so I'll post PART 2, followed in a few more weeks with the final PART 3.

And here is the materials list, if you're interested in stitching along:

DESIGN COUNT: 120 threads by 120 threads

DESIGN SIZE:
on 24/25 ct. Lugana: 5" x 5"
on 22 ct. Hardanger: 5.5" x 5.5"
on 18 ct. aida: 6.5" x 6.5"
on 16 ct. aida: 7.5" x 7.5"
on 14 ct. aida: 8.5" x 8.5"

(I recommend a light-colored fabric, such as white, ivory, ecru... but if you really want to be creative, you could try it on a dark fabric, using very light threads - it's up to you!)

THREADS: You can stitch the whole design (all three parts) in one color if you wish. Or...
You can stitch each part in a different color/type of thread, like this:
- PART 1 in a dark solid color (or a dark-to-medium variegated color)
- PART 2 in a medium-to-light accent solid color
- PART 3 in a metallic accent that matches your solid accent color

The type of thread you choose will depend on which count of fabric you use. The finer the fabric count, the finer thread weight you'll need. I'm working on 22 ct. white Hardanger, with just ONE PLY of a 6-ply cotton floss (shown above) that I've dyed myself in a variegated blue/green/purple colorway. You can see when it's stitched, there's a very subtle color change thruout the overall design.

You can also use silk thread, as well as a single-ply cotton such as Bravo! or Wildflowers - in solid or variegated colors. The different thread thicknesses are shown in the photo on the right. On the right is variegated cotton floss; on the left is a Bravo! or Wildflowers weight (see how a single ply is slightly heavier than one ply of the floss?) One way to test the colors is to lay ONE PLY of whichever thread you're considering against the fabric. You can then see how fine it will look, as well as how much of the coloring will show up. Darker colors will show up better and the lines will look crisper; lighter colors will be muted and create a paler, watercolory effect. The photo below shows how the two threads look when they are stitched.

Are you interested?
Well, ON YOUR MARKS...GET SET....STITCH!

[For those who might be interested: Stitchers - YES, you have my permission to teach this project in your guild groups - but please give me copyright credit for this design. And NO, this pattern is NOT for resale in any form. I will not be kitting it up or selling it in pattern form. This pattern is just for us all to blogstitch - to have fun experimenting and playing with. Okay?]