Splish Splash...

One of the best ways I know to stay cool on a hot summer's day is to sit under a ceiling fan and work on a project that has cool blues and greens in it -- which is my idea of color therapy!

One of my favorite blue and green designs is REFLECTING POOLS, done many years ago...

It was the first piece I created for my "Impressionist Collection" because it was such an asymmetrical abstract, it really didn't fit with my other more traditional samplers.  It was also the first piece I created using a technique that still fascinates me today: mixing "heavy" #5 pearl cotton variegated threads with "light" stranded silk or cotton threads in the same colorways, just to see what happens when you put them side by side.  Here's an example of what I mean:

The border areas in REFLECTING POOLS are stitched with 1 ply of a 3-ply #5 Caron Watercolours thread; and the same stitch pattern is worked "on the other side of the border line" but using 1 or 2 ply of a finer cotton or silk thread (in this case, Caron Waterlilies).  You're making the same stitch pattern, but all of a sudden it looks different - paler, softer, farther away.  Here's another example:

While the thicker #5 version has a richer, more solid look to it, the thinner version looks totally different, doesn't it?   I love the lacy-ness of those inner patterns, although the variegated colors really pop in the heavier border areas.  When comparing the two versions I rather think those "light" versions would make terrific background patterns for painted canvas pieces.   And notice how different the plain ol' Basketweave Stitch looks when done with 1-2 ply of a stranded silk, against the more solid chunk of Basketweave done with the #5 Watercolours.  Interesting, huh?

NOTE: I used a family of Caron Watercolours, Wildflowers, and Waterlilies in 068 - "Mediterranean" for this piece, and yes, the thread colors between the different thread types are different.  But you know, that's one of the things I like about using variegated threads -- every stitched piece will look slightly (or even greatly) different, since dye lots can change drastically over the years -- because that makes every stitched piece unique.... 

Anyway, this piece was stitched over 10 years ago, but I love it just as much now, and it is still refreshing to look at, especially on a hot summer's day. The darker border areas remind me of mosaic tiles around the edge of a swimming pool, while the inner patterns are a softer, paler reflection of those same tiles, only seen under the shimmer of an imaginary pool..... Ooooooh, very cool!!

Oh, Lovely Summer Days!

Today we had cool foggy morning, burning off to blue skies with none of the hazy smoke from northern fires.  The blue skies make me think of a favorite quilt design I created several years ago, for a store that requested a design that used a piece of rectangular canvas (for the leftover strip of canvas stores get from cutting many squares).  That design is called SUMMER DAYS, and looks like this:

I loved working with the variegated Watercolours 214 - "St. Tropez" because of it's muted blues, aquas and yellows.  I've always think it has a very French Provincial look, n'est pas??

And this was one of the first designs I used a "shiny" rayon Ribbon Floss in the background areas, to give it a different look and texture.  Here's an up-close look at the rest of the fun borders I enjoyed stitching around the central blocks:

Looking at this happy piece gave me the idea of quickly graphing a small freebie project for you today that uses the classic star block, as seen in the quilt above.... then adding a fun little border around it.  I'm calling it  A LITTLE SUMMER FUN:

I've graphed it in a fun red, white and blue color scheme, but you can use any handful of threads you want to play around with.  And I've given you two different border treatments to choose from: a striped one or a wavy one.  I've put them both in the graph, but you can just pick your favorite and stitch it on all four sides. Also, although I've graphed the borders in red and white, you could also stitch the red sections with your variegated thread, to spread the color out from the center motif and to give it a more monochromatic look....

Anyway, I hope this fun little project puts a smile on your face and helps you enjoy your own sweet summer days.   And, HAPPY FRIDAY!

Goodbye, Summer...

It's the beginning of September already, and the skies in Northern California are a vibrant blue.  Amongst the masses of green trees that carpet the hills and shade the streets there are hints of gold and orange -- a coming attraction of the next season, while we enjoy the remaining days of summer.

Those blue/green/gold colors remind me of this quilt I designed, called WYOMING STAR:

In this quilt, I decided to try something different and instead of doing the whole quilt in Diagonal Satin Stitch I added some easy stitch variations that would look like fabric patterns. Here's an up-close look at the design that shows you the stitches that give the effect of fabric swatches:

And I also decided to use DMC floss for the background colors, instead of my usual ecru #5 pearl cotton.  DMC floss is much easier on the fingers when pulling the needle through the canvas, don't you agree?  So once all the pearl cotton areas are stitched, it's fun to relax and just fill in the background sections with the finer, stranded floss.  And that makes WYOMING STAR a great project for the last lazy days of summer!

Ahhh, Summer Days!

This past week has been the most perfect summer weather.  Cool, grey mornings with the layers of fog reaching down and kissing the lush green vineyards on the valley floor; then when the fog burns off, warm, sunny afternoons with just enough of a breeze to move the air and keep it pleasant.

The weather these days brings to mind a happy blue and yellow quilt design I did a few years ago. I was pulling out this pattern today to send to A Stitch Above, in Cincinnati, Ohio and it got me thinking about how it was created.  A shop owner asked me if I would please design something that would use up the last 12"  strip of canvas that always seem to get left over when the larger canvases are cut.  Since I was getting tired of the normal square layout, I was happy to make a rectangular quilt that would be terrific as a longish pillow (or hey, just stitch four of the center stars and you could square it up!)....Here it is, and it's called SUMMER DAYS:

It uses Caron Watercolours 214, "St. Tropez" with denim blues and primrose yellows, and just a touch of sea glass green.  Isn't it a beachy feeling colorway?  I particularly like the wavy yellow row that looks "puffy" but is just stitched with one of my favorite threads - YLI Ribbon Floss. There's a bit of Ribbon Floss in sea green too.  The sheen of the rayon thread is a fun way to add just a touch of shimmer to the remaining pearl cotton colors.

I'm thinking this is real fun, fun, fun in the sun....
Hope you are enjoying these long days of summer and putting the extra daylight to good use by getting in some extra reading, gardening, hiking, dozing and of course -- stitching!

A New Pattern for Summer

In my typical Gemini fashion, I've been fluttering between several new projects, flitting from stitching to graphing to sketching, but this one was the first one to actually get finished -- and just in time for the long sunny days of summer....  It's called BARGELLO AND BUTTERFLY, for obvious reasons:

I've used the same basic size and format as my previous BARGELLO AND VIOLETS, shown below:

 

which I enjoyed stitching so much, I got to wondering what other sorts of four-way bargello designs I could come up with.

BARGELLO AND BUTTERFLY is a larger piece - 10.5" by 10.5" on the Santa Fe Sage Green 18 ct. canvas.  I chose the sage green canvas because that cool green color is my favorite and I thought all the colors would pop against it  - and they do!  But if you want, you can certainly use the pale blue, grey, or eggshell canvas too.  I think the blue or grey canvas would give a much cooler feel to the piece, while the warmer eggshell canvas would be brighter and "sunnier" if you wanted that look instead.

I've altered the bargello pattern just a bit to create a different sized opening in the center.  And this time, I've place a big, shimmery blue butterfly in the center (and it was rather fun to tent stitch with #5 pearl cottons and a shimmery blue metallic, although you can always substitute DMC floss colors if you don't like tent stitching with pearl cottons.)  Here's the butterfly up-close:

And I wanted to create a different type of outer border for this piece, so I've laid blue metallic Ribbon Floss "in the ditches" and stitched over it with a "fan" or eyelet variation, which gives the border a more lacy, airy look (not to mention providing a neat place to add a few gold beads - grin) ...

And, although you can't see it very well in the photos, the background filling stitch is a plain four-way "lattice" stitch that has itty bitty upright crosses on top of the intersections.  For something different, I also mixed the background colors a bit; using blue metallic #4 braid on the north and south sections (see the blue arrows) and then a teal #4 braid in the east and west sections (where the green arrows are pointing).  Just a subtle color change that adds a bit more mystery and interest to the design.  (You can see the two different colors behind the butterfly as well, if you look closely in the previous photo...)

So if you're thoughts are turning to butterflies and bargello this summer, please visit my website to read more about this new BARGELLO AND BUTTERFLY design.

And of course.... HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Hot Days, Cool Projects

We've been having some hot days here in Northern California.  Not surprising, since it's the height of summer.  Time for cool drinks, sitting in the shade of a leafy tree or a patio, and dreaming about.....stitching, of course!

When it gets hot, I like to wear cool watery colors - blues and aquas and greens.  Same with my projects: I gravitate towards working with cool color threads - blues, greens, aquas.... Ahh!

Here are a few cool projects I've created in the past, that I thought you'd appreciate seeing in the midst of a hot summer day:

OCEAN WAVES (how perfect is that on a scorching July day?)

 MOORISH TILES (this is a real optical illusion piece!)

REFLECTING POOLS (totally cool project, but requires focusing to count all the boxes...maybe not
the best "no-brainer" piece for a hot day - grin!)

BLUEBONNET COLLAGE (just looking at these flowers makes me think of a field of bluebonnets waving in the breeze, and calms me down)

IRIS KIMONO (a very serene blue pattern)

Hope you're staying cool and enjoying all the best things about a summer's day!

A New Summery Piece!

Are you having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend?  I hope you all are...

And to celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer, I've just finished a new design that is really, really summery -- and I call it "EBB TIDE" because it has such a beachy feel to it.  Here's what it looks like:

 I absolutely adore the Watercolours thread I built this design around (241 - "Shenandoah).  I've been eager to use this color thread for a project and this one is a perfect fit!   Because "Shenandoah" has a delicious watery turquoise paired with bits of white (think cloud whisps or the foam of ocean waves), and a smidgeon of sage green (waving dune grasses).  I then added some soft gold metallics that move throughout the piece like shimmering beach sand.

I picked out a handful of very fun stitches to use in this piece.... And because it's a geometric piece with symmetrical borders and sections, you know in advance that whatever you stitch once, you'll have to repeat three more times, in the other sections.  But I thought, "Hey, wait a minute... let's make it a bit more fun... why not create two slightly different border patterns, so they LOOK alike, but are actually stitched differently?"  So that's what I did... and I thoroughly enjoyed stitching the zig zag borders (in the north & south rows) and the wavy borders (in the east & west rows).  Here's a peek at the two different sides to give you some idea of how it looks:

And check out the fun corner blocks!  A simple Rhodes Diamond is surrounded by long diagonal stitches, then framed by some simple Jessica curves, with the remaining background sections worked in an alternating tent stitch with the fine Kreinik #8 gold metallic.  I love how those curves soften the hard edges of the corner boxes, and echo the gold circles in the rest of the design.

Also, a basic four-way stitch is used in the center block area (you can see it in the lower left of the photo above) and is embellished with two types of gold metallic thread. AND instead of stitching the same pattern in all four sections, I've decided to create TWO slightly different versions that you alternate, to make it a wee bit more fun to stitch.

As for the gold metallic circles that are the focal point of the piece, when I stitched them and left the centers uncovered, they looked a bit like sand dollars or round sea urchins.  But having found a terrific source of dazzling Swarovski crystals, I was itching to use them and decided to finish off the design with a few well-placed crystals -- and they are included with the pattern!

So if you want to kick off your summer fun with a new stitching project, please visit my website for more information on ordering the new EBB TIDE.... and enjoy the rest of your long weekend!

Summertime Stitching

I was thinking about what stitching in the summertime means to me. Do you ever think about things like that when you are sitting quietly and stitching on your latest project?

I think about how nice it is to sit outside and stitch and listen to the birds and the outside traffic.... sipping a favorite cool drink and feel the soft summer breezes on your face while you focus on your stitching.

(Now I'm not going to mention all those pesky bugs or triple-digit heat or the phone that rings just as you get comfortable or the barking dog next door that won't shut up.... well, you know those summer irritations well enough, don't you? This is a nostalgic look at how summertime stitching is SUPPOSED to be.)

And I think about certain colors that seem "summery" to me. Now that it's "high summer" I think of bright yellows - and what could be better than pairing yellow with sky blue? Just like my SUMMER DAYS quilt design, shown above.

Or how about sunflowers? Aren't they the perfect summer flower? Tall and sturdy, big, bright and cheerful, faces always optimistically turned towards the sun... Here's another yellow quilt design of mine called SUNFLOWER STAR, which is could be a stylized version of a field of sunflowers, don't you think?

When I look at this design I imagine a group of midwest quilters working around a large quilt that depicts the farmland all around them. Maybe they're making it for a friend who's getting married soon or as a raffle quilt for the county fair.... and speaking of county fairs, what about this golden design called STATE FAIR that has lots of red/blue/gold ribbon motifs woven throughout the pattern:

(I don't know about you, but thinking about fairs makes me think about corn dogs and cotton candy and ice cold lemonade...)

But my all-time favorite summertime design is AMBER WAVES, with the rippling patterns throughout the piece in rich golds and greens and a hint of rose as well. I have this piece hanging in my hallway and when I look at it as I walk by, I remember how much I enjoyed stitching each of the patterns in this piece:

I hope when you're stitching this summer, you give some thought to what your favorite summer pieces are. Do you have them hanging in your house? Did you stitch them for friends? And what colors do YOU associate with summer? Do you crave certain colors when you pick your projects for summer? Anyway, I hope you are able to get outside and do some summertime stitching real soon!

Singin' More Blues

Well, it's officially Summer.

Which in my mind means it's time to stitch on projects that have a summery feel to them. Or, when the weather gets hotter and hotter, I like to find projects that have really COOL colors in them..... which means BLUES AND GREENS! (with a dash of purple, too...)

So I thought I'd pull some of my COOLEST quilt patterns to share with you. (Feel free to go get a tall iced tea...or lemonade....or iced coffee. Then put your feel up and enjoy!)

Ocean Waves

Tumbling Blocks

Toad in a Puddle

Pineapple Quilt

Moorish Tiles

Ocean Waves

Fisherman's Fancy

Flying Geese

Starry Nights

High Summer

This is a small Rebecca Wood canvas I started stitching last summer, but set it down at some point, and forgot about it.

This year, I remembered it, pulled it out of my stash and decided to get it finished for this Fourth of July.

Cute, huh?

It's actually part of a set of characters that make up an Independence Day collection -- don't know if it's still available, but it's really, really cute and I just fell in love with this little boy and his dog in particular....

And I certainly had fun stitching him up - nothing fancy, mostly basketweave stitch. I decided NOT to put in a background, as you can see. I'm going to just frame it in a simple silver frame, then enjoy looking at it the rest of the summer!

Check out many more of Rebecca Wood's wonderful canvases at www.RebeccaWoodDesigns.com