Ho Ho Ho and a Holly Border

I have a finished stitching to share. 

Do you remember when I posted about combining some motifs from my Here Comes Santa Claus pattern set?

I put these motifs together and finished up the stitching.  I am so happy with the result! 

The red lettering and the white snowflakes are the perfect combination for Christmas.  I added some sparkly rainbow blending filament to the snowflakes. 

I used a Whipped Blanket Stitch for the left arm of each H.  The Blanket Stitch in red and the whipping in white.  It reminds me of a candy cane.  I also added some of the rainbow blending filament to the right arm of each H:

I also completed a beautiful border. This is all done in metallic floss!  

Well, except for the red berries.  They are Satin Stitched in regular cotton floss.  I added a few Straight Stitches using gold blending filament to add some sparkle.  

The holly leaves are outlined with Stem Stitching and filled with Straight Stitches.

The light and dark green lines with the gold French Knots are couched.  What an easy way to deal with metallic floss!

Cup Stitch

Time for another 100 Stitches Plus post.  I just learned how to do this interesting stitch - the Cup Stitch.    

For my floss, I used perle cotton - DMC #742

The stitch is made by looping around a triangle foundation formed from three Straight Stitches.  
To make the triangle, I came up through my fabric:

Went back into the fabric at a slight diagonal:

and pulled all the way through to complete the first Straight Stitch.  This forms the left side of the triangle:

Next I came up through the fabric to start to form the bottom side of the triangle:

I pulled all the way through and went back into the fabric at the base of the left side.  

I pulled all the way through, forming the bottom side of the triangle and then I came back out of the fabric at the top of the left side of the triangle:

I pulled all the way through and then went back into the fabric at the right edge of the bottom side of the triangle. 

I pulled all the way through and that completed the triangle foundation: 

To start the looping stitches, I came up through the fabric just below the bottom side of the triangle: 

I pulled all the way through:

Next I brought the needle around and slipped it under the bottom edge of the triangle.  I didn't go into or pick up any of the fabric, I just slid the needle under the triangle edge.  As I slide the needle under the edge, notice the position of the needle to that of the working thread:

First it slides under the working thread and then over the working thread.  This will automatically form the loop when the needle is pulled all the way through:

The first loop:

Next, I brought the needle around and repeated the loop steps - needle sliding under the triangle and then under/over the working thread:

I continued the looping all around the sides of the triangle:

until I was back to where I started.  To make higher sides to the cup, you can do another round of looping stitches all around the triangle. 

I did the second round and then when I was back to the beginning, I went back into the fabric:

and secured my floss underneath:

I like this stitch!  I also like the puffy effect the double stitching gives so I think in the future, when I use this stitch I will always use the double stitching.

This stitch is from the book Embroidery Stitches by Mary Webb.

A Work in Progress and Combining Motifs

First up I have a little bit of progress to show on one of my works in progress.  Do you remember this Santa and reindeer?  

I am filling in Santa's suit with Split Stitch and all the trim of his suit with French Knots - so many knots!  I am only using three strands of floss, I suppose it would fill up the space faster with all six strands but I like the small precise look that three strands give in this application.  

I also wanted to share an idea for combining motifs from a pattern set.  I started with this Ho! Ho! Ho! motif and I wanted to add some embellishment to the text:

So, I added this little snowflake motif from the same pattern set

I only used part of it, I situated the big snowflake to the left of the text:

Then taped it into place, put my fabric over the top and traced the design:

Next, I turned the snowflake motif around and used one of the smaller flakes on the right side of the text:

I ended up using two of the smaller flakes to balance the final design: 

Now it is ready to start stitching!

This is a really easy way to combine motifs and create your own design.