Home Sweet Home Stitching Complete!

 I finished stitching my welcome motif from the Home Sweet Home embroidery pattern.   


I used a variety of stitches. Stem Stitch, Double Knot Stitch, French Knots, Lazy Daisy Stitch, Long and Short Stitch and of course, Back Stitch:

Oh and I almost forgot - the Fishbone Stitch!  I used that for the biggest purple and blue flowers:

You might remember when I started this project I had quite the color palette planned.  

As it turned out, I did the majority of the project using these beautiful colors:

and didn't use any of the black, gray or charcoal!

I think there is a nice balanced combination of colors and nothing stands out too much:  

Here are the floss numbers of the colors I used:

Crossed Blanket Stitch

This is the Crossed Blanket Stitch.  It is a variation on one of my favorite go-to stitches - the Blanket Stitch.  I am sure this variation will also be a favorite.  There are so many places to use the blanket stitch, it will be nice to have such a beautiful variation to use as well. 

I am adding this stitch to my 100 Stitches plus journey.  

I found this stitch to be easier to do if I made myself some guidelines.  Much like the Blanket Stitch, this one requires even spacing to look its best!

My first step was to draw the guidelines.  I drew two parallel lines. Mine are 1/2" apart - fairly wide and just for my demonstration - it is easier to see my steps.  I think 3/8" would be a better, neater looking size for this stitch. 

I worked this stitch from left to right.  The first step is to come up through the fabric on the bottom line:

Pull all the way through:

Next I went back into the fabric on the top guideline, a bit to the right of where my floss emerged:

I came back out of the fabric on the bottom guideline and right next to the spot where the floss first emerged.  Notice the needle is at a slant and that the tip of the needle is passing over the working floss:

Pull all the way through:

Next I brought the needle around to the top guideline and went back into the fabric a little to the left of where I first went in on the top guideline:

I came out on the bottom guideline - notice the needle is at a slant and the tip of the needle is again going over the working floss:

Pull all the way through:

That is the first stitch - notice it forms an "x".  I just continued those same steps

At the end of the bottom guideline, I went back into the fabric to end the line of stitching:

Here is a look at the underside of this stitch:

When I was finished, I did this again with guidelines that were 3/8" apart.  I washed out the guidelines and here is the result.  I think the stitching looks better being a bit smaller:

Here is a close up view:

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

Home Sweet Home Project Update

I have a bit of progress to show on my welcome motif from the Home Sweet Home pattern.

You may remember when I started this stitching, I chose an unusual color palette.    Here are the colors:

So far, I like the way they are working together.  I still need to introduce the brown and black.  I think my favorite color is the green I used for the house.  I just love it with the purple:

I am keeping the red in small doses:

I still have quite a few flowers to complete and finish up the windows:

 When I finish, I will be back with a post detailing the stitches used and floss color numbers!