Autumn Projects - Part Five

You may remember way back to my list of Autumn projects? 

Finally...I finished the third one!

The last time I posted about this, I had just started stitching this border on the lower edge of a tea towel:

I was also considering different trims to use once this towel was hemmed:

I have finished all the embroidery and instead of using one of the trims, I decided to add a line of decorative stitching. 

I measured 1/8" in from the bottom of the tea towel and using a water soluble marker, drew a stitching line parallel to the bottom of the tea towel: 

Then I stitched a line of Double Knot Stitch.  I used perle cotton floss, this is color variations by DMC #4130.

I think this looks so pretty!  The line of Double Knot Stitch is a nice echo of all the French Knots in this border.

Here is a list of the floss colors and numbers that I used for my project:

Autumn Projects - Part Four

I have another finish to share.  Remember this owl from my autumn projects list?  He is all finished!

I took a few close ups to show all the stitches I used.  I finished all the leaves using the blanket stitch.  The vine is stem stitch and the berries are French knots.  His feet were done with satin stitch:

 For his wings, I used my {current} favorite stitch, the double knot stitch.  Speaking of knots, notice the difference in the size of the berries and the size of the little accent knots along his forehead?  For the berries, I used all six strands of cotton floss, the accent knots are three strands.  

 I did his neck detail with stem stitch:

And the feathers on his body are the fly stitch.  I used straight stitch to fill in his wings:

I love the color palette I used for this project, especially the coral color of the berries.  Here are the floss colors I used:

Next up for owl stitching: both of these, not sure yet which one is first!

Autumn Projects - Part Three

 I have an update on my progress of the two remaining Autumn projects.  {As you may remember I finished the first of the three here}.

The second project is this leaves and acorn border for my tea towel:

And the third is this little owl. 

For both of these projects, I am still experimenting with colors and stitches.   In the case of this owl I love the coral, black mustard and blue color palette but I am trying to get just the right combination of stitches - especially for the leaves! 

In the case of the tea towel, I am also thinking about trims.  I love a pom-pom trim on a tea towel. 

I am thinking maybe the smaller sized pom-poms would suit the border a little better than the large?

I guess I will have to wait until I finish the stitching!

Autumn Projects - Part Two

I have an update on one of my projects from my Autumn Projects post {here}.   You may remember, I was going to stitch this small table topper and I was deciding on floss colors

I decided to go with the perle cotton in this beautiful color variation.  This is DMC No. 4128.  I am very happy with the selection! 

 It really compliments the fabric and I just love the effect that the color variation gives.  For the embroidery,  I used the Lazy Daisy, Stem, and Straight Stitches.

After I did all the embroidering on this, I cut piece of white fabric to use as a backing piece.  

I pinned the two pieces right sides together

and sewed around the edges.  I left about a 2" opening so that I could turn the piece inside out and have the seam and raw edges inside and the right sides out.

Before I turned this inside out, I cut each corner on a diagonal so that it would reduce bulk and be easier to turn the corners. 

I turned it right side out and then I hand stitched the 2" opening closed.

This table topper really matches these wood pieces.   I am looking forward to using it with them!