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!

Ladybug Embroidery Project Part Two

I finished my ladybug embroidery project.  I first blogged about this {here}.

I had wanted to challenge myself to use as many different stitches as possible.  By my count, I ended up using eight different stitches.

The ladybug's antennae and body outline are Stem Stitch, her wings are outlined in Double Knot Stitch and filled with lines of Running Stitch. The spots on her wings are Satin Stitch and French Knots.  For her body, I used Trellis Couching Stitch:

For the flowers, I outlined the petals in Blanket Stitch, and put in a Lazy Daisy Stitch.  For the flower centers I used three French Knots.  I also used French Knots for the blue accent dots spaced randomly round the motif:

I am really pleased with the variety of stitches I included on this project!

I think this project would look really sweet framed in this hoop - maybe embellished with some matching trim?  This is a 6" hoop and is the perfect size for this motif.

Here are the floss colors and numbers I used for this project:

Easter Embroidery Patterns

I have a few Easter embroidery finishes and a new work-in-progress to share.  First up is this sweet egg basket and flowers: 

I used an Easter basket motif and two border patterns from my Easter embroidery pattern set:

I finished stitching it yesterday and washed out all the water soluble marker lines.  Then I pressed it and took a few pictures.  When I was uploading the pictures, I spotted a mistake that I hadn't seen before - look closely at the ribbon hanging off the bow:
 

I forgot to finish the edge on the right-hand side!  It was only a few stitches missing so I was able to fill them in. 

It looks much better now! 

The stitches I used on the ribbon are the Herringbone Stitch for the inside and the Stem Stitch for the edges.  I used the Blanket Stitch for the handle.  The scalloped rim of the basket and the accent lines on the front of the basket are all done in Stem Stitch.  The outline of the basket is done in Split Stitch and Back Stitch.  I used all of these stitches on the eggs and also French Knots and Chain Stitch: 

The flowers and the green curvy lines are Stem Stitch.  There are also Lazy Daisy Stitch and more French Knots:

Here are the floss colors and numbers I used for this project:

My other finish is this decorated egg.  This was so fun to stitch and since I used such easy stitches, it was very quick to finish!  This is Stem Stitch for the egg border and the flowers, French Knots, and Cross Stitches with a Straight Stitch in a contrasting color over their middles:

Here are the floss colors and numbers I used for this project:

My new work-in-progress is this little duckling.  I am picking some nice colors to finish this:

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!

Owl Project

Since my last post on this owl embroidery, I have taken out the back stitching I used on the leaves and switched to a blanket stitch.  I like it so much better.  Filling in the entire leaf with lines of back stitch were making the leaf too dense and lumpy looking.  To me, this blanket stitch looks just right!

I have quite a few projects going at the moment, it is fun to have a variety of subjects to stitch!

The first of several Valentine wips...

Here is a quick peek of a stitching project I am currently working on.  You can see by the colors and shapes, it is going to be for Valentine's Day :)

This red polka dot fabric is a really nice cotton fabric I have - you may remember it from the mushroom applique I did awhile back.  I love the red and it matches perfectly with this red floss - DMC # 321.  I am going to cut a heart shape from the red polka dot fabric and stitch the heart onto the white fabric with some white perle cotton floss - DMC Blanc.

I first selected a heart pattern, these are some of the hearts from the Be Mine Valentine Embroidery Pattern Packet.  I decided on the medium sized one with the swirly lines:

I cut out the heart shape and I am currently stitching it to the white fabric.  I am not even half way around the heart, I still have time to slip in some fiber fill to give the heart a little puffy, raised appearance. 

I am stitching this using the blanket stitch:

After that, I am going to add some lettering to stitch with the red floss:

 

 

I will post a picture when I complete this!

100 stitches - blanket stitch and feather stitch

I have two new stitches to show. Both of these stitches are from the "looped stitches" section of the embroidery book I am working my way through. This first one is the blanket stitch (stitch #23). 

This is a very easy stitch to learn but to for a good looking result, it does require a certain consistency with spacing!  

My first step was to draw two parallel lines with a ruler and a water soluble marking pen.
  

This stitch is worked from left to right so first come up through the fabric on the left edge of the bottom line:

Pull the thread all the way through and bring the needle around to the top line.  A little to the right of where your thread first emerged:

Go into the fabric on the top line and come back up through the fabric on the bottom line:

Pull all the way through making sure your needle is passing over the top of the working thread:

Keep pulling:

all the way through:

 Now, just as when you started, bring the needle around to the top line:

and go into the fabric on the top line and come out of the fabric on the bottom line with your needle sliding over the top of the working thread:

Pull all the way through:

Just continue stitching this same way all along the stitching lines:

To finish this stitch, I just went back into the fabric at the base of my last stitch:

and then secured my floss on the underside:

Then I washed out my marker lines:

This is a beautiful stitch, I think it makes a nice edging stitch.  
The floss I used for this is DMC perle cotton color variations number 3840.

The next stitch is the feather stitch (stitch #28). This is such a beautiful stitch and really easy to do. I can't wait to incorporate this stitch into some of my projects.