Fourth of July Stitching - Part Three

I have some progress to share on my Fourth of July stitching.  This is a 17" x 17" table topper.  You can catch up with this project here: {part one} {part two}.  Since my last post, I have finished some motifs and taken some of my stitching back out! 

I took a nice aerial shot so you can see the whole thing:

I have finished this rocket motif,  I used Chain Stitch for the stripes on the rocket, French knots above the stripes, Stem Stitch for all the outlines and the fill on the top of the rocket and Straight Stitch for the sparks:

I am almost done with this big firecracker, I am just deciding if I want all the stars in red or maybe stitch the other two in blue.   

Same with the Uncle Sam hat...lots of color decisions even with this limited color palette! 

The stitching I removed was all the blue around the star field on the flag.  I kept the ring of stars but I am still figuring out how I am going to fill this in:

I will post my progress on this as I finish - hopefully in time for the 4th of July!

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:

Ballerina Pillow Project - Part Four

I have made quite a bit of progress on my ballerina pillow project. 

You can read my other posts about this project here: {part one} {part two} {part three} 

I finished the top border motif. 

Here is a closer look - I used the chain stitch, back stitch, stem stitch and double knot stitch:

I have also finished all the ballet costumes. 

Since my last post, I have made a few changes to the purple costume. 

If you have been following this project, you may have noticed that in previous posts the purple costume had wide shoulder straps:

I decided I didn't like the way those looked after I had filled in the bodice of the costume, so I cut the purple stitching on the straps out.  I decided that double spaghetti straps stitched in the lavender of the tutu would look better.  I started to make the change....

and then realized you should be able to see the hanger between the spaghetti straps - I hadn't stitched it before because it had been covered by the wider straps - so I had to stitch the missing parts of the hanger first!

Then I stitched each of the spaghetti straps with a single straight stitch

that I couched with this beautiful blending filament that adds so much sparkle:

Next, I washed out all the water soluble marker:

and stretched the fabric out to dry:

It is really beautiful!

I will be back with another post on my next steps with this project!

Cowboy Project - Complete!

You may remember back in October I posted about a gift I was  stitching up a for a new baby boy?  It is all finished and I wanted to share the end result.  I made a pillow for his cowboy themed nursery:

If you recall from that post, I used these motifs from the Cowboy embroidery pattern packet and I was struggling a bit trying to find the best colors and stitch to use for the rope. 

 Problem solved - I went with this rich brown floss, and did a chain stitch.  I also took out the yellow star and just went with the red, blue, brown and silver. 

I really love this color palette:

The chain stitch worked really well even on all the curves in this rope!

I also added this fringed suede trim - so perfect for a cowboy theme.  I just stitched it into the side seams.  I decided the trim would work better on the side seams than on the bottom edge where it would always be getting wrinkled.

These are all the elements I used:

I made sure to record everything in my embroidery project journal, I may want to make another one of these pillows!

Here is the color palette I used for this project:

Summer teapot wip and two sweet garden helpers!

Here is a little "summer" looking teapot wip. I love this aqua and pink color scheme! I think the french knots all over the teapot make it look like a fun, casual teapot you could take outdoors. In addition to the french knots, I used the chain stitch to make the decorative lines on the body of the teapot.

That is the back stitch you see outlining the teapot body. I also used the backstitch for the flowers and the lettering. Now the question is, what am I going to make with this? I had originally planned on a tea towel. I would just hem it and add some trim. This would make a really cute towel - I stitched this on a really big piece of fabric so I could make something bigger. I was thinking I might want to use these little pieces:

There is a creamer, sugar bowl, and two matching tea cups. I think these would look perfect on the other end of a towel or perhaps I could make a small table cloth? I will post a picture of whatever I come up with! Now onto some nice summer garden pictures! Remember my pea project?
My pea plants are all in full bloom, taller than their supports and are producing yummy sugar-snap peas!
I also have started some nasturtiums:
And this is a non-edible sweet pea. This is the first flower of this plant to bloom. I have these planted in front of a trellis so that I can support them as they grow tall and hopefully produce tons of flowers! Sweet Peas smell so good and they make really nice cut flowers.
We had a cold, wet and rainy June, so my roses have not been doing very well - however this reliable yellow bloomer always has beautiful blooms:
I also wanted to post pictures of my two garden helpers. They always keep me company and are interested in everything that is going on. This is Berit
and this is Rego

Sweet dreams moon

I had so much fun stitching this little moon:

Here on the close-up, I am showing off the back stitch (the cloud outlines, part of the moon, the moon's features and hat outline, the stars and the lettering) french knots (for the cloud accents, hat accents and far-away stars) and the chain stitch (part out the moon's outline). I'm not exactly sure how I am going to complete this - it could be a pillow, it could be framed as a picture, if I knew how to quilt I think it could make a sweet quilt block? It looks good with all different kinds and colors of trims...

Shhh...nap time

I just finished stitching this sweet little sun: It is from the Shhh...baby's sleeping embroidery pattern packet and I love the way it turned out. I used the stem stitch for the clouds, the back stitch for the words and sun's face, and the chain stitch and french knots for the sun's rays.
While I was looking for trims to add to this project, I found this embroidered tape stored with some of my older sewing supplies:

I don't remember where this came from and unfortunately, it doesn't match my embroidery floss but it is really beautiful and I have just under three yards of it :) I was looking through my old supplies to find this strawberry fabric.

I love this fabric and the way it looks with this embroidery floss and pom pom trim. I have a project idea for this little combination!

This last picture is of some blossoms from my damson plum tree. I took this picture right after a rain shower. I wanted to capture those waterdrops - you can see the sky and trees in them!