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:

Daisy Embroidery Pattern Packet

This daisy is one of the images in my new daisy embroidery pattern packet: This particular daisy didn't take me very long to stitch. I think I have really improved my lazy daisy stitch (remember this?) and am much faster at making them:I love the spring time look of this:I also like this blue fabric with this pale yellow fabric and am planning on transferring some of the daisy patterns onto the yellow fabric too:Another pattern in the packet is this whimsical heart shape filled with daisies and french knots:I am stitching these in really bright floss colors: I like these colors: and color combinations:Here is what the pattern packet looks like:

Snowflakes and metallic floss

I am busy stitching up a snowflake border:and a single snowflake with the word snow under it: I am bravely stitching these using...metallic floss!So far so goodwith the silver:The blue, however, is giving me a little trouble! I am attempting lazy daisies with this so maybe that is to be expected! I just can't resist the beautiful look of the metallic floss! The blue is dmc Jewel Effects E3843 and the silver is Precious Metals Effects E168

100 Stitches - Running Stitch

Next up on the 100 stitches journey is the running stitch.


I selected this stitch because I already knew how to do it - I used it for the hem on this acorn tea towel:

After the struggle with the bullion and lazy daisy stitches, I wanted to do something really easy!

So here is my example of the beautiful and useful running stitch. The basic running stitch is shown on the far right. But according to the 100 Stitches book, the running stitch can be used as a decorative border when you add another thread with a contrasting color. The middle stitching shows the running stitch "whipped" and the row of stitching on the far left shows the running stitch "laced".

These two decorative additions were fun to do and mine look just like the instruction pictures in the book :) The running stitch is #4 and is in the flat stitches section of 100 Stitches.

100 stitches - lazy daisy stitch

The latest stitch in my 100 stitches project is stitch #40, the lazy daisy stitch. I have had so much trouble learning this stitch! It isn't that the stitch itself is hard to do, it's that it is so hard to make the stitches even and the same size when making a flower! Here is the least embarrassing example of my first attempts

I thought it might not look so bad if I added some french knots in the centers :)

Still noticing the uneven, poorly spaced and loopy stitches :( After much stitching, removing of stitching and re-stitching...I think I am happy with the result:sort of.This really is a pretty stitch. I think I will love stitching lazy daisies when I have a pattern to work from. This stitch is from the "linked stitches" section of the 100 stitches book
***update*** When I first started posting about my journey through the 100 Stitches book, I mostly just took a picture of my completed stitch or line of stitching. The more comfortable I got learning these new stitches, the more I started to document the steps of the stitches as I went along. Now my 100 Stitches posts always have a step by step demonstration of my stitching. I am currently going back through my early 100 Stitches posts and adding demonstration pictures. Here is my demonstration of the lazy daisy stitch. I am using a beautiful orange dmc color variations pearl cotton floss. I started with a daisy from the Daisy embroidery pattern packet and transferred it onto my fabric:
The first step is to bring your needle up through the fabric at the base of one of the daisy petals:
pull the thread all the way through:
Now take your needle back down through the fabric right where it first emerged:
and bring your needle back out at the end of the daisy petal. As your needle emerges, make sure it is going to over the working floss. Start pulling:
and keep pulling...you can see a loop forming:
when you have pulled all the way, you will have a nice petal formedYou now can secure the petal in place by taking a single stitch: that is all there is to this stitch, just do the same steps on the next petal:
until you have completed all the petals. I added a french knot in the center of mine:
and here is what the underside of my stitching looks like: