100 stitches - fern stitch

Here is the next stitch on the ongoing 100 stitches project - the fern stitch:

This is a super easy stitch - it basically consists of three equal length :) straight stitches that radiate from the same center point. The center stitch follows the line of the design you are using for your stitching. I just did it in a straight line because I wasn't sure how hard it would be.
This stitch is in the category of "flat stitches" and is #5 on the 100 stitches list.

Acorn Place Cards

I have added a new item to my Etsy shop - in the new category "printable place cards"


I love these place cards - they feature some of the artwork from the Acorn embroidery pattern packet.


They are easy to cut out, easy to fold and stand up by themselves, no need for a place card holder!


I am also working on some napkins that I am going to embroider to match!

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.

New Project!

I have just added a new non-embroidery item to my Etsy shop. I think that so many of my embroidery patterns would look nice as images - full color, high quality images that could be used for all types of projects. Projects such as scrapbooking, journal embellishing, stationery elements, labels, tags etc. So the first set I put together is this Merry Christmas gift tag packet.

I used many of the embellishment patterns from my Merry Christmas embroidery pattern packet. I printed them out on a heavy cardstock paper, cut them out and embellished them with glitter glue. I also included a square template and a circle tempate that are appropriately sized to be decorative back or bottom layers for the tags. I printed these out on complementary colored paper and cut them out. I even used some scalloped-edged scissors on some of them. I am definetly going to use them as gift tags for my Christmas presents this year!

100 Stitches - Bullion Stitch

The next stitch in my 100 Stitches project is #53 the bullion stitch. This stitch is in the "knotted stitches" section of 100 Stitches - right after #52 - the french knot. Since I know how to do a french knot and it is one of my favorite stitches, I thought this bullion stitch would also be easy and fun to do :( However, no matter how many times I read the written instructions or followed the diagram, I came up with this:

I finally consulted an embroidery technique book that I had checked out from the library and it was a bit more helpful. I was pleased to see that this library book categorized the bullion knot as a level difficult - for experienced stitchers. I still wasn't able to make a good enough bullion knot though, so I watched a demonstration on the wonderful http://www.needlenthread.com/ website! After watching the demonstration twice I was able to do this:

This actually is a very easy and fun to do stitch once you understand how it is done. I love the way those stitches in the above picture are arranged - I think that if I had done them in a pale purple color and added a green stem, this would make a perfect lavender stalk!

Merry Christmas! Embroidery Pattern Packet

My newest hand embroidery pattern packet is ready to go. It is titled Merry Christmas!

I love all the patterns in it and especially the beautiful ornaments of the main pattern. Here is what they look like stitched in gorgeous but always frustrating metallic floss:

There are a ton of embellishment patterns included in this packet - here is a close up of the wreath pattern - I am busy stitching up more of the included patterns and I will post the pictures as I complete them!

Christmas WIP

I am organizing some of my Christmas project supplies! I just love this metallic thread - some I already had and some are the new colors I just bought. Metallic thread comes in so many beautiful colors!


I also have a new wip :)