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!

Cup Stitch

Time for another 100 Stitches Plus post.  I just learned how to do this interesting stitch - the Cup Stitch.    

For my floss, I used perle cotton - DMC #742

The stitch is made by looping around a triangle foundation formed from three Straight Stitches.  
To make the triangle, I came up through my fabric:

Went back into the fabric at a slight diagonal:

and pulled all the way through to complete the first Straight Stitch.  This forms the left side of the triangle:

Next I came up through the fabric to start to form the bottom side of the triangle:

I pulled all the way through and went back into the fabric at the base of the left side.  

I pulled all the way through, forming the bottom side of the triangle and then I came back out of the fabric at the top of the left side of the triangle:

I pulled all the way through and then went back into the fabric at the right edge of the bottom side of the triangle. 

I pulled all the way through and that completed the triangle foundation: 

To start the looping stitches, I came up through the fabric just below the bottom side of the triangle: 

I pulled all the way through:

Next I brought the needle around and slipped it under the bottom edge of the triangle.  I didn't go into or pick up any of the fabric, I just slid the needle under the triangle edge.  As I slide the needle under the edge, notice the position of the needle to that of the working thread:

First it slides under the working thread and then over the working thread.  This will automatically form the loop when the needle is pulled all the way through:

The first loop:

Next, I brought the needle around and repeated the loop steps - needle sliding under the triangle and then under/over the working thread:

I continued the looping all around the sides of the triangle:

until I was back to where I started.  To make higher sides to the cup, you can do another round of looping stitches all around the triangle. 

I did the second round and then when I was back to the beginning, I went back into the fabric:

and secured my floss underneath:

I like this stitch!  I also like the puffy effect the double stitching gives so I think in the future, when I use this stitch I will always use the double stitching.

This stitch is from the book Embroidery Stitches by Mary Webb.

A Work in Progress and Combining Motifs

First up I have a little bit of progress to show on one of my works in progress.  Do you remember this Santa and reindeer?  

I am filling in Santa's suit with Split Stitch and all the trim of his suit with French Knots - so many knots!  I am only using three strands of floss, I suppose it would fill up the space faster with all six strands but I like the small precise look that three strands give in this application.  

I also wanted to share an idea for combining motifs from a pattern set.  I started with this Ho! Ho! Ho! motif and I wanted to add some embellishment to the text:

So, I added this little snowflake motif from the same pattern set

I only used part of it, I situated the big snowflake to the left of the text:

Then taped it into place, put my fabric over the top and traced the design:

Next, I turned the snowflake motif around and used one of the smaller flakes on the right side of the text:

I ended up using two of the smaller flakes to balance the final design: 

Now it is ready to start stitching!

This is a really easy way to combine motifs and create your own design.

Autumn Napkins and A Tea Towel Calendar

One napkin done!  You may remember this project that I first posted about here.  
Since that post, I finished the embroidery - I used Fishbone Stitch for each of the leaves and Stem Stitch for the stems.  
To finish, I turned the raw edges of the napkins under and top stitched a 1/4" hem around the napkin edges.  

This was a really quick project to do and I plan to make a full set.  I think I will mix in some of these other motifs:

The autumn colors I used are:

I also wanted to share a quick look at the 2016 tea towel calendar I designed for the weekly Spoonflower contest.  
It was really fun to make!  

Here is a closer look at the top.  You may recognize a few of the vegetables from my Salad Fixings embroidery pattern:

Whipped Stem Stitch

This interesting stitch is the Whipped Stem Stitch.  It is the latest addition to my 100 Stitches Plus list.


As the name suggests, this stitch is made up of a single line of Stem Stitch that is whipped.  The whip is very effective when done with a contrasting color floss.  
The floss that I used for my stitching is perle cotton. The colors numbers are DMC 414 {gray} and DMC color variations 4180 {pink} 

Once the line of Stem Stitching is done, the next step is to whip it.  I used the gray for the Stem Stitching and now the pink to whip:

I worked the whip from left to right.  I came up through the fabric on the left side of and right below the Stem Stitching line:

I pulled all the way through:

Then I brought the needle around to the top of the stitching line and passed the needle under the stitching line.  I just slid it under the Stem Stitch and did not pick up any fabric: 

I pulled the floss all the way, creating the first whip:

Then I brought the needle back around and did the second whip in the same way, sliding under the next Stem Stitch:

Here is a good view of the needle sliding under the next Stem Stitch:

I just continued the same steps until the end of the stitching line:

To finish, I brought the needle around and went back into the fabric:

and secured my floss on the underside:

This is a really simple way to embellish Stem Stitching.  I think I will like using this on a lot of different projects.

This stitch is from the book Embroidery Stitches by Mary Webb.