Teddy Bear on a Swing Embroidery - Part Three

Remember this teddy bear project?

Since my last post, I have added chain for the swing to hang from.  I used the Chain Stitch, but now am wondering if Rope Stitch might be a better choice? 

I do love the chain's floss color - this is a newly released color: DMC no. 21

One of the butterflies is done - I may add some blending filament to give sparkle to his wings:

 Next up is selecting the colors for this bigger butterfly:

Cherry Blossoms and Lanterns Embroidery Project - Part 3 Finish and Details

I finished the Cherry Blossom stitching.  You can see parts one and two of this project here { 1 - 2}

This motif is from my Cherry Blossom embroidery set.

Now for the project details.  These are the stitches I used:

Back Stitch for the tree branches, the lantern outlines, and the silver lantern hanging lines.  The silver is all Kreinik metallic fine braid.  I cannot say enough good things about this braid.  It is so easy to use, rarely tangles and has so much sparkle! The flowers are all formed with Straight Stitch.  I used three strands of floss, pink, light pink and white.  The flower centers and all the buds are French Knots.  The lanterns are filled with Seeding Stitch and the lantern fringe is Turkey Work.

Here are the floss color numbers.  The two that are difficult to see are the silver, {Kreinik fine braid metallic no. 001} and the pale pink, {DMC no. 23}. I also used white, DMC Blanc.

 

Net Passing Stitch

 This complex looking stitch is the Net Passing Stitch. 

 

This is the latest stitch I have learned on my 100 Stitches journey.   I learned this from the book Embroidery Stitches by Mary Webb.

To demonstrate, I selected three different shades of perle cotton floss:

Although complex looking, Net Passing Stitch is just made up of long Straight Stitches.  The complex part is ensuring even spacing!  I used a ruler and a water-soluble marker.

I spaced my start/stop stitch marks 1/4" apart:

There were no instructions on beginning this stitch but after looking at the pictures, I started in the lower left corner.  This will be a diagonal Straight Stitch:

Then I repeated this across the whole marked grid:

Next, I started in the upper left corner - again with diagonal Straight Stitches but now in a different colored floss:

across the whole grid:

The final set of Straight Stitches is horizontal and the needle weaves through the the other Straight Stitches at each intersection.  I used the third color of floss for this one:

According to Embroidery Stitches, this stitch is also known as the Honeycomb Filling Stitch.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may remember that I previously demonstrated "Honeycomb Filling Stitch".  It is a totally different stitch.  I had learned that version from the book that started this whole project : 100 Stitches.  That blog post can be read here .  As you can see, a different stitch!  

Color Palette Inspiration

I have a lot of hand embroidery patterns with flowers so I am always looking for floss color inspiration!

This floral picture has been painted in such a beautiful color palette. I am planning to borrow it.

I will add floss samples from this palette to my color inspiration journal - like I did here:

and here:

You can read about my color palette inspiration journal here

I can see a few more colors to add but this is shaping up to be an excellent floral color palette!

 

Cherry Blossoms and Lanterns Embroidery Project - Part 2

I am back with part two of the cherry blossoms and lanterns project.  You can see part one {here}.  Since that post, I took out the red floss I was using for the lantern top:

and replaced it with this light blue.  I also started stitching the stringing that the lanterns hang from.  I am using silver metallic floss.

You might recognize the Turkey Work stitching for the base of the lantern. I am really happy that I learned how to do that stitch, it is perfect for fringe! 

Teddy Bear on a Swing Embroidery - Part Two

I have an update to a work in progress to share.  This is a project I started a while back and need to finish! The motif of a teddy bear on a swing surrounded by butterflies is from the Teddy Bear embroidery pattern set.  

I am going to stitch the bear in two or three colors.  The butterflies, leaves and the tree bark will add a lot of color to this project!

Cherry Blossoms and Lanterns Embroidery - Part One

I am stitching up this cherry blossoms and lanterns motif from the Cherry Blossom embroidery set.

I have been trying out a few color combinations:

So far, a lot of pinks and white!  Plus a reddish brown for the cherry tree branch. All easy - it may be a bit more of a challenge to find just the right colors for these lanterns:

I will be sure to post my progress on this project!