Valentine Conversation Hearts Embroidery WIP

photo courtesy of Jill Wellington - Pixabay

I am borrowing the beautiful color palette from these Valentine conversation hearts for my latest work in progress.

This Lazy Daisy heart is from my Be Mine Valentine embroidery pattern set: 

Almost finished - I still need to fill in all the French Knots. I will post soon with the final result and my floss color numbers!

Color Palette Inspiration

 I have a new inspiration picture to add to my color palette journal. 

I think that this is a beautiful palette for a winter themed embroidery project - maybe one of these?

I am going to add this palette to my journal - the floss colors are {from left to right} DMC # 159, Kreinik Silver Metallic, DMC # 823, 3866, 931, 3833, 3774, and 160: 

I have a collection of vintage fashion and needlecraft books.  They offer so much color and design inspiration!

Embroidered Valentine Heart

I just finished stitching this heart from the Be Mine Valentine embroidery set.  Do you recognize the stitch inside the heart? 

It is the Cloud Filling Stitch! 

It is the perfect stitch for a large open area like this heart. 

The two floss colors I used are DMC Color Variations #48 {baby pink perle cotton} and DMC #349 {six-strand cotton}

Using my water soluble marker, I drew all the guidelines before stitching:

To outline the heart, I used the Pekinese Stitch:

Finally, I removed the hoop and washed out the water soluble guidelines:

Stem Stitch Shading

 A new stitch on the 100 Stitches list - this is Stem Stitch Shading. 

This very easy filling stitch is made by filling a shape with lines of Stem Stitch colored in evenly shaded tones from light to dark or dark to light:

First, I drew parallel lines to guide my stitching:

I started with the lightest green, this is perle cotton floss in DMC #3384 {light yellow green} and made two columns of Stem Stitch:

Then I made two columns with DMC #3347 {medium yellow green}

Next is two columns of DMC #895 {bottle green}and two columns of DMC #890 {black forest}

Then I repeated those columns in reverse from dark to light:

This was easy to learn and I really like the shaded effect.

I found the instructions for this stitch in the book Embroidery Stitches by Mary Webb.

Candy Cane Lane Embroidery Pattern

I have a new embroidery pattern in my shop.  This one is titled Candy Cane Lane.

This is an eight page pattern set, filled with candy canes, peppermint candies and candy cane lane cottages.

If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen a screen shot I shared when I was drawing this set:

and here is what the completed pattern set looks like:

I will post soon with all the floss color numbers and stitches I used for this sweet Candy Cane Lane sign:

Color Palette Inspiration

 This illustration has so many beautiful colors, I think it would be a good color palette for a hand embroidery project!

I matched the colors to embroidery floss:

and added them to my color palette journal:

Autumn Embroidery Projects - Part One

 I have two works in progress to share.  These are Autumn embroideries, one is a sunflower table napkin - I need to find just the right color palette for the flower and the border:

The other project is also a table napkin - monogramed and will be stitched on a creamy colored, 100% linen fabric.  

You may remember that I stitched this motif before, in an almost monotone color palette:

I have the color palette for this project and I would love to add these beads and sequins...

but not sure they are a good idea for a table napkin!

I will post updates to these projects soon!