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Spring Bloom

It's really happening. Spring is on the way! To celebrate, I give you Spring Bloom:

I stitched this one with two threads, the design inside the petals is stitched with a single thread. French knots in the corners add a bit of whimsy. Click here for the pattern.

I am gobsmacked! Twizzlefixed! Over the moon!  Rose at Christmas City Stitcher has presented me with the Liebster Blog award!

The word, "Liebster" is German for "Favorite" and I'm thrilled to know that my blog has become a favorite place for other bloggers to come to be motivated and inspired. Thank you, Rose. I am truly honored.

To accept the award, the blogger must:
1. Link back to the person who gave it to you and thank them.
2. Post the award to your blog.
3. Give the award to 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers that you appreciate and value.
4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know they have been offered this award.
5. Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

So it is with great pleasure that I present to you my five favorite small blogs~

•  The World According to Agi With charming free patterns and innovative finishing techniques, Agi gets my creative juices going! She now offers paid patterns, too. A visit to Agi's world is a true adventure.

• Feeling a little blue? Visit Flossy Bobbin and that blue will become a veritable rainbow of color and light. Flossy Bobbin is funny, irreverent, and very creative. She's got a sunny attitude and can't help but make you feel the same.

• Aurelia at Eglantine Stitchery has been an inspiration to me for quite some time now. Her fun ideas, her careful and meticulous stitchery are a joy. Her cross stitch resource page is one of the best on the net! She hasn't posted since the holidays. Hopefully, she'll return soon with lots of new ideas.

• Ant-Stitch is a new blog on the scene that focuses on the great new patterns featured at Ant of Sweden. There are contests and freebies, so be sure to bookmark this one and visit often.

• A Bit of This and That is like sitting down with a friend over a hot cup of coffee. Beautiful stitchery and fun finishing techniques make Shannon's blog a great place to visit.

Be sure to stop by and say hi to all these talented and creative people.


Now for those five random facts...

1. I love games. Card games, word games, board games; I love 'em all. I'm horrible at chess and bridge, but can hold my own in dominoes and canasta.
2. When I travel, I end up taking lots of pictures of architecture and scenery, none of the people I am traveling with. 
3. I'll admit it; I'm a Facebook addict. Pintrest is starting to grow on me, too.
4. Parties scare me, but I love speaking in front of a group. 
5. I know how to fly an airplane.

Thanks again, Rose, for your support and encouragement. 


Happy Stitching to you all!
Jeanne

New Patterns at Ant of Sweden

Designed by Ant of Sweden

Now available exclusively at  Ant of Sweden: Gift Pack 2.

I've packaged 4 of my most popular patterns in one PDF ebook. These are some of my favorites, and I'm thrilled to bring them to you.

Deco, Ilsa, Hannah, and Erin 

Visit  Ant of Sweden today and see all the great new cross stitch and blackwork designs. From samplers to seat covers, Ant of Sweden offers something for everyone. Check it out; I think you'll be inspired!

New Free Pattern

I've been having so much fun with colored pencils on blackwork that I came up with a pattern especially for the method:

Star Window is a small, simple pattern that is easy to stitch and fun to color.

You'll find it on the Blackwork Smalls page.


I also pulled a bunch of samples from my stitching box and have transformed them using colored pencils. I have learned a few things along the way:

1) Don't overdo the color. Many pieces can get weighed down and look muddy with too much color.

Just a hint of color makes the facets of Snowflake Mandala pop!

2) Dampen the cloth, then roll it in a towel to remove excess moisture. A slightly damp canvas makes the color more vibrant. Be careful not to get it too wet; the colors can and will bleed if you're not careful.

I didn't like this pattern at all when I first designed it.
The bright colors have given a boring and clinical -looking
pattern a lively new look.

3) Keep the pencils sharp. Or not. It depends.

A dampened, duller pencil is great for filling in larger areas,
but as you can see, a fine point is needed to get the color
into the nooks and crannies.

4) It's okay to blend colors. In fact, it can lead to some exciting effects.

I was unhappy with the blue I had chosen for the small balls;
they were too bright for the green and gray. I colored over them
with the gray and got a fascinating patina. It wasn't so successful
with the purple, but I think that I used too heavy a hand with the
purple to begin with.

5) You may need a second coat.

After the first coat. Look at the first photo again and
you can see how much I missed. 

6) Keep a Tide Stain Stick handy. I got a smudge of color in the wrong spot and the Tide Stain Stick saved the day!

I'm contemplating using some sort of finish in addition to heat-setting the color. Something to protect it from the elements. Any ideas? Let me know.

The box

What makes the ideal stitching experience? How do you organize yourself? I've tried lots of methods for keeping my stitching supplies handy and convenient, but the best I've found is the Caboodles box. It's relatively compact, easy to organize, and easy to tote.

I love how much I can stuff in there and everything has a place, even the extras like an iPod Flash (for my favorite tunes), a personal fan/flashlight (handy for when I get hot flashes or drop a needle--sometimes both at the same time), and my favorite lip balm. Crisco boxes are perfect for storing thread bobbins (so are Fig Newton trays). I glued a magnet strip to the front of the upper tray. It's a great parking place for needles and my Dritz needle threader. Best of all, I can take the Caboodle box anywhere, from craft corner to living room, from home to a long weekend out of town! All in all, it's an ideal system for me.

What about you? How do you keep your stitching supplies organized and handy? Leave a comment below, or send a photo to jeannedansby@gmail.com. It will be fun to share our ideas and handy hints.

Happy stitching!

Thrift store find

I'm a fool for a good thrift store. I love uncovering a bargain, finding useful items, and scoring big on those occasional designer clothes with $4 price tags.

Last weekend, I did a little thrift-shopping and came across a collection of fabric-painting hoops. I thought they'd be perfect for displaying my stitched designs. I snatched up the entire inventory.

It wasn't until I got home that I thought of actually using them for their intended purpose...

Wanna have some fun? Grab your colored pencils and get to it! This simple blackwork pattern (you can find it on the "Blackwork Smalls" page) came to life when I used colored pencils:

Dry pencil gave me a pretty, almost pastel appearance.

When I dipped the tip of the pencil in water, the colors became much more vibrant:

Once I completed the coloring, I set the colors by placing a paper towel over the design and pressing it with a hot, dry iron for 30 seconds. It seemed to work fairly well with a practice piece, though I would not recommend this method for cloth that will be washed frequently.

It makes a great ornament and it's a quick and easy way to give your blackwork some amazing color.

Quirky Twee from France

One of my favorite things about designing patterns is seeing what people do with them. Earlier this week, I got a message from Michele in France. She had completed her version of the Quirky Quistmas Twee and wanted to share the photos:

I especially like her use of metallic thread on red and green fabric. It really sparkles!

My directions advise that you fill the bottom biscornu with rice, but Michele used decorative gravel; she pointed out that rice could get wet and moldy.

Find out more of her stitching secrets at her blogs:

http://freebiegallery.blogspot.com/2011/11/quirky-quistmas-twee.html

https://bagladyinstitches.wordpress.com/

A little Christmas cheer

I was going through a box of goodies I've stitched over the years and found this little cutie:

"Four Christmas Trees"

I call it "Four Christmas Trees". It's ideal for a diamond ornament or biscornu. 

"Four Christmas Trees" back

I have to be honest, I really can't remember if it's one of my designs or a free design from the Internet. If you are the creator of this design, please contact me. I have no desire to step on anyone's copyright. You can find the pattern on my Blackwork Smalls page.

OMG, this is SO much fun!

I found the cutest fabric flowers! A wonderful tutorial from Living Craftily Ever After shows us how to make the most charming fabric flowers.

I had to try it, so I pulled out some denim scraps and gave it a whirl. Well, denim is heavy, so it didn't turn out so well with a folded square as shown in the tutorial. So I cut the squares into triangles and left the edge rough.  I'm pretty darned happy with the result:

Quick, easy, and versatile, these cute flowers are the perfect embellishment for a hair clip, bulletin boards, picture frames, and more.

Give it a try! If I can do it, anyone can.

First frame job

Well, I did it. I framed the Celtic Sampler in a shadowbox. This is my first attempt at framing and no, it's not perfect. But it does give me the incentive to try again soon. Any advice or tips for making the job easier would be greatly appreciated.

Happy stitching!

Tennis elbow, Christmas, and Friends

A few years back, I developed a case of tennis elbow. Too much stitching resulted in searing pain that radiated down my arm making needlework far too painful to enjoy. I had several new patterns I wanted to stitch and share, but I simply could not do it. I don't release anything that hasn't been stitched, so several of my stitching sisters and brothers agreed to help out. I sent them patterns which they then stitched up, photographed and critiqued. It was a great help. The patterns made it onto my site and I made some wonderful friendships along the way.

That's how I met Maria. From our first emails it was obvious that we were on the same wavelength. She had me laughing out loud from the beginning, and even though she's half a world away and we've never met in person, our friendship is as solid as any I've ever known. That friendship was forged by the Quirky Quistmas Twee.

The imaginative Maria was playing with biscornus one day and stacked a few together, creating an adorable little tree. I loved her idea, so I designed several blackwork squares and we set to work stitching. This is what we came up with:

The Quirky Quistmas Twee

Maria did most of the stitching; I beaded the squares, then stuffed them, stacked them, and secured them with carpet thread through the middle. For complete instructions and pattern, click here. 

The moral of the story? Don't be afraid to ask for help, and don't be afraid to lend a hand. The rewards are great.

Snowflake Small

Looking for a little Christmas inspiration?  Maybe this will help. September Snowflake was originally the center portion of a larger piece I had been working for some time. I wasn't happy with the pattern from the beginning, but I went ahead and started to stitch it anyway. I got to this point (I work from the center) and realized that the pattern needed nothing more than this; everything else was just busy work that totally hid the crystalline shapes. So I tossed everything else out and focused on this sweet little pattern that will grace many a family tree this Christmas. 

September Snowflake

Add some seed beads or metallic floss and really make it sparkle!

THANK YOU!

I logged onto my Blogger dashboard this morning to find I have 8,001 visits!  Thank you all for your interest in my blog. To celebrate, here's a bookmark pattern I think you might enjoy:

Happy Stitching!

Celtic border

It's far from finished, but I'm so excited about my new design that I just can't wait to share it.

I love Celtic knot work, the beautiful, winding lines weaving gracefully in and out, the intricate and painstaking attention that it requires to both draw and stitch. This one is not yet available for sale, but it will be soon at Ant of Sweden. In the meantime, pay a visit and check out my other patterns. Perhaps you'll find just the right thing for those upcoming Christmas projects.

Back to the Beginning

So I've been tooling along, talking about blackwork and sharing my patterns, thinking everything is hunky dory.  Suddenly it hits me. I never explained what blackwork was.  Yeah, there are a thousand sites that tell the story of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII, and Holbein. And yeah, there are some really great tutorials out there with wonderful diagrams.  Why should I reinvent the wheel?

I'm not, really.  I'm just consolidating information, making it easier for you when you come to visit.  And besides, I have these nifty pictures I took and they shouldn't just take up space on my hard drive.

So here it is. The Basics of Blackwork.

Work the stitch in passes, or journeys.
On the first journey, work the even-numbered stitches: 1,3, 5 etc.

On the return journey, work the 'in between' odd-numbered stitches: 6,4,2 etc.

You will end up where you started.

Side trips are worked as their own little journey.

Work the element in one direction, turn around...

...and join back to the main path

Voila!  In the traditional sense, blackwork looks the same on the back as it does on the front,
though modern blackwork may or may not hold to that tradition.  

Baking bread, stitching slow

My husband looked at the ingredients on a loaf of bread last week. Saw all kinds of sugars and preservatives. Expensive, too.  So I thought, why not? I bought some yeast and flour and set out on the internet to find out how to make bread. I found Simple Dollar.  http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/04/homemade-bread-cheap-delicious-healthy-and-easier-than-you-think/

With easy step-by-step directions and photos, I found myself falling in love just as I had when I first picked up needle and thread. The first loaf wasn't horrible, but made for good practical experience.  My second loaf was much nicer.

Light, fluffy, and makes outrageously great toast. Looks like this household has seen the last of store-bought bread.

My blackwork has been slow going lately.  I've got a few "pay it forward" gifts to finish, and since I really liked the way the wedding invitations came out, I thought I'd send out greeting card collections to my FB friends.  The smalls I've posted on this blog are ideal for the project. 

My friend, Barb Day at Gypsy Wools recently posted some photos of a beautiful silk thread in the most amazing peacock blue....

I couldn't buy the floss, but it did inspire a new design that I stitched in DMC rayon (sorry, can't remember the color number).

Winter was long, spring was a tough, but as summer progresses, I'm finding myself embracing the joy of life again.  I hope the season brings you that same joy.

Flikr

South Doorway, a photo by Melissa Blake1 on Flickr.

Flikr is a great place to visit when you want to see some wonderful blackwork. One of my favorites is Melissa Blake of the UK. She finds inspiration in local architecture. "South Doorway" is a favorite of mine. See more of her work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/melissa_blake_creations

New Freebie!

Here's a charming small that should set your imagination free! I needed a break from the wedding invitations and this was the perfect project.  You'll find the pattern on my Blackwork Smalls page.

Litany Against Fear

If you've spent any time with my patterns, you know that my work is generally smalls: squares, circles, repeating patterns that are quick to stitch and make for striking but simple ornaments and gifts. It is rare for me to make the foray into the world of samplers, but upon the request of a friend some months back, I designed Litany Against Fear.

The litany is from the science-fiction classic, Dune by author, Frank Herbert. I haven't read any of the Dune books, but a thorough search of the Internet gave me the inspiration I needed.  The stylized hawk's head is a common icon in Dune memorabilia.

The font is from one of my favorite stitching tools, 120 Alphabets by Carol Emmer.  

http://www.leisurearts.com/120-alphabets-book-2.html

This book has given me plenty of inspiration and ideas.  This is just one of many wonderful alphabet books at the Leisure Arts website.  One or two or three should give you all the lettering ideas you could possibly want. 

Only 9 wedding invitations to go!

Stitch well, stitch happy!