Dragonfly sampler

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. It was quiet for us. We just had a small celebration with my Mom and Dad here at our house in Central New York. Luckily we had nice weather the entire weekend--an unusual occurrence for New York!

I did manage to complete another project--my Dragonfly sampler! I love how it came out. I  found it on a free website that offers downloadable versions of old Victorian charts.  I used my own color choices which included some lovely colors by Weeks Dye Works including Blue Topaz, Dried Sage, Peoria Purple and Lilac.

The website where I found the pattern is http://patternmakercharts.blogspot.com/2012/05/working-on-updating-blog.html

 

I can't help but love it since it includes many of my favorite colors! And of course--I used metallic and iridescent threads in the dragonfly--another obsession. Although I admit, even though I love the effect, I usually dread using specialty threads because they often knot and fray. This piece went without a hitch though!

Tonight I worked on something different, a drawing of an old colonial house in Salem Massachusetts. My husband and I took a vacation to Salem a few years back and I took a fancy to the old architecture. I started work on this drawing a couple of years ago but abandoned it for some unknown reason. But I just got it back out yesterday and have made some progress.

I'll post pictures as it progresses. Once I'm finished with the inking I'll use watercolor paints to color it. That's the fun part to me. It's the using the ink for shading and depth that takes the longest time to do-- in addition to being a stressful process because I'm always afraid of making a mistake. Surprisingly, it's relatively easy to correct mistakes!

And one more picture of my goofy cat Ruby!  She's such a sweetheart. We adopted her from a local no-kill shelter a few years ago. She has been a treasure!

Have a wonderful week. Thank you for visiting!

Brightest Blessings!

Beth B.

A Plethora of pillows

I'll admit it: I've always been a sucker for superfluous language. Chalk it up to being a connoisseur of English literature...particularly Charles Dickens and Jane Austen to name just a few. Words such as frippery, dawdle, witticism and supercilious intrigued me precisely because no one in my little Central New York town had ever uttered a sentence with such sophisticated language. I think cow tipping, reckon and friggin' were the most uttered words in my little farming community. Ok, well I exaggerate...just a bit...

So imagine my glee when I realized I could use such a word in the title of this post--a plethora of pillows!

Indeed, this is what this blog post will contain: a lot of pictures of pillows! I am on a pillow kick currently, and since there seems to be no end in sight I might as well embrace it!  So here they are:

This is from a French chart I've had for awhile. I honestly don't remember where I got it. I've loved it for a long time and finally got around to stitching it this Spring. Originally I had planned to make it into an ornament for the Christmas tree, but it was too big. Instead, it turned itself magically into a pillow! Yet--another pillow...

This lovely little pillow gave me fits! I originally sewed it into a pillow with the plaid fabric under the rabbit. But I hated it. So, I had to rip it all out and started again. Thankfully, the second version came out perfect!  The plaid fabric is actually made from some pieces of wire ribbon I received on a gift years ago. I pieced it together and it matches the linen and bunny wonderfully!

Pretty in pink!  This design comes from EMS and is entitled Valentine Kitty. I finished it after Valentines Day and its been sitting around since then. Until this past weekend when I was determined to get my unfinished stitchery completed!

This pillow is one that's been finished for quite a few years--since 2002. I found in the basement while I was clearing things out. I had forgotten all about it, but once I saw it I knew I had to bring it back into the light. It was in good shape except for a missing purple rose on the top. Luckily I found an extra one to match in my craft stash and glued it in place--good as new! Designer was Serendipity Designs.

This is another pillow I found in the basement. It was also finished in 2002 but it was not in great shape. Even though it was kept in a bag it was quite dirty. So, I washed it and although not all the stains came out it looks pretty good. I'm not sure who the designer is.











Since I ran out of pillows, this is the end of the post!  Happy stitching and thank you for reading my blog!

Brightest blessings, Beth B.

Chocolate and Cross Stitch

How time does fly! It's been over a week since my last post!  There's been a lot of excitement in my household as of late. We're still in the midst of buying a house, and as can be expected the date for the closing has been set back. So we are on pins and needles waiting for the process to get back on track.

I've still been stitching but have realized that my plans for working on big projects is probably not realistic since we will likely be focused on moving and packing for the next few months. Probably won't be a good time to delve into lengthy cross stitch pieces. Small projects will be in my future for awhile.

Any hoo, onto to cross stitch. The first picture I will share with you is the giveaway I won from Becky Bee's Stitching Hive. It's from Milady's Needle and it's called "Quaker ruler!" I can't wait to stitch this up. All I need is some 40ct fabric. Special note of thanks to Becky for having the giveaway.

The second picture is the finished pillow that I made for my Mom for Mother's Day. Her favorite flower is the daisy so I think she'll love it!

I love the contrast of the cute yellow fabric with the purple ric rac trim!  I loved the fabric so much I also used it on my small tulip design:

I'm giving this away in an exchange but I may have to make one to keep!

And lastly, this is my newest start and it is very near and dear to my heart:

Cross stitch and chocolate, how could it get any better?

Thank you for visiting my blog and a special note of thanks to my new followers!  Please leave comments: they make my day!

Happy Stitching!

Beth B.