Happy Dance! Holly Berry Sampler

 

 Design: Holly Berry Sampler

Designer: Bent Creek

Threads: DMC conversion

Fabric: 28 count evenweave, Silkweaver Solo, unknown colour

Embellishments: Dress-It-Up buttons (Keepsake Christmas)

This is the third and final piece in a series that - once upon a time - was going to be a Round Robin. The group collapsed, but I was fortunate enough to get this piece back, and I've worked on it sporadically ever since. 

This was just waiting for buttons, but it took a while for me to find the "right" red - the charted Poindexter buttons were £0.75 EACH and that just wasn't going to happen ...

You can see all three samplers below - my dilemma is - do I frame them separately, or all as one piece, and have a Christmas tree on display all year round? What do you think, stitching friends?

Easter Cracker Sampler - Bent Creek

Design: Easter Cracker Sampler

Designer: Bent Creek

Threads: GAST and WDW included in kit

Fabric: 28 count evenweave from kit

Frame: picked up from local charity shop

I framed this in the summer, and won't be displaying it until the spring - isn't that a shame? I actually bought the frame with another piece in mind, but both The Hermit and I thought this was a better combination!

I have framed it straighter than this picture suggests, too, but I think in future I will ask my local framers to mount my work - they only charge £2-£5 for it, it's more expensive than that to buy the acid free self adhesive mount board in laces like Hobbycraft!

Holly Berry Sampler - Bent Creek

Design: Holly Berry Sampler
Designer: Bent Creek
Threads: DMC conversion with red substituted
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, unknown colour

This is the Holly Berry Sampler without the berries - I have buttons to add, b ut I appear to have misplaced them!

This stitched up pretty quickly and completes the set of three - I've already stitched Plum Berry Sampler and Pumpkin Flower Sampler.

So - two posts, two Christmas trees! :o)

Angel of Joy - Bent Creek

Design: Angel of Joy
Designer: Bent Creek (from the 2000 JCS ornament issue)
Threads: DMC conversions, DMC115 and Caron Wildflowers in Pine
Fabric: 28 count lugana (?) in a very pale blue

It is a tradition now that I stitch my niece (The Tot) an ornament for Christmas. This is the third one I have done. Last year's Santa was pretty much a semi circle, so I looked in my stash of magazines for something to complement it, and came up with this little angel. With her curly hair and generous size, perhaps this is what I will look like if I ever get to Heaven ;o)

The Tot already has very decided opinions, so next year, I think I will just show her the magazine and let her pick. She likes crafts and painting already, so perhaps next year too I can start her with some binca and soft cotton to make her own ornament ...

Wooly Zipper - Bent Creek

Design: Wooly Zipper
Designer: Bent Creek
Threads: DMC and Six Strand Sweets Perle 5
Fabric: mystery Tula-type fabric

Years ago, I traded for this chart and now finally, it's been stitched! The picture was taken under artificial light so it's a little 'yellow'. I used threads I already had in my stash as I'm really trying not to buy new stuff so my sheep and flowers look rather different to the designers:

But isn't that the fun of needlework, making your own personal work of art?

The Littles: Bunny - Bent Creek

Design: The Littles: Bunny
Designer: Bent Creek
Threads: DMC as charted
Fabric: 14 count damask aida, cream

This is another of my spring finishes that I'd forgotten to post about. I feel rather sorry for this little bunny, he looks a little forlorn. Do you think he will cheer up if I make him into a scissor fob?

Sow Kind Seeds - Bent Creek and an update.

Design: Sow Kind Seeds
Designer: Bent Creek
Threads: DMC Perle Cotton 5
Fabric: 10 count Tula

This project came together from a random assortment of bits, really!


The chart was a trade, and originally belonged to a kit. My swapper enclosed the left over threads, which weren't enough to stitch the whole piece again - I used what I could, subbed what I could from my stash, and only ordered one skein - to complete the border. So some of the colours are what the designer wanted - and some aren't :o)


The fabric was an unknown fabric I bought ages ago from a shop in London which is no longer there - a real shame, as it had been on the site for donkey's years, but I guess rents near Oxford Street are too high to support such a specialist retailer. Given the fact that I left living within shopping distance of London nearly ten years ago tells you how long this fabby has been waiting for it's chance to shine - and there was nearly a yard of it! I can't tell you how often I was tempted to eBay it ... but I didn't really know what it was. I've since worked out that if it isn't Tula, it's as near as jazz, and I've kitted several projects with it.


This was a nice quick stitch. All I need to do now is press it and attach a heart shape button to the hand. I'll either frame it or make it into a pillow.


Currently, I'm catching up with Neat Country Stuff. It's the last goal on my list for April, and it would be wonderful to get everything finished, for once :o) I've done nearly six squares out of the nine, so even if I don't finish it, it will be a very close run thing. I'm making life harder for myself by changing one of the squares - the sheep in the bottom right square looks nothing like a sheep to me (or to The Hermit) so I will be charting my own - I'm going to use the sheep from the same designer's Sheep Button Sampler as a starting point, but it needs completely re-sizing, and re-colouring, plus I want to keep the bird from the original chart - so it's get the graph paper out time. I'm a lot more confident that I used to be in changing motifs. I never had trouble changing colours, but I was always scared I'd wreck the balance of a design if I did things to it - now I no longer worry. Partly because I have a reasonable grasp of design concepts so I know I won't make a total hash of it, but partly because I know that as long as I'm happy, it doesn't really matter...


I've already decided on May's goals - I think the subtitle for the month should be "Selfless Stitching" - with the birthdays of two people very dear to me, plus two exchanges, I'm not going to have a lot of time for other things! My sister has said not to put pressure on myself making things for M (The Tot) but I want to - she really loves getting gifties, and I think when she's older, because she's been born into a crafty family, she will really appreciate getting something handmade and personal. And of course, I want to make things for my Dad, too - it's so hard buying gifts for a man, anyway, and my dad especially - if I don't make the effort, he gets the same old thing birthday after birthday. Not that he minds - he's a creature of habit, and receiving a nice bottle of Single Malt Scotch and some nice smellies is fine by him, but it doesn't seem enough for someone so special.

Swirly Sampler Freebie - version 2 - Bent Creek

Design: Swirly Sampler Freebie
Designer: Bent Creek
Fabric: 32 count linen, antique white
Threads: Gentle Arts Sampler Threads

This is the second version of the sampler - I used a finer fabric, but the difference in size wasn't as big as I'd hoped. This time, I used GAST to make it a little more subtle. This is my preferred version, so I'll keep this for myself! I may indeed make it into a pinkeep after all - I have some great fabric that will co-ordinate really well with it, plus a mountain of mount board to use up :o)

Swirly Sampler Freebie - version 1 - Bent Creek

Design: Swirly Sampler Freebie
Designer: Bent Creek
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count jobelan, apricot

This was my first attempt at my pinkeep exchange for Hooked on Exchanges - I thought it came out a bit big for a pinkeep, but it's a really nice design! The Hermit likes it a lot, so I will probably frame it for him.

WIPs

This is how far I got, Sally, with Morning Song - it looks a little forlorn, doesn't it? :o) I've tacked the outline for the sampler, too - I forget how small Just Nan's can be, the chart always looks so big! I guess that's good though, as they are nice and clear.


This is one of my other WIPs at the moment - Sow Kind Seeds by Bent Creek. I traded for the chart years ago, and the sender included her left over perle cotton, which I've used, as well as some from my stash. At that point, I was waiting on my order for more of the border colour - ordered it Sunday afternoon, it arrived yesterday lunchtime, you can't fault Sew and So's service! I stocked up on some other DMC that I was running low on, and also the ones that I lost on the bus, so I'm ready for anything now - I think! I'm going to stitch the missing motif (a hand, as in heart in hand) in mauve, or gold as I don't have enough of the charted blue - blue isn't a colour I'm fond of anyway. I'm not sure now, looking at the picture, that the mauve I have will be dark enough to balance the composition ... hmmm, it might be a case of trial and error!

The White Cat - Bent Creek

I'm not sure why I like this, but I do :o) I'm really one of the least cat loving personI know, although my partner is fond of them, and would love for us to have one!

I think it's the expression on the cat's face that I love. This mouldered for a while in my finishing pile, but I got the motivation to finish it up when I got my wonderful packet of mini buttons which I've often mentioned before! I wanted a simple finish, so I just made it into a mini pillow/pin cushion. The back is a very small beige country floral print, which echoes the flowers on the front.

Christmas Exchange

I'm trying to get the back log of pictures caught up with. This was another Christmas exchange I sent out, but I can't remember at the moment who too! That's bad ...


I do remember what the design is though - it's a Bent Creek snowman, from an old JCS ornament edition (2002 or 2003) - stitched on black aida with various overdyed threads.

And here is a picture of the whole exchange:

Merry Little Christmas - Bent Creek

I've posted a picture here, but this project is unlikely to stay looking like this, as I'm not happy with my finishing and stuffing - it looks a little lopsided to me, so I'm going to unpick all the cord and re-stitch. This is a visual reminder to me so I know not what to do - and perhaps it will reassure other people that what you see on my blog is often the result of several attempts LOL!

The White Cat - Bent Creek

I don't normally like cats, even (especially!) cross stitch ones, but for this, I make an exception! I just love his expression, and the colours of the flowers. Once more, my button pack provided the flower centres - I'm wondering just how many projects I can use the same buttons on! LOL

EduCATed - Bent Creek - Exchange to Karen

Now I know that she's received it, I can post about my return exchange to Karen from CrazyExchange! In fact, I've used her picture as it's so much better than mine :o)

Karen said she liked Bent Creek, so I made up EduCATed into a little pillow for her. He's not sitting on as many books as the chart says, but I wanted to keep a pillow like proportion. The postcard in the picture is of the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield, and I also added some threads, buttons and a fridge magnet.

I really enjoyed this exchange, and I'm looking forward to many more!

Buzz - Bent Creek

This has actually been finished for a while, but I re-visited it to replace the original buttons I'd used. When I first made this, I used ordinary shirt buttons - they didn't look bad but they weren't quite right. So, once I had buttons of the right size and colour, they got replaced. And yet I say I'm not a perfectionist LOL!

I stitched this design on aida band which I tea dyed prior to stitching. I think it's such a nice design I might break my own rule and re-stitch it - probably on a bigger count so I can either frame it or make it into a pillow.

Robin on Egg - Bent Creek

This is an old Bent Creek freebie which was stitched for me in a Round Robin. I wasn't terribly excited at the time, and it languished on the fabric for a while - I'd hoped the designs would make a cushion, but they didn't really work together, so I cut it into the constituent pieces.

Since making this up into a little pillow, I've grown very fond of this perky chap, and I'm glad he isn't too Christmassy, so I can display him all year round!

Groundhog Day - Bent Creek

I had a bit of a making up spree last weekend as I recovered from a nasty stomach virus, and this is one of my mini pillows I made - I restricted myself to pillows and needlerolls as I though cutting board for pinkeeps would take too much space on my bed! :o)

I think the groundhog looks sweet - it reminds me of my guinea pigs :o)

Plum Berry Sampler - Bent Creek

I think I said pretty much what I wanted to in the last post :o)

I did wonder if the purple was a bit too bright, and thought about frogging all the specialty stitches and re-stitching in a more mulberry sort of colour, but then reality and common sense took over!

Design Details

Fabric: 28 count linen from Silkweaver - Lichen Moss
Threads: DMC stranded cotton
Designer: Bent Creek (Marsha Worley & Elizabeth Newlin)
Chart Details: The Plum Berry Sampler BC418 - Bent Creek (c) 2000
Stitch Count: 40H x 101V
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Rhodes Stitch, Smyrna Cross Stitch, Algerian Eyelet Stitch
Threads Used: DMC 3835, 3023, 3787, 3021, 311, 869. Cross stitch in two strands.
Embellishments: Seven assorted buttons.
Modifications Made: Used DMC conversion, substituted recommended buttons

Pumpkin Flower Sampler - Bent Creek

(Hmmm - my pictures are rubbish. I wonder what is going wrong - I'm using macro, and flash and yet they are still very blurry!)

This is one of the set of three samplers published by Bent Creek and I've chosen to stitch them all on the same piece of linen, although I will frame or finish them individually.

I love them - the colours work beautifully - especially on this piece and they are quick but satisfying to stitch, as there are bands of raised stitches in the alphabet.

I chose to use the DMC conversions, and didn't use the recommended buttons - they would have cost me over £5, and the ones I used were from a couple of assorted packets that cost me less than that, and I've used them for several projects! They do go well, I think - I guess that's one of the advantages of having a favourite palette of colours, most things co-ordinate!

Design Details

Fabric: 28 count linen from Silkweaver - Lichen Moss
Threads: DMC stranded cotton
Designer: Bent Creek (Marsha Worley & Elizabeth Newlin)
Chart Details: The Pumpkin Flower Sampler BC420 - Bent Creek (c) 2000
Stitch Count: 40H x 101V
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Rhodes Stitch, Smyrna Cross Stitch, Algerian Eyelet Stitch
Threads Used: DMC 436, 611, 3051, 434. Cross stitch in two strands.
Embellishments: Seven assorted buttons.
Modifications Made: Used DMC conversion, substituted recommended buttons