Spring Needleroll - Lorri Birmingham Designs

Another needleroll, another beehive, another Lorri Birmingham design! I think there might be a trend here...

I miscounted centring this piece vertically, so I stitched a compensating row at the top to make it look more even when it was made up, otherwise it was fairly straightforward - even though I'm not a fan of fractional stitches, these didn't cause too many problems.

I think the bunnies look a bit "cutesey" but hopefully the focus is the beehive!

This is the last of my Lorri Birmingham kits I'm intending to stitch - I have a Santa needleroll chart, but that's waiting for supplies when I get off the wagon!

I finished this off as a needleroll almost as soon as I had stitched it, which lead to a great finishing flurry yesterday, as I had my sewing kit out!

Design Details

Fabric: 28 count linen banding, white
Threads: DMC stranded cotton
Designer: Lorri Birmingham
Kit Details: Spring Needle Roll # K287, Lorri Birmingham Designs
Stitch Count: 48H x 59H as charted
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Fractional Cross Stitch, Back Stitch, French Knot.
Threads Used: DMC 316, 340, 433, 435, 436, 437, 470, 471, 738, 778, 3776, 3820, 3821, 3822. Cross stitch in two strands, back stitch in one.
Embellishments: Gold plated charms - 1 x butterfly, 2 x bee
Modifications Made: Extra row of stitching added to top of needle roll.

Bumble Bee Needleroll - Lorri Birmingham Designs

Whilst I was in a finishing mood last night, I also finished off the Bumble Bee Needleroll - one of my goals! The seam is a French seam, stitched by hand, so all raw edged are enclosed.

Stuffing needlerolls always takes longer than one would imagine, but I think it's important to tease out the stuffing, stuff firmly and evenly, and have a nice cylindrical shape! After all, what's a few minutes when one has spent several hours on the stitching, and is going to have the joy of looking at the finished piece for years? The trouble is, I'm torn - I'm impatient so I just want the thing finished, and have to curb my tendencies to cram all the stuffing in willy nilly but on the other hand I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I want to do things properly! As I get older, the perfectionist side is coming out more, but the advantage to age is more experience, so I can achieve the results I want almost at the speed I want! LOL

Thanks to everyone who has commented so far on my blog - it is appreciated! I hope I don't ramble too much - I tried at first for a very factual blog, but then I found pieces had stories to tell, and I have to tell them! :o)

Bee Kind Needleroll - Lorri Birmingham Designs

Now my camera is working here is the needleroll in 3D!

Full details about this design can be found in an earlier post, here.

Bumble Bee Needleroll - Lorri Birmingham Designs

Ages ago, I stitched the scissor fob which matches this needleroll, so at last, this will be joining it in my basket of smalls!

The design calls for the bee's body to be stitched in French knots, but when I stitched the fob, my French knots left a lot to be desired (they can still do so...) so I stitched the bee in cross stitch - so I chose to do this for the needleroll too. It makes the bee look less "fuzzy", but the colour changes are more visible, so it's swings and roundabouts I guess.


Design Details

Fabric: 28 count linen band, white
Threads: DMC stranded cotton
Designer: Lorri Birmingham
Chart Details: Bumble Bee Needle Roll Item # 271K - Lorri Birmingham Designs
Stitch Count: 48H x 48H
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Back Stitch, Fractional Cross Stitch, Hem Stitch
Threads Used: DMC stranded cotton in white, 209, 827, 937, 3799, 3820, 340, 470, 725, 745, 317, 801, 828
Embellishments: Four Czech Fire Polished Crystal beads
Modifications Made: Hem Stitch done over four threads, not two. Cross stitches used in place of French knots on bee's body.

Bee Kind Needleroll - Lorri Birmingham Designs

This picture is the flat piece - I have now made it up into a needleroll, but with my camera out of action, couldn't add a picture of the 3D piece! It's also not been a great finish - I made it a little narrow, but it is still very pretty! Probably at the limit of my girly tolerance ...

I don't really like Lorri Birmingham kits because the instructions are not the best, and this kit was no exception. There was some perle 12 thread included which was never mentioned in the instructions, the colours used for backstitch weren't explained, and the placing of the quartz beads wasn't charted either - so it's a good job I'm an experienced stitcher, a beginner could have been really thrown!

I do like the fact that the linen banding is pre finished though - it can be a slog to make a needleroll otherwise!

Design Details

Fabric: 28 count linen band, white
Threads: DMC stranded cotton
Designer: Lorri Birmingham
Chart Details: Bee Kind Needle Roll Item # 251 K - Lorri Birmingham Designs
Stitch Count: 57V x 50H
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Back Stitch, Fractional Cross Stitch, Hem Stitch
Threads Used: DMC stranded cotton in Ecru, 676, 677, 680, 729, 869, 3363, 3364, 3726, 3727
Embellishments: Two gold plated bee charms, four rose quartz heart shaped beads
Modifications Made: Hem Stitch done over four threads, not two.