Happy Dance! Bee Merry

Design: Bee Merry

Designer: Victoria Sampler

Threads: DMC as charted

Fabric: 25 count lugana, white

Embellishments: 2 small brass bee charms, embellished mat (not shown)

This is a companion piece to the one I posted about yesterday. There are now six of these little designs all waiting to be framed. I think I'm going to ask Darren and Jamie - the lovely framers at InFrame Gallery - about framing them as two sets of three. They have very sweet little mounts and I'd like to show those off, but don't want to cram them into a 6" x 4" off the shelf frame as I could damage them if I do them myself.

Happy Dance! Bee Joyful

Design: Bee Joyful

Designer: Victoria Sampler

Threads: DMC as charted

Fabric: 25 count lugana, white

Embellishments: 2 small brass bee charms, embellished mat (not shown)

This little design only needed the bees sewn on for a "finish". I bought the series on eBay over a period of time, and they helped get me back into stitching after a period away from it when I was very low with clinical depression, which basically took away my ability to concentrate. It was an awful time, but I came through it, and I have these little cheerful pieces to remind me that I don't have to make huge and complex works of art to have fun and to make something I'm happy to share.

Finish or Fling? - Bee Merry, Bee Joyful

I stitched these after a spell of not stitching for a very long time. And then didn't add the charms! These are part of a set of six designs by Thea Dueck of The Victoria Sampler, and the other four designs are all finished and mounted in the cute cards that came with the kit.

Pros:

• Only need the charms adding
• Have  four others in the set completed

Cons:

• Can't think of any - even the frames should be fairly cheap as they are a standard size.

Finish or fling?



Verdict: Finish

Bloom Where You Are Planted - The Victoria Sampler

Design: Bloom Where You Are Planted (freebie available here)
Designer: Thea Dueck, The Victoria Sampler
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count evenweave

My partner in the HoE Biscornu Exchange was Gabi, and having looked at her blog, I thought that she might like a design from The Victoria Sampler, so I chose one of the freebies and set to work.

I also liked Just Nan's way of using two different fabric colours for a biscornu. Isn't it amazing though just how different a design can look on a different background?

I used DMC threads through out, and I personalised the back with our locations and the blog name - our names were a bit too small to fill the space :o) I used beads to fill in the corners.

This was taken with my old camera, so it's not a very good picture of the top - the flash has washed out a lot of the detail, but the none-flash photos were too blurry to use!

Here is a close up of the back. For some reason, this photo came out fine!

And this is the full package I sent to Gabi - I went for nice flowery things to complement the stitched piece.

I do enjoy making biscornu, and receiving them too - my next post will show the one I received!

Ontario Heart - Victoria Sampler

Design: Hearts of Canada: Ontario Heart
Designer: The Victoria Sampler (Thea Dueck)
Threads: DMC as charted, Kreinik braid
Fabric: 25 count evenweave, white

I made this design into a pinkeep for The Hermit's birthday as he was born and brought up in Ontario. I'm not completely happy with it, as I think it is a little large and not taut enough, but I've used glue and I don't know whether it will come apart without ruining the stitching. If I do dismantle it, I was thinking of remaking it in a heart shape - would that work, do you think?

Tin Topper Finish

Design: Needles and Scissors (adapted)
Designer: The Victoria Sampler - a freebie available here
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count linen, R&R Reproductions, Light Cocoa

This is not my usual style, I have to say. And not my usual finish- I did it as this month's challenge over on the Monthly Finishing Challenge Blog. There is rather too much glue involved for one of my finishing methods ;o) but it worked out okay. I adapted the lettering on the original design as I thought about giving this to my sister - I know for a fact she doesn't own a needle ... but with a mother and a sister who have hundreds, why should she? LOL. The other modification I made was to the hardanger section - instead of cutting and weaving in dove's eyes, I just stitched eyelets. Cheating? yes, but it looks good!

I think there's a bit too much 'bling' and fussiness for my taste but for what it is, I'm pleased with how it turned out, and the braid does hide the raw edges and such. The fabric is some I've had in my stash for years, I think it goes very well.

The base has a small padded 'cushion' so the stamps don't stick to the bottom. I think if I was making another one, I'd make the base a bit bigger.

I'm glad I did it, just not sure I'd do another!

July Needleroll - The Victoria Sampler

Design: July Needleroll
Designer: The Victoria Sampler
Threads: DMC and Kreinik
Fabric: 28 count quaker evenweave

This has been languishing in my finishing pile for longer than I care to remember (possibly four years...) and thanks to Becky's Monthly Finishing Challenge blog, it's now made up!


The ends are hemstitched, as are the ribbon carriers, and the seam is French seamed, to hide the raw edges. I sew all the seams by hand too, it's easier than setting up my machine, and it's nice and relaxing, too.

Scotland International Heart - The Victoria Sampler

Design: Scotland International Heart

Designer: The Victoria Sampler (Thea Dueck)

Fabric: 25 count evenweave, white

Threads: DMC and Kreinik #4 braid

I liked stitching this heart - for once, all the elements looked like they were supposed to, although I did fiddle a little with the piper's pipes :o)

These little kits are great for learning some new specialty stitches, as the instructions are so good.

The bird is a type of grouse called a Capercaillie - which coincidentally is the name of one of my favourite bands!. Their Myspace page can be found here.

I did think about making all of them up into a quilt, but know I've discovered pinkeeps, they may very well end up as a series of those!

Great Stitchy Day Yesterday!

I was feeling a little blue when I got home from work yesterday - it had been a dull, slow day, the weather was awful, I was feeling achey ... and then The Hermit pointed out a package waiting for me. It was covered in stamps and looked really cheerful, but what was inside was even better! Janaina was my partner in the Hooked on Exchanges Pinkeep Exchange, and she sent me a lovely stitched piece - Love, by Little House Needleworks. She says she's a better stitcher than finisher, but she's a pretty good finisher! I was spoiled with the goodies: some fruit tea (I love fruit teas!), some shower gel (I love having a long shower!), some floss - I think a Brazilian brand, how exotic (and yes, I love the colours - all autumnal!), some stitching fabric (I love neutral coloured evenweaves), some finishing fabric (I love the funky spring colours and designs) and a postcard (I love postcards, I'm a member of Postcrossing.) Can you tell I'm a happy bunny? LOL

I've taken a photo, but I won't be able to upload it until tomorrow, because I've left the relevant USB cable at work...

Anyway, that cheered me up no end, as did The Hermit making dinner, so I then set to work on my own stitching - actually, finishing this time. I'm a new member of the Monthly Finishing Challenge Blog, and the challenge this month was for a needleroll. And I finally made up the July Needleroll by The Victoria Sampler! I did it listening to the football commentary on the radio (Liverpool V Arsenal) . It was very exciting, so I was a little hyper by full time - which coincided with the final stuffing - so I went on and did another one! This was the needleroll from Spring Fobs by Heart in Hand, and it's been finished for at least three years! Again, I'll post pics tomorrow :o)

So, I'm a bit tired this morning, but pretty perky, and over the blue mood! I've got a nice day to look forward to today - I'm meeting up with my parents, my sister and my niece this morning, then I have a lunch meeting to discuss a presentation I'm making at a Learner Celebration evening - and the place we're meeting does goodfood :o).

Peace - Victoria Sampler

I'm not terribly happy with the finishing on this, I'm tempted to take it apart and try to make it circular - what do you think?

The design is based on "Trust is a Virtue" which appeared in a JCS Ornament issue - I changed the wording, and the background colour of the fabric.

USA International Heart - The Victoria Sampler

I'm started stitching these Hearts and I'm not really sure I like them any more ... but I have a couple more of the places I've visited to go, so I'll see how I feel after that ... I did the England one a while ago, and the so called "robin" on it was awful!

Victoria Sampler kits are a model for all kit manufacturers - the instructions are very clear, the contents of good quality, and in generous quantities too, and they stitch up very nicely.

I think I might make these into a quilt. Maybe.

Design Details

Fabric: 25 count Lugana, white
Threads: DMC stranded cottons, Kreinik #4 braid
Designer: Thea Dueck
Kit Details: International Heart - USA - IH #05 - The Victoria Sampler (c) 2003
Stitch Count: 48H x 42V
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Back Stitch, Star Darn Stitch, Herringbone Stitch, French Knot,
Threads Used: DMC white, 645, 3371, 3706, 891, 304, 3364, 3362, 930, 931, 729. Kreinik #4 braid #002
Embellishments: None.
Modifications Made: None.

Bee Mine - The Victoria Sampler

Design Details

Fabric: 25 count Lugana, white
Threads: DMC
Designer: Thea Dueck
Kit Details: Bee Mine - The Victoria Sampler (c) 2001
Stitch Count: 16H x 30V
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Back Stitch
Threads Used: DMC 745, 223, 932, 3347 3371, 3345. Two strands used throughout.
Embellishments: Two bee charms.
Modifications Made: None.

Bee Happy - The Victoria Sampler

Design Details

Fabric: 25 count Lugana, white
Threads: DMC
Designer: Thea Dueck
Kit Details: Bee Happy - The Victoria Sampler (c) 2001
Stitch Count: 16H x 30V
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Back Stitch
Threads Used: DMC 437, 3777, 3347, 3790, 3371, 3345. Two strands used throughout.
Embellishments: Two bee charms.
Modifications Made: None.

Bee Gentle - The Victoria Sampler

Design Details

Fabric: 25 count Lugana, white
Threads: DMC
Designer: Thea Dueck
Kit Details: Bee Gentle - The Victoria Sampler (c) 2001
Stitch Count: 16H x 30V
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Back Stitch
Threads Used: DMC 745, 437, 223, 932, 3042, 3347, 3790, 3371, 3345 Two strands used throughout.
Embellishments: Two bee charms.
Modifications Made: None.

Bee Kind - The Victoria Sampler

Although the kits in this series are designed for beginners, and I left that category some time ago, they are so sweet - as well as being my favourite theme - that I collected the lot over time through eBay.

I did a couple last year when I was feeling really low and struggled with them - that's how I knew how bad my depression had got - but this one and it's three companions were all stitched during a 20/20 cricket match - so they took maybe 45 -50 minutes each.

The instructions in the kits were a credit to Thea Dueck's teaching skills - I'm going to keep them for when I get the chance to teach my niece (15 months) to stitch!. The fabric was cut to an adequate size, and there was plenty of thread included in the kit - as well as the bee charms and pretty mount/greeting card!

I haven't yet mounted this properly in the card yet, as I want to back them with interfacing, but I popped them in to scan them, as they look so much more effective like that!

Design Details

Fabric: 25 count Lugana, white
Threads: DMC
Designer: Thea Dueck
Kit Details: Bee Kind - The Victoria Sampler (c) 2001
Stitch Count: 16H x 30V
Stitches Used: Cross Stitch, Back Stitch
Threads Used: DMC 745, 223, 932, 3347, 3371, 3345 Two strands used throughout.
Embellishments: Two bee charms.
Modifications Made: None.