I have finished a few needlework projects in the last year so it seems time for an update.
First up is a blanket for a new baby. I purchased a pre-finished baby blanket then embroidered five of the panels.
I took an online class through the EGA (Embroiderers' Guild of America) called Creating Beaded Gardens. It was taught by Nancy Eha. I had a lot of fun with this and it was difficult to stop adding flowers! For some reason the fabric looks a bit bluish in this photo but it is actually purple.
This is a cute little needlepoint project called Color Delights - Rainbow designed by Kathy Rees. The stitched area is only 4" x 4".
This next project started started almost 6 years ago. It all began with a trip to Gloriana Threads in May of 2011 to learn about dyeing thread and ribbon. Her colors are absolutely wonderful and she was selling single colorway sampler packs containing one each of the various types of her silk threads and ribbons. It was love at first sight for me when I saw the Topiary (color #115) sampler packs. I purchased one, confident that just the right project would come along at some point.
In 2013 I signed up for an Embroiderers' Guild of America Correspondence Course taught by Mary Long to stitch a needlework toolcase. My Topiary sampler pack of threads contained almost everything I needed for the project. It took me only a few weeks to finish the stitching. But completing the interior was a bit more difficult. The pattern called for Ultrasuede but that product is no longer easy to come by. Over the next 3 years I occasionally looked for a source of this product without success (one online shop sold what they called 'Ultrasuede' but it turned out to be plain cotton fabric dyed to give the appearance of Ultrasuede).
In the summer of 2016, at one of my Sampler Guild's stitching events, I happened to mention that I was searching in vain for Ultrasuede. One of my Guild members said she had a stash of Ultrasuede remnants and I was welcome to look through them to see if any of the colors would work. One of the colors was perfect for the project and the piece she had was just big enough to do the job. With the interior finished at last, I went on to make the remaining two items I needed. One was a decorative cord for putting around the edges and using for the closure. I made this with more of the Topiary thread using the Kumihimo Japanese Braiding technique. The other item was a button for the closure. For this I made a Dorset Button using a single strand of Topiary silk. Our group had been shown how to make Dorset Buttons in April 2013 in Shaftesbury, England while on a Mary Hickmott New Stitches tour of Southern England. I think it all turned out rather well.
These are some Christmas ornaments I finished throughout the year. They are kits from Mill Hill with threads and beads stitched on perforated paper.
Each year in February my sampler guild brings in a nationally-known needlework teacher to give a talk at our annual Tea and to teach a class or two. Last year that teacher was Jeannette Douglas and one of the classes she taught was this one called Common Thread II.
I liked her design so well I bought another small one of hers. This one is called The Spring Bird.
I have already started on Christmas ornaments for this year. This is from a kit I bought in England at the Knitting & Stitching Show. It is called Brandy Pudding and is designed by the Spellbound Bead Co.
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