Gallery Post - Bookmarks

My other ruling passion is reading.  And I have made myself and others many bookmarks over the years.  Unfortunately, I didn't always take photos.  But here are just a few that I did photograph.

Celtic Knot Bookmark: stitched on a scrap of mystery linen using some old Needle Necessities variegated floss.  I am very fond of Celtic motifs since I am of Irish descent.  And I liked the soft colors of this Needle Necessities fiber, moving from cream to sage to a very muted mauve.  As with most of my bookmarks, this one is lined with a very soft piece of cream flannel from an old bed sheet.  Waste not, want not!  Or to be more politically correct, reduce - reuse- recycle.

My own design: Riona's Bookshelf bookmark: stitched on a scrap of mystery linen with odds and ends of leftover floss.  I have stitched variations of this design many times: it is a great way to use up leftover bits of fiber and fabric.  I frequently pair it with a gift card to Barnes and Noble as a gift for birthdays or Christmas.  It's always fun to change it up a bit, changing the knick-knacks and bric a brac on the shelves, using different colors on the book spines.  This one has a spider plant, a geode, a kitten and an art glass bottle as well as books.

Handblessings Autumn Leaves Bookmark.  This is a very old free chart and was fun to stitch in variegated flosses.  The border is reminiscent of Celtic motifs, which made it a must-stitch piece for me.

Another Handblessings Autumn bookmark: also a free chart.  A much less complex one, since it is just leaves stitched in a simple repeat.  

My own design: Sampler bookmark.  It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but I used a series of different specialty stitches to make up this pattern and the same Needle Necessities fiber as in the Celtic Bookmark.

Shamrock Bookmark:  This was a kit from Textile Heritage Collection.  It was a bit of a fussy piece since there were seven different shades of green involved, with very subtle variations.  Separating the flosses and matching them up to the proper symbols was a bit of a challenge.

I have stitched any number of other bookmarks over the years but have given so many of them away without recording them.  I plan to rectify that in the future.  There are a few that I fully intend to stitch again for myself, like a lovely tapestry style bookmark from Cedar Hill, the Acanthus and Rose bookmark, which I gave to a former secretary and three dragon bookmarks designed by Vickey Macky which were lost in an exchange gone bad.  I also have a number that I intend to stitch for a first time: T Wentzler's Renaissance Bookmark, Pamela Kellogg's Flowers and Berries and Grapes bookmarks.  And somewhere, tucked away in one of my many books, is a Puffin bookmark, also from the Textile Heritage Collection, also never photographed.

I collect interesting bookmark patterns, whether the source be on-line freebies, magazines or purchased leaflets or pdfs.    I find that bookmarks are a useful way to use up narrow scraps of linen and partial skeins or cards of interesting fibers thereby delighting my frugal soul.