Friday, January 15, 2016

First Finishes of 2016

I have finished the mystery sampler.  I had to eliminate some of the charted cartouches to adapt the chart to the size of my linen.   I switched the animals about somewhat, choosing my favorites: peacock, dog parakeets, owl, robin, rabbit and squirrel, stitched in soft and bright pastels,  I filled in the empty spaces with motifs stitched in the same Blue Lagoon I used for the cartouches.  It was necessary to tinker with the motif as well, turning the roses on their side, changing the squat loving cup into a slender chalice and adding a bunch of grapes.  I wish I could provide more of a provenance for this design.  I seem to recall downloading it from one of the French free sites ... it definitely seems to be in that style.  In any case the final result is very different from the original chart.


The next finish is from Donna of By the Bay. .  I used WDW 30 count Periwinkle linen and Belle Soie silks, mainly Indigo with Boysenberry ans Lilac.  The simple words Slow Down looked pretty naked on the linen so I added a border of my own design, accenting it with some beads in the same shade as the deepest tone in the Boysenberry.  The corner treatment is a simple Rhpdes rectangle
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And there's this one day wonder from Samplers and Such: Bitty Baskets ABC Sampler, a sampler designed to be finished as a pin keep but which I will finish as a jar top.  I used Aurora 32 count linen and Caron Waterlilies Tahiti for a subtle tone on tone [in part] effect which looks much better in reality than in this photograph.  In real life, the pale melon in the floss doesn't fade quite so badly into the background linen.




I seem to be choosing my projects to use up the odd scraps of linen I have on hand.  I guess it's a sort of New Year's sweep and clean up effort.  This latest finish is from Homespun Elegance:
Country Spirits Birds and Bees,   .  I used my Belle Soie silks instead of the recommended DMC.  They are Beanstalk, Chocolate, Cinnamon Stick, Lasagna, Old Crow and Scarecrow.  I still have an extensive stash of partial cards of Belle Soie and am using them for all my small to medium projects: waste not, want not.




All I need to finish this last piece are two Olde Brass bee charms but that will have to wait till I have the time to put together an order.  I need some scroll rods, the proper linens for Sleepy Hollow and the Workbasket Quaker animals.  I'll need a quiet moment to sit down and make up a complete list of my needs for the next few months.


5 comments:

Shebafudge said...

Wow!!! A fantastic list of finishes. They all look fabulous too. Congratulations on them. :)

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

You have been busy recently. It's a nice idea to use up the scraps on the smaller projects.
Your spot motif sampler looks great in the colours you've chosen.

Julie said...

Fabulous finish, it does look wonderful

Stitchinowl said...

Thanks for the eye candy this morning! Your finishes are lovely. I like how you tweaked parts of the mystery sampler and made it your own.
Carolyn

Maggee said...

The Quaker is lovely--your changes look like the way the sampler was to be stitched! Love Slow Down!! Your beaded border is perfect!! I have a one-day-wonder piece I need to do--yours just reminded me! I have been using fabric from stash as much as I can, although some projects just need a special fabric. I have a piece that I hope to get done for my daughter that HAS to be on a blue fabric, and it has been hard to find just the right one! It's not in my stash, unfortunately! Thanks for sharing!