S for Sunflower

I keep forgetting to post!!  I am stitching, I promise.

I stitched up this Letter S from the Gardener's Alphabet (see website, Counted page) for a good neighbor.  It fit, just barely, into an acrylic trivet that I already had.  Instant finish.  Love those!!

Gardener's Alphabet G Final

The G is in its tray.  I'm quite pleased with the way it looks!

I may not post again for a week or two (three?) because we are remodeling the kitchen and 2 bathrooms.  (Don't worry we have a third that we will use!)  Demolition begins tomorrow and we will be without a functioning kitchen for 3-4 weeks.  We are setting up a temporary "kitchen" in the Master Bathroom!  I just keep reminding myself how beautiful it will be when it's finished!

Gardener's Alphabet G Finished

The commissioned letter G is finished.  I hope to get it in its tray in the next few days.
The border worked out well, although I had a scary moment when I thought it didn't fit right.  Turned out fine!
I left the center of the G with open canvas as I thought the compensation of the Reverse Scotch would just make it look messy.
I'm very happy with the way it turned out!

More Finishing

I've been getting more things finished, but this time I did them myself!  Yay me!  They may not be as perfect as a professional would do, but it sure cost less!

First up, Gardener's Alphabet "T" put into an acrylic trivet.  The back has a piece of cork on it.  This is the easiest finish there is, just trim and stick it in there!  I did have some trouble getting it straight though and it would have been better if the stitching hadn't come right to the very edge.  Sorry about the flash reflection!

Next is a tote bag.  I've had this zippered tote for several years, my husband brought it home from a convention.  I use it all the time as a project bag and one day the light went on!  Cover the logo with a piece of needlepoint.  Duh!!  I had this Mad Miters in my portfolio and it fit just right over the logo.  I purchased the brown edging and sewed it all on.  Fortunately, my sewing machine has a free arm, or I wouldn't have been able to do it!  

And then there's the Bargello Christmas Stocking.  I debated about having this finished into a "real" stocking, or just finished flat.  I purchased some ready-made dark green welting.  I had a fat quarter of christmas fabric.  Ok, I'll give it a try.  What do you know!  It actually turned out pretty well, as a real stocking.  A little wobbly around the heel & toe, but still - not bad for an amateur.  Maybe I'll use it for cards this year.

Gardener's Alphabet "G"

This is a commission piece.  My friend wants this letter G in a  tray, so I have to come up with border & background to fill it out.  The letter is too small by itself for the tray.  I have started a border in the upper right corner.  The thread is a Threadworx overdyed floss and matches the canvas almost perfectly!  I haven't yet decided for sure about background.  Will wait to see how it looks once the border is finished.
If you love the letter G, or any other letter, the patterns are available on my website!

Gardener's Alphabet "T"

A friend commissioned me to stitch a couple of the Gardener's Alphabet letters.  The first one, T, is complete.  Now, here's a story:
The top picture to the left is what it looked like finished.  I had used the colors specified in the pattern for the foliage.  The light gray-green stems just looked too light to me, AFTER everything else was stitched.  Ripping that out was going to be a nightmare!  

So I experimented.  I stitched some of that thread on a scrap of the same canvas and tried PAINTING it, with pens.  OMG it worked!  I tried an Ultra Fine Point Sharpie and a Copic marker. Both worked, but the Sharpie seemed to give more even coverage.  Neither bled onto the stitch next to it!

So, I went ahead and painted the offending stitches. Voila! 
The 2nd pic shows the result.  I'm so jazzed!

Now, I'm quite sure it isn't color fast, but I don't care.  This piece doesn't need to be blocked and it will be encased in a plastic trivet.

The pic to the right is just a sharper photo.  And the color is a little more accurate.  It is on aquamarina canvas.

Finished Letters

Of the Gardener's Alphabet letters that I have stitched, the S and 2 Rs are now finished!  The S is a box top (Sudberry House box). 
The aqua R is framed in an Aaron Bros. frame.
The red R is in a trivet from Herrschners (I think).
They are all Christmas gifts.
I'm now done with letters for awhile!

Gardener's Alphabet S

I think this is the last alphabet letter I will do.  This is the S from the Gardener's Alphabet.  These patterns are available on my website.  I have added this stitched S as an alternate colorway to the instructions for S. 

I used Threadworx for the S and background and the letter is outlined with Kreinik.  I also used the Kreinik for the cross stitches in the Criss Cross Hungarian.  The background balloon stitch is light coverage, only 2 strands of Threadworx.

This will be a box top.  A gift for my housekeeper.

GARDENER'S ALPHABET

Oh boy!  I'm doing a Happy Dance!  The Gardener's Alphabet is up and running on my website.  I'm so excited to see it published.
Each letter is a separate pattern, 10-11 pages, and sold separately.
Please take a look!  It is the first pattern on the (new) Counted Needlepoint page. 
I hope you will find a letter or two that you like!  They are fun to stitch and are great stash busters!  Except for the background, you don't need a whole skein of hardly any of the colors.

Gardener's Alphabet

Back in the 80s I used to do charting for Needlepoint News.  One of the big projects I did was Jim Williams' Gardener's Alphabet Rug.  All 26 letters, each with a flower starting with that letter.  Each was a square of a rug.

Recently, I got in touch with Williams and he gave me permission to redo the charts on the computer, color coded to DMC (instead of Paternayan), for 18-count, and to offer the designs for sale on my website.  Each letter will be a separate pattern.  (I'm not doing it as a rug.)  This is counted, so it is suitable for cross stitch as well as needlepoint.

Well, this turned out to be quite a big job, but it is nearly finished.  I have an army of stitchers piloting for me and I hope to have all of the letters ready and up on my website by the end of October.  When they are ready, I'll announce it here on blog.

This H is one that I did on 20-count canvas with DMC floss and a few stitches of Kreinik.