A Spring WIP

This is a WIP, from a Maryse chart that I received from Irmeli, a Hooked on Exchanging blog member.

Pinkeep Received

This is the beautiful spring pinkeep that I received from Irmeli (HOE).

A Current Project

This is a piece I'm working on at present. It's "P'tits Coeurs Bienvenue," by Isabelle Vautier, stitched on linen with Tentakulum overdyed thread "Lisa." I received the linen, chart, and thread from Gaby as part of the HOE biscornu exchange.

Katrina's Pinkeep

This is the front of the pinkeep and the matching scissors fob that I made for Katrina in the Hooked on Exchanging project. It is DMC floss on (about) 32 ct. linen. The chart is a LHN/CCN collaboration from The Gift of Stitching magazine (a back issue). The entire pinkeep is sewn together, not glued, including the ribbon.


Here are the reverse sides:


The initials are taken from a Dover Publications book, Charted Monograms for Counted Cross Stitch.

Mon Poisson d'Avril

This is a picture of the stuffed fish toy that I made for the "Bisque d'Avril" of Chacharose. He is Matsya, the horned fish of (Asian) Indian lore.

Bisque d'Avril

I've joined the create-a-fish project on the blog of Chacharose.

Chart Pack Questions

In the mail today I received a chart pack cross stitch pattern (a 2005 design from a modern design company) that I bought via eBay. This is not the first chart pack that I have purchased, and so I knew that I was not going to get a big leaflet-type chart. However, I was flabbergasted to open it and find that each of the printed components were just thin paper!

There are two reasons why I find it surprising that designers market their patterns like this. First, thin paper is not going to last long, even if placed in a plastic sleeve when not in use. Second, it is much easier to violate copyright and make an illegal copy of a chart that is black ink on copy paper.

Plastic bags come in all sizes. I wouldn't mind a xeroxed color picture of the finished design IF it were larger than what I received, so that I can see it better. The chart itself should be on folder or card stock so that it is durable. This chart was marked $6.50 retail. I'm glad that I was able to get it for less on eBay. Do you have an opinion on the quality of chart paper?

Biscornu Completed

My granddaughter was ill with a fever for two days, so it took me longer than expected to finish this project because I was taking care of her.

I completed my Hooked on Exchanging biscornu yesterday evening. I sewed the backstitch once around both squares and had to rip it out and sew it again because my color choice was wrong. This was my first biscornu. I think that next time I will sew the back stitch line with a strand of DMC pearl cotton floss, instead of regular embroidery floss, because the regular floss kept "hiding" beneath the linen threads. I found it difficult to go under for the whip stitch when I sewed the two squares together.

I'm quite taken by the sculptural beauty of this design--that is, how a flat square with four sides can become a three-dimensional object with eight edges! My granddaughter wants one, so we will figure out her color choices while I begin my pinkeep (already have the chart).

The Gift of Stitching Magazine

I purchased and downloaded one back issue of this magazine. It was a simple and fast process. After saving it to my hard drive, I saved it to a disk. It's definitely worth the money. Even if you disregard one minor project, and take into consideration that I received only one part of a 4-part sampler series, the patterns are still worth over 3 X the cost of the issue.

I'll use one small project for an ongoing stitching exchange, another large project featuring cats as a birthday present to finish by July, and other smaller items as gifts.

I bought it to test the quality. I had wanted to download it and send the issue on a disk as a present to another stitcher (after erasing it completely from my computer), but that is not allowed. If you want to gift someone, you must know their email address as well as their street address, so that they can get the subscription information electronically. Only the subscribed person is allowed to download and use the issue(s).

Crane UFO

This is a UFO done in satin stitch on silk cloth. The design is a Chinese traditional one from Dover Publications. I don't know whether I'm going to make it into a pillow or applique it onto a jacket.

I like origami, Hiroshige's Tokkkaido, haiku, and my Omiyage book by Kumiko Sudo. I like Japanese and Chinese landscape and nature scenes, whether in paintings or on fabric. I like the asymmetrical design concept. Cranes are my #1 favorite motif!

Bookmarks in Progress

Here are two unfinished bookmarks. The left is a celtic interlaced design from Dover Publications Celtic Charted Designs for Cross Stitch. I hope that I'll get it done for this St. Patrick's Day.

The right one is from the defunct Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazine. It is a design that was submitted for a contest on "borders." They're both DMC floss on perforated paper.

Biscornu Exchange

My biscornu is 3/4 embroidered. My granddaughter likes the design so much that she asked for one, only in different colors. I told her she'll be surprised when she sees how it gets assembled. It's for the Hooked on Exchanging
biscornu exchange.