Little Lace Hardanger & Tree Of Stitches

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful comments you left after my last post and for all the great advice on ways to deal with it. I did do a copious amount of rinsing on the piece, but when I posted about it, I had already removed all of the beading and cut my signature out of the piece, before sending it on it's way to "stitch disaster Heaven" aka; the trash.

Little Lace Hardanger

I finished the second version of "Little Lace" by Abi Gurden of The Stitch Specialists
yahoo group. It turned out much better after washing than the first one, just not as colorful.

"Little Lace" by Abi Gurden
Stitched on 22ct. white Hardanger using DMC #5 & #8 in 931
and Mill Hill beads in "Gun Metal"
Finished: 25 May 2011

And here is the finished Needle Roll.

Finished: 26 May 2011
I did a pulled thread area for the ribbon to be woven into, and finished the ends with a pin stitched hem. It finished out at 10 inches so it's fairly big for a needle roll, but I just love it.

Tree Of Stitches

I finished part 10 today and am still loving this piece.

"Tree Of Stitches" by Abi Gurden
Being stitched on 28ct. evenweave in a marbled light blue.
I'm using threads that I have hand-dyed myself.
"Walnut" for the trunk is a medium dark chocolate brown,
"Burnished Leaves" for parts of the foliage is an olive green with hints of golden orange,
"Winter Sage" for parts of the foliage is a gray green &
"Sunshine" is an orange.
I'm using Delica beads in "Bronze Luster" & Bronze Gold Luster" so far unless I change my mind like I did today.

Take Care & Happy Stitching
Hugs, Sandy

Hardanger Heartbreak

I finished my "Little Lace" Hardanger piece on 11 May 2011 then let it sit around for a bit while I contemplated a way to finish it. I finally decided that I would make a larger needle roll out of it to go into a basket.

Stitched on 22ct. Hardanger fabric using Caron Wildflowers and Watercolours in "Ruby".
This a beautiful design by Abi Gurden of "The Stitch Specialists"
This is how it looked before I washed it.

And then the heartbreak began.

The second I dipped it in the cool water with Orvus in it, all hell broke out and the water turned purple. I have never had a problem with any of the Caron threads in all my years of using them, but Ruby just had to be the exception.
I started rinsing the piece in cold water in an effort to save it , which worked, until I rolled it in the towel and it bled all over the towel. Just a disaster.

I have since clipped off all of the beads and removed my name from the piece and sent it on the way to stitched disaster Heaven.
I do plan on stitching this piece again, but if I use a hand-dyed thread I'll be sure to test it before I do the entire piece.

Thanks for stopping by and if your in one of my Yahoo groups I will get back to answering all of your wonderful comments, but I have been sidelined with a really nasty sore throat and now the allergies have set in, gotta love spring.

Take Care & Happy Stitchin'
Hugs, Sandy

"Tree Of Stitches" Part 9

I finished part 9 of the "Tree Of Stitches" SAL on "The Stitch Specialists" yahoo group. I still adore this piece and have learned a few stitches I didn't know about.
If your interested in joining this amazing group of stitcher's, just click on the link above and make sure you fill out the questionnaire that the Mod's send your way so they can approve your membership.

This last section could be stitched in either the Norwich Stitch or the Woven Stitch. Well, I couldn't decide which stitch I liked best; so I stitched the left half using the Norwich Stitch and "Burnished Leaves" and the right half using the Woven Stitch and "Winter Sage". I have to say that after doing both stitches, that the Norwich Stitch is far easier as you don't have to weave the thread over and under as with the Woven Stitch, but I loved the learning experience.

"Tree Of Stitches" by Abi Gurden
Finished 06 May 2011

I had someone ask what type of threads I'm using?
They are threads that I have hand-dyed myself.

Thank you everyone for stopping by and taking the time to leave your thoughts behind, I appreciate each and every one.

Take Care & Happy Stitchin'
Hugs, Sandy

Part 8 of "Tree Of Stitches" is Done.

"Tree of Stitches" Part 8
I finally chose to do this part in "Sunshine" as it is the base color for "Burnished Leaves" so I thought it would be a good fit.
This was, of course, my fourth attempt at getting the color I liked. I tried out the green first and pulled it all out, then I went on to "Old Lace" an antiqued white, ivory, beige mix for a Dogwood/Magnolia feel and added cream beads. I stared at it off and on for a couple of days before pulling the beads and trying the Gold Luster beads, still didn't like it, so I pulled everything and started over with "Sunshine" then added the Gold Luster beads. It's been finished since April 28th and I still like the look; so it's a keeper.

"Tree of Stitches"
Designed by: Abi Gurden

I've also started working on the "Little Lace Hardanger" SAL in the same group, but no picture yet.

I want to thank everyone for all of the wonderful thoughts you leave behind after your visits, I know I don't say it nearly enough, so Thank You all from the bottom of my heart.


To answer a couple of questions I've had lately.
Yes, I will be selling my hand-dyed threads as soon as mother nature and my photography abilities are on the same page.
Yes, my designs are for sale, I have to work out what would be a reasonable price for a printed chart, haven't figured out yet how to send a PDF chart in an email. I also want to put some of the larger charts on Cross Stitch Addicts, of course, after I work out the whole PDF issue.

Well until next time dear stitchers.
Take Care & Happy Stitchin'
Hugs, Sandy