Maria adapted her Elizabethan Biscornu into a lovely scissors case and it turned out wonderful. I love that she took the acorn motif and stitched it in the inside of the top flap. I visited her blog as well and I was really taken with the beaded flowers she posted. They are just the sweetest little things.
Claire has out done herself again with another wonderful color combination using DMC floss. I really like the purple splashes of color against the traditional use of black.
Claire's Rose Trellis Pinkeep
Claire just sent me a pic of some coasters she had made using the Daisy Ring design from this month’s issue of The Gift of Stitching. She used variegated threads that really gave the design a whole different dimension. The one thing that I really like about blackwork is how versatile it is and Claire’s stitching is a great example of that. Thanks so much for sharing Claire!
Claire's Daisy Ring Coasters
Visit Claire’s blog at http://claire93.wordpress.com/. She has recently posted a great finishing technique for matting your stitching!
I received a wonderful surprise in my mailbox today – Maria sent me a pic of her Sweet Heart Satchel and it’s quite stunning. She finished hers with a Madiera variegated cotton (2413) on a black Linda fabric. The colors of the thread really “pop” on the dark background and I think it really gives a lot to the design. I enjoyed visiting her blog at http://enchanted-stitches.blogspot.com/ she has some really lovely blackwork finishes. Thanks Maria!
Detail on Maria's satchel
Kim just sent me a pic of her “Breakfast in Paris” this morning – a Christmas Eve tradition shared by her and her husband.
Souvenir de France
Paris holds a special place in my friend Kim’s heart – so when I saw this design by Blackbird Designs, I knew I had to stitch it for her.
Today, Dec 6th, children will wake to find candy and goodies tucked into their shoes in celebration of St. Nicholas.
Celebrating St. Nicholas Day wasn’t a tradition that my family practiced while I was growing up. When my son Christopher, now 27, was in kindergarten he had learned about St. Nicholas in school and so the tradition had begun. We had lived in an upper flat and my friend Susan and her three children had lived in the lower flat and we shared an entrance hallway where all her kids took off their shoes. I had bought a bag of chocolates and had plenty to share, so after everyone had gone to sleep and I had filled Christopher’s shoes, I snuck downstairs filled their shoes as well. Twenty years later, my brother now married to Susan, we still laugh about how her kids miraculously found candy in their shoes that morning.
I received this gorgeous tassel ornament from La Juana for the TGOS 2010 ornament exchange. The hardanger stitching is just beautiful along with the beading that dangles from the center. I am really looking forward to putting my tree up this year and displaying my new ornament front and center for everyone to see!
For one it’s the name for a hard candy found in France with its own funny little shape. In the needlework world, it’s a humbug with a name that shall we say is not so oh-hum! I just like the way it sounds, thus the name of my design this month in TGOS - Frosted Berlingot.
It’s a quick stitch and so much easier to put together than it looks. The great thing about berlingots are that they are so versatile. They can be used as ornaments, pin-cushions or even scissor-fobs. I think I will hang mine on my tree this year.
I ran across this finish on Kirsten’s blog and just wanted to share it. I love the way Anne Marie finished the fob not to mention I think the picture itself is really neat. I’m trying to get ahold of Anne Marie to ask her if I could post the pic here but in the mean time here’s the link.
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