Shalimar: Work in Progress

Shalimar is a gorgeous pillow project that can be found in a book called "Fancy Work & Fantasies" that was designed by Carole Costello (1984).

I have started this project a while back and it has been patiently waiting for me to return to it. What I love about it is that it has that lacy appearance and the middle square contains a lovely vase full of flowers. I still have quite a bit of work to do on this project but it will be all well worth it when it has been completed.

Pierrette =^..^=

Crazy Quilt Purple Sachet Pillow Received from Terry

This is a gorgeous little sachet/pillow that Terry has made for me. It has a beautiful bird on the right, my initial "P" in the middle and a lovely fan at the bottom left and lots of other little surprises that we always find on crazy quilt projects.

Pierrette =^..^=

Guardian Angel for a Sick Friend

When a very dear friend of mine got sick, I wanted her to have something special with her that she could bring with her wherever she went which would let her know that she was not alone, that she was loved and that good vibes were coming her way and that all would be allright in the end, which it did :-)

The size is a something between an ATC (Artistic Trading Card) and a postcard. It has for background a lovely cigarette silk print of an angel, which I have outlined with threads, couched a little gold thread around the wings & halo and made some roses with silk ribbons.

Pierrette =^..^=

Embroidered Fan on Crazy Quilt Block

On this Round Robin block I embroidered this little fan, adding some silk ribbon flowers and leaves and a little ribbon at the bottom.

Pierrette =^..^=

Woman's Hat & Button Seam Treatment on a Crazy Quilt Block

On another Crazy Quilt Round Robin block, I made this woman's hat with flowers and beads and also the button seam treatment, which I thought would look pretty with it.

Pierrette =^..^=

Tree on a Crazy Quilt Block

Since I was a child I have always had this passion for trees. I remember making drawings of trees with a simple HB pencil and spending hours enjoying myself doing so, which made me think that it might be a lot of fun to try stitching a tree on this Round Robin block and it was :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Crazy Quilt Heart

This is a little crazy quilt heart experiment that I did using a cigarette silk print lady, stitching a bird house with some climbing roses, a bird, spider web, seam treatments, putting a little lace with pearls, adding a few buttons and golden dragonlady, spider and bird.

Pierrette =^..^=

Rose Arbour Sampler

This is a Victoria Sampler design called Rose Arbour which you can see at this link:

http://www.victoriasampler.com/Catalog/VS_Samplers/p24rosearbour.asp

It was a fun project to make as it has uses different stitching techniques like all the Victoria Sampler projects. This is a gift that I made for Terry and this is the end result after she brought it to her own framer.

Pierrette =^..^=

Another English cottage: Gift from Terry

This little English cottage is another gift from Terry. This is actually the first one that she has stitched, having stitched 4 total, so now I have two, one for the weekend and the other one for week days and she has the same :-)

I just got it back from my framer a couple days ago. It has been framed so that I can either hang it on my wall or just put it on some table or something. I have put mine on my piano. What I especially like about this frame is the fact that the same green color that is on the mat is also on the frame.

Pierrette =^..^=

Crazy Quilt Pillow: Gift from Terry

This is the first crazy quilt pillow that Terry made for me. She used the brown background so that it would work well with the colors in my living room and also because I love warm colors. What I love about crazy quilt (something that I am not very good at making myself, I am afraid) is the fact that you can look at this pillow for example and always see something that you had not quite seen before.

Terry seems to be a natural when it comes to stitching stuff like that and I just love this pillow.

If you would like to see more of Terry's work, she has her own blog at http://through-the-hoop.blogspot.com/

Pierrette =^..^=

Little English Cottage received as a gift from my best friend Terry

I had the pleasure to make a few trips to England, but unfortunately it was before I met Terry who lives there. While sightseeing across the country I saw those gorgeous cottages and I absolutely fell in love with them. Whenever I was thinking of what I would like to have if I could have that "special" house/home, I was thinking of them.

Terry and I often talked about them and she had already stitched three of them for herself and decided that she would stitch one for me and she made this very beautiful one as a birthday gift. It did not take us long after I received it to bring it to our framer and have her do her magic again with Terry's beautiful cottage and here is the result.

I have it hanging on a wall in my office/stitching room. It is on the wall opposite one of the window and the light reflecting on it makes it almost seems like it is real and someone is actually living there. That someone is "me" when I daydream :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Beginner's Hardanger EGA GCC designed by Marion Scoular

This is an EGA GCC (group correspondence course) that I have recently taken with the EGA CyberStitchers group. It is a beginner's hardanger course designed and written by Marion Scoular. The design size is approximately 8 ¾" square and stitched on a 22 count hardanger fabric.

Marion Scoular's instructions to me were the best. There were things that I had not been able to understand with the help of hardanger books like the ones written by Janice Love which are very good, but for some reason there were things that I just could not get, but after reading Marion Scoular's instructions I got right away. One example are the picots. I hated them before because I was not able to do them properly and now it is a real pleasure to do them. I always find it so interesting to see the different styles of teaching and what works for each person. I would certainly recommend that course to anyone who would like to learn how to do hardanger properly.

I have finished my project as a pillow using a 14" square pillow form.

Pierrette =^..^=

The Shambles York (Framed)

I have posted during the week of 01/21/07 - 01/28/07 a photo of my finished "The Shambles York" and then sent it to my framer. This is what she did with it.

A few web sites that talk about the Shambles York:

http://www.yorkshambles.com/
http://www.britainexpress.com/cities/york/shambles.htm


Pierrette =^..^=

Memory Pillow Crazy Quilt Style given to me by my best friend Terry

Terry wanted to make something that would have special meaning for me so she thought of making a "Memory Pillow" crazy quilt style. She asked me for some black and white photos that had lots of meaning to both my husband and myself, so I sent her a bunch of them by email. She chose 7 amongst them, which we particularly love. She then proceeded to embellish the pillow crazy quilt style, stitched a beautiful lace all around it and sent to me.

I absolutely adore that pillow and what makes it so dear to me is the fact that most of the people we hold dear in our lives are now gone, but certainly not forgotten. With this very thoughtful gift that Terry has made for me, now I can look at these photos and remember how it used to be.

Many thanks to you, Terry, for thinking of this and creating something this special for us :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Under the Sea Needlecase: Received in a group exchange

I had the pleasure to receive this gorgeous little needlecase in a group exchange done on a Crazy Quilt group that I was the co-owner at the time.

This little jewel with an "under the sea" theme was created by Elsie. This is a view showing front and back of the needlecase.

I like to keep my embroidery needles in different needlecases depending on what they are used for. I have put my Brazilian embroidery needles in that case because she does lots of Brazilian embroidery so it would be easy for me to remember what kind of needles are in this one and there are also a few other needles for some special projects.

Pierrette =^..^=

Blue Bouquet: Hardanger

I believe that this was my very first hardanger project. I had purchased this kit from Nordic Needle called "Blue Bouquet" designed by Rosalyn K. Watnemo. I think that they are still selling it on the web site of Nordic Needle at http://www.nordicneedle.com/ as well as others.

I finished it as a little decorative pillow. The stitched design size is about 6 inches all around.

Pierrette =^..^=

Lace Ribbons: Pillow

I have already posted earlier (a post that was made during the week of 10/15/06 - 10/23/06) a photo of this blackwork project and am now adding this new one after I finished as a flat pillow.

This is a Dakota Rogers EGA GCC (group correspondence course).

Pierrette =^..^=

Crazy Quilt Needlecase

While I was part of a crazy quilt group I made this needlecase. It was a design by Peggy White of New Zealand.


The project was originally made for a little purse, but since I felt that I would probably never use it, I decided to finish it as a needlecase instead. It is bigger than my other needlecases so I can store lots and lots of needles in it.


Here is a link to her website where you can see the little purse in question: http://www.kalikokottage.com/cgi-bin/kaliko/kal.pl?section=projects


Pierrette =^..^=

Stitching Accessories trio: Gift that was made for me by my very best friend Terry

This little stitching accessory trio is one that I use on a daily basis. My best friend Terry made it for me a little while back. She knows that I have always adored Brazilian embroidery so she stitched it all with BE making very tiny flowers and leaves using the smallest Edmar threads on some silk dupioni fabric. It is really gorgeous and quite useful as she made the needlebook, pincushion and scissor fob. The bright color of the fabric also makes it easy to spot no matter how much stuff I have on my stitching table :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Little Angel: Gift that was made for me by Jill

I used to co-own a crazy quilt group and one of our member made this wonderful little angel in a smaller size to go on some miniature knickers that a few of us were making as a big joke for my friend Terry who lives in England. When I saw it, I immediately fell in love with it and wanted to know how to make one and Jill offered to make one (bigger size) for me. I could not wait to see it upclose and I was not disappointed when it arrived a few days later at my house. It has been hanging on a wall where I do my stitching ever since :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Little treasures

I was looking at all the lovely things this morning that were stitched by some of my friends over the years and I thought that it would be really nice to add some of them on my blog for all of us to enjoy :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

The Oriental Fan

This is a little project that I have stitched some time ago which had been created by one of the member of the guild I was part of. It is called "The Oriental Fan" and was designed by Jackie G. Le Vasseur.

That was a cute and fun little project.

Pierrette =^..^=

Rhapsody

Rhapsody before and after framing.

Rhapsody, an Amybear design, is a project that I have done a few years back.

I remember that there were so many people interested in that project at the time that we took the decision to create a Yahoo group only for those of us who were interested in stitching it. I think that we were well over 100. That group still exists, but nothing much is happening nowadays.

Most people decided on their own colorways instead of using the white, blue and red that was shown on the original chart.

I have used some Vikki Clayton's fibers ( #5 silk perle) for this project (warm fall colors). Her website is http://www.hand-dyedfibers.com/

Pierrette =^..^=

Hapsburg Lace Sampler with border

Well, now my sampler is totally done with the border that I have just finished stitching all around it.

Next step is to bring it to the framer and let her do her magic :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Hollyhock House Window

On a trip to Chicago some time ago, we went to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's residential houses, furniture, etc. and we stopped at his little gift shop and saw a few cross stitch designs and bought a couple. This is one of them which is called "Hollyhock House Window", that I stitched for my husband's office.

Pierrette =^..^-

Hapsburg Lace Sampler: Completed

This is a photo of my completed Hapsburg Lace Sampler.

All that remains now is for me to stitch lots and lots of double cross stitches all around the sampler and then will bring to the framer as I have decided against making a bell pull with it as I want to protect it against dust for years and years to come :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Hapsburg Lace Sampler: Patterns 22 - 25

I have just finished the last section of my Hapsburg Lace Sampler by stitching patterns/bands 22 through 25.

Pierrette =^..^=

Tropical Fantasy

Tropical Fantasy close-up below.

Tropical Fantasy is a Sue Lentz cross stitch design that was especially created for Rainbow Gallery (1994).I have to confess that I am not big on cross stitch, but I have enjoyed tremendously stitching this design.

Tropical Fantasy has a dimensional look to it because of the Rhodes stitches of all sizes that we can find in this piece. There is also some Smyrna crosses as well as the regular cross stitches.

This piece is outstanding when looking at it upclose and unfortunately so difficult to take a good photo, mainly because of the glass over it.

The design is a little over 8 inches square and has been stitched on a 20 count fabric. The material list is mainly Reflecta, Fiesta and Neon Rays threads and to top it all some 2mm pearls added in the border.

If you want to see a closer look at the details, please click on the photo itself :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Easter Egg Ornament "In the Garden": Photo of finished ornament

Photo of my finished Easter Egg Ornament for a group exchange. I have used the same color thread to make the cording all around and tassel.

A funny thing happened without my noticing it at the time we took the photo. Instead of my little bird flying downward, it is now flying upward :-)

I guess he came to have a look at those lovely three houses and went back in a hurry to tell his mate to come have a look before somebody else takes ownership (lol)

Pierrette =^..^=

Hapsburg Lace Sampler: Patterns 15 - 21

I have just stitched another 7 patterns (15 through 21) and have added a new photo.

I now have only 4 more patterns/bands to stitch but pattern 22 is a "biggy" but the most beautiful one. It will really make a statement once it is completed.

After the 25 patterns have been all done, I still need to stitch double crosses all around it, which should be about a yard on each side & top and bottom, so as you can see, I am not out of the woods just yet :-)

Tomorrow, I will continue with pattern 22.

Tanja gives instructions to finish the sampler with bell pull hangers, which is tempting, but I am thinking long term and wondering how nice it will look in a few years so I think instead I will have it framed, preserving it from all the dirt. It will be a more expensive proposition, but my philosophy is if I think it is a nice enough project to stitch, then it deserves to be preserved properly.

Pierrette =^..^=

Hapsburg Lace Sampler: Patterns 8 - 14

Here is another photo of Hapsburg Lace Sampler showing patterns 8 through 14. I had not realized that I had not been stitching on this project for close to 4 months. My first posting with photo can be found in the postings dated 11/12/06 - 11/19/06.

I will be working exclusively on it until I get it done, so I imagine that if all goes well, it should take me more or less one week to complete.

The photo is a little darker than the first one, but that has all to do with lighting. When it is completed I will put a new photo showing all 25 patterns/bands.

There are two little ribbons in this section of the sampler, the first one is a baby pink and the second one a baby blue (which is not showing too well in this photo).

Better go back to my stitching now :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Easter Egg Ornament "In the Garden"

This is a little Easter egg that I have just finished stitching for a group exchange. It is a painted canvas designed by Anne Stradal of ABS Designs: http://www.absdesignsonline.com/eggs_for_all_seasons.htm

I have not done many painted canvas for the simple reason that I never seem to know how to tackle them. This time around, I gave myself permission to mess with it, so I changed lots of details to make it different and fun, so I experimented with it. It turned out to be more fun than I anticipated once I got my creative juice flowing, which took a little while, I am sorry to say :-(

I have added a little bird to fill in the sky as those little bird houses were just too cute not to entice at least one bird and make it want to fly around for a closer inspection. It is free lodging after all.

I also added a little bee as they could not resist the perfume coming from all those flowers :-)

Now, I need to get my finishing books out as I have not done any finishing for some time now and finish that little bugger (lol)

Pierrette =^..^=