Assisi Style Rabbits finished as a pincushion

Lately I seem to be putting a lot of time to do "finishing" on already stitched projects. This little Assisi project which I have just finished as a little pincushion was a free project offered at this site: http://www.berlinembroidery.com/assisirabbits.htm

I was lucky enough to find some Silk Dupion the same exact shade of red that I have used to stitch this little project, so I was quite happy about this.

The little pincushion is actually resting on some leftover of that fabric.

I am starting to have a little collection of pincushion and I have a feeling that this is not the last one I will be making :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

"In the Blue" - Easter Exchange egg received from Anne Stradal

During the last Easter Exchange that I participated in, I had the pleasure to receive an Easter egg designed and stitched by Anne. On her website it is called "In the Pink" ( http://www.absdesignsonline.com/eggs_for_all_seasons.htm ) but this one of course needs to be called "In the Blue" <>

Since this was my very first Easter egg exchange, this beautiful egg is starting my new collection very nicely. One is not enough though, so will have to slowly start stitching some more. I would like to make some that would be needlepoint and others freestyle or whatever strike my fancy at the time :-)

One of the thing I love to do is check other stitchers' blogs whenever I find the time and I saw on Jane's blog the picture of another of Anne's design that I absolutely have to stitch. You know when you see something and you just have to have it, well this one is one of those must have. It is called "She Stoops to Conquer". Isn't she just adorable? Here is the link to Jane's blog http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Pierrette =^..^=

Brazilian Embroidery: Flowers

This is what I have done today, working on finishing those three Brazilian embroidery flowers using some metal finishing forms.

Pierrette =^..^=

Blackeyed Susan: Brazilian Embroidery

These Blackeyed Susan were designed by my friend Esther. I have changed a few things and also added a little bird and a little bee to it.

I have used the same metal finishing forms that I have used for the other two, but this one was 4 inches instead of the 3 inches I have used for Minuet and Rhapsody.

Pierrette =^..^=

Rhapsody: Brazilian Embroidery Flower

This is the second free project that I have stitched a little while back from the Brazilian Embroidery Guild. This one is called Rhapsody.



I have also used the metal finishing forms. As I was saying, they are so easy to use. What I did was to cover the metal frame with some Pellon Fleece (I love that stuff for finishing as it gives a nice padding, not too thick and not too thin - I find them ideal for ornaments and needlecases), stitched a gathering thread all around, tighlty drawn it up and made a couple of knots.



I did the same thing for front (embroidery) and back (fabric), then I glued it with a new product I used which works like a charm. It is called Fabri-Tac. Made the cording and attached it to the ornament and I was done :-)



Pierrette =^..^=

Minuet: Brazilian Embroidery Flower

Some time ago I have stitched Minuet, which is a free project that can be found on the Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery Guild site at

http://www.brazilian-dimensional-embroidery.org/free_designs.htm


I have recently purchased some metal finishing forms with the idea of trying it on this little project. When I purchased them I wasn't sure if I was going to like using those or not, but I must say that finishing a project with them was a breeze and will certainly use them again for future ornament finishing. The company that makes them is called Flying Needles and they have different shapes and sizes available.





Pierrette =^..^=

Needlecase: Little Horse Scene

Just took a second picture of my little horse scene, this time the needlecase put together.

I was trying to find some fabric in my stash that would patch the color of the fence but could not find any, so decided to dye some. The fabric was originally all white with little miniature flowers. I did not want the dye to be uniformed all over but with spots darker and others lighter and the photo below shows the top of the needlecase with a peek of the inside fabric.

Scissor Fob

A little scissor fob that I made for my friend Terry, using beads.

Pierrette =^..^=

Little horse scene

I must say that I had way too much fun with this little project.

My idea was to make a little something for my very good friend Terry, something that would have some meaning to her. She absolutely loves horses and had many in her life, so I decided to embroider her this little horse scene.

I used some white silk dupioni, traced the design and started stitching, choosing colors as I went along. I also wanted to put some color, so I tried some watercolor paint using Neocolor II which are basically some water-soluble wax pastels. I had to order some little brushes and I found some miniature ones from Silver Brush. Never done much painting of any kind and certainly not on fabric, so I had no idea how things would turn out. After using the wax pastels, I added a little water with the tiny brushes and the whole scene turned into a watercolor one in front of my amazed eyes. That was a great learning experience and I will be using watercolor and specially made oil paint much more on my projects from now on. I just love to marry many different techniques on a project.

Now, I will turn this into a needlecase for her and hope that she likes it. Will post photos as soon as it is completed.

Pierrette =^..^=

Bingo Clear Purple Pansy: Needle Painting Technique

This was my first attempt at a needle painting technique. I have stitched this a little while back and it took me some time to have it framed as we could not find any mats that would have the same colors as the pansy itself. Our framer at "Romancing the Frame" suggested that we find some fabric of the right color and she would cover the two mats with it.

The colors of the photo are not quite what they are in actuality, but I tried to bring them as close to them as I possibly could.

This is a Tanja Berlin design at http://www.berlinembroidery.com/

Pierrette =^..^=

Monrovia: Dodecagon Ornament Series

Monrovia is the 4th ornament of the Dodecagon Series designed by Jim Wurth.

This one is stitched on an Eggshell 18ct mono canvas and shades of gold, silver and beige threads with two different color beads.

Will put Monrovia away with the other three already completed until I have all of them completed and then will have them put in one big frame. In the meantime, will be moving to ornament #5 :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Flower Vase Pillow

This is a silk ribbon project that I have made some time ago and I have only just now finished it. I had plenty of help though.

I need to say first that my sewing machine is not working very well and also that I have not had any experience in making pillows, so I turned to my good friend Terry who lives in England and asked her if she would not mind finishing it for me. We both thought at the time that her own sewing machine was working relatively fine, but it turned out that she also had problems with it and she ended up making the pillow by hand, which was much more work than we both anticipated it would be.

She sent it back to me and all I had to do is go to the store and purchase a pillow frame, slide it inside and then sew by hand the bottom part of the pillow and voilà the end result :-)

It now sits proudly on my bed.

Thanks, Terry, for all your help. I owe you one for all your hard work :-)

Pierrette =^..^=