Completed "Love from home" heart

I was able to get it completely finished in time for Mom's birthday! I was beginning to think I would have to make it be a Mother's Day gift.  : )

I spent the whole day yesterday at Sandy's stitching and got a lot done. Then this morning I added some silk ribbon leaves and some crystal butterflies before sewing it into a pillow. I cut some vintage fabric 1  1/8" bias and gathered it to sew around the edge. To cover up the gathering stitches I stitched a feather stitch on top around the perimeter. I used some Trenway silk cord, and my fingers got really sore by the time I was done stitching that down.

For the backing I used a vintage linen napkin from Sandy that I tea-dyed. I really like how it turned out and I think Mom will like it as well! Happy 93rd birthday, Mom.  : )

"Love from home" project

I started a new project this week. This winter I read a bunch of letters my grandmother wrote to my mom and her sister Charlotte when they were in college in the 1940s. I always liked how Grandma closed her letters with such warm regards....simple but rich. 

I am thinking of a project using various phrases from her letters, but in the meantime I am taking my favorite and am going to make a small heart pillow for Mom's 93rd birthday in March.

 I have stitched the closing using a single strand of embroidery floss. I tried using the stem stitch but I wasn't good enough at it to make the writing clear, so I used the back stitch. I like how it turned out. The linen fabric in the base is from mom's grandmother and over 100 years old.  I am experimenting with different antique lace pieces. It can be intimidating to cut the beautiful lace, but I'd like it to be used and enjoyed rather than being stored and aging silently.

The complete picture

I didn't realize that I had not posted a full picture of the completed tree. It is framed, and we have enjoyed it this Christmas. I have been involved in an oil painting course at Hutchinson Community College this fall and have not had time for creative sewing. It has been hard to dig in to a new project after giving all of my thoughts and energy to designing and sewing this tree. I do have some ideas percolating right now. We shall see what comes next.  : )

Here is the link back to Bonnie Hunter's Linky Post

"Complete" continued.....

Now for the part of the piece that seemed to take a long time.....

These are the corners of the diamond. I stitched a looping design and added beads to the tips of the stitches for added richness. I formed smaller stars from gold and silver beads. If you look closely you can see some tiny crystal stars that I glued on. These pictures also show the added braids. I love the braids that I found on Etsy. They come from long closed warehouses and date from 1900-1930s. To tie the braid more closely with the beaded design I stitched silver/black seed beads on top of it. I always was looking for ways to add richness to the design.

These are close-ups of the dark corners. The background fabrics are gray and black silk and black velvet. I added black feather stitching to the fabric to add to the texture of the background. It was done with black metallic floss I found at Walmart (I couldn't believe it). I found some black antique soutache braid that I sewed and spiced together to form the curled corner designs. That was a learning experience....more difficult than I imagined. I outlined the design in silver/black seed beads to make it stand out. The circles you see are black sequins outlined with the beads, and then there are smaller circles made only from the seed beads. The absolute most trying part and the part that slowed my progress was making the corners mirror images of each other! They didn't come out exact, but close enough that your eyes are still relaxed when you look at it...nothing jumps out as "off"...thank heavens! Along the outer edge I couched down some antique gold cording. I was very pleased with how that came out; a simple but elegant ending to the design. The outer border is black crushed velvet.

Starry Starry Night is complete!!

These pictures highlight the progressive stages...

I put some batting behind the tree to give it some dimension, basted the tree in place on the black wool only, and stitched it with ecru embroidery floss. Even though the tree is symmetrical, it took some effort to make sure it came out that way through the stitching....as I worked up one side of the tree I worked down the other and that made the branches shift some. It was fun trying out different garlands and their arrangement. I really wanted them to have some good drape and overlap. Cutting the bugle beads to size for the candles was easier than I thought it would be. The flames are made from tiny gold seed beads. The tinsel "candle holders" were made from some old worn out tinsel from Mom's Christmas decorations.  : ) The star tree top is hand beaded using a wool star as a base. I think I added a small piece of batting behind it also. I did an outline of the star initially and then filled in with three different sized gold beads. It has a nice glow to it. I added the Cardinal since I love birds. I wanted the tree to seem as though it was illuminating through the darkness of night so I added gold seed beads for stars in the sky. I enjoyed making their placement random...that is an exercise of the mind! 

I stitched the black wool onto the red wool. The outside of the black scallops I did the Palestrina knot, and then a tiny gold feather stitch. Along the bottom I sewed some larger crystal beads and added gold stitches to give a subtle starburst effect.  In the last picture you can see I added red seed beads in a "turkey foot" at the base of the scallops. This whole stage was a blast and was as fun as decorating our regular Christmas tree!

Progress of "Starry, Starry Night"

Well, I started stitching on this project last fall. I have come a long way and want to get some pictures of the progress in before I get it done!

I decided my original tree wasn't large enough after I put it on the overall piece, so back to the drawing board. I actually made it too large and had to make one in the middle "just right". : ) The background is still the prototype that I was testing. I later changed the blacks to be two shades of silk and velvet, and I was able to get some nice gold silk to use in the center diamond. For the candles I am using white bugle beads that I cut to size. I was really pleased how the design has evolved. I have been dreaming of making a white Christmas tree for decades. I think it will be worth the wait!

Saturday, May 4 Carol Rood, Teresa Morris, and I met at Sandy's to decorate sugar cookies for Mother's Day. The weather was anything but spring like--cold and rainy. Sandy had a hen mallard (Lily) nesting in one of her planters by her front door--she had two eggs laid. We had a great time decorating cookies and have made plans to get together for patriotic cookies for the 4th of July.