Ta-Da!

"Pigalle" is done!  Woohoo! 

Now all I have to do is frame it.  I have two mouldings in stock that I like. What do you think?  I'm leaning towards the narrow one.  I'll have to cut down the frame, but that's not a problem.  I haven't done any framing in a quite a while.  I'd like to get this one done quickly so that I can loan it to Donna at Angelwing Needlearts for a shop model.  My version is so different from the cover model that hopefully it will encourage others to be brave and not worry about the cross-stitch police.

Speaking of my version...I stitched it on 40 count Tundra from Lakeside Linens, using 1 strand of floss over 2 fabric threads.  One skein of each was sufficient, except for the navy DMC.  I used two+ skeins!  So make sure you have enough of whatever you decide to use.  And remember that if you choose to stitch it on a larger count that you will probably want to use 2 strands and your stitches will be larger so you will need significantly more floss. These are the color changes that I made.

GAST Antique Rose --> GAST Hyacinth

GAST Briar Rose -->  GAST Red Plum

GAST Gold Leaf  --> GAST Avacado

GAST Wood Rose -->  WDW Dutch Iris

GAST Fragrant Cloves --> GAST Briar Rose

GAST Woodsmoke -->  GAST Walnut

GAST Raven --> DMC 939 Dark Navy **

Remember that most of these hand-dyed fibers can have significant dye lot differences, so play around with them and make changes if you aren't satisfied with the way they blend. That's what I had to do.

Tweet

Wishy-Washy Me

Remember my good news/bad news situation wrt to "Pigalle"? My personalized version with blues and purples just didn't look right. So I went back to my stash and found some warm reds (just not orangy reds) that I could use. But I wasn't really excited about them.

Well, Julie left a comment suggesting that perhaps the problem was the Gold Leaf and maybe I should try a green. What a genius! I originally thought about a blue-green, but when I laid the colors out on what I had already stitched, I realized Julie was right. A goldish green was a better choice. So I have narrowed it down to two Sampler Threads: Celery and Avacado. I'm going to rip out the Gold Leaf "C" and experiment a little with both greens and see which I like better. It's so hard to tell how they're going to stitch up when you are looking at the full skein. Anyway, thanks so much, Julie, for taking the time to comment. You really helped me out.

So now I'm back to my original changes, if that makes any sense at all. In case you can't read the labels, here are my colors. Oh, and by the way, instead of black as the main contrast color, I chose DMC 939, an almost black navy blue.
GAST
Black Raspberry Jam
Briar Rose
Walnut
Hyacinth
Celery or Avacado

WDW
Dutch Iris

Tweet

Quaker Samplings II is DONE!!

Woohoo! I finished "Quaker Samlings II" by With my Needle last night just as the basketball game was ending. I love this piece and may have to keep it. I used "Midnight" Waterlilies and there is not a lot of variation in the color, but I like it. And I love working on 40 count linen. This is Maple Sugar by Lakeside Linens. Good stuff.

Now I can start "Grace Mason" by Of Female Worth. I substituted Weeks Dye Works and Sampler Threads for the Gumnut Stars overdyed silk and I'm anxious to see who it turns out. I got over that fear of changing anything that the original design calls for a long time ago. I choose a piece because I like the way it looks. So if I don't like the fabric or the fiber colors when I pull them out, or if they don't look like the photo, I change them. It's my sampler, I can do what I want with it. So there.

I'll try to do better on showing pictures as my projects are in work. I just don't always have the camera around when I think of it.

Tweet