Another Finish ~ Angel In Your Heart

I finished Angel In Your Heart today and have been a bit creative with my completed piece. See what you think.

After placing French Knots throughout the Angel's dress, it began to look like she had chicken pox! So I had a thought and came up with the idea of adding some Lazy Daisy stitches to some of the French Knots to make flowers. I may pull out some of the French Knots as I still think it looks a bit busy.

I also put a Seed Bead in the centre of the flower at the top of her dress. This was left blank on the chart so you could do whichever you wanted.

Then I stitched the year and my initials down the bottom right of the design. There was a bit of a blank area which made room for this. In the same area I added a Mother of Pearl button in the shape of a heart.

So with these changes and different threads I used, I've made a few modifications compared to the original design. I've still tried to keep with the original colour tones though.

DESIGNER ~ Ewe & Eye & Friends (Twisted Threads)

PATTERN ~ Angel In Your Heart

FABRIC ~ 35ct Weeks Dye Works Linen

THREADS ~

Gentle Art - Cidermill Brown, Avocado

Crescent Colours - Prickly Pear, Little Pink Peony

Weeks Dye Works - Snowflake, Whitewash

DMC - 677, 3348

EMBELLISHMENTS ~ Mill Hill white seed bead, and Mother Of Pearl button

STARTED ~ 26 January 2010

FINISHED ~ 13 March 2010 (SAL with Melissa on BK&BT in between)

The only original thread I kept was Avocado for the border. The rest I substituted mainly because I looked at what was in my stash rather than buying the called for threads. The Cidermill Brown was for the words and eyes, Prickly Pear was the darker pink, Little Pink Peony was the lighter pink, Snowflake was for the Angel's wings, Whitewash was for her face, 677 was for the stars, and 3348 was for the French Knots.

My favourite part of the design has to be the Angel's wings. They're done in Smyrna Crosses and give a great effect.

I've loved stitching this piece and I hope you've enjoyed my progress on it just as much.

My next project will be Ah, 'Tis Spring. Although it's Autumn where I am, I love the bunny on it and with Easter coming up, it's a perfect time to stitch it.

Three finishes for the year so far, so I'm on track for a finish a month. Not that I'm aiming at that, I just like to stitch at an unregulated pace most of the time. Enjoyment is the key.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my latest finish!

Remember This?

This is what I was working on before I did the SAL with Melissa on Be Kind And Be True. So I've picked it up again and will continue with it until I finish. I just did a little last night.

Angel In Your Heart - 10 March 2010

Thank you so much for those who commented on my finish of BK&BT. It was wonderful to have many who followed Melissa and I on our SAL. We may do another later in the year but maybe not as big.

Just a quick update to show you what I'm working on now.

Happy stitching!

On To Something New

I've put aside Angel In Your Heart for now and am working on my SAL with Melissa. It's With Thy Needle & Thread's - Be Kind & Be True (BK&BT). Here it is all kitted...

With Thy Needle & Thread - Be Kind & Be True

It uses all DMC threads and the fabric I've chosen is WDW 35ct Linen. This is the same as what I've been working on Angel In Your Heart with. It will be interesting to see the same fabric with a different thread palette. I'm stitching 1 over 2.

Please make sure you drop by Melissa's blog to watch her progress on it too!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish up Angel but I will continue with her along the way. She's so cute and this is where I left her...

Angel In Your Heart - 19 February 2010

I'm off to stitch more on BK&BT and will post some progress photos soon!

All You Need Are Words

These pictures are from my progress of a couple of days ago. I completed the wording on Angel In Your Heart.

Angel In Your Heart - 18 February 2010

The chart calls for two DMC thread colours. I decided to change to a variegated GA Sampler Thread called Cidermill Brown. It's softly variegated but I am still happy with the way it looks.

I've been working some more on it last night (as it's now early Saturday my time) but have not been able to finish it yet. I'm going to be starting on another project with Melissa, so I'll try to complete Angel while I'm doing the SAL at some stage.


More pictures to come...

Smyrna Cross

Today I've been working on the wording for Angel In Your Heart and thought I'd take a break to update my blog. The Angel has her wings and eyes now...

Angel In Your Heart - 17 February 2010

For her wings I've used WDW Snowflake which has the softest of pink running through it. I've also used this thread for her legs.

The wings are outlined with cross stitches then filled in with Smyrna crosses. A really lovely effect which makes a feature of them. This is probably my favourite part of the design.

Well, I better get back to it. Thank you all for your compliments on my thread choices. For some reason this design has been easy to choose a different conversion. I've even done the words in a variegated thread. More about it next time.

Progress Update on Angel In Your Heart

I'm working away on the Angel but there's more to her than you may think. It seems to be taking me a while to complete her. The whole project has been so enjoyable and I can't wait to see how it looks finished.

Angel In Your Heart - 16 February 2010

Another thread change for her face. I chose WDW Whitewash which has a soft cream tone running through the white. Oh, and I haven't put any eyes on her yet. Don't worry, they're still to come.

I'll have to get a wriggle on to get it all finished because Melissa and I are itching to start our SAL. We're going to make a start on it by the end of the week. Melissa informed me that Kellie has done Be Kind & Be True, so I had to have a look and it's turned out terrific! So I hope you'll join us on our fun little adventure and keep up with our progress on it.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day today. I'm going to the pictures this afternoon to see It's Complicated. I probably should be seeing Valentine's Day instead but I've been wanting to see It's Complicated ever since I heard about it earlier last year. There's supposed to be some very funny bits in it and a very twisted romantic situation. I'll let you know what it's like.

Here's some more updated photos of Angel In Your Heart. Thanks for your thoughts about the yellow threads. I've decided to go with the lighter DMC which most of you liked and am very happy with how it looks.

Angel In Your Heart - 13 February 2010

Some people have been asking me where I got this chart from. I purchased it through Stitching Bits and Bobs last year. I think I may have just stumbled across it and loved the look and colours of it. Even though I've changed most of the threads, I've still kept to the original colour scheme of the chart.

Well enjoy a wonderful Valentine's Day and I hope there's a bit of romance for those of you who has a Valentine in your life. Those of us who haven't, it's just another day really - enjoy it anyway!

Silk or Cotton

I've been working away on Angel In Your Heart, trying to get more done than what I have been lately. My latest dilemma was what yellow thread to finally do the stars with. I've now decided to use DMC 677 rather than Soie D'Alger 4232. The 677 is a softer yellow and blends in better with the other colours I'm using. I found the 4232 stood out a bit much and I could see this being the focal point of the design, which it shouldn't. The 677 is the star at the top and the rest will be redone.

Angel In Your Heart - 12 February 2010

This is a comparison to see the different threads.

These pictures are out of date now as I've been stitching away this afternoon while watching the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics. I've now changed the stars to DMC 677 and got some more of the Angel completed. I'll show you updated photos next time.

A Package Arrived

I received an order I'd put through to Country Stitches in the mail yesterday. It has the chart I'm going to work on next (after I've finished Angel In Your Heart), and some other things I decided to get.

First up I got some charts from With Thy Needle & Thread. They're fast becoming one of my favourite designers.

With Thy Needle & Thread - Love & Be Loved, Be Kind & Be True, and Easter Peep

Be Kind & Be True is what I'm going to work on next. I will be doing this as a SAL with Melissa. We both loved this chart when we discovered it and are looking so forward to working together on it.

I also got a chart by Stacy Nash.

Stacy Nash - Homespun Christmas Pinkeep Ornament

Then lastly some bits and pieces. Reproduction fabrics which will go with a few Stacy Nash patterns I have, some old looking rusty snowflake charms, linen thread, and primitive rusty safety pins with bells. All great for primitive needlework.

Primitive rusty snowflake charms

I'll also update you on how I'm going with Angel In Your Heart. I haven't had a lot of stitching time so not much progress to show. I'm just tossing up on the colour I'll settle on for the stars in the design. The one I chose has come up a bit deeper to what I wanted, though it still maybe alright. I went to a craft shop a lunch time today while at work and had a look at some yellow DMC threads. I picked out a few and the one I'm leaning towards is 677. It's a little softer and has the slightest green tinge to it. The original colour in the design is GA Summer Meadow which doesn't really work for me. It's all down to personal choice. Here's a peek of my progress with the deeper yellow (Soie D'Alger Silk 4232) that I may pull out.

Happy stitching everyone, thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Summer Stitching

Summertime brings a feeling to stitching like no other season. The light is brighter, the air is warmer, and your mood is happier. Stitching in Summer leaves you filled with joy at the soft colours you create.

I'm filled with happiness at what I'm creating with Angel In Your Heart. The colours are working well and I love the combination of pinks and greens. The lighter pink I've chosen is a Crescent Colours called Little Pink Peony. My progress from yesterday...

This is such a pretty design and I think I've settled on all the colour substitutions I'm making. Even the centres of the flowers have a basket weave stitch to add interest.

I only wish I had more time to spend on this project. On the plus side though, I get to enjoy it for longer.

A New Project ~ Angel In Your Heart

I've made a start on something new! It's by Ewe & Eye & Friends (Twisted Threads) called Angel In Your Heart.

I'm still working out the final thread colours as I begin stitching on it. Since this photo was taken, I have changed a few of the threads over. The main stumbling block is the yellow they've used for the stars. I'm not 100% happy with the shade so I'm trying to come up with a substitute for it.

For the dark pink I'm using Crescent Colours Prickly Pear (which doesn't really sound like pink), instead of GA Pink Azalea. The green is what's called for being GA Avocado.

Angel In Your Heart - started 26 January 2010

I've chosen 35ct WDW fabric in the colour Linen for this piece. It's quite a lovely muted, off white shade. With more emphasis on the 'off' than the white. It's a hard colour to describe. Being 35ct, it's wonderfully soft too.

My next post I'll show you the Shepherd's Bush mat I got from The Silver Needle. I've taken a number of photos for your pleasure. Please come back to visit them next time.