Greenman Stitched

I finished the hand embroidery on the newest Greenman piece a few days ago, the pattern is by Urban Threads.

I am pleased how he turned out.  He is worked on cotton muslin fabric using 3 strands of DMC floss, the main color is 890, the secondary colors are 987 and 986, his eyes were done using DMC variegated floss 111, I was going for amber eyes and I think I got it right.  He measures 8x8 inches now I need to find a frame for him.

Thursday I drove over to Brick City Cross Stitch for some new colors for an upcoming project.  I don't need more floss but for some reason I found myself wanting to used over dyed floss so off I went. I picked up some Weeks Dye Works and The Gentle Arts floss.

It's the 7 colors of green in the center, all of them named after herbs which I plan to use for for one or two projects.  I am drafting my pattern for the next stitch at home challenge which I posted on my blog on May 1st.  The other pattern I have completed and now I'm just deciding on my fabric choice. Both are going to be using green floss.  Those two floss colors to the left are just colors that appealed to me, absinthe is the bright green and amber is next to it, both are Weeks Dye Works so I will do a run/bleed test before I stitch with them, some over dyed flosses have been known to run when wet.  The 3 colors to the right are DMC variegated skeins to replace what I used up. 

Cool Temps and a Collection of New Floss

Fair

46°F

8°C

Fall has finally arrived to Ocala as you can see by the temperature the morning is quite cool. This is the weather I wait for through the long hot summer, I know it's coming and when it finally arrives I welcome it with open arms and heavier socks on my feet, the one draw back to having ceramic tile throughout the house.

We may not get all those lovely colors of autumn like in the photo above we at least get some cooler weather and I can always add color to my home.  Last night the newest collection from DMC arrived at my door in a collectible tin, a true artist palette of colorful floss.

The new colors are numbered from 1 to 35 which I think is great, the collection of colors are lovely and just ready and waiting for the next project.

The collectible tin is slim enough to slip in your carry all bag for projects on the go and comes with a free cross stitch pattern.

I am in no way affiliated with DMC I just love the products

The Collectible Tin is $24.99 and the shipping was free. The new color collections can be found on the DMC site: https://www.dmc.com/us/collectors-tin-with-35-new-colors-9004429.html

First Week of May and Some Slow Sunday Stitching

I am finally over that nasty cold I came down with at the end of April, it wasn't so much the cold symptoms that were nasty but the overwhelming tiredness and need to sleep which usually with a cold seems to hasten getting over it not this time, it seemed the more I slept the worse I felt, and not sleeping wasn't an option.  As soon as I sat down I would begin to drift off, then after a few hours sleep I would wake with a too much sleep headache, which would make me close my eyes and back to sleep I would do, what a cycle. Thursday afternoon I began to feel awake I hadn't had to take any cough syrup for 3 days, I wasn't blowing my nose all day, sneezing or coughing as much.

I actually had the chance to pull out my embroidery and put in a few more stitching in the Goddess of Willendorf piece I am working on.

top flowers

Those flowers took me nearly a week to complete, my long short stitching needs lots of practice but I do like the overall look. My fingers ached by the time I was half through with each flower and I needed to take a day break in between, and the itchy watery eyes from the cold kept the work out of my hands for the most part.

leaves and vines

When I began to feel better I was able to load up the needles with green flosses and start the leaves and vines on the bottom of the piece.
I'm just starting the other leaves and vine section since I have my needles full of the green flosses, I

don't know if anyone else fills up several needles at a time with the colors they are using but I always have, it makes things flow easier when I don't have to stop to thread the needle.  I do that when I hand quilt too though for hand quilting I have 10 to 20 needles threaded and waiting.  For embroidery depending on the area I have 3 needles of each color I'll use.

I have my piece drafted for the Stitch at Home challenge sponsored by the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design.  The challenge, Summer of Love, coincides with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Be-In at Golden Gate Park.  My design is reminiscent of a 1960's poster,  I am trying to decide whether to use white cotton fabric or a light denim colored cotton fabric, I'll know more once the 3 color DMC floss arrives.  I think I mentioned in my early post DMC is a supporter of the challenge and once you sign up you choose from several color palettes of embroidery floss DMC will send to you at no cost. What I like is you get to select your main choice and 2 other just in case the first choices aren't available. The challenge is free to anyone here is the link if you are interested it taking part in this challenge.
http://www.sfneedleworkanddesign.org/rules-and-entry-form/
You also have the choice to send in the finished piece or a photo of the finished piece for the exhibition.   Also you must use the 3 colors from DMC. You are not limited to embroidery other forms of needlework are also welcome.

I'll post my piece once I have it ready to stitch, knowing myself I will tweak it a few times before I transfer to fabric.  Right now I am trying to decide if I want to trace my pattern onto the fabric or scan my pattern and print it on the stitch and wash away product which I love using though at time can be a bit difficult to stitch through depending on the fabric.

I am linking up to Kathy's Quilt today https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2017/05/slow-sunday-stitching.html
and Monday I'll link up at Supermom No Cape http://www.supermomnocape.com/