It has been a very long time since I made an embroidery from a pattern that wasn't my own, however when I saw this "Virginia" map, I had to make it! I love the appearance of maps and geographic drawings and this one was very sweet without being too "cute." I am almost done with it, and there is a little surprise altering I am doing to it, because it is going to be a present. I think the last time I made a cross-stitch pattern I was still in high school, I must admit sometimes the repetitive action without all the thinking help to calm the mind.
I used a silk/linen blend for the cross stitch fabric and pattern that I got at my local quilt shop, Quilting Adventures. They have a huge selection of embroidery materials including hand dyed fabrics, many different floss options and patterns, patterns, patterns. I am always intrigued by this section and love the floss options which I have built a nice collection of. My favorite to use is Sullivans, they seem to glide through the fabric and they do not knot as much. I still have a huge assortment of DMC because they have many many colors and the price can't be beat! I have also been collecting some WEEKS hand dyed threads. The colors on them are so life-like, and diverse.
For this project I did use my own colors and only looked at the suggested ones as a guide.
I used to wind them on little cards, and recently just gave up on the time it takes to do that. If you pull the thread from the end it will stay in place on the paper rounds, and it also stays marked with the color, which takes the guess work out of it later. I just keep them sorted by warm and cool, and brand.
No comments:
Post a Comment