Acorns and Oak Leaves: Janice Routley, designer

Project: Acorns and oak leaves

Designer: Janice Routley

Type of needlework: Metal Thread embroidery

Photos: 4

Embroiderers' Association of Canada GCC: http://www.eac.ca/

Sudberry Box: http://www.sudberry.com/

Comments: This is my first attempt at doing this sort of embroidery. It was not as hard as I thought it would be, but at the same time, working with metal thread is a slow process. You can't rush this. You need patience. Oaks are my very favorite trees and that ever since I was a youngster collecting leaves for some school homework assignments, so this design was just perfect for me for a new learning experience.

View from the back of the box showing what the box looks like

Rhapsody: Rosalie Wakefield, designer

Project: Rhapsody

Designer: Rosalie Wakefield

Type of needlework: Brazilian embroidery

Photos: 2

Free designs here  from the Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery Guild

BDEIG: http://www.brazilian-dimensional-embroidery.org/

Comments: Don't you all just love the dimensional aspect of brazilian embroidery? It is just so pretty and elegant. On the guild website they keep adding some new projects that we can all try. Of course we need to purchase the Edmar threads, which are the threads used when doing BE. I decided to finish mine as a little ornament and I put it on my Christmas tree each year. During the rest of the year I normally just hang it on my wall with others I have made through the years.

Twilight Angel: Gay Ann Rogers, designer

Project: Twilight Angel

Designer: Gay Ann Rogers

Type of needlework: Needlepoint

Photos: 5

Gay Ann's website: http://www.gayannrogers.com/site_2/Home_Page.html

Gay Ann's blog: http://gayannrogers.blogspot.com/

Gay Ann's Classroom at SNS: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SNS_GAR_Classroom/

Shining Needle Society: http://www.shiningneedlesociety.com/

Comments: This is a different project than what I normally stitch. I wanted to stitch this one for a very good friend of mine as she loved it very much. I have just given it to her for her birthday and she is having it framed. Can't wait to see how it will look and she promised me a good photo which I will add to this very post as soon as she emails me the photo(s).

 The only part of this project that I had been wondering about was the "hair", never having stitched any before, but it turned out easier than I thought it would be. It does need a bit of practice though and I am sure that the next time around, it will go smoother. In everything that we do, there is always that learning process that nobody can escape. We get better at it, the more we do and with Gay Ann, she has lots of designs that involves "hair", so should get plenty of practice.

Update March 5/2010: Just received some photos from my friend showing how she had Twilight Angel framed, so have added them at the end of this post. I think that the framing is just beautiful. Love it.

Update March 05/2010: 2 additional photos showing how my friend had Twilight angel framed.

Christmas remembered: Susan Johnson, designer

Project: Christmas remembered

(This project can still be purchased on Susan's website)

Designer: Susan Johnson

Type of needlework: Needlepoint

Photos: 4

Susan's new website: http://www.sj-designs.com/ 

Susan's old website: http://sj-designs.net/

Comments: This was such a fun project, easy and quick to stitch too. I  just love the little Christmas packages that I was able to purchase at the time as I stitched this project years ago. All I had to do is glue them to my stitched canvas. I normally have the framer put a glass over but not this one, so I was able to take some new photos to show details of this design. I love to have framed Christmas projects for the holidays.

Lady with a bouquet of flowers: Needle case

Project: Lady with a bouquet of flowers

(Needle case)

Designer: This is a silk print appliqué on fabric,

then embroidered and I have added silk ribbon flowers on both her hat and bouquet

and finally finished as a needle case

Type of needlework: Embroidery, appliqué and silk ribbon

Photo: 1

Comments: This project was created for a friend of mine in a period when I was into silk print and silk ribbon. I wanted to do something practical for her so turned it into a needlecase. I know that I can always use one more needlecase, same thing with pincushions too. I can never have too many of them.

The Iris: Susan Portra, designer

Project: The Iris: A Stylized Interpretation

(1991)

Designer: Susan Portra

Type of needlework: Needlepoint

Photos: 2

Comments: This is one of the first project I did when I learn to do needlepoint. I liked the project but was not all that enthusiastic about doing it in the beige colors that were displayed, so asked for some help in selecting some colors that were more to my liking and I ended up with the above stitched project. Since I  had not a lot of experience at the time, I have to say that I found it rather challenging. It went into my UFO pile for a while and after getting myself more experience, I took it out and finished it. It is one of my favorite piece.

(Susan Portra's photo showing original colors)

Hearts & Flowers: Jim Wurth, designer

Project: Hearts & Flowers

(5th of the series)

Designer: Jim Wurth

Series: Dodecagon ornaments

Type of needlework: Needlepoint

Photo: 1

Jim's Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DodecagonSeriesOrnaments/

Comments: I just love this design. It would be perfect for Valentine. It was so much fun stitching this one. It is one of my favorite in the series, but I have many favorites in this series as each one is unique.

Laying tool case: Carole Lake, designer

Project: Laying tool case (Glitzy Accessories)

Designer: Carole Lake

Type of needlework: Needlepoint

Photo: 2

Carole's website: http://www.carolelake.com/

Comments: I think this is just such a nice little case for my laying tool when I am not using it. On the photo below you can see the back of the case with the flap that goes upfront to close it which is clearly visible on the photo above.

Teddy Bear

Project: Teddy Bear

Designer: Unknown

Type of needlework: Blackwork

Photos: 2

Design coming from a book: "The New Anchor Book of Blackwork: Techniques & Designs"

Comments: I have always thought that blackwork was so pretty and I wanted to try it with some project that would not be too difficult. I purchased the book shown below and saw that little bear. It hit a note with me and I decided that this was going to be my first blackwork project and I must say that I had lots of fun stitching it and wanted to do more blackwork projects after this.

Anasazi Song: Carole Lake, designer

Project: Anasazi Song

Designer: Carole Lake

Type of needlework: Needlepoint

Photos: 6

Carole's website: http://www.carolelake.com/

Comments: The colors are the first thing that drew me to this project and then the design. I loved the combination and decided that I wanted to stitch it. This is a quick stitch. The section that took the longest, and everything is relative here, is the outer border as I needed to use a laying tool. It is at the framer as I am writing this. As soon as I get it back I will take some photos and add them on this very post as I want to keep everything together.

UPDATE March 10, 2010: Just heard back from my framer and Anasazi Song was ready for pick-up. Have included two photos, one was taken in a very lighted aread with lights on and the other one without any lights, just telling you so that you take it into consideration when viewing the two photos and see some light color differences.

Photo above taken with lots of lighting

Photo taken without any special lighting