Cross-Stitch

Cross-stitch is another needle art that I have done a lot of over the years. My sisters, mother and grandmother are all needlewomen, most of us cross-stitch and all of us have done at least one petitpoint work. I learned to stitch at a very young age, long before I discovered quilts. I can no longer do petitpoint but I still work on 16 and 18 to the inch cross-stitch, and enjoy working on linen fabric. Here are a couple of smaller ones I have done.

Bloom Where You are Planted: A pattern from Victoria Sampler. I couldn't resist it - the motto is the theme for a women's retreat I am going to attend this summer. A teeny little garden, 46 x 46 stitches. It is designed for 28 count but I could only get the mint green linen in a 32 count, so mine will be smaller than the 3.5" stated in the pattern, and I used a porcelain rose that my needlework shop had in stock instead of a gold floral charm in the center. This is my first time working with silk threads, I am more used to using DMC floss. It's so cute!

Praying For a Cure Pocket: This one is also from Victoria Sampler, done on 28 count ivory linen, finished size is just 4.5" x 3.5". At the top there is a row of white on white hearts, rows of pink and green french knots and rosebuds. At the bottom the roses have white-on-white crosses behind them and pearl beads. According to the designer "Roses for beauty and strength; Forget Me Nots for remembering; whitework Crosses for prayers; the Hearts for love; the Four Sided Stitch for supportive love; and the Butterfly for life and living after breast cancer" It is finished as a pocket to hold prayers. I don't know who this will eventually go to, so many women I have know have battled this disease, some successfully and some have passed on, for now it is for all of them.

You can find both of these patterns (and many more) at Victoria Sampler, Canadian needlework designers. These two are offered as free patterns on their website. I purchased their Summer Garden pattern and accessory kit, which gave me enough silk threads, beads and mother-of-pearl hearts to do both the Bloom and Summer Garden pieces. That's my next project!

Another recent piece I completed is Killer Whale, it's from a painting by Sue Coleman, a local British Columbia artist. Her work combines native animals and native culture. The Sue Coleman pattern is available here, just scroll or search for it by name.

Other works-in-progress are four N.O.E.L. hangings done in cross-stitch and hardanger (Emie Bishop designs) and an antique St. Nicholas dressed in long fur robes. I do my Christmas stitching (a peaceful activity) from boxing day to early January, and that's probably when I'll next be working on these pieces.