That Jolie Girl

Embroidered Mandala

I'm so excited that this is done!  It feels like I've been working on it forever.  I'm so happy with how it turned out.  I just love it.  The entire project is far from done.  That will be another blog post...hopefully soon.  But for now, I'm relishing in the joy of having completed the embroidery part of the project. The whole thing is almost 8 inches around.

 

This turned out to be a sampler. Half of the fun was going through this book (just given to me by my wonderful Sis) and this book looking for different stitches to try.  I practiced on a spare piece of linen before diving into my piece.  Only the split stitch is repeated.  I used it for the pink scrolls and the green triangles.  Initially I was going to fill in the triangles with a variation of the satin stitch.  After filling in a few triangles, I didn't like how it looked, so I pulled it out and just left it alone.  I didn't have anything really planned out.  I changed my mind many times on what I was going to put where.  That spontaneity made the piece fun.

Key of Stitches

1. Double Cross (very center in burgundy)
2. Interlaced Back Stitch (dark and light Blue)
3. Seed Stitch (light blue)
4. Back Stitch (medium blue)
5. Blanket Stitch (burgundy)
6. French Knot (orange)
7. Sheaf Filling Stitch (medium blue)
8. Rosette Chain Stitch (green - hard!  Definitely practice first)
9. Coral Stitch (medium blue)
10. Split Stitch (green and pink)
11. Satin Stitch (burgundy)
12. Raised Needle Weaving (dark green)
13. Whipped Running Stitch (burgundy/salmon)
14. Stem Stitch (burgundy)

PackRat Power: I used the left over number beads from an old project as a low tech method of labeling the different stitches.  It worked like a charm!

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, I made these cards for my mother and mother-in-law.  I traced the flowers onto card stock and then embroidered the flowers.   It's a bit tricky embroidering paper which can tear easily.  Since I couldn't see from the back side where my needle should go, I made those holes with my needle first which created a guide for my needle.

PackRat Power: The purple card stock is leftover from my wedding invitations 8 years ago.  The white glossy card stock  is from a botched print job from my last job.  They were going to throw out a big box of this paper since one side is printed.  I grabbed it and have been using it for projects ever since.

Each mom got a themed basket.  Cooking for my mother-in-law and spa for my mom.  I am blessed that our families can celebrate together.  We went for a wonderful Italian meal and then met up at my sister's house for presents and chocolate cupcakes (that were to die for!).