Crinoline Lady Embroidery

I decided to do a traditional crinoline lady embroidery using a vintage pattern--kindly provided by Chez60 on the Flickr group Hoop Love Vintage Patterns.  But instead of the usual cotton floss colors normally used at that time, I wanted to go with variegated silks.  These are mostly Caron Waterlilies, with some Dinky Dyes and a couple of Gloriana silk flosses.

Another way to have it be a little bit different was to make the lady a dark complected one.  I've only seen crinoline ladies as light skinned white ones, so I thought we should see a lady of color for a change.  I also used a tiny piece of fabric for the hankerchief she's waving because I was pretty sure it would look better than one embroidered on the background fabric.

This was a fun embroidery and I can't wait to start on another one!

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Beidermeier Sampler Redo

I've always admired the design and motifs of this sampler, but never cared for the mostly dull colors that were charted for it.  I don't know if these were the original colors or if it was charted using the faded over time colors but I thought it could use a little brightening up.  So I decided to change not all, but a lot of the colors to ones that I think are a lot nicer. DMC threads were used.

It won't be done for a while, but I've gotten a good start on it.  

I left the bunny motif alone, but changed the flowers below it to a nice violet color.

How do you like my color changes?  Have you ever done this with an old sampler?  I will show you my progress as I continue to work on it.  

This is the old Burda magazine that the chart came from, I've collected many of these over the years from Ebay and I love them.  I think Permin may have sold this as a chart, also.

A lot has happened since I last posted, we were very sad last February to lose our sweet Maggie.

We had found her living in our shed several years ago, she had given birth to a littler of kittens which we found homes for and then had her spayed.  Eventually she came to live inside with us and the other kitties and she would always show her appreciation with lots of love.  She was such a joy to have with us and we miss her terribly.

On a happier note, here's a picture of Sarah and Tigger locked in a tight cuddle.

Thanks for visiting, I always appreciate it!

Some Embroideries and a Small Sampler

I've been finding some really nice vintage transfers on Ebay and Etsy and have been enjoying turning them into embroideries like this one.  I used traditional DMC vareigated colors on this embroidery and the next one, trying to keep with a vintage look.

But for the next one I decided to use a more modern color scheme and I used newer brands of threads;  Cosmos Seasons and DMC Color Variations.

Even though I love the vintage look, I do love the colors on this embroidery, too.  

I got what was supposed to be a kit for a stamped cross stitch sampler, but it looked like it was going to stamp onto the fabric in a wonky way.  So I decided to do it in a counted way, which was kind of a challenge because the chart that was included was meant just as a guide to the colors and was a bit wonky itself.  I also changed most of the colors to vareigated  DMC ones, I felt that they made it look more interesting and it was definitely more fun to stitch.

I will leave you with a picture of three of the kitties, Pepper, Tigger and Sarah relaxing on the couch.  Thank you so much for visiting!

Antique Embroidery and Cross Stitch

This antique embroidery was sent to me by a lovely lady named Nancy who you may know from her former blog "Lovely in Chocolate."  She doesn't have her blog anymore but we are Facebook friends and one day she just announced that she had found a nice antique embroidery and was going to send it to me!  I was flabbergasted but couldn't say no since I love old embroideries.  

I carefully attached it to some fabric that I think goes well with it and made it into a wall hanging.

There are lots of pretty details to look at, such as the bunny at the base of the tree and the little bluebirds in a nest up in a branch of the tree.

I don't know who stitched it or when it was done but I love it!

Just beautiful!  Thank you, Nancy!

I stitched this from an old stamped cross stitch kit that I found on Ebay.  I had seen a finished one on Pinterest and loved it so much that I knew I had to try and find one to make.  I love the colors and the vintage look of it.  I have not yet made it into a hanging, but it's sitting on the fabric that I will be using, I think it will look nice with it.

It may seem strange to you, that someone would want to stitch an old thing like this, with its unruly X's and a lack of precision compared to a counted cross stitch piece.  I would not have liked this either, years ago, but for some reason, I just love things like this now.  I hope you have enjoyed looking at these and I'm so glad you came to my blog for another visit!