Simply Shaker thread: Simply Lovely

I have to mention that the Stacy Nash's "Summer at Hollyberry Farm" pattern recommended Simply Shaker thread (by The Gentle Art). I'd never used anything but DMC, so I got quite a sticker shock from this hand-dyed thread. At first I thought I'd save a bit of dosh by combining some DMC and some Simply Shaker. Because of how unique the colors are in the latter, I decided against it.

And I'm so glad I did.

I am absolutely smitten with Simply Shaker threads! Love, love, LOVE! The variation of the color of the thread is so lovely. The variation is so natural. (Yes. Love.)

I've been thinking about turning a beautiful naturalist botanical still-life into a cross stitch pattern. I know there is software out there that will turn jpegs into patterns and even provide DMC thread numbers to boot! But I think that converting the colors into Simply Shaker threads would make such a picture truly gorgois! [My Frenchification of 'gorgeous'; pronounced /gorj WA/; rhymes with "more saw." But, I digress.]

Meanwhile, back on the farm, I did notice that using these variegated threads required me to pay attention to the order of my stitches. For example, Stacy recommends sewing in a large diamond-shaped pattern for her version of the rooftop. I loved this idea, but I decided to do shingle shapes and used three different colors of thread in the same tone. I'm very pleased with the look it achieved. It gives detail without being overly "drawn."

Stacy Nash

Mine

When I got to the trees, I realized that a left-to-right stitch pattern didn't look natural. It looked, well ... stitched. So I unpicked it and, instead, ran the stitches up into branches, carefully varying where each vertical line of stitching ended so that I never had an obvious line break.

Because I wanted the trees to look like the huge hundred-year-old trees at my grandpa's, I also borrowed the leaves from the pattern in another section, built out the trunk and limbs, and made the leaves and limbs a little less symmetrical.

Stacy Nash

Mine

And, of course, there is my beloved swing. (sigh)

Perfect Little Boxes: Cross stitch

I think I like to cross-stitch because I am a bit of a control freak and I love art, but I'm not really a drawer or painter (though I would like to be). I find cross-stitching very Zen: the rhythm of the needle, in and out, back and forth, again and again; and everything going into perfect little boxes. Neat. Organized. Everything in its place.

Also, it is amazing to see the art that come from otherwise wasted time. I carry my cross stitch with me everywhere. Waiting for a train to pass? I'm stitching. Waiting for my daughter to come out of any number of classes? I'm stitching. Waiting at the doctor's/dentist's? I'm stitching. I love what is produced from so many little bits of time.

While perusing one of my favorite online stores, 123stitch.com, I stumbled across the Stacy Nash Primitives design "Summer at Hollyberry Farm." I was taken with how closely the house in the piece looked like the family home that my great grandfather built around 1906, where my grandpa was born and raised and lived, where my mother grew up, and that was my second home. So I used Hollyberry Farm as a basis to design a cross stitch for my real family farm.

I was on vacation when I was starting the project and decided to hand stain my linen. So I used a coffee packet from the hotel room. I ground the coffee into it, patted it, dripped on it. And it must have worked because when a stranger came to see what I was working on, she made a nice remark about the "antique material." (You can just see some of the staining here:)

When I finally started sewing, I thought I was going to go blind on the 35-count evenweave. (Ahem.) THIRTY-FIVE COUNT! I almost picked up a pair of those ubiquitous eye glasses with magnification that adorn so many check-out counters. But I have become used to it.*

*Excellent lighting required

The more I cross stitch, the more I like to personalize my work, change the pattern, make it my own. Some day maybe I'll be smart and daring enough to create my own piece from design to finish. But for now I get the convenience of having patterns on which to build my own version. I am having such fun with this one! You'll get more details on it! (Coming soon ...)