Sunday, April 24, 2016

~ Free-Styling ~

Happy Sunday Afternoon
~ friends & folk ~

what a beautiful day!
4 loads of line-dried laundry
farmhouse has been swept
windows are open
chicken dinner in the oven
and now it's time to stitch a little ~

I'm working on a couple of 'free-hand' cross stitch designs at the moment...
you can read more about this fun type of stitching I do
on a previous posting

I begin by drawing out my motif onto my cloth.
I am using osnaburg {Cupboard Cloth ~ available in my Etsy shop}
this will be a sweet & primitive girl...




you can see my wonky stitches below ~
being that the stitches are not counted, some are large and others small ~
a few are stitched over 3 threads ~ perhaps even four, 
using 1 strand in areas and two strands in others
to achieve this extremely naive look I love.




my threads are DMC and are always waxed 
with sweet & smoky scented beeswax just like in the old days...




I'm working on her skirt now, 
and below you can see her pantaloons and feet ~
 a favorite needle-minder I made from a rather large antique mother of pearl button
keeps my needle handy for me while I choose thread colors...

my 'witchy' scissors-fob is simply made up of many items that I treasure:
a hand-stamped antique silver spoon that was gifted to me, 
a diamond pinky ring, beads, silver findings and antique bone rings
along with a tiny silver skeleton key charm and more shell bits.

{I especially love the chime-like clatter it makes while using my beautiful Bohin scissors!!}




these are the thread colors I've chosen ~
640, 869 & 611




sitting out on the porch
with needle in hand
listening to Roxy snore nearby...and the hum of bumbler-bees.




you can see where I pencil-in the motif,
~ then just simply stitch my X's to fill in...




I do continental stitch even though I'm not counting my stitches - but merely 'eye-balling' them.
{all 1/2 stitches going one way first ~ then coming back to cross over them}




I'll be framing this under glass, in one of Peter's wooden frames ~
think I'll paint the frame black & distress it heavily.
...love that look too :)

Hi Roxy ~ sleepy face



Well folks, the timer just went off ~
which means our supper is ready.
I'll stitch again later on this evening and hopefully finish this to show you tomorrow.

OH!
 TOMORROW!!!!
please don't forget to join me over at 
Pat Sloan's Creative Talk Network
where I will be a guest around 4:00 pm EST
{can you hear my knees knocking?}

http://www.creativetalknetwork.com

have a peaceful evening my friends...

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 
 Lori

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Love the sound of your farmhouse. Love your scissor fob... all those special little things... looking forward to seeing your finished stitch. Enjoy your evening...

Unknown said...

Love the sound of your farmhouse. Love your scissor fob... all those special little things... looking forward to seeing your finished stitch. Enjoy your evening...

Anonymous said...

You know, Lori…sometimes "free-styling" is just so…freeing. Good for a cleansing breath, whilst creating something inspiring. Sounds are important, too, during creating, be they birds chirping as you sit outside, rain tapping against the window pane as you work, or the delightful tinkling of tool-trinkets. Good night…sweet dreams!

janice15 said...

How lovely your stitching is. I have done some free hand back moons ago. Nothing lately though just started some already patterned pillow case I found in my Mama p's things. It was one large piece and had a price of four dollars on it. I cut it in half last night and going to start stitching this evening. I'm not quite sure about this edging they have on them though. Hopefully I can figure it out. Can't wait to see your finished product. Have a good supper and evening with love Janice

elaine allerton said...

Lori,,, love ur stitching,,,, used to do cross stitch, too,,, but got hooked,,, and eyes arent what they used to be,,,,
Like the idea of free sttching,,,,, great,,,
You have a lovely spot there,,,,