Developing a Colorway

I am beginning to develop 3 or colorways for a small design.  It will be offered in November 2016 by Stitch for the Cure.  I will stitch the first colorway and provide colored renditions of the rest.  I am thinking Four Seasons?

There are several approaches to getting started.  This time I thought it would be fun to stitch with rose pinks. Shortly after I found Sue Spargo's collection of Dazzle.  It is rayon with a strand metallic and equivalent to a #8 perle.  It is a beautiful rose(see above middle).  She also has a new colors available in a beautiful perle cotton that comes in 3 sizes.  The color I hope to use is next to the Dazzle thread.  And as most of you know I like to use new threads, beads, markers, etc,.........So I just got all 15 colors of the new Planet Earth Sprinkles ribbon.  Three colors are included in the photo.....they are so cute. Plus, I knew I wanted to include some flat square beads...either Tilas or CzechMates.....see the yellow ones below. Last, but not least, I searched through my stash to see what else might work...so now I have 15 threads.  I need to eliminate at least 5. At this point I think I need to finish graphing the design and then review again.

I will post an update when I get the final palette and a "final" stitch diagram.

Secret Garden and Kit Inventory

Well, it has been awhile, but I'm now catching up.  Here I have been worried about not feeling well all the time and come to find out I "just" needed some root canals.   So now I feel like stitching again and have finished up the 2nd small geometric design I created using Treenway silk threads.  Secret Garden is only 5" square and was fun to stitch. I used some interesting small new triangle beads in the design. They have the two holes on the top and I could use a heavier perle thread to attach them.  I like the finished look of the heavier thread!

The instruction book, marked canvas and thread kit will be available in about 30 days and I will post an update when they are ready.  If you think you are interested, please comment or otherwise send me a note so I will have some idea how many kits to make.  By the way, it is on 18 count canvas, and is the same size as Autumn Arrows.  

Also,  we have been trying to build up an inventory of complete kits (all threads, ribbons, beads, markers, etc. included).  Here is our current inventory as of 5/8/15:

2 Monet's Garden

4 Mediterranean Squares

4 Harlequin Hearts

1 Leaf Collage

1 Images of India

2 Wild Roses

2 Sahara

2 Safari

6 Whirlygig (ready in approx. 3 weeks)

If you see a design you like listed in Designs and Kits for Sale, and there is not thread kit listed above, please let me know of your interest.

New Design - African Images - in Progress

I recently began working on a new design which is a little different from my previous designs.  In this piece I am trying to create images, just images, of Africa, particularly the birds and their environments.  There are forests, baobab trees, marsh and grasslands, plus feathers and nests.  The stitched size is 8 inches X 11 inches.

The above photo is created by stitching about 1/4 of the design, then I added colored pencils and watercolor pencils to complete the rendering to send as a proposal.  I plan to continue working on this project to have completed in the next few month, so will post a few updates.

To construct the piece, I have used Copic markers for layering the background color and a stencil and acrylic dabbers to add leaves.  There is texture in abundance using lots of Silk Raffia, Painters Thread, plus other perle threads. 

I have to say this is the most fun stitching I have had in a while.  I will be interested to hear what you think,

Terry