Penny, I love your design! The strings look like pieces of lace, waiting to be attached to a petticoat or other kind of clothing or household item.

great start, Anne! It already looks like a real stitch sampler with clean, beautiful colors!

Well done, Deborah! Not many colors, but they form a balanced combination. I especially like the way you approached the background with French knots in the background color and some sequins. The overall impression is that of style and harmony.

John, absolutely superb and very Mexican! I can see the Mexican dancers with their fans dancing around in the sunset. The work is full of fun and happiness!

Thank you Rona.  The French knots looked just right to me to fill in some of those empty spaces.  I wanted some canvas to show through but not completely blank.  The blue squiggle didn’t turn out as planned but it seemed to have a mind of its own and it has grown on me.  I am glad you enjoyed it.

Anne, yours really does look like a color box, all bright and cheerful.  Your stitches are beautiful, you must have taken your time executing them.  I love what you have done so far and look forward to seeing more.

I agree, it is inspiring and interesting to see what everyone else does.  We all have different visions and abilities and crayons in…[Read more]

Hi, Penny, I just saw this too. It is wonderful. Both the colors and the stitching is quite strong and beautifully done. I am in awe of your patience — both with the satin stitched bands of pink and gold, and green and purple (fern?) stitches. In fact, your stitches are so interesting generally — I’d love to know what stitches you used, if you…[Read more]

This is beautiful, Deborah! I love so much about this, but I think the French knots dotted around are really special! Also love the little blue swiggle at the top (to the left of the bugle beads) with the filled in bit; it’s a whimsical unexpected delight.

Here is a photo of my work so far.  I’ve been enjoying using different colors and stitches.  It makes me feel like a kid with a box of crayons.  I’m trying to let the design take shape as I go along.  I have a plan in mind, but I also want to be open to making changes.  Everyone’s photos are very inspiring and I love seeing all the diff…[Read more]

Thank you Marsha.  I tried very hard to balance everything and other than the outline “circle” I am very pleased with what I did.  I even liked the 5 colors of perle cotton by the end of my stitching.  It was good to have to work with so few colors, it made me think about where each color was placed.

I am thinking about another hoop em…[Read more]

Deborah – Your design is very balanced, and the limited color scheme brings a cohesiveness to it. The background work is just enough and not too much. The stitching is fabulous! Much to look at! Thank you for taking the course.

All done!  I have learned a lot doing this exercise.  I learned to stitch the outside circle first next time, I wound up with an oval on this one instead of a circle.  Oops.  I learned a bit more about satin stitching in a half round and also about making the design balanced in colors and in texture and in quantity.

Thank you Marsha for ano…[Read more]

Thank you Rona.  Yes, there are beads in my stitching and yes, the sun rays one is beaded.  Those are bugle beads, very easy to do and quite effective.  Try them, I think you will like the look.  More beads to come, I have almost finished lesson 2 and not much for lesson 3.

Yes, very different from John’s but still great! Looks like lots of beading, which is a little beyond me you. Are you also using beads for those sun rays? THAT I think I could try.

Wow, John! Yours is SO MUCH FUN! And I’m glad you don’t feel compelled to follow the rules — you inspire me to try some things I have been thinking about but was afraid to. A stitch question: how did you do that red-and-blue line right below the burgundy sun with gold rays? Are the blue stitches just running stitches inserted over the red or…[Read more]