I was a little shy to "let the sky be the limit" in my designs........staying simple and secure in my "comfort zone". Taking a step into the water...........slowly. Although it looks quite simple...........I have to say, this little house sampler holds a special place in my heart. I designed it when I was a young mother of 3 small children and we were living in our first home............a fixer upper in a scary neighborhood. Yet within the walls of this old house and surrounded by my world of happiness, I tried to express that through my needlework design. That is why I have hearts coming out of the chimney..........something that has now turned out to be my trademark and for the customers who know me well...........they know to look for that in certain designs.
As you can see..........house designs are one of my favorite......and even though we were still living in the "unfixed" fixer upper..........I had a dream of a home out in the country...........
with the picket fence.............more full bodied trees and yes...........those little love hearts coming out of the chimney.
Years have passed and my life has turned into a mother of 3 grown children and I live in the middle of mesquite filled woods with coyotes for neighbors.
Although I had worked these previous designs in cross stitch...........hand embroidery is my passion over all...........so I decided to make a sampler with hand embroidery, instead of cross stitch.
A country cottage..........with those hearts still flying out of the chimney.
I really liked stitching this piece in regular embroidery stitches.
I did not stitch a date on this sampler..........there is still room to do so ..........and I think I should add it..................as it shows the difference in how I design today.
How about you? Have you changed the way you design, embroidery, paint, or in any other area you are creative?
Do you have a "trademark" that is known in your work?
I would love to hear!
I love seeing the evolution of your stitching. And the hearts coming out of the chimney are perfect!
ReplyDeleteI started with cross stitch, moved on to embroidery, and then back to cross stitch now. My quilts have just gotten more intricate and I like adding embroidery to them also.
But I don't usually design my own patterns. There are so many good ones out there, I just keep stitching away!
These are so pretty!! And you designed them? What special talent you have!
ReplyDeleteWow what talent you have!! Just love your work!! It started great and just got better.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work. I made the jump from counted cross stitch to quilts. Every now and then I get the urge to cross stitch and do a Christmas ornament or a tea towel (you know, a quickie design) and then I'm o.k. for a while. There is something about all the beautiful threads.
ReplyDeleteVery sweet! I started out doing traditional embroidery, but with a bit of cross stitch now and then. Moved on to mostly cross stitch up to a couple of years ago when I discovered Crazy patchwork, which re-introduced different embroidery stitches to my work. Now I am mostly into patchwork with applique and quilting because it is less painful for my hands to let the machine do the stitching!
ReplyDeleteI learned to cross-stitch from a lady I worked for in high school. I learned to crochet from my cousin when I was about 20. Cross-stitch was my favorite for so many years, because with crochet, I basically only knew one design and couldn't really read patterns. Since blogging that has changed, and I find crochet so much easier to carry with me when going from A to Z and all points in between. Cross-stitch takes a bit more planning and concentration. I have never really designed anything. Your work is all so beautiful, no matter how you do it. :) Happy weekend wishes to you, Tammy
ReplyDeleteI love your little house embroidery. It has inspired me to start a sampler of my own..Thank you for sharing,
ReplyDeleteCheryl
That is such a sweet embroidered cottage. I have always loved embroidery because my grandmother did. I think it is more freeing than cross stitch. I did try cs, years ago, and discovered it was not for me. I'm always trying new crafts, so I don't get bored.
ReplyDelete