August Basket

 

Look how pretty this one is! Peach is not at the top of the list of colors I like, but these threads were so lovely, especially together with that gray green in the basket. I made a couple of small changes to this one. I used a Rhodes stitch for the centers of the small white flowers, and I altered the "Fresh Peaches" sign to read "Peach Salsa" as that's my favorite way to eat peaches! If you're interested in trying it, you can't go wrong with the famous peach salsa made in our home state of Texas. 

Only four more baskets left in this series by Cosford Rise Stitchery (Etsy)! 

Quoth the Raven

 

First finish of spooky season! This is Nevermore Raven by Quaternion Creations from the 2024 Just Cross Stitch Halloween Special Issue (also available in the designer's Etsy shop). I chose a darker fabric than the model because I wanted that beautiful moon to really show up well. I also added a little spark of color to the leaf.

Fabric: 28 ct. Storm, Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie

Moon: GAST Ohio Sky

Raven/Nevermore: GAST Onyx

Branches: GAST Wood Trail

Leaf: CC Colonial Copper

Summer Birds: Blue Jay

 

Here he is! My final bird for the summer, a gorgeous Blue Jay from the new book by Max Pigeon, Cross Stitch in the Forest (Amazon). I stitched him on Stormy Grey Jobelan, and pretty much stuck to the chart, except for one thing. This designer uses a lot of negative space in his work, which I like, but he also uses white fabric a lot. I almost never use white fabric, so for this design, I simply filled the spaces he left open (for the white fabric to show) with white stitches. This is the third design of his I've stitched this year (!) and for the other two, I used green and blue fabrics, and didn't fill any of the negative space. These designs can definitely work well on dyed fabric.

 

I have all but one of my summer birds fully finished and am just waiting on a frame for this guy, and I'll have this bird project wrapped up until next spring. I am continuing to work on my Nimble Birds sampler though. 

Stay tuned to see all my bird finishes, and my first Halloween finish of the year! Coming soon!