Coffee and Cross Stitch

Good Intentions | Cross Stitch

Kathy Barrick came out of retirement last year and hasn't disappointed since.  I have a few of her newer graphs in my "you're next, I swear" pile, including "Heaven and Nature Sing".

I had my eye on this one for a while, finally picked it up recently at my LNS and just finished it.

If any of you have seen this piece, you'll note that I changed one of the colors and eliminated the dog.  I didn't like the orange with all these other colors, so I switched it out for the mauve you see.  And, instead of the rando dog chillin on top of the spool on the left, I just made a mirror image of the top spool on the right with a different color.  

Easy peasy.

I stitched this on 40 count Antique Almond from Silkweaver.  One of my favorite fabrics ever.  I also used the DMC equivalents for this piece - the model was stitched in all Needlepoint Silks.  No thanks.  Since this is all solid colors, it wasn't worth it.  Still looks awesome, especially on this fabric.

Now I really want to start working on one of the Hawk Run series that I have....or maybe just fix my major f-up in Shores of Hawk Run so I can actually finish it.........

  

Merry Brew.

We all know how I feel about coffee.  It's the elixir of life.  Make it bulletproof, and I'm even happier.

When Paulette released "Merry Brew", I snatched it up just as quick as it was placed on the shelves.  It combines two of my most favorite things ever: Christmas and coffee.

And, as always, I found a faboo fabric to stitch this on that wasn't a neutral khaki or sand or somethingorother.

I wanted something dark enough so you could see the snowflakes and the steam in the coffee, but most of the neutrals I have were either too dark and you'd lose the reindeer, or they weren't dark enough and you'd lose the snowflakes.  

Enter Dusk Rose. Dark enough to see everything, and the right color of pinkish to bring out the "Merry" and Santa's suit.  

 

I used all Crescent Colors....or whatever they're called now....is it Classic Colorworks?  I can't remember.  Anyways.  I used all the ones called for, so you can see the variations throughout.  I love using variegated threads.  I didn't used to use them all the time - I'd use the DMC equivalent - but sometimes, it really does make a difference.  Now, silks are a different story.  Unless it's a huge difference to use the silks, like if there's 47 different colors in one skein, I'll use the DMC equivalent.  No use spending all that money on solid silks when I can put it towards graphs I have to have.  Priorities.

Speaking of graphs I have to have, I just got "Snow Queen" from Mirabilia, and OMG.  I cannot wait to start her.  I got some WICKED awesome fabric to stitch her on, too.  I can't wait to post updates.  She's gonna be incredible.