Thursday, October 11, 2007

An Avalanche of Acorns

It is finally starting to feel like fall here in the Midwest. What better time for an avalanche of acorns?

I finished stitching "Acorns" by Little House Needleworks and Crescent Colours. This project was a gift from Sharon, who hit me with a giant RAK of stash back in December. "Acorns" has been in Diane's care and was liberated just last week. I used Toasted Almond Belfast and it really pops the threads.

I thought it would stitch up more quickly than it did. Isn't that the way it always goes? I had to restitch Mr. Squirrel several times. The first time around he was so distinctly striped that all I could think was ZEBRA. I ended up using the loop method with the floss and skipped around a little bit with my stitches to achieve the look I was going for. I also ended up substituting Gentle Art Sampler Thread Cidermill Brown for the nut portion of the acorns. The recommended CC Old Oak Tree floss was too similar to the acorn cap color, Roasted Chestnut. It's overdyed thread; these things happen. Overall it was a fun project and I think it turned out great! Thanks Sharon! Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I'm thinking of finishing this design as a bourse. The background fabric in the first photo is the fabric I'll be using for the outside. I have a few acorn buttons around here somewhere...

Now please strap yourself into the time machine, because we're going back to June. When I went to Rockome I stopped in Mattoon to visit Stitcher's Express and see Susie. Susie had several surprises for me. The first was a precious acorn magnet that she stitched. LOVE it! The second surprise was the chart for Eileen Bennett's class project "Perfect That Queen Stitch - A Pyn-Pillow." I didn't have a lot of experience with queen stitches, so this was a wonderful gift. The model for the project was stitched on 32 ct Belfast, but I wanted to SEE what I was doing so I selected 18 ct Cork.

It was a fun, fantastic project. I enjoyed the queen stitches, but the buttonhole bar stitches (same as the detached buttonhole stitch here) that are used for the acorn stem were the most fun. I think I'll make this acorn project into a pillow. Thanks a bunch, Susie!
In several of the above pictures you might have noticed the gorgeous acorn-shaped thread holder. Ginger bought it for me during her trip to California in June. Isn't it incredible? I absolutely love it! Thanks Ginger!

Jeanne recently did a little traveling too and snagged these lovelies from a 40% off sale bin. Wahoo, life is good!
I had to snap one more picture of the acorn magnet Susie made. It is so petite, it doesn't show up well in the above picture. Sorry for the flash. I would like to continue the spirit of generosity that is so common among stitchers. Please leave a comment if you would like to stitch either LHN "Acorns" or Eileen Bennett's "Pyn-Pillow." With the "Acorns" chart I will also include the left-over CC threads, a few lengths of the Cindermill Brown I used, and a piece of Toasted Almond Belfast. The "Pyn-Pillow" project will be just the chart. At 5:00pm on Wednesday, October 17th I'll have Mark draw two names from a hat. That's 5:00pm CDT in the US. (Same as Chicago, if that helps.) I hope I can find a wonderful new home for both of these projects.

And finally...
I found these little guys in my front yard. Happy Fall!

23 comments:

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Chelle...you've outdone yourself! They all are gorgeous and I think the LHN acorns will be lovely in a bourse with that gorgeous fabric! And that PYN pillow is super great too! And those charts...WOW!
A treat for the eyes :)
And what about those perfect acorns in your front yard? They're sweet as can be too!
:)

Katrina said...

Chelle everything is stunning! Love those Midwest autumns. I miss Southern Illinois in the fall.

Anonymous said...

My, oh my, have you ever been busy! Love the LHN project, love the acorn threadkeeper, love the little magnet, love the Eileen Bennett project, don't love doing queen stitches but love how they look when finished. Fall is definitely in the air and in your stitching!! Nice collection!!

Cheryl said...

Your stitching is so lovely! Will look forward to seeing your bourse finish! I would love to enter your draw for LHN acorns. You are very kind :)

Anonymous said...

Chelle - beautiful work, and I love the picture of the acorns on your tree. I would love to be a part of the drawing for Eileen Bennett's Pyn Pillow, I love how these acorns look. Take care, Nancy

Ranae said...

Acorns is adorable.
And love the acorn magnet.
We have Oak trees in our yard too.
Ouchee!! when barefoot to the mailbox, lol.

Dawn T. said...

Everything looks wonderful!! Great job:)

Lelia said...

WOW WOW : ) Love your stitching and special goodies.

Your LHN is wonderful. the squirrel so cute. Yes, I know what you mean about the stripe. I try to avoid that ever since you posted about using a circular stitching on flower petals. Sometimes when the over-dye is too much, I use one strand of over-dye with one strand of regular floss. That evens out the tone, gets rid of the 'stripe'

You used cork linen? It turned out very well. Job well done!

OK, now I need to turn over the system to DH. He will be on most of the weekend.

Nicole said...

Wow, I love all your finished acorn projects! They're so pretty! :)

Anonymous said...

Chelle, your stitching is fabulous! I love those projects. How wonderful to see the queen stitch project - I remember your working on it here and it turned out great! I'd love to be in on the LHN drawing. Tell Mark to pick well :o)))

Linda

Carla said...

Fantastic finishes!! Acorns will look fantastic as a bourse!!
The Acorn magnet looks so cute and tiny! Oh and I love ypur acorn threadkeeper!!

monique said...

'Chelle, I love your nutty goodness :)

That pyn pillow is awesome! I'd like to see that in person, please!

Anonymous said...

You do very pretty work.
You are so kind to offer your patterns - May I be in the drawing for the LHN "Acorns" please?
thank you
Rita Engard
requilt (at) yahoo (dot) com

Pam @ Heart2Heart said...

Hi Chelle! I must say I love your acorn theme for this post. Your LHN acorns turned out so cute and I think a bourse is a fantastic idea to finish it off perfectly. The Pyn is gorgeous but sounds intimidating to me LOL I've yet to try any specialty stitches :O. I'm coveting your wooden acorn,it's just to cute LOL. Thank you for sharing everything with us, I really enjoyed seeing it all.

Sharon said...

Beautiful finishes Chelle! Can't wait to see the bourse! The acorn magnet is just adorable.

Anne S said...

Oh wow, what an awesome acorn-filled post - I love everything!! Your bourse is going to look stunning, that fabric is just perfect for it! And your acorn finishes are just beautiful - it was a real visual treat today :D

If it's OK, I'd also love my name to be entered in the draw for the LHN acorn chart ... I just love those little designs - great tip about the stripey squirrel as well, I'll have to remember that for some other charts/threads I have to stitch. I had the same problem with Drawn Thread's Summer into Autumn, and didn't like the stripey tree leaves, so ended up dotting the colours around all over the place ... looked much better :)

Anna van Schurman said...

Happy fall! Love the little squirrel. I've taken to jumping around with overdyed floss myself lately...

Lelia said...

You have been awarded the You Make Me Smile award. Thank you for making me smile.

Michelle said...

What a wonderful post! Your finishes look beautiful and what a cute acorn needleminder! I'd love to be included in the drawing for the LHN Acorns.

Tobie said...

Hi Chelle! Congrats on your acorn finish, cute cute! I enjoyed all of your pictures too.

strem said...

Just beautiful! I have so much to learn from you!

Anita said...

Wow, I love everything Acorn here. They are so pretty.

stitcherw said...

I loved all the acorn themed items in this post. What fun projects and things (the magnet and floss keep are so cute). I haven't finished my Acorns yet, but am over half way and have really enjoyed stitching it. Can't wait to see how yours looks all finished off.
Sue