Erica's Stitches

It's almost the end of June and the penstemons are fading.  Most of them have now gone to seed. However, I was finally able to stitch a penstemon! One of my drawings was easily turned into a cross-stich chart with only cross-stitches - no half stitches or outlines.  But, for the word "penstemon" I had to use both cross-stitches and backstitches - otherwise the word would not have fit. The design was sized to fit in a specific frame .  But, if the word "penstemon" is left off, it will fit in a standard 4 x 6 frame.  The color of the word "penstemon" was also determined by the  frame.  Why not try to coordinate?  The other colors were harder to choose because penstemons come in so many colors. I finally used purples - the same color as the penstemons in my yard.  However, penstemons come in many other colors:  white, yellow, orange, pink and red, to name a few. I used 3 different purples for the flower an...

Yesterday was Shop Hop Day! 7 stores in one day: Pueblo, Woodland Park, Castle Rock, Fountain and Colorado Springs. I've seen yarn, embroidery, fabrics, threads and all kinds of quilts.  I'm all fired up and ready to make more things. To keep myself from going crazy I only allowed myself to purchase striped fabric (there is a stripy quilt in my future) and I ended up with a few fat quarters.  The non-striped fabric in the pile is door prizes.  I also ended up with a few patterns and other goodies. I was also inspired by the mountain that followed us around all day - Pikes Peak. We saw the front. We saw the backside. And the storms moved in just as we were finishing.

I recieved the beads and directions last weekend at a luncheon.  They were a gift from the guest speaker, Lauren Vlcek. Once I got started I couldn't stop. OK, after 3 bugs I was able to stop.

Now that I've started knitting again I'm receiving donations of yarn.  This yarn came with no information about fiber content or guage but there is a small pattern book so I know it is Marnel "Tweedy".  And from the pictures in the book I know it was printed in the 80's.  But, that's about it.  Internet searches provided no help. I cut off a snippet and waved it over a lit match.  It melted and made a horrible stink so it is all or part synthetic.  In some was it acts like wool so I suspect it might include some. I've been knitting potholders and I'm ready to try something else so I've been looking for patterns.  The yarn calls for a delicate, lacey pattern. Every time I'm in the library I check out the new book shelves:  fiction, cooking, self-help, crafts or anything else that catches my eye.  Lately there are tons of knitting books.  This time I picked up Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain. ...

Early June in Colorado means penstemon.  Last year at this time the hillsides were pink and purple with the abundant blooms.  This year, there's been less rainfall so there aren't as many blooms. Last year I was imagining intricate penstemon samplers.  I sketched the flowers and started transferring them to graph paper. I was even determined to capture the color acurately.  Sometimes they look pink, sometimes purple, sometimes blue.  But, the color card does not lie and I know what floss to use. At the time I was in a middle of another project and was going to work on the penstemons "next". A year has passed and the drawings are still untouched.  I think that while the penstemon are blooming and I'm inspired they are going to be "next" again.  Really, I mean it.  I want to cross-stitch some penstemon.

Does the "I" stand for infinite? My most recent potholder somehow got bigger than I planned and is going to be come a bag.  So, it needs straps.  Hence the I-Cord. Why is this cord taking so long?  I have other projects I'd like to work on.

At over 7000 feet, spring is sometimes late. Right now the air is perfumed with the scent of lilac. The chokecherries are blooming. The iris have just started blooming and more flower stalks are appearing daily.  I was walking along the driveway and spotted this iris glowing in the evening light.  What a beautiful shape!  You could see the flowers silhouetted inside the bud.

I've made a small folded flower quilt.  The flowers are from Rebecca Wat's "Fantastic Fabric Folding".  I made another mini years ago and tried another one with different flowers. This is the rose.  It is made by pleating the fabric and then swirling the layers into a rose.  It's more difficult than it appeared to be. This is the star flower and involves just folding.  I had to tack down the petals to keep them from unfolding. This small quilt was a nice diversion.  I've been working on a big quilt since last August.  I have finished piecing together the back - yards and yards of white cotton were spread out on my table and spilled down upon my lap.  I'm hoping the seams are straight and it lies flat.  And that it's big enough.  The batting is spread out on the guest bed to relax and the next step is baste the 3 layers together. So, this little quilt was a reward.  It's nice to be able to finish something quickly and it w...

Last weekend was beautiful and I was able to spend time in the shade stitching.  I worked on this simple little bookmark - the stitching equivalent of a good beach novel. It wasn't quite as simple as it appears as the front is the same as the back.  I'm not going to use the "r" word to keep people from looking for that to find this post. It took some work to figure out the technique.  But then I was able to zoom through it.  After the first heart, I didn't even need to consult the pattern. If you look at the border it's not 100% the same on the back.  The Nun's stitch looks good from both sides, but it's not the same. On the second bookmark I have shown the hearts in different stages of completion.  The hearts are stitched in two passes.  The top heart has the first half of the first pass completed.  The second heart has the first pass completed.  The next heart has some of the second pass done and the final heart is complete. The...