Erica's Stitches

I've been cutting out flower pieces.  Last August I appliqued some Harebells .  I wanted to do a bunch of other wildflowers and somehow never got around to it.  That's what new years are for - getting back on focus. This time I'm working on Mexican Hats and Penstemons.  Right now it looks like flowers have exploded in my quilt room.  These flowers have a lot of smaller pieces so I'm not sure how they will quilt up.  I do know that they will definitely need the stems to give them some shape.  That's next. Looking at the scattered remains of my morning session I'm getting ideas form more quilt blocks.  Some of the shapes created by cutting out the flower shapes very are interesting.  

I'm getting into the holiday spirit with strings of origami bats.  They will look great hanging in my cubicle at work. They are from the book 10-Fold Origami by Peter Engel. They are quick and easy to fold.  Before I knew it I was out of black paper.

It's not like I don't have enough to do.  I don't really need to stitch two of everything but this time I did. I wanted to see if the Penstemon would fit in a 4x6 frame and this was the first one I found.  Yes, it looked like it fit so before I knew it I was stitching. It turned out so different from the first one.  The supplies: Weeks Dye Works 1277 - Collards The Gentle Art  Simply Shaker Sampler Threads - Rhubarb Indigo Dyed Aida Cloth Botanical Penstemon Chart I love the faded, washed out look.  This is another reason my favortie color scheme right now is red, blue and green. The indigo aida comes from my stash.  Down the road from where I live is Table Rock Llamas .  Years ago they had an "Indigo Day".  They had a pot of indigo brewing and for a small price you could dye what you wanted.  So, I have a supply of indigo floss, aida, linen and fabric.  Every once in a while I have to use some. OK, enough penstemon....

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...

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.