4 Seasons Blackwork Biscornus

I'm posting quite late today! I was trying to get the graphic work ready on these new designs:




I was asked recently if I'd ever consider doing some Biscornu designs in Blackwork. Well, many of you know that I adore Blackwork so it was quite doable for me!

The designs are based on traditional Elizabethan motifs. There is one for each season. I don't include directions for finishing into Biscornu's. Those directions are available as online tutorials with a quick Google search.

You can find these in my Etsy shop.

Vintage Embroidery Design - Cornucopia

Again, when I finished up on my computer yesterday, I curled up in my chair with my books and just read until Scott came home from work. I'm eager to get to some more stitching but it feels so good to just sit and read too.

So, since I don't have any stitching to share again today, I thought I would offer you another pattern from my extensive collection of vintage iron-on embroidery transfers:



Again, I chose this one because it's appropriate for the current season. This came from a pack of Artex Transfers. This would be lovely worked all in red (Redwork), or Crayon Tinted and then embroidered. See yesterday's post for the link to my Crayon Tinting tutorial.

Kris asked me if crayon tinting was washable. Yes, it is but only to a certain extent. Today's crayons don't contain as much pigment as they did back in the early 20th century so I wouldn't use it on something that would be washed constantly but a few washings should be ok. If you intend to do it on something that you want to wash, be sure to make your coloring quite heavy and heat-set it well with your iron.

In other news, I want to mention to my Christmas Mystery stitcher's, that Part 2 will be uploaded tomorrow morning around 6:30 a.m. Central time. Use the link that I sent to you last week to access the Christmas Mystery album on my Flickr site. If you need me to resend the link to you, just drop me an email and I'll get that out right away.

Flea Market Find

In Sunday's post, I mentioned that we were heading out to a flea market that day. It didn't turn to be terribly grand but I did find a huge pack of vintage embroidery transfers:



These are from the Superior Transfer Company. It isn't marked Superior but it has the iron on it which is their logo. Anyway, this pack is complete with only 2 sheets cut but all pieces are here and none of these are in my collection! A really nice find!

I don't have any stitching to share with you today. I bought a few books over the weekend so I curled up in my chair yesterday afternoon and just read until Dancing With The Stars came on. I love that show!

Anyway, I thought you would enjoy having one of the patterns from my new "vintage transfer" pack:



Being that it's Harvest Time and that Thanksgiving is coming up, this one seems to be a nice choice. Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can view and print the large version. I use a lightbox but you can tape it to a window and then using a washout blue pen, trace the design onto muslin or quilter's cotton. This pattern would be great for Crayon Tinting!

Enjoy everyone!

Quick note: here's the link to the Crayon Tinting Tutorial that I wrote last Summer.

Smiling Snowman Completed

Boy, that time change sure messes up my inner clock! We've been up since 3:30! Anyway, I finished up the stitching my little Smiling Snowman:



My intention was to sew him up into a little doorknocker/ornament and send him to Pat for The Comfort Doll Project but guess what? I love him so much, I can't part with him! I've decided to keep him for myself so I'll just have to make some more cat dolls!

I'm going to add a little ribbon bow with a jingle bell or a snowflake button. I'll do that when I sew him up and I'll share a final photo then.

If anyone wants to stitch him, the pattern can found in my Etsy shop. You'll get the pattern for this little guy and his companion.

We're heading out to a flea market this morning and I plan to relax for today when we get back. I'll just sit and read later. My next project will be another cat doll so I'll share that block with you tomorrow.

Christmas Mystery Update - Spam Filters

Everyone, the mystery invitation has been sent. So far, I've had 3 stitchers email me saying that they didn't receive their invitation. I'm wondering if Spam filters are getting in the way. That's actually pretty good to be honest! With past mysteries, I had a dozen or more that either didn't go through and got lost in cyberspace or they just kept coming back to me!

The invitation will probably say "Flickr" somewhere in the subject line. Please don't delete that! It's your link to the mystery!

I'm heading out to stitch but I'll check my email again in little while.