Thursday, April 23, 2009

Inspiration from "Under A Blue Moon"






One of my favorite blogs is "Under a Blue Moon" and my long distance friend who posts there is Andrea, who is dear. Like many bloggers, we have never met. We may never meet, but we are friends nonetheless. Her posts are fun, interesting, beautiful, and inspiring. Some of them are absolutely delicious looking, too, as her photos of food make me want to cook. I am not much of a cook, but I do like to eat! She has a beautiful cat named Belle and a really nice husband named Rick. I haven't asked, but wonder if his name is actually Richard? My sister and I both married men named Richard and my son-in-law's name is Rick, too. I'm prejudiced, I suppose, but I bet her Rick is a great guy!!!

Sometimes Andrea posts photos of her handiwork...quilting, embroidery, and the like. She does a much better job than she gives herself credit for and everytime she shows this work...I get inspired. In January, she showed a vintage tablecloth that was cross-stitched with a beautiful basket design. (She also loves vintage...just like you and I do!!) Well, I saw that basket and was instantly in love with it. The photo was taken from a distance too far away for me to reproduce the design on graph paper, so I emailed Andrea and asked if she could show a close-up on the blog. Andrea, being a really nice person, instantly sent me a close-up photo via email. Wasn't that a great thing to do? She has even given me permission to tell you about this vintage tablecloth of hers. Bloggers are wonderful! Well, yes, I know....maybe not all bloggers are...but the ones who do what "we" do...ARE a wonderful, enthusiastic, very sharing group!

One afternoon, I sat down with some graph paper and charted this basket. If you have ever tried to do this with a vintage piece of needlework, and from a photo at that, you know it isn't all that easy. Mostly because these beautiful things have been used and used, and so, sometimes the design is not as crisp looking as something new. But, because I like "tedious" things, I spent that afternoon enjoying the making of that chart.

The next step was to actually do the embroidery. If you read this blog of mine very often, then you know I like to paint my background fabrics from time to time. So, I brought out some white Aida cloth (14 count) and painted it in a very light pink,blue, yellow and green. (And, yes, I washed it first!) Pale, but pretty, and it probably doesn't show well in these photos, but it looks great in "real life."

The first photo shown here is the one Andrea emailed. I printed it out and made some notations on it and that's when I decided to make a graph. The second photo is the color chart I made. Then, there is a close-up of the stitched basket, and one of the bow. I added the heart...just because I like adding hearts to things and a cross-stitched heart is really fun to make.

So, there you are...the finished piece! I have no idea what I'm going to do with it...frame it? Make a pillow? It may be made into something for my etsy. I just don't know yet. But, I do know it was a lot of fun and I really appreciate Andrea being so generous. Why don't you visit her blog...the address is www.bleulune.typepad.com. I bet you'll come away inspired also! Thanks, again, Andrea!!! Y'all take care! Pat

8 comments:

Tinchen {Katrin} said...

Dear Patricia,

this is wonderful! You did a great work! You are so very talented in cross-stitching! I am overwhelmed! Love it!

I like cross stitch too - but I am not so good in it; I like knitting socks more :).

I wish you a wonderful day, a good start in a very nice weekend and a lot of new creative ideas :),

all the best,
Katrin

deb/purple princess said...

Pat...use this piece for another pincushion! Wouldn't it be adorable! And, after all, it IS "the year of the pincushion"!

love and hugs,
deb

Cindy said...

She does have a pretty blog, I've lurked over there for quite some time now. :D And her Belle is a total ringer for my P. Funny. Lovely piece that you did. How neat to paint the background, clever girl!
-c

BrenWall61@gmail.com said...

I love it when you add your special little touches that say "Pat".

Bethany said...

It's beautiful!

Judy said...

Hi Pat, that is awesome. I too love Andrea. I once commented on how much I loved a plate she posted about and she actually sent me one since she had several of the same plate. I was so thrilled. She does beautiful work and I always enjoy seeing it. Let us know what you decide to do with the basket. I agree with the coment about the pin cushion. I had that same thought.

Unknown said...

What a darling basket! I just love cross-stitch! So pretty! :)

Gayle said...

This is a great idea!

A Bit of Heaven

A Bit of Heaven
An original designed wall quilt with my vision of heaven on earth.