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