Three's the charm

Stitching these little hearts is a lot like eating potato chips--you can't be satisfied with just one.

For my third heart, I chose a horizontal band design, "lifting" a couple of motifs from one of my Eggs for All Seasons.  I used peach tones of DMC floss--948, 754 and 758--that I'm more accustomed to using for skin tones, and combined them with DMC 712, an off-white, and Kreinik #12 braid 9192.  The stitching was kept simple:  basketweave and Smyrna crosses.

I could go on and on, filling in heart shapes with an almost infinite combination of designs and colors, but for now I think it best to get back to work!

One more time

Stitching another heart for Greater Kansas City's Hearts for Hospice project, I chose pink, one of my favorite colors.

The background alternates floral stripes with panels of Nobuko stitch, separated by thin stripes of slanted Gobelin stitch, all using four strands of DMC floss 3326.  The rosebuds were worked in an encroaching Gobelin stitch with DMC floss 335, while the leaves were formed with satin stitches of DMC 367.

It's a pretty simple design, really, but pleasing to my eyes at least.  Hmmm....do I have time for just one more?  Stay tuned!

"Feel-good" stitching

Finding a little downtime between projects, I decided to do something for someone else for a change.  The Greater Kansas City Needlepoint Guild was seeking contributions to its Hearts for Hospice program, so this filled my window of time perfectly.

I found a heart template online, traced it onto graph paper, then played around with a suitable design for the center.  After transferring the design to some scrap canvas, I raided my stash for the threads you see here.

The blue diamonds were worked in an encroaching Gobelin stitch with four strands of DMC floss 3325.  The white diamonds were stitched in basketweave with three strands of DMC floss Blanc.  Outlining the diamonds are tent stitches of Kreinik #12 tapestry braid 001, with Smyrna crosses in the intersections.

The whole project from start to finish took about four days, and I had such a warm, fuzzy feeling when it was completed that I decided to do another one!  I'll show this one, too, when I'm done.