Monday, December 30, 2013

Last Christmas Stitches for 2013 and a Sampler Start!

Hello stitching and blogging friends - I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  Here are my last Christmas stitches for 2013, these beautiful postcard style pieces were featured in a World of Cross Stitching Magazine.  I did not manage to do the finishing in time for Christmas as they turned out to be very time consuming to stitch, with lots of quarter stitches and back stitching.


They are stitched on 28ct antique white Jubilee in DMC stranded cotton.


Look at the lovely detail on these cards - I certainly have to do the finishing so that they can be proudly displayed next Christmas :)


I also have (another) new start - I decided not to wait for the new year to start this piece!  It is called Celebration Sampler and is featured in the Just Cross Stitch Magazine as part of their 30th anniversary this year - it is a six part sampler and runs over a few issues.  I'm stitching it on antique white 27ct Linda in DMC threads.

It does not look like much now, but it will be a beautiful band sampler with some specialty stitches.  I am really enjoying this project so far, even if I still have to chart my name into the blank space between the bands - my name and surname just won't fit into the allotted space - the sampler is quite narrow!

  

We have been 'enjoying' a typical hot, sunny South African summer, which means my roses are in full bloom.  I would like to end my last post of 2013 with some photos of one of my favourite roses from my garden.  It is called 'Blue Bayou' and has the most beautiful silver lilac flowers.


Sometimes the beauty of a single bloom is simply amazing :)


Well, that's it for 2013!  Wishing everyone a wonderful New Year!

Happy Stitching!

Michelle

24 comments:

Bianca said...

The postcards look great, and oh my those roses are beautiful!

Michelle said...

Stunning postcards Michelle - they look wonderful. Beautiful roses. We are going to miss the African sun this February for sure. I have been browsing the gifted magazine to me and have found 3 lovely Samplers - after New Year I will e-mail and maybe we can find one amongst them we can stitch as a SAL - Happy New Year to you all xx

Fünfzigerjahremädel said...

Wonderful!!! I like these stitched cards very much!
Best wishes for 2014 and many greetings,Ulla

Mylene said...

Such lovely designs, great job!
Wish you all the best for the coming year!!

Gillie said...

Oh my goodness, those roses! Love the postcards!

Liliana Fornelos said...

Hello, so many beautiful things, love their embroideries are generally fantastic.
Congratulations kisses

butterfly said...

Post cards are lovely I have them in my pile to do .
Lovely rose, Happy New Year.

Palkó said...

Beautiful works!
Happy New Year!

Manuela said...

Hello Michelle,

your postcards are very beautiful and a nice new start.
I wish you a Happy New Year.

Greetings, Manuela from Germany.

Vickie said...

Those are fantastic "postcards".
'Blue Bayou' is just gorgeous. God bless you in this new year!

Erna said...

Lovely stitching Michelle. Happy New Year.
Hugs
Erna x

Mouse said...

lovely postcards and simply stunning roses :)
wishing you a wonderful stitchy new year :) love mouse xxxxx

Zeb said...

LOVE the postcards! Which issue # were they from?

And what beautiful roses :)

Grit said...

Lovely postcards.
Greetings Grit

Kate said...

Your stitched post cards are beautiful!

Michelle said...

Thank you everyone for the lovely comments! The postcards were featured in issue 158 of The World of Cross Stitching Magazine.

Annie said...

Those post cards are fabulous! They would work great for mail-art projects too.

I have those JCS issues with the sampler. That will be a fun project.

Love those roses. We're about to get a winter storm here, so I envy your summer right now!

Have a great 2014!

Dani - tkdchick said...

Those postcards are gorgeous!!!!!

Terri said...

Love the stitching! And those roses look like fine porcelain! Beautiful and my favorite flower!!

imawe said...

Beautiful !!!!
tworczypoczatek.blogspot

Carol said...

Oh, my gosh, Michelle--those are the most beautiful roses!! They don't even look real... how wonderful to be able to grow something so pretty in your own backyard.

Love your postcard stitching--I can see why they took a while to stitch with all those tiny details...

I hope 2014 is a very special year for you filled with love, laughter, and good health :)

Brigitte said...

Oh Michelle, how beautiful these postcards are. I can easily imagine that they took some time to stitch up. Quarter stitches and back stitches are sometimes really time consuming. But the result was worth it.

I have seen the band sampler in the different JCS issues, it's really a great project. Enjoy stitching it.

Your roses are wonderful and I'm already looking forward to our first roses in the garden - but I have to wait for quite a while as winter has just started, lol.

Michelle, have a great New Year 2014!

Irmeli said...

Happy New Year, I wish you all the best for 2014.
Your postcard stitching are lovely with all those tiny details and your new project looks nice too. And roses, they are wonderful, love them.

Lee Albrecht said...

feliz 2014! uma brincadeira em meu blog... receba meu carinhoso abraço