Some of these have been finished for a few months, but I didn't want to show them here just in case, as they were Christmas gifts. Two samplers for our mothers, both stitched to free charts and entirely from what I had on hand this more-budget-conscious summer -- the one above is the "Skinny Mini" from Samplers and Santas for David's mom, who likes warm tones. I "faded" some of the colors a bit and re-centered a couple of the sections, but otherwise did little to it for a pleasing and appealingly naive piece. The one below is for my mom, who likes cooler tones and blues, the "Hold Fast That Which is Good" by Julie of Sum of Their Stories. It doesn't come with floss colors noted, but I got pretty close to the original, I think (except that I changed the yellow running-stitch border to blue!), which appealed to me for its steadfast simplicity. I made the frames myself -- that is, I glued up the poplar molding lengths that had been beautifully-cut and perfectly-chopped to request by Xylo Art Framing, and I stained and finished them -- the rabbets aren't quite deep enough for mounted needlework and glass together, but with David's help I managed to cobble together a solution with some extra pieces of mat board.
A pincushion for Julia, who has already advanced to some very pin-hungry bobbin laces -- this is based on the Hexagon pincushion here, with the obvious modification of giving it straight sides, since I wanted it to have as much surface area as possible. Some time ago I bought a packet of Liberty scraps from someone on Etsy to use for miniature quilts, but this seemed equally worthwhile, and also fulfilled the "budget-conscious" criteria since the Kona backing is from the remnants I've slowly been acquiring and the stuffing is wool that Julia sheared from her project lamb last year. There is a matching tab on the opposite side, so that it can be secured to a lace pillow for ready access. The pins look small because the pincushion in fact turned out to be quite large indeed, barely fitting in my hand!
This was for nothing, really, though I might convert it into a gift some time if I find a suitable occasion and/or recipient -- the chart is another free one, from Beth Twist of My Heartstring, an enjoyable and pleasantly-quick project. I faded all of the colors, and used some 22-count Hardanger fabric that I've had sitting around for ages since graduating to smaller counts for miniature carpets. Laura is now working as a local store's picture-framer, and she did this for me -- I thought it turned out quite well.
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