Blackwork...

...or in my case "bluework."  It might be hard to tell but this is actually navy blue.

I had seen some interesting repetitive needlework patterns on Pinterest and I was intrigued.  I had never heard of blackwork...but once I started checking it out I was hooked.

I bought a sampler pattern and have pinned several patterns on my  needlework pinterest board.
Using a combination of the patterns...I put together my own little sampler....and have yet to frame it.

I have always been a cross stitch fan...and always will be...but you are constantly committed to the pattern.  What I like about blackwork is once you have the flow of a particular motif...you can just keep on repeating without having to look at the pattern. This makes it a good project when visiting with friends or watching TV. There will be more blackwork in my life...or versions of it.  

Can you spy the missing stitches below?  Since I haven't framed it yet....I can fix it.  Procrastination pays off now and then.

I did a small sampler in the Pinterst inspired journal....when I had Ellen's book.  

Background Stitches

Several years ago I stitched this blackwork sampler (actually did it in navy blue).  I was intrigued with the repetitive patterns and variety of stitches. I wrote about here in this post.

When I was thinking about my November project I wanted to have a part I could do while I was here with Margie in Colorado since the month would be 1/2 over when I got home. Blackwork stitching came to mind...very portable so the perfect travel project.  I thought a sampler background would have a collage feel....and be very different from anything else I've done. 

This is the basic idea....a stitched sampler background with fabric for the foreground and a small vase of fused posies in the color scheme. And of course it will include a button or two and maybe a few beads. I'm going back to the 6x6 size...so it's a tiny little piece.                                            

This is where I was yesterday....it moves along pretty fast and I'm getting more done this evening. I will admit that I'm not 100% sure how it's going to work when I add in fabric elements....but I'm enjoying the stitching. We'll see.

Joyful Puttering...

Collecting...Creating...Connecting!

When Becky was visiting we had a long list of things we wanted to do but it was impossible to check everything off. (We really need to live next door to one another.)  One thing we didn't get to was sorting through my boxes and baskets of snippets. It may be hard to believe...but that's fun for some of us. These snippets include punched squares, collage scraps, watercolor and doodles experiments, cutouts from cards and catalogs, and about a thousand other little bits of this and that.

The idea of packaging together bits and pieces from my vast collection of art stuff has been rattling around in my head for a VERY long time.  These packages might include special papers, buttons, ribbons, fabric, card stock, punched squares and shapes, yarns and strings, felt, beads....I could go on and on.  I have been collecting my whole life!

This crazy hodgepodge of stuff is not exactly what I had in mind, but it's the perfect by-product of my time with Becky.

After she left I started going through some of my snippets...made a "quickie" logo...and packaged some "Joyful Puttering" for Becky.

Keep an eye out...it went out in the mail this morning.

Hodgepodge

What a great word...I love the synonyms.

I think it's a good word for our words and images journal!

This is the backside. You can see it includes a variety of fun stuff...including this tiny little blackwork piece and an old postcard that was in my grandmother's collection. Becky can use the snippets for card making, collaging, journaling...or whatever.


I think I'm on to something.  Thanks for talking it through with me Becky!

It's time!