Quaker aux Clefs by Jardin Prive. This would have been finished sooner, but life events prevented me from stitching. I suffered withdrawals, but I’m OK now.
I changed a few of the colors because the colors the chart called for didn’t resemble the model. I know that colors can “change” or appear different depending upon the surrounding colors, but there was no way the peachy color of the vase and medallion outlines was ever going to resemble the pink of the butterfly. I’m so glad I modified the colors, because I love these colors so much. I can’t get over it. They make me so happy.
This piece was a case of irresistible start-itis. I tried to decide what sort of finishing treatment I wanted to do, and I only wanted it to sit on a table, inviting you to pick it up. I thought I’d make a hemstitch and it would be pretty, pretty, all done. But the scrap I stitched this on wasn’t big enough for a standard hemstitch. I decided on a picot-edged pulled thread edging. That’s sort of what I ended up with after a few adventures. The most amusing adventure was with the light green. I thought I was using the original color. I certainly meant to. But when I had to cut a second length, the newer stitches weren’t the same color. Somehow during a previous project, I had wound a different color around the stitchbow. I figured out what color that was, and continued stitching with it.
I began the first step of the picot edge: pulled satin stitches. Next I was supposed to pull around the satin stitches in a “V” shape, after which I would tuck under the edge and hemstitch it. I started to do that with little success. I decided to tuck the edges under and hem it without the typical hemstitch, which amounted to just tacking it down on the backside (see below). Then I was going to do the final pulled stitches for the picot edge. Only by that time I was in love and my heart said it was done. So it’s done like this, and I’m so happy. I’m in love with the colors and the piece.
Here’s a peek at the back and the tacking of the hem.
Vitals:
Quaker aux Clefs by Jardin Prive
Stitched one over two on Lakeside Linens 40-ct Oyster Mist
Fibers used: DMC 152, 223, 407, 522, 926, 3022, 3051b 3768, 3859
Happy Stitching! 🙂
Raised by Poodles 