Holly and Ivy Sampler: center section
Time for a happy dance break: the center section is finished!
I am so glad to be done with the Celtic knots … between the fractionals and keeping track of the backstitching, the knots took a long time to complete. By comparison, the candles and greenery were a quick stitch.
Almost all the greenery is made up of blended threads. More beads, and more sparkle! Also, I chose to customize the initial and date blocks to more closely match the alphabet of the carol.
This section is pretty enough to be a finished project on its own; I’m excited to see what the rest of it will look like.
I’ll work on the holly and ivy garlands next; with more fractionals and fiddly backstitching ahead, I wonder how long it will take? To keep the whitework neat and clean, I’m saving that section for last.
September 23rd, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Hi – I enjoy your work being a newbie cross stitcher myself. I hope that I can work my way up to the chatelaine designs (i want to do her peacock mandala). I have a question. I saw that you did JN butterflies, blossoms and bees (in fact I can’t find a picture of it anywhere else). Do you know where I can purchase the chart? I don’t even care about the embellishments.
September 23rd, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Hi Christina,
Hmm … I’m trying to remember where I got it … It’s originally a class piece, but I think I must have bought it on eBay. Good luck!
If you find a chart and need embellishments, Susan Clarke charms and buttons are very similar to the Just Nan charms. Threadneedle Street carries the Susan Clarke products; your local shop and other online shops may, too.
The Chatelaine Peacock Garden Mandala is so pretty, and I am so pathetically slow about stitching it — I’ll get it done one of these years!