Sinister Craftiness

Souvenir of Paris by Blackbird Designs
St. Valentine’s Blend R&R linen (30 count)
Stitched with GAST and WDW

This pretty little stocking ornament comes from Blackbird Designs’ project book Joyeux Noël which was published in 2009.  I stitched this for Thing One to commemorate his school trip to France this year.  Around the Eiffel Tower, key chains are a ubiquitous cheap souvenir; Thing One negotiated a vendor down to €1 for five key chains, so he brought home enough little Eiffel Towers for everybody and then some.

Jack O’Lantern, Trick or Treat, Candy Corn
from ‘Tis Halloween by Blackbird Designs
18th Century Brown R&R linen (30ct)
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

I was afraid these Halloween stockings would prove too distracting to stick to the month-by-month patterns, and I was right.  Also, it doesn’t help when a four year-old taskmaster studies the booklet, chooses his favorites, and picks out a new stocking to stitch as soon as one is finished.  No UFOs allowed on his watch!  I think I can stop at just three, though …

It wouldn’t be Halloween without a few stocking “ghosts”:

May Flowers by Blackbird Designs
Lily of the Valley:  Sea Fog R&R linen (30ct)
Tulip Border:  Apple Brown Bindy R&R linen (30ct)
May Basket:  “Woo”steria Blend R&R linen (30ct)
Backing fabric:
At Water’s Edge by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

After griping about nasty surprises with fabric recently, I have to say it’s fun to try out so many different R&R linens with these stockings.  My favorites this month were Sea Fog (green), and “Woo”steria Blend (blue-grey).  As for my favorite May stocking, well, it has to be one of my favorite flowers, the lily of the valley.

Vonna at The Twisted Stitcher has just posted a great tutorial on finishing these little guys.  (I must confess to the quick and dirty route of using a sewing machine to stitch them up.)

The Blackbird Designs blog reports that their new holiday project book, Joyeux Noel, is on its way, and the August stockings are not far behind.  As much as I love getting new things, I’d like to get June and July’s stockings finished before August shows up!  (If I don’t get distracted by all the cute Halloween stocking designs in the meantime.)

March of the Daffodils by Blackbird Designs
Spring’s Arrival:  Korty’s Special Blend R&R linen (30ct)
Quaker Fragments:  Linen WDW linen (30ct)
Wild Clover:  Linen WDW linen (30ct)
Backing fabric:
At Water’s Edge by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

April Showers by Blackbird Designs
April Showers:  Old Mill Java R&R linen (30ct)
Oh Sweet Pea:  Korty’s Special Blend R&R linen (30ct)
Spring Wreath:  Old Mill Java R&R linen (30ct)
Backing fabric:
At Water’s Edge by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

Two more months of stockings done!  I backed these springtime stockings with the pastels from At Waters Edge.  Between this set and the darker Madeira colors, the year of stockings should be covered.  My favorite of this set is the April Showers stocking:  the color palette is so delicate and pretty, I like tulips, and rain is a part of life here.  (In fact, it was raining while I took these pictures.)  I haven’t received the June and July stockings from my autoship program yet, so once I finish the May set, I can pretend I’m caught up.

As if there weren’t enough cute stockings this year, the soon-to-be-released Blackbird Designs book, Tis Halloween, features 13 stockings in addition to other Halloween projects.  Other Halloween goodies on their way in the mail include Just Nan’s newest Charm Garden pin, Pumpkin Jack, and the next tin in this year’s series, Spooky.  Not sure when the BBD book will show up; I think the Just Nan things are arriving in shops August 24 … but have forgotten where I saw that tidbit.

By the Chimney With Care by Blackbird Designs
Auld Lang Syne:  Parchment Legacy linen (29/30ct)
Winter Carnation:  Linen WDW linen (30ct)
Happy Birthday:  Natural linen (30ct)
Backing fabric:
Madeira by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

Love is in the Air by Blackbird Designs
Sweetheart Sampler, February’s Violet, Be Mine
Parchment Legacy linen (29/30ct)
Backing fabric:
Madeira by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

It looks like laundry day:  the January and February stockings are finished, and the March stockings are well underway.  Throughout the year Blackbird Designs will be releasing a series of little stockings, three designs per month, so at the end of the year there will be 36 stocking ornaments.  It would be easy to stitch up just one or two for a gift tag, posy holder, treat bag, or small gift, but they are all so cute and stitch up so quickly that I’m officially addicted and will try to do all of them.

They are all stitched on 30 count linen; the charts suggest various types of R&R linen, but my local needlework shop doesn’t carry that, so I used Legacy linen instead, one of my favorites.  For the backs of the stockings, I bought a Layer Cake of Madeira (a Blackbird Designs fabric, of course), so there are a lot of lovely patterns to choose from, and the colors coordinate nicely with the stitched pieces.  Finally, I attached loops of 4mm silk ribbon for hanging.

Meanwhile, The Gimlet is thrilled that an outdoor project has been removed from his to-do list.  Our dilapidated, lichen- and moss-encrusted fence looks like a mess from a distance, but the shabby chic photo possibilities are too good to pass up, at least until all these stockings are done.