Friday, August 21, 2015

Oh, Lovely Summer Days!

Today we had cool foggy morning, burning off to blue skies with none of the hazy smoke from northern fires.  The blue skies make me think of a favorite quilt design I created several years ago, for a store that requested a design that used a piece of rectangular canvas (for the leftover strip of canvas stores get from cutting many squares).  That design is called SUMMER DAYS, and looks like this:


I loved working with the variegated Watercolours 214 - "St. Tropez" because of it's muted blues, aquas and yellows.  I've always think it has a very French Provincial look, n'est pas??

And this was one of the first designs I used a "shiny" rayon Ribbon Floss in the background areas, to give it a different look and texture.  Here's an up-close look at the rest of the fun borders I enjoyed stitching around the central blocks:


Looking at this happy piece gave me the idea of quickly graphing a small freebie project for you today that uses the classic star block, as seen in the quilt above.... then adding a fun little border around it.  I'm calling it  A LITTLE SUMMER FUN:



I've graphed it in a fun red, white and blue color scheme, but you can use any handful of threads you want to play around with.  And I've given you two different border treatments to choose from: a striped one or a wavy one.  I've put them both in the graph, but you can just pick your favorite and stitch it on all four sides. Also, although I've graphed the borders in red and white, you could also stitch the red sections with your variegated thread, to spread the color out from the center motif and to give it a more monochromatic look....

Anyway, I hope this fun little project puts a smile on your face and helps you enjoy your own sweet summer days.   And, HAPPY FRIDAY!

7 comments:

Margo said...

Thank you for the cute freebie! The color possibilities are endless!

Happy stitching!

Anonymous said...

Merci pour cette nouvelle grille.
Serait il possible d'avoir un modèle sur le thème de noël? car je vais bientôt commencer mes cartes de vœux et je serais ravie de le faire avec cette technique. Bonne journée de France.
Les ciseaux et les pinceaux de vero

Verna Wilder said...

I love the yellow and blue. And thank you so much for this fun pattern. I can hardly wait to try it.

Southpaw Stitcher said...

Thanks for the adorable freebie! These ornies are such fun to stitch.

Unknown said...

Dear Laura,
I just recently started doing needlepoint. Previously I only did cross stitch, but seeing some of your designs online made me expand my crafting horizons. Your blog with the mini mystery Mondays has been a huge help with working out how to read charts and do new stitches. I've done several of your patterns that you have posted on your blog and some that you posted to Rainbow Gallery. I wanted to thank you very much for being so generous and sharing so many of your charts. They are the perfect size for beginners like me to test their hand at stitching.
Unfortunately the closest specialty needlepoint shop is two hours away, so I've had trouble finding supplies. I've been stitching on 28-count canvas since it is the only sized canvas that is sold at craft stores in my area. I also have limited access to specialty threads and limited funds to use on my new hobby. I've been using DMC threads since it is all I have. I am hesitant to buy any threads online since the color on a computer screen can be very different from the colors in person. I was wondering if you had any advice on the best way to buy threads online or which threads are the best to invest money in? I worry about buying something with my limited funds and it not turning out to be at all what I wanted. Do you have any other advice for new stitchers?
Thank you very much for your time!
Jill

Masha E said...

Thank you for this nice freebie!

Masha E said...

Thank you for this nice freebie!