My Embroidery Sampler
I've decided to finally make an embroidery sampler for myself to keep track of stitches and their uses, particularly ones that please me.  I won't be updating this blog very often as it is a "back burner" project but now that I've made this blog I will feel obligated to work on it periodically.

I started out with a good size piece of muslin that I've backed with Pellon Shape Flex (all purpose Woven fusible interfacing).  It is basically a piece of lightweight 100% cotton fabric with glue on it, allowing it to be attached to another piece of fabric (via ironing).   Just what i was looking for, nice and easy!  I found it at my local Joan's.

My first stitch was the French knot, and since I liked how my tree came out on the CQ diamond that was made for someone else, I decided I needed to have one of those lovely trees for myself. 

One thing I've discovered for myself is that the thickness of the needle affects the size of the knot.  I was using a very thin embroidery needle (size 11) and decided to try a betweens and, lo and behold, I like the look of the knot much better.  It comes out fatter, more pronounced.

I left the third branch empty on purpose because not only do I like the way the branch looks but I also wanted it for my future reference.  The branches almost disappear with all those French knots and it is hard to see what exactly I did to make the branch.

 I fooled around with colors as you will see.

This heart is made using the BASQUE stitch, which is basically a twisted loop stitch. I've made this heart before on a CQ diamond that was donated and I wanted one for myself!   I used 2 strands of DMC floss.  The inside of the heart is decorated with a lattice stitch (2 strands floss) held down (couched) with 1 strand of yellow DMC floss at each intersection.

I am in the process of embroidering some S shapes and such around the heart, using the stem stitch.

  I need to figure out how to make better enlargements!