My angelic duties are done! {homespun life: hand embroidery}

As promised yesterday, here are the final finished products from the Stitching Angels project! I started out making a set of coasters:

I picked four birds from the set in similar sizes and complimentary designs (not too many repeated elements, not too many facing the same direction, etc.) and stitched them onto the lower corners of four squares of natural linen. I used stem stitch for the birds themselves, back stitch for legs and feet, satin stitch for their beaks, french knots for eyes, running stitch for accents here and there, and, of course, a lazy daisy (detached chain stitch) for the flower on the pink bird. I used DMC floss in 597 (blue), 3858 (orange), 3722 (pink), and 732 (green). I backed the coasters with squares of pale yellow terry cloth (to absorb that condensation!) and stitched the two sides together with running stitch, using a naturally dyed warm brown embroidery floss purchased from The Barefoot Shepherdess. I decided to leave the edges unfinished so the coasters will develop a “shabby chic” raveled edge over time.

But one project just wasn’t enough, so then I moved on to what Sara called the “softie size” pattern and made a little stuffed bird just for funsies:

It’s a bit misshapen (done in a hurry and not very well planned out!), but I love it all the same. :) The outline is done in stem stitch with two threads of DMC 597 and two threads of DMC 747 to give a variegated look. The satin stitching on his wing and eye and the french knots on his tail were done in DMC 3858, and his legs were backstitched with the same hand-dyed brown that I used on the coasters.I gave him the same pale yellow terry cloth backing that the coasters got, partly because it’s soft and huggable and partly because it’s what I had on hand at the time. Done and done!

So there you have it! Be sure to check out The Split Stitch for everyone else’s fun reveals and to see what other projects folks came up with.