sweet berry stitchery

Back in late winter I started this sweet cross stitch piece* in hopes of spring and summer.   The berries and the blossoms drew me in very quickly!  (In the middle of winter, berries and blossoms are a very good marketing technique.)   I used to work at a strawberry field when I was in high school and so I have this special place in my heart for berries.  I like them freshly picked and warm from the sun.      

This cross stitch piece called for Weeks Dye Works embroidery floss and this was my first time using them.  The Weeks Dye Works flosses are over dyed flosses and they have a variation in color that runs throughout them.  They add a lot of interest with the variations in colors but they are a bit pricey so I just purchased only the threads that I thought would make the biggest impact like on the berries and the bird.  Since the leaves had so many colors in them, I used some WDW floss and some DMC floss.

I really enjoyed working on this cross stitch piece.  It was fun with all of the bright colors and I was able to finish it off just in time for berry season.

The finished piece ended up being an odd size.  I really didn't want to go with the expense of ordering a custom built frame and my framer (my husband) was way too busy to build me a frame any time soon, so I set off for Joann's with a coupon in hand.   Thankfully I found a 10 X 10 shadow box and was able to paint it to match.  I sewed Ric Rac around the outside of the piece to give it some definition.  (it looked lost in the frame without it)  I like how it turned out and I guess trying to work within my framing budget forced me to try something new and I really like the end result.

Now, we need to head to the berry patch and pick us some nice ripe strawberries!  They'll be gone before we know it.  Thankfully, I'll be enjoying my cross stitch all summer long.

* The cross stitch pattern is by Bonnie Sullivan of All Through the Night.