|
|
|
|
 12.12.18
Today I put the finishing touches on my latest project...
It's a 24 Days Till Xmas Blackwork Pattern. I started the design work at the beginning of January, 2018. The finished example shown here was made by my mom. I could not have completed this pattern project without her help and support. ...so thanks mom!
Anyway this pattern was adapted from a quilt project (see pics in the sidebar), by Nancy Halvorson. The quilt project
 itself was super fun to make, and now every year I get to enjoy seeing it again when I start my countdown to Christmas. It's just so fun and festive, only...
...for my mom's decor it's a little too "country". I mean, what's a daughter to do? How about a BLACKWORK version for her house! Mom was all in, ready to try out the patterns as I completed them. To add more festivus, she decided to make hers using red DMC, which contrasts nicely with the white fabric and gives it an even more contemporary feel.
To call this project "finished", I had to complete the instructions and create an Etsy listing. I'm happy to report that this is now done. Be sure to check it out on Etsy: 24 Days Till Xmas Blackwork Pattern.
I purchased the tri-table stand many years ago, and have not been able to source the exact same one, but this Etsy seller has several styles available: Tri-Table Quilt Stand
Here are some random pics of my progress. I'm using black DMC on tan fabric. You can see the HUGE mistake I've made by, where the word XMAS is not centered within the border of the Days Till Xmas panel. Unfortunately I've made a classic mistake in counting, and the result is the "S" sticking past the border on the right side. Oops.
|
|
|
|
I used to start the panels by basting vertical and horizontal center lines. The thought was this would help me keep the number "straight" while black-working the snowflakes. I quickly found out this was just dumb. It's pretty simple to blackwork a single snowflake, then count to the next/nearest snowflake and blackwork it. Think of it as a snowflake-at-a-time. Marking the top of the panel does help from getting turned-around...just ask mom :)
Mom was working on the snowflake panels for numbers 5 and 6 back in July. These photos show the work-in-progress. The finished panel can be seen in the group photo above.
|
|
|
|
A few attempts at fonts and fills along with various snowflakes...
|
|
|
|
