Redwork Tree Skirt Part 5: The Final Reveal

To start at the beginning of this journey...
Redwork Tree Skirt Part One
Redwork Tree Skirt Part Two
Redwork Tree Skirt Part Three
Redwork Tree Skirt Part Four

The Redwork Tree Skirt project if finally complete. My mom put the whole thing together & even made for accessories for my little sistar's house. So, grab some egg nog & a gingerbread man...

Heather drew eight designs for her tree skirt

Embroidering on route to Thanksgiving in New Orleans 2013

Double acorn completed in redwork

Birds completed in redwork with turquoise accents

Mom completed the tree skirt 

Heather's tree with the skirt underneath

Another view of Heather's tree

Mom made a table runner & mug rug out of leftover fabric

Miniature stocking Mom made out of leftover fabric grace Heather's mantle

All lit up for Christmas with the completed tree skirt beneath

It is so gratifying to see a project completed, appreciated, & on display. What a great family project.

Happy Holidays & Happy Stitching!

Embroidered Portraits featured at LARAC 2014

Tonight is the night! The Opening Reception for this year's Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council's (LARAC) Holiday Shop! The reception is from 5:00-7:00 pm at the LARAC Gallery, 7 Lapham Place in Glens Falls, NY. The shop will be open November 13, 2014 through December 24, 2014-

LARAC Holiday Shop in Glens Falls, NY through Christmas Eve*

Aprilsongstress Designs is just one of the many local businesses featured. Stop in & see my display of embroidered portraits, & check out what everyone else has on display!

Check out my Instagram page^

If you'd like to meet me, I will be at the Opening Reception around 6:00 pm. I hope to see you there!

Happy Stitching,

*Image by LARAC: Click HERE

^@aprilsongstress on Instagram

Redwork Tree Skirt- Part 4: Finish-Along is complete

Well, I did it! I finished all of the redwork for the custom tree skirt. The only hang up now, is that my mother (& my partner in crime when it comes to putting these pieces into quilts & things) is laid up with a broken ankle. But my part is complete. & done in time to have successfully completed the UFO finish-along!

Panel no. 7 is traced out & tools are gathered

Panel no. 7 is complete

Underside of panel no. 8 in progress

Panel  no. 8 is complete

I have to say, that I really dig redwork with a touch of turquoise. It came out wicked cool as snowflakes. Can't wait to see the whole tree skirt together & underneath Heather's tree next Christmas!

Oh! & a huge "Thank you" to Vicki of the GYB party & all my new followers!

Redwork Tree Skirt- Part 3: Finish-Along is coming along...

Well, I have finished panels 5 & 6 for my sistar's tree skirt. Hopefully I can get 7 & 8 done this weekend. I have book club Saturday with 3 of my closest friends & should be able to start 7 there, as I have it already traced out. I'll have to stitch early on Sunday because my Seattle Seahawks play the 49ers in the evening & there is no way I can stitch during that game. Too crazy!

Oh, follow me on twitter to see what I am stitching in the moment & what I am watching while I do it. Twitter- @aprilsongstress with the hashtag #MovieToStitchTo...

Panel no. 5 completed

Gathering the tools of the trade to start stitching

Panel no. 6 is finished

I'll keep you updated on my progress! How are you doing on your Finish-Alongs?

Click here for an UPDATE!

Redwork Tree Skirt- Part 2: Finish-Along here I come...

So... (Wait. I start a lot of blog posts with "So..." I really need to fix that. It's so boring.)

Here we go...

I have decided that 2014 is my year. I will turn 40 in April, & I am sick & tired of waiting for my life to start. I am living it right now. It is nearly half over, right? What am I waiting for? Change isn't coming. Change happens all the time. Whether we are expecting it or not.

This year I have already started another blog that I have been meaning to start for a few years now. I've started keeping a diary again. I re-worked my Etsy shop to focus only on embroidered portraits, child's drawings in embroidery, & embroidered hand prints. All custom orders. I'm continuing on the weight-loss/ healthy me journey I started in Sept 2012. (Thanks for the gym membership Mom & Dad!) & today, I am starting the Finish-Along project hosted by &Stitches!

What UFOs of the embroidery kind do I have lurking? Lots! The 1st requiring my immediate attention is the UnFinished Object know as my sistar's Christmas present.

Last night I finished the 4th panel of 8. 4 down, 4 to go! I think I may add some turquoise (DMC #3846) to the 2nd panel too!

Finished panels 2, 3, 4

Next step: tracing out panel #5 & get stitching!


BTW: There is no antonym for procrastination.

Click for an UPDATE!

Redwork Tree Skirt- Part 1

Most of the items I am currently working on are for gifts, so I can't share them yet. However, this particular custom redwork project was designed by my little sistar, so I can start posting the process.

Heather was (& is) the kind of kid that would go sneaking through the house looking for the Christmas presents that mom would wrap & hide throughout the house. One year she found the coveted Cabbage Patch dolls & had the nerve to hint that what she really wanted was a bald boy doll with a tooth. So mom had to brave the stores again to replace the blond, blue-eyed girl doll with the requisite bald boy.

She also loved to guess her gifts before opening. This was not a problem on her birthday, but at Christmas it was annoying. This was because we are very close in age & mom would buy us the same things but in different colors. So, I had to watch what she was doing so I could open the same gift at the same time (pink & purple hairdryers, Walkmans, dolls).

Anyway... Heather drew the redwork patterns out for me & I am just trying to get them done in time. Here goes...

Original drawing by Heather Dolton- Acorns

 Above is one of Heather's original drawings for her new tree skirt. She then had to scan the drawings & send them to me via email because she lives in Las Vegas & I'm back home in Upstate NY.

After adjusting the size of the drawings, I was able to create the patterns. Below I am tracing the pattern out on cotton muslin using a #2 pencil.

Using pencil to trace the pattern

First stitch

 I started stitching on the long trip to New Orleans to see my brother & his family over Thanksgiving. I got quite a bit done: 2 whole panels (out of 8). I could have done more but the highway in Alabama was so bumpy that I couldn't embroider without poking myself & bleeding all over the fabric.

Finished first panel

Second panel is started- bird

Heather chose DMC floss #321, which is a typical redwork color that I always have on hand.

Tools of the trade

Starting panel 3- pine cones

I've gotten a bit farther on panel 3. I should finish it today. Some of the other panels are not as complex, so they should go a little faster... I'll keep you posted on my progress.


Click for UPDATE.