When Krista introduced Calliope's Meadow, I must have ordered the kit immediately. It's just so lovely, and I really liked the Arts & Crafts vibe of the design. It reminds me so much of wall stencils I've seen in historic Craftsman homes. It fascinates me how the traditional Greek embroideries seem to echo throughout time.
Anyhow, I have a special project in mind, so I needed to make a few changes to the dimensions of the design and while I was at it, I added yellow flowers:
The colors are what came with the kit, except for the yellow flowers, but those colors are in the Avlea palette: DMC 676 (the light gold) and DMC 832 (the golden olive backstitching). For my project, I needed a somewhat smaller design area, so I reduced the width by simply stitching 5 large carnations across in lieu of the 7 in the chart. I also needed to make it ever so slightly shorter, so I deleted two stitches (4 threads) between the outer border and the inner design area.
I believe I started stitching this a week ago, so I'm hoping to finish in the next couple of weeks. I'm in no hurry, though, because this design is a pleasure to stitch!
Box top is all stitched! I'm waiting on some box making supplies in the mail, so I think I'll begin stitching the smalls to go into the box. I want this to be a big box of flowers, so it might be a bit over the top when it's all finished. This was such a pleasure to stitch, I'm a bit sad to be finished. It's smaller than the original design so it will fit on top of the box, in case you're wondering why there aren't as many flowers as Krista charted. This size would also make a very nice cushion cover, IMO. Krista cut the fabric for this one with lots of room for hem work, so I was able to place this version sideways on the fabric as cut, and half of the groundcloth included in the kit is left over to stitch other pieces of my mad plan. I sure hope it turns out OK, after all of the blabbing I've done about my dream of an Avlea embroidery box!
Here's an update. This seems to almost stitch itself, once it gets going. I hope to finish this weekend, but it's the first leg of a project that will take shape over the next several weeks. This will be the top of my embroidery box, but I'm waiting for a few goodies to come in the mail so the embroidery smalls can come together - I'm also wanting to make an embroidered needle book, pin cushion, and project bag. I love this design so much, I wanted to incorporate it into something I will use all the time. I'm currently auditioning fabric to cover the rest of the box, which is mostly why the yellow flowers were added. Because who wouldn't love to open up a box of flowers every day and find embroidery goodies inside?
This is looking fabulous. Love those yellow flowers.
This looks great! Fun fact: this border originates from a lavish bed tent curtain panel that belonged to May Morris, daughter of William Morris, one of the founders of the arts and crafts movement!
Very nice!
A WEEK ?!?!? This is beautiful! Love the pattern and your color choices. Your ability to adapt is so inspiring. This project is on my (very long) wish list of Avlea patterns. After seeing this, I might need to up this a bit on the list. Can't wait to see more!