My Mother, My Friend

I wanted to stitch this piece from the first second I saw it in the May/June, 2010 JCS issue. I didn't know what I could do with it though, so I just kept admiring the magazine photo. Finally I found a Cole's Quilt kid for whom this could work. It's a stretch of the quilt theme definition so I won't be disappointed if they decide not to use it for that quilt when they look at with the other squares. The design in JCS was stitched on pink gingham Graziano linen. I loved that look, but I'm perfectly happy with the look on good ole 16 ct white Aida. The only change was substituting some little flowers at the top where the Mother and daughter's initials would go. Got it out of my system now. The designer is Deborah Thorpe.

Beach Dreams

I was in the mood to stitch something 'beachy', but I didn't really know what I would use it for. Then I found one of the Cole's Quilt kids who liked beaches. I downloaded the design from PatternsOnLine, kind of taking a chance on what it really looked like since the photo wasn't too detailed. After signing up, I wasn't sure I really wanted to stitch all that sand, sea and sky. I really just liked the motifs. But I was committed so I bit the bullet. Turned out that I loved stitching this piece. I did the sky in 1/2 x-stitch so it went pretty fast. And I'm very satisfied. The photo may look like the fabric is blue, but it's really white. The design is by Sharon Pope.