little bits

Here are some of the miscellaneous small items that I've stitched.

1. Dragonfly Magnet

Designer: me

Fabric: 25ct Mint Lugana
Design Size: approx. 3" x 2"
Start Date: February 1, 2001
End Date: February 26, 2001

This was for a February magnet exchange and the recipient was Heather D. I designed this myself because I didn't have a magnet-sized dragonfly chart on hand. This dragonfly literally has beady little eyes, and I used pearl 032 Kreinik blending filament and silver DMC metallic on the wings. The legs and body were backstitched with aquamarine braid.

2. Bear Magnet

Designer: good-natured girls

Fabric: 25ct Antique White Lugana
Design Size: 2.5" x 1.5"
Start Date: early May 2001
End Date: a couple of days later

This was a secret gift for Shelley H. who manages a friendly cross stitch community. She loves bears, and I stitched this as a very small token of my appreciation for all her hard work. The instructions for making these magnets came from Shelley's website, and one of the reds was given to me in one of her floss exchanges.

3. August Gem Fairy

Designer: Kooler Design Studio

Fabric: 25ct Antique White Lugana
Design Size: approx. 3" x 5"
Start Date: July 2001
End Date: August 11, 2001

This magnet was a birthday gift for my daughter, Melody. The design was from the book "365 Tiny Cross Stitch Designs" published by American School of Needlework. I didn't like their DMC conversion from Anchor so I substituted some of the greens and pinks with colors more to my liking. I added pearl blending filament and green petite beads to the wings. I recharted the face and hands over-one; her original charted eyes were plain, black > > and I wanted a little more detail; so I added green irises, an eyebrow, and a mouth, and changed the eyelashes to the backstitch color of the hair. At this point, could you tell that my favorite magnet fabric is 25ct Lugana? I love linen for large projects, but Lugana is great for the smaller items; it's nice and even, and doesn't get wrinkled the way linen does.