The Four Musketeers

Sheep! I am enjoying the sheep fabrics at the moment, and have several other animal print fabrics to try out (moving on to chickens!). This material was seen at the Ardingly Quilt Fair in a mixed pack of prints and was one of those 'my goodness I absolutely HAVE TO HAVE THIS FABRIC!!!' moments. It is a Moda print from the 'Darling Little Dickens' collection, isn't it gorgeous?

Everything about this stitchscape is c.u.t.e, from the sheep to the stars to the daisies. The daisies I have treated very simply and worked straight stitches in every petal with a french knot in the centre. Pretty, don't you think?

The coat of the sheep is printed as tiny little dots so I have gone over every dot with a one strand, one twist french knot- the smallest I can get. It makes the most amazing texture and keeps the integrity of the sheep print without losing their personalities. The four musketeers!

Other stitches used in this little 'scape are bullion knots, whip stitch, running stitch, straight stitch, back stitch, french knots, cross stitch... the usual suspects. I hope that you aren't getting bored with my little 'scape run downs, I know some of these stitches can be a bit repetitive.

If you would like to have a practise or a chat about some stitches in person, I will be doing a demonstration afternoon at the Tunbridge Wells branch of Closs & Hamblin on Mother's Day (14th March) so bring your Mother along! Closs & Hamblin (C&H Fabrics) are doing a whole series of events in all of their major branches throughout March to celebrate 85 years of the business so my little afternoon is just one of many things. Hope to see you there!