Swan Lake

Hi friends! I would like to show you a gift I received from our friend Mary. She went to an estate sale and bought a collection of linens. She gifted me with these lovely guest towels since they have pink and she thought of me. She also included the sweet pink notecards. Thank you once again Mary for your generous gifts.

I have been stitching away on Swan Lake and it is finished! Marly you were right! I did not even know I was going to add pink to this pattern! I really did not. I thought this would be the only sampler thus far in my AotH that does not have some version or shade of pink. Truly. Until I got to the swans. Oh dear. Yep. On this linen, the called for DMC 3865 does not show up. So then Ecru? I could not get myself to stitch Ecru swans. I just did NOT want cream swans. No.

Now I know what you are thinking. Pink swans?!? Is Vickie crazy? Quite possibly! I stitched the first leg of each cross stitch in VMSS Baby Pink and White, then followed through with  the second half of the cross stitch in B5200 on top. Keep in mind, I am doing this so the swans show up on my 25ct cream Dublin linen, NOT because I fancy pink swans.😉 This is how it turned out.

What do you think? They are still not very dark. They have the faintest pink to them. Their back wing is half VMSS Baby Pink and White and half  DMC Ecru.

Once again I had to make many, many color changes to this pattern to make it look anything like the pattern cover picture.
Instead of CC Camouflage, I used DMC 3023 and647
Instead of CC Magnolia Blossom, I used VMSS Baby Pink and White and B5200
Instead of GA Parchment, I used Ecru
Instead of GA Tin Bucket, I used DMC 3768
Instead of GA Toasted Barley, I used DMC 644
Instead of WDW Dolphin, I used DMC 169

The DMC alternatives given in the pattern did not match up to the picture. That is why I had to pick my own.

I found the capital letter N in my BBD Honeysuckle Manor pattern book. I just used the satin stitch as directed in the pattern.😊

Yes, Brian and I are married 25 years this year. October 3rd is our Wedding Anniversary.

Okay. Am I the only person who has NOT read Jane Eyre? Maybe. I thought it was time I fixed that. So I listened to it instead.😉 I really liked this book a lot, but wowza, this is a looOooOng book.
Jane Eyre is the story of a small, plain-faced, intelligent, and passionate English orphan. Jane is abused by her aunt and cousin and then attends a harsh charity school. Through it all she remains strong and determinedly refuses to allow a cruel world to crush her independence or her strength of will. A masterful story of a woman's quest for freedom and love. Jane Eyre is partly autobiographical, and Charlotte Brontë filled it with social criticism and sinister Gothic elements. A must read for anyone wishing to celebrate the indomitable strength of will or encourage it in their growing children.

I would like to offer a pattern as a giveaway to all of my follower friends. Once again this is a pattern that was taken from a magazine. It is two pages, and I will be folding these pages to fit into a business size envelope. This giveaway is open to all of my friends anywhere. I will draw a name on Monday the 28th of August. Just leave a comment on this post if you would like to receive this pattern.

I have been very busy with projects not involving cross stitch at all. Well, I did organize all my linen. And all of my patterns.😲I hope to be back soon. Until next time, have a blessed day my friends!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie