The stitching was a little more challenging than the average bear - there are several different (but similar) whites that make up the petals. Likewise with the greens for the leaves and stem.
Once it was finished I set it aside, but not too far aside, on my work table to wait for inspiration.
The thing with cross stitch, for me, anyway, is that I enjoy the stitching, but it seems the common conclusion to many a cross-stitch piece is to frame it and hang it on the wall.
As a quilter, I have recently been looking for ways to finish these pieces in ways that combine both loves - stitchy and quilty.
The Daisy finally answered, and 'whispered to me' that it wanted to become a throw pillow.
I could have just slapped a fabric border on it, but I've been working on a technique to border some of my cross stitch pieces with both fabric and stitching.
The stitchy border is added first, involving a bit of math so the daisy is centered within the border, and the border actually connects nicely.
At this point (shown), it's apparent that all the math and counted stitching actually paid off as the nearly-sewn border on the left matches the stitchy start point on the bottom.
The next steps involve a fairly detailed process to baste a full piece of fabric to the top of the stitchery, then cut away the fabric to expose both the daisy and the border. I haven't quite perfected the process, and made a critical error that had to be fixed with a quick patch-up job.
Once the borders are appliqued onto the stitchery, I added a layer of neutral fabric directly underneath the stitching and as backing, then added batting in between the two neutral fabric layers. I then pin-basted and did a little machine quilting.
I suppose I could have skipped the backing, since this pillow is odd-shaped and won't have a pillow form inside.
I added the layer of fabric between the stitchery and batting because the linen is not a high-enough thread count, I feared, to keep the batting inside over its life.
Then, I machine quilted the pillow top, and trimmed the edge about 3" away from the stitchery border all the way around the perimeter.
The beauty of both the pillow top border fabric and the pillow backing is that the size was perfect for a couple of fat quarters. My stash appreciated the tiny fabric savings withdrawal.
You know the rest of this drill, right? Pillow top, backing placed right sides together and pinned around the perimeter.
Then sewn, leaving an opening, about 3-4" long, at the bottom of the pillow.
Next, I turned the pillow right side out, and stuffed it to the gizzards with fiber fill.
All that remains is to close the opening with some ladder stitches.
And Ta-DA!
The pillow is complete. Can you tell where my boo-boo patch is?
Betcha can't!
I wonder how well this will survive laundering. Must do more testing, but maybe not with this detailed daisy stitchery! At least not right away.
Happy Stitching!
Joan
so pretty!
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