D E S I G N April

D E S I G N  is an interesting project organised by NCC International

It's fascinating way to read about different designers and why stitchers chose their designs.  

This is what participants are asked to do:

What do I have to do for each month's post?

First, you need a WIP by the designer you want to talk about. Doesn't matter if you only started working on it or just put the last few stitches in - you only need to have worked on it at some point during the year. Then write your post, including picture of your current work and the following questions, interview style:

What project are you talking about this month? - Please include the full name of the design, designer and artist (if applicable), and a link to what the design will look like when finished, if possible from the designer's own homepage.

Have you stitched a project by this designer before?

Would you buy/stitch a design by this designer again? Why/Why not?

What made you choose this particular design/designer?

Did you notice anything that distinguished this designer from others? - For example specialty stitches, fractionals, much/little 'confetti', beads, special fibers...

Feel free to add any other information you want to share in your post.

This month I am talking about Ursula Michael and in particular her Words designs.   She is a very prolific designer and her charts can be found in magazines and under different brands such as Imaginating.   My preferred way to purchase her charts is from the CrossStitch site because they sell patterns as downloadable pdfs which you can print off and/or store for use at any time.  This method not only helps with reducing some of the space my stash occupies in my home but I also like to use an iPad when stitching as I like the way I can easily enlarge and zoom in on the current part of the chart.   Not to mention the fact that the pattern is available instantly without any postage costs.

My current WIP by Ursula Michael is Let's Find Rudolph

This is what it will look like when finished

 I haven't made a lot of progress on it but I'm sure I will be inspired to continue stitching it when we get nearer to Christmas.

I'm stitching it on sparkly white evenweave and plan to add some beads at the end.  I think I may have swapped some of the DMC colours though I have stuck to the overall effect of using red, blue and orange/brown.

I have stitched other Ursula Michael designs.  This is the first of the larger Words designs I finished:

It's called Let's Sew and I stitched it on hand dyed evenweave using variegated thread.  Sadly it is in the drawer of  "finished but unfinished" projects as I can't decide what to do with it.   I thoroughly enjoyed stitching it.

This is a card I stitched for a special birthday on hand dyed fabric.  The pattern was in a magazine - Cross Stitch Card Shop I think, although it is now available as a chart pack separately.

I have other charts in my stash by Ursula Michael and would love to stitch them all.  The birthday card was one of a series that I would definitely use for an appropriate occasion - I particularly like the baby rattle.

What distinguishes these designs from others is the clever way that appropriate words are used to create the picture.    With some of the charts I would make slight adjustments to change the spelling to the English rather than American version e.g. Colour not Color though I have learned to live with Floss for Thread.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts on this wonderful designer.  Thanks for popping by.