Leopards, Butterflies, and Illuminated Manuscripts

I didn't show the finished Leopard, and now seems to be a good time to rectify that mistake. I suppose I'm the only one that knows the bottom right of the finished piece is one stitch off, but it still looks good. Now more people know my mistake. Oh, well, that is -- in the Chinese version of ultra-perfection -- more proof that I am not infallible and make mistakes, as if I didn't have hundreds of ways of telling that without the Leopard.

 I believe this particular piece was adapted from a painting by Joadoor -- and it was. I suggest checking out more of his work. I googled him and found some lovely work, many of which I wouldn't mind adapting for cross-stitch.

This is the original and I definitely see the differences. I do think the artist adapting the painting for cross-stitch did a good job of rendering Joadoor's striking work.






I doubt you will remember it, but I originally (as in ~20 years ago) stitched a piece from a cross-stitch magazine. It was adapted from an original illuminated manuscript and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, and so I stitched it in a feverish week that resulted in the first piece of a project. Now, 20 years later, I am stitching the companion piece to give to a good friend because I think she will appreciate it.

This is the original done ~20 years ago.  My sister Tracy sent it to me, along with a whole lot of DMC floss. The companion piece, published in Cross Stitch and Country Crafts a couple issues later can be mated to this to make a pillow. I decided on the full piece so as not to lose the rest of the work.

All these years later I find the colors are more vibrant than the original, but still beautiful. I have a long way to go to finish this one. Suitably framed, they will make a lovely gift.

While not cross-stitch, this is one of a set of pillow cases I began last year as a gift. Other projects have taken precedence, not only because they are cross-stitch, but because I'm still honing my embroidery skills. Once the stitching is finished, the pillow cases will be washed (to remove the embroidery lines), ironed, wrapped, and sent to someone who loves butterflies almost as much as I do.



I have found that when someone receives a gift that is handmade, it says more than the usual happy whatever day or merry Xmas. It says that you took the time to choose something for the person and stitched it yourself. No matter how small or how complex, the gift that usually ends up in pride of place in someone's heart is the handmade gift. My mother kept horrible clay projects I did decades ago when I was a child; she kept everything. Going through all those paintings, drawings, sketches, ceramics, and thread work is a lifetime of memories, and she kept them all.

Happy stitching.