OH SAY CAN YOU SEA

‘Oh Say Can You Sea’ kicks off one of my new ‘collections’. Each design in the series is offered as both a drum (I’ve called it the ‘short stack drum’ to refer to it’s height) and the small pillow (this one is named the ‘flap jack pillow’ because I just like naming things…it also makes conversation with my husband easier: ‘I finished that new pillow today honey…’  ‘which pillow dear?’ as he looks at a room filled with small cross-stitch pillows…you get the idea 😉

All 6 charts in this collection are designed, finished & ready to go at their appropriate release date (about every 2 months!) With each ‘season’, I worked on the drum design first. Once I was pleased with each drum…I took all of the elements & re-worked them into the pillow (each pillow in the collection will be the same size). I’m not sure what was more fun for me…the original design process or playing with the elements like a jigsaw puzzle to make it an appealing small, bowl-filler type of cushion!

‘Oh Say’ is the only design in the collection to have a play on words…Bill & I had a car list of sayings (yes…we brainstorm in the car) & I had 2 sayings that were somewhat patriotic…but I didn’t need 2 patriotic, so we just made this one work & ta-da…beach got it’s own holiday! (it really should you know)

‘Oh Say’ features a lot of fun, beachy imagery like jellyfish…wait – what? Well, at least in my world, jellyfish are cute!

 

The perspective for ‘Oh Say’ was as if you were underwater with the seaweed, fishies, & crabs (I HAD to put at least one crab in there as a memory of the time I got pinched by a crab on my foot as a young girl at the beach!)

 

I spent a little time this morning planning out my ‘Beach Bowl’ – a base of sea glass, and a bit of beach stitching. I have a few other beach smalls to add & just a few shells to tuck in here & there.

 

I would be remiss not to mention the great gals that were a huge help to this project!

Stephanie (Fabrics by Stephanie) dyed this fantastic new shade – Colonial Parchment. It will be used for the entire collection. It is a great shade to keep in your linen supply!

Lois (Lady Dot Creates) dyed all of the lovely shades of velveteen that are included with your pattern. Yes, she dyed, cut & packaged each of those 9×10 pieces so I wouldn’t have to!! That is also her chenille featured on each of the pillow finishes!

Cecile & Rachel (Just Another Button Company) – Pin-Mini’s – the petite edition of their popular Just Pins – Pin-Mini’s feature 3 pins and don’t you love the new Blue Crab pin that Cecile created?

All of the ordering information is included on the chart – charts can be ordered from any of the list of shops I keep on my website. Many are providing auto-ship programs as well.

 

Enough playing with my Beach Bowl…better get back to work!

Enjoy the Stitch,

Cathy, Hands On Design