Hello and Happy Sunday to all of you lovely stitchers out there!
It’s a glorious sunny day here today. The holiday is almost over and it’s time to show you what I was sewing while I was away. I didn’t intend to stitch this project initially. I had planned to sew something completely different but that didn’t work out. Cirque des Coeurs from Ink Circles was, however, already on my “must buy” list to follow on from the other Ink circles design called Cirque des Cercles that I’ve been doing as part of a SAL with Claire.
I’m going to show you the entire completion of the project in one post and hopefully you won’t get bored. It’s a good design to split up into manageable chunks.
The thread I used is called Morning Meadows by Threadworx which I bought from Sew and So. It was recommended by Claire and comes in large skeins. This one has shades of mauve, purple and green. It’s lovely to work with too.
It isn’t easy to find Ink Circles charts in the UK but my OH found The Crafty Kitten web site at Christmas when he bought me the Cirque des Cercles chart. I have to say that Dawn from The Crafty Kitten saved me from having no project to do on holiday because she pulled out all the stops to get the chart to me in time for me going away. I rang her on a Saturday afternoon, not expecting anyone to answer the phone and I received the chart the following Monday, the day which we’d planned to travel. Amazing service! Thank you to Dawn for going the extra mile 
. For me to be without my needle and thread on holiday is unthinkable. I’m so pleased she could help. What a relief it was for my OH to find the parcel at the door before we left. Lucky for him, he wasn’t going to end up being dragged around every craft shop I could find, while on holiday, in my search for something to keep me quiet occupied.
I love all of the curves and secondary shapes on this design. This close up shows the lovely thread colours.
This next stage reminds me of part of the profile of an old sewing machine. Even when I’m on holiday, I dream about my mean green sewing machine . Can you see the little duck and a snail?
Another close up…
Now, the bottom right hand section is filled in. Time to scroll the frame and finish the top.
I started with the outline of the hearts. You could almost forget that the design is full of hearts until you look more closely.
Here it is, finished . I really enjoyed stitching this design. Now, I just need to put it in a frame and get it up on the wall.
I was going to save revealing this project for a while but WordPress have just informed me that Sewing Beside the Sea is one year old today. That was a surprise to me as I thought this blog was much older than that. I must be mixing it up with my other blog Oh Sew Tempting. Maybe it is something to do with me getting old too!
I hope you are enjoying crafting today .
Avis x
Sewing Beside the Sea 
textiledreamer
/ August 31, 2014Another lovely project! I especially like the subtle colour changes of the thread.
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ August 31, 2014Thank you. It makes so much difference to how quickly you can work when you only use one thread 🙂
minerva
/ August 31, 2014Lovely design Avis and gorgeous colours too. How long has it taken you to complete this project? Those Ink Circles charts are really something special aren’t they?
Alison x
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ August 31, 2014This one took about four weeks of solid days of stitching. I’m sure I’ll stitch more Ink Circles designs as I really like the way they can be stitched in chunks. Also, it is a dream to stitch with one thread. Having no thread changes means you can start and stop stitching at any time.
Debbe
/ August 31, 2014Another stunning piece, it’s absolutely beautiful. Love the subtle colours on the threads.
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ August 31, 2014Thank you Debbe. It’s great to see you are back to stitching too 🙂
claire93
/ August 31, 2014well done Avis ^^ and I love seeing it grow like that.
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ August 31, 2014Thank you! It makes it look as though it was done in a flash 😉
Blu
/ August 31, 2014Wow it looks fantastic! I don’t think I’ve seen Coeurs finished and definitely not in such detail. I’m really tempted to start mine now!
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ August 31, 2014I really enjoyed it. Some of the smaller motifs will make nice cards too. I’m popping over to see what you are up to now ☺.
witchylin
/ August 31, 2014Gorgeous. The work and the thread too. I did find the snail and the duck. It is a beautiful design and I can see why you enjoyed doing it. Variegated threads are wonderful, so effective and no thread changes to add colour. It will look perfect in a frame on the wall. You should be justly proud of it.
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ August 31, 2014I have another kit to start but the thread changes have put me off so far. It’s so easy to use only one thread. Watch this space for the next SAL project. If you fancy joining our show and tell, I’ll post a photo for you every three weeks. Start something new or finish a WIP and it doesn’t have to be cross stitch ☺. The SAL certainly gets projects finished.
katechiconi
/ August 31, 2014A beautiful piece of work, and as you say, stitching in one colour really does speed things up! Congratulations also on your first anniversary of Sewing Beside the Sea – mine is coming up soon, and I must think of something to mark the occasion….
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ August 31, 2014Thank you Kate ☺. If I hadn’t received a note from WordPress I would have had no idea about the anniversary LOL.
Carole
/ August 31, 2014That’s another really pretty design. Love that colour in the Threadworx too.
I really fancy doing something in just one colour now, just to see how much faster and easier it is.
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ August 31, 2014Go for it 🙂
Denby
/ September 1, 2014Beautiful work. You need a good eye, a steady hand and lots and lots of patience which fortunately you have when it comes to intricate detail such as this. Well done.
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ September 1, 2014Thank you. I’m pleased you like it 🙂 The thread is gorgeous so credit to Claire for that too.
rutigt
/ September 2, 2014This one is a heartbreaker 🙂 I like your choise of thread. So lovely!
Gun, Sweden
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ September 5, 2014Thank you Gun 🙂
soknitsome
/ September 2, 2014Your work is beautiful.
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ September 5, 2014Thank you very much 🙂
Jule
/ September 2, 2014Another fantastic finish! 🙂
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ September 5, 2014Thank you Jule 🙂
*Wisher*
/ September 12, 2014lovely stitching and this is piece looks grand and will definitely be a show-stopper in the house after framed. Well done Avis. 😉
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ September 14, 2014Thank you 🙂
Isabel's Needleworks
/ October 29, 2014Absolutely gorgeous !! I have been missing some really beautiful pieces of art I can’t wait to see more 🙂
Izz
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ November 2, 2014Hi Izz, I was going to release this one bit by bit on the blog but I couldn’t put it down, even to take a photo LOL. I was stitched in record time 🙂