After a couple of weeks of stitching, my center is now half finished!  Now that I don't have to look at the pattern, the stitching is going much more quickly.  I find it very satisfying each time I get another segment completed and really feel like I have accomplished something each time I finish for the day.
In order to keep things interesting, I am going to switch and work on the stair runners for the next week.  Now that the weather is finally getting nicer, I will not be stitching as much each day as I work in the garden, but I still hope to get some stitching time each evening.
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I have now finished filling in the different blues in the center motifs and was able to begin the background white.  You can see a tiny bit done in the bottom left corner.

I have decided to do the background using Tent Stitch (also known as Continental Stitch) and work my way to fill each little section as bordered by motifs and lines.  This way, I won't be crossing over the motifs or lines.  Also, if I complete a small section, I will feel like I accomplished more than if I stitch all the way across the whole width of the center. (This is purely a psychological response but goes a long way toward keeping me interested and engaged in a project! 😉 )

Using this method of filling in sections, the finished rug won't be as thick as it would if I traveled across motifs and lines, and I will have the added bonus of using less floss, thus having to re-thread the needle less often.  I find that silk gauze is very hard on DMC thread and I can only use shorter lengths when stitching, or the floss will fray and break.  The longest I have been able to use at one time is about 19" - 20".

Once I was happy with the center, I began working on the borders.  I wanted something simple, but interesting for the two small borders with something a bit more complicated for the larger border.  While browsing my computer images for border ideas, I saw a line drawing that I had saved of the "T" shapes that immediately drew my attention.  After much trial and error, I was able to get the pattern to fit both borders.  I then put the pattern aside for the night and looked at it again in the morning.  I still wasn't completely happy with the two small borders so I flipped the outermost border to that the "T" shapes were opposite to the ones on the inner border.  This looked much better to me and I was able to make the corners flow much nicer with this configuration.
The middle border is made using a part of the center rug pattern.  It took quite a bit of testing to get the right distance between each motif and have them fit into the border correctly, but I am very happy with the results.

The cushion pattern followed quite easily once I had decided on the final rug pattern and thus, I am able to offer both on my Etsy site: doublethefuncrafts.etsy.com    Hope you enjoy them.

The wonderful thing about these patterns is that they lend themselves very easily to color changes to suit your project.  The possibilities are endless!

Today, the creative juices were flowing and I decided to design some nautical themed pillows for my Beachfront Mansion that would go with my Sonja rug.  I played around with various designs and finally settled on these four.  I also re-worked the border so that the corners matched.  Not being content to just work on the borders of these pillows, I also re-worked the borders of the original Sonja cushions.  All of these designs are available for purchase in my Esty store: doublethefuncrafts.etsy.com

I have had so much fun today designing these cushions that I think I will work on some more designs tomorrow.  Maybe another rug, who knows.  The possibilities are endless. ​🙂

This past week I have been able to finish more of the stair runners and today I moved the fabric down in order to stitch more.  Although there is still a lot to do, I can definitely see progress.  I am looking forward to seeing these runners progress.
As the weather begins to improve, I may not do as much stitching while I begin doing outdoor yardwork, but I still intend to stitch as I know I would miss it if I didn't. ​🙂

Yesterday, I was able to finish the outlining of the motifs in the center.  Now comes the fun of filling in the color and watching the pattern come to life!  I have decided though, to take a little break from this rug and work on the stair runners for a bit to give me some variety.  I like to have several projects on the go at the same time in order to keep it interesting.  When I begin getting a bit tired of stitching one thing, I put it aside and work on another stitching project or something on my dollhouse.  It definitely keeps my creative juices flowing.
Also, this past week, I took some time to work on designing new rugs.  I love creating new ones and every now and then I am struck with inspiration and I get to work.  I have posted several new rugs this week that can be seen in my Etsy shop or at the bottom of the page here.
Hope you all have a great week and I will be back next week with more progress to show you.