This little pillow is a test stitching project to test the colors in a miniature setting and to test some of the elements I have included in the rug pattern. I wanted to try and achieve as much detail as I could but, as always with miniature, I had to simplify or remove some things in order to have a pleasing pattern. Colors that blend with each other are that way in the original rug.

This little pillow, named the Fargol Pillow is the result. The pattern is now available in our shop. You may find it by clicking on the name of the pillow.  I am also testing some of the other elements in the rug, but these will not be incorporated into a pillow, they will just be randomly spread out over the canvas.  Once my second test stitching is finished, I will decide on the parts to incorporate into the rug and make the pattern available. For now, I hope you enjoy this little pillow pattern.

It has been a while since I posted, but I have not been idle. I have been test stitching sections of several rug patterns to make sure the colors and patterns work before adding them to our website.
I have now added three new patterns to the site and have turned my attention to stitching some pillows in preparation for the upcoming MET Show in Toronto this October. Here are photos of the three new patterns I uploaded.

Each of these patterns are quite different and may be found by following the link below each one. Inspiration for these came from various sources. Yana was a line drawing on a Royalty Free site, Judith and Jocelyn were inspired by photos of antique rugs found while browsing the internet. Modifications were made to each design to allow the patterns to work in miniature.

One of the most difficult parts of designing is trying to decide upon colors. My Yana was easy because I returned to one of my favorite blue pallets and the ideas just flowed smoothly. Judith and Jocelyn were both much more complicated. When designing, I initially choose what looks good to me on the computer screen. Once I have finished mapping out the designs and the elements within them, I then go to my little floss color cards that I made especially for designing (a-small-side-project-i-have-been-working-on.html ) and pull the colors I chose. More often than not, I like the colors I originally chose, but in some cases they look so different from what I see on my computer screen that I change out some of the colors to match my vision on the screen. Then begins the test stitching.

In the case of Judith, I chose sections of elements from all over the rug and stitched them individually to make sure the colors and motifs looked the way I wished them to. I found the greens and blues were the most difficult to get right because they tend to disappear when next to each other. I also found the yellow and green colors needed tweaking, but I had difficulty finding a yellow that didn't disappear when right next to the green or overpower the other rug colors. Back to the design board and I changed the motif to add another color between the two so that each could stand out in their own right. That worked and I was much happier with the results. Jocelyn test stitching also followed similar issues that I found in the Judith.  I ended up changing several colors before I was happy with it and wanted to post the pattern.

​Test stitching is often a "behind the scenes" happening, but I get into a zone when doing it and generally don't complete rugs or pillows when doing so. As you can imagine, these processes take quite a bit of time and, for me, the time flies by, then I look back and realize I haven't posted for a couple of months! 

will always know which patterns are my most recent.  I absolutely love designing and my inspirations come from everywhere around me - from photos of antique rugs, marble floors to line drawings I see and everything in between.  Patterns exist in nature all around us and it is fun to try and capture that pattern into a rug that I love. Designing is often my form of relaxation in the evenings rather than watching television and it is not unusual for me to start right after supper then look up after a few minutes and find that it is past midnight and I should get to bed! 

Saying that, I have just had another inspiration that I must begin before I lose the idea...