Silk Ribbon on Crosses (more old stuff)

My venture into designing crosses started in about 1996, as I was looking at jewelry catalogs, and started to see some really pretty small crosses with different kinds of jewels etc. There were even several in silver with turquoise, coral, malachite, and that sort of thing that were fascinating to adapt for needlepoint.

This sort of thing wouldn't have appealed to me at all in the 70's and 80's becauseof the lack of good metallic threads and other sparkly fibers to make the jewels.

These crosses are from the time when I was first experimenting with silk ribbon, and learning to make flowers - mostly from Judith Baker Montano's books about crazy quilts and their embellishment.

I always regretted wasting materials and time just playing on scrap canvas, so decided to put them onto crosses - which were great for subsequent gift giving. I thought I might go ahead and present these ideas, as it's about time to start on ornaments and gifts for Christmas!

Also, I have posted a tutorial on how to draw and design your own crosses on Freebies, etc. - so hopefully some of you will be inspired to create your own! Just looking at these, I can see I was also playing a bit with using beads in the background.

The first photo shows a lattice-work grid in teal, set up with a bead in each intersection - difficult to see, as these are scans of old photos. Later, this background inspired me to try out making a long stitch with ribbon floss instead of working it with tent stitch - and still placing the bead at the intersection. Great effect!! Later, I made a black evening bag with this background around a jeweled moth.

These two crosses are small. The white one is 4 3/4" high on 18 mesh canvas, and the white and teal one is 6" high.

I had always thought of crosses as an Easter thing - and for Christenings, etc. which usually took place during that season. I think these two were used as Godmother gifts. However, a gift of a tree ornament would be a lovely thing! Do look at the Freebies site and try it yourself! It's a great way also to try out new threads and stitches and techniques without wasting time and materials.