Bug Box

Author: Rae Iverson
Copyright, Moss Creek Designs

Started: October, 2003
Completed: October, 2004
Hours: about 100 stitching, about 20-25 finishing
Materials: Needlepoint Inc. Silk (and Victoria Clayton silk) on Cashel
Stitches: belted diagonal oblong cross, broad chain, buttonhole lace filling, casalguidi stem stitch, ceylon, closed fly, florentine (bargello), herringbone ladder, holbein, hollie point, interlaced chain, kalem, oblong cross, one over one, Paris stitch, pekinese, smyrna cross, vandyke and williamsburg

This project was taught by Rae at ASG 2003 and is a four-sided etui and accessories with the verse, "From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night, good Lord, deliver us." All sorts of bugs and critters inhabit it, hence the unofficial title of "Bug Box". The official name of the project is "Things that Go Bump in the Night". I am cheating and doing the over-one as petit point with two strands of silk instead of one-over-one cross stitch...except for the wording, which is one-over-one. I have changed the border silk on the panels of the etui from a dark raspberry color (see the roses) to "Mountain Shadows" silk from Victoria Clayton. I changed the color of the ladybug from dark terra cotta to a Needlepoint, Inc. Silk I had on hand in the Red Berry range. It's very close to the original, just a teensy bit redder.

It's finally a box! This would have been impossible without the help of my friend Vicky, who does finishing professionally. She really helped me out (and actually built the pincushion on the top for me, at my whining :) and taught me how to do everything. I did attach the pincushion myself, but it was terrifying!! :) Hopefully DH will help me get some better pictures later.

Panel 1 Finished 5-21-04 24 hours (but not all one day :) This is panel one done! Already there is a "personalization". :)	Panel 2 Finished 7-11-04 18 hours Another "personalization" on this panel. The butterfly's wings were very challenging, to say the least...even though the stitch was not difficult, it was tricky to fit it in the small wing spaces. But after some advice from Rae, she is finished. Update: There was an error on the stitch diagram in the original kit...the stitch was charted as 2 threads by 4 instead of 1 by 4. But I'm leaving it as it is!
Panel 3 Finished 8-22-04 25 hours These are my favorite bugs so far. Even though they took a long time and were very labor-intensive, they had the coolest techniques.	Panel 4 Finished 9-7-04 15.5 hours I changed the colors of the "wrought by" text because I had changed my border colors. Also, the silk worm is a slightly redder shade than the original.
Box Top Finished 9-17-04 9 hours I changed some of the bargello colors, and I also did the bargello (or florentine) with two strands instead of one.	Box Bottom Finished 9-21-04 9.5 hours Once again, I changed colors...some text colors and some florentine colors, because I didn't care for the terra cotta colors so much. The date is the date I took this class...the "start date" for the project.