5 of my favourites

Well this five posts on the theme of five has been fun, although it has been hard work posting every day! I'm glad I set myself this challenge to mark the achievement of five years blogging. This last post is my favourite- the five embroideries of mine that I am most proud of. They aren't my most technically impressive but are all pieces that I felt excited to stitch. Several of them are things I have made recently but some were made years ago.

I found an image of a disarticulated skeleton and couldn't resist embroidering it, whilst I was stitching I decided to mirror the image and then fill in baby blue and pink. 

My first ever stumpwork piece - I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback I got for this piece- I have had so many lovely comments about it. It is one of my most viewed images on flickr too! 

This is an embroidery I did of a Mitch O'Connell design - I think the use of the yellow fabric with the design is really successful. I must use this idea again at some point!

The reason this piece is one of my favourite is because it was my own design. I found an old photo of bare-knuckle boxers and adapted it to become boxing hares. It was a detailed piece worked in only one colour and this is a style I've used a few times since. It was made for a Phat Quarter swap on the theme of 'Spring'

There used to be a free cross stitch pattern generator on a site called Dark Lilac- sadly its not there any more. This cross stitch pattern was created using a photo of the actress Anna Karina- it was a black and white image but came out in these great greens and greys- It took a really long time to stitch- I used absurdly small count fabric for someone who was a beginner. 

Looking at these I think I still haven't found a style that is all my own but I can pick out common themes and techniques that I have continued to use. I was surprised at the volume of embroidery I have done over the years, there was so much that I found it hard to pick just five!