I'm currently stitching Olivine. This is a dense design, but I found it super addictive once I got the repeat in place and it's coming together more quickly than expected. The photo shows what came together in three evenings, I think. Since this is a WIP, I haven't yet decided how to finish it. I'm sure to get "suggestions" from Chris because he was rifling through my queue and declared this was his favorite. When he gave me that "I want it, pleeeeeeese" look, I totally got what he meant. I elected to substitute 783 gold for the 224 shell pink specified in the chart because it seemed better suited for Chris that way, and the gold is still in the mid century spirit of the design. We chose the white 28ct linen from my stash. If anyone is looking for a meditative project, this definitely qualifies. And the colors - just stunning! I'll share another image later when this is finished.
Chris decided this should be a pillow, and this was a fun stitching project for me. I changed the shell pink color to gold, but I gave one of the olives a chartreuse center. When I met Chris, he immediately stood out as someone special, so I made him an special olive to signify that. Chris picked the fabric from my stash. I didn't think the embroidery looked quite right with his selection, but he was insistent on this particular fabric (a Japanese cotton with lovely texture) and the size of the pillow. I added a little border on the outside of the design with several of the colors in the design to blend better with the fabric he chose. I added a tiny bead of rayon piping I had in my stash, in hopes of pulling it all together for him. Nothing is too precious to use, so I went with Krista's finishing suggestion of an envelope back for comfort. It was super fun whacking it on my cutting table to get the pillow settled in the cover!