February D.E.S.I.G.N. SAL

The idea of this Blog Hop is to choose a different designer each month and do a post focusing on a piece of their work you have stitched on during the month.  Last month I focused on three very well-known designers;  Nora Corbett (AKA Mirabilia), Joan Elliott and Teresa Wentzler.  For the rest of the year I am going to concentrate on less well-known designers in the hope of spreading their fame across the Blogosphere.

The hosts of D.E.S.I.G.N ask us to answer a few questions on our chosen designer.

1. What designer are you talking about this month?

The month is the turn of Madame Chantilly, I am not sure where I discovered her but it was probably on someone's blog.  She has a blog here and an Etsy shop here.  Her patterns are available as paper charts and as PDFs.  I don't think all designs are available in both formats yet but it's worth asking.

2. Have you stitched a project by this designer before?

"On the Beach" is my first Mme.C design.

I am stitching this on a fabric by Sparklies called Kynance after Kynance Cove in Cornwell.  It is dyed to order so you can specify landscape or portrait and also where the division between blue and yellow is placed.  I have changed a few of the colours so they are a little bit brighter than the charted ones.

3. Would you buy/stitch a design by this designer again?  Why/Why not?

There are a set of landscape designs which co-ordinate with On the Beach.  I have already bought Hallowe'en Town and would like the Roses and Reindeer designs too.

There is also this rather nice Advent Calendar, I am very partial to Advent Calendars!

4. What made you choose this particular design/designer?

My cousin had her first baby last year and they decorated the Nursery with a nautical theme because Daddy is in the Royal Navy.  So of course this little design was perfect for the baby.  I am hoping to finish and frame it by Easter as I would love to travel to see them and present it in person.

5. Did you notice anything that distinguished this designer from others?

Madame Chantilly only uses whole stitches in her work, no beads or metallics or other embellishments.  They are charted for DMC and the occasional hand-dyed.  However you could easily use more hand-dyed threads and add charms, buttons or beads.  On the Beach has little crabs and shells along the bottom which you could substitute buttons for the stitches.  The designs have a definite European feel to them, which they should because Madame Chantilly is an Italian designer!


Finally, I saw this idea on someone else's blog and as a lover of statistics I couldn't resist!  This little pie chart shows the proportion of time I have worked on each project this month:

(I am assuming I will stitch On the Beach tomorrow.)

(I am also not including the one length per evening on Trick and Treat, only if I work on it during the day)