Six Degrees of Cirque

A little roundup of some pictures you've sent of beautiful finishes, six Cirques and four of their friends:

Cirque des Coeurs by Tara F.
She used 1 x 2 on 40 ct Colorscapes "Ale" linen with
Threadworx 10372, GAST Claret 0310 and Cherry Wine 0330

Anne E. stitched Cirque des Cercles
using Waterlilies Winter Wheat on Bone fabric

Cirque des Coeurs by Taynia

Cirque des Triangles by Taynia

Cirque des Carreaux by Taynia

Cirque des Cercles by Nancy M.
She used a custom silk from Carries Threads, both 1 and 2
strands for contrasts and Mill Hill Beads 2077

Close up of Nancy's Cercles

The Birds and the Bees by Rhonda B.

Love Letters: Fraktur by Rhonda B.

Rosetta by Rhonda B.

Here Comes Treble, Alto Gether Now,
and First Bass combined into a lovely
bellpull with added words and date
by Elizabeth E. for her musical daughter.

Wow! Are you also out of breath?  What an amazing group of finishes, showing so much style and personalization. I really appreciate being able to share all of your pictures. Happy Dances all around!

I Do Like Them Sam I Am

Dr. Seuss never names the grumpy guy that doesn't like the Green Eggs and Ham. We just know that Sam I Am is the one able to knock some sense into him.

For those folks who hadn't been fans, I share with you pictures from a stitcher named Sam who is doing her best to convince you to try an Ink Circles stitch. She stitched Blackstone Fantasy Garden with metallic thread outlining the knot, variegated within, and DMC colors for the blackwork.

And this is Cirque des Carreaux.  Again, metallics and variegated threads give this such sparkle and motion. What a great combination.

Thanks for sharing these photos, Sam!  What lovely work. I think we can all say we DO like them.

Disclaimer: although stitching on a train is highly recommended, the counter part, "stitching in the rain" is ill advised, particularly when using non-colorfast threads.

Third Pair of Cirques Is a Charm

Maybe they are like potato chips, and you really can't just stitch one. Or maybe it's just all of the subliminal text printed on the pattern sheets, or perhaps the deeply-addicting, readily-absorbed coating on the paper. It's just an odd coincidence that this is the third post in a row with two Cirques, and it shows once again how truly unique each one is.

In any case, Jill K. in Illinois has shared with me photos of her recent Cirque des Carreaux and Cirque des Cercles finishes.  She shops with Cathy and the other good people at the Inspired Needle in Lemont, IL. On my first draft of this post, I had just included the photos with the two framed, but I realized how that limits you in seeing what cool colors she used, so I added the detail shots. Jill did such a nice job and gets bonus points for actually getting them framed up so wonderfully.

Big thanks to Jill for sharing her photos and we join her in a double happy dance!

If you're looking for even more Cirque-ular eye candy, check out this recent post on Jill Rensel's blog.  So, are you still here surfing around on the internet? Don't you have something you should be stitching?

Opposites Attract

Anita sent these pictures of her Cirque des Cercles and Cirque des Carreaux.

The Cercles were stitched over one on black Lugana using Dinky Dyes #98 Silver.  Then in a fit of inspiration, the Carreaux were stitched over one on Wedgewood Lugana using some original Needle Necessities #1721 Elaine's Black Tie Affair. She calls them "Opposites Attract".  

Her next 'trick' will be to get them framed so that neither one outshines the other -same frame, different mats, same frame, no mats??  The possibilities are headache-inducing but she is thankful to have an amazing needlework framer.

What an elegant pair. Lovely job, Anita.  So glad you shared.

Life's a Circus

Or, shall we say, a Cirque!

Here is Cirque des Cercles, as performed by the lovely Beatrice using only Navy Blue Jobelin evenweave, 4072 variegated DMC and her own bare hands!  Well, technically she probably used a hoop, a lamp, and a needle, but it sounds much more dramatic the first way.

And now, may I direct your gaze to the ring near the elephant cage. You may remember back in March when the daring Stefanie showed us her Cirque des Cercles and gave us a glimpse of diamonds to come?  Let us say the months of hard work and training have paid off.  Here, never before seen in its entirety, on this blog: Stefanie's Cirque des Carreaux!

Ladies and Gentlemen, won't you give these two ladies a hand, . Woot Woot! Now, watch as Gregor, the Human Cannonball prepares for this next death-defying feat.

Don't Eat The Stitching

Mmmm... the fibers used for this one make me want to whip up a batch of my favorite Marbled Chocolate Buttermilk Scones. 

To stitch this version of Cirque des Carreaux, Em used 28 count Buttermilk Lugana fabric with Carrie's Thread in Chocolates. It came out positively yummy!  Thanks for sharing the finish.

Awesomeness Overload

I've gotten behind in sharing the wonderful photos you've sent me. Rather than delay further and dribble these out one at a time, I'm going to blast you with a full salvo of awesomeness.

Robyn finished her Namaste bell pull.  She found a lovely heart shaped end piece with a crystal in it.  People laughed when I had to admit that the "special findings" I used were actually just pieces from a cannibalized necklace from Pier 1. I'm still wanting to put one of these chakra mandalas on a t-shirt using waste canvas.

Carol was already a big HDF fan, so she did her Growth Rings in the recommended HDF colors then had this beautiful round frame added. She entered the piece in her guild's Annual Juried Show.  She was tickled to find that the piece won a Judge's choice blue ribbon.  Later she learned it also won the Stitcher's Choice Award!  What an honor to be recognized by both the ANG certified jurors as well as here guild peers.  Congrats, Carol!

Tanya just got her Cirque des Cercles framed up. It came out beautifully with the Hydrangea thread from Threadworx. She used Ocean Depths fabric by Sparklies.  I've not heard of that fabric company before ==> sounds like a mission!  I'll bet the combination is even more amazing in real life.  Great work Tanya!

And this is the second time in a week that I've heard of people using Sulky thread for cross stitch. As you can see, it works great!!!  This is Cirque des Carreaux by Lynn. She used Blendable 30 wt American Antique on Antique White 25 ct Lugana. It is one over one. If you click the biggify button, you can see just how lovely the thread variations came out.  Definitely a spectacular finish, Lynn!
Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Now, Christine finished her Growth Rings and it takes on a wonderful new look in her choice of colors.  It's so much fun to see the same pieces done up differently.  She used DMC variegated 4240 (dark blue - purple) and Anchor variegated 1325 (pink - purple), on antique white linen 36 count, 2 over 2.  Big happy dances with Christine!


Much beautiful work here, Ladies!  Thanks for sharing it all.

Joining the Circus

It's not really practical for most of us to run away and join the circus, but we highly encourage you to join the Cirque craze!

Stefanie started her Cirques circuit with Cirque des Cercles using Sassys Fabbys Bluebell 32ct lugana and a custom color HDF Single strand premium over 2 (2329/5141/5300).  This came out so beautifully!

After such a beautiful finish, she has moved on to Cirque des Careaux (CDCx) and shared this picture of her WIP.  She is using Sassys Fabbys Angel Dust 32ct lugana with another custom HDF single strand premium over 2 (6119/5141/5300).  This silk is such an amazing color, and it matches so well with that fabric.  Stefanie is going to have a lovely Ink Circles wall.

Thank you, Stefanie, for sharing your fab photos!

On a personal note, it became clear to me that if I intended to take the Ink Circles show to Nashville next year, that I would clearly be remiss if I didn't have a stitched model of Cercles myself.  The gold on black beauty on the leaflet cover was stitched by Marc Davis, who generously let me use his photograph.  So, I'm stitching up my version.  Let me just say that you [stitchers at large] made picking a color combo sooooooo hard. I have seen so many fabulous combinations paraded in front of me that I was almost paralyzed with options.  More on that later...

Black Beauty

Nicole stitched this Cirque des Carreaux over 1 on 28 count black Jobelan with Gloriana's Silk Floss.  I just love the mix of solid color pastels with the multi in the same shades, and in such a nice color layout.  The colors just sing on that black.  What a beautiful job.  Hats off and a big happy dance!

She tells me she is working on Triangles next - I can't wait to see!

Like Children...

Every one is special.  Every one is beautiful. Every one is unique.

This is Tanya's beautiful baby.  She stitched in on black Belfast linen using a Threadworx color called Honky Tonk, 2 over 2.

Won't you join her in her Honky Tonk Happy Dance for this Cirque des Carreaux?

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

I cite that old stereotypical line with a bit of caution, because a lot of Ink Circles stitchers are guys. There's something about the bold graphic appeal that really doesn't limit their popularity to just the girls.

But, in this case, the diamonds belong to Peg.  This is her version of Cirque des Carreaux. That's French for "Circus of the Diamonds" and it's the third in the series that started out with Cercles, which looked a bit lit a big three-ring circus.

Peg's Carreaux is stitched in variegated Mermaid Blue, which was a custom color of Vikki Clayton's Hand-Dyed Silk.   She stitched it on 40 count white Ricamo linen - all the better to show off that amazing blue silk.  I salute you, Peg, on this fabulous finish!

A bit more background on the silks:  There is a fun and slightly rabid group of silk lovers that play on Vikki's forum, feeding her their wants and wishes and enabling each other.  If enough people gang up, I think Vikki could be talked into dying about any you could dream.  You should (and can) see the lovely colors and combinations over at her site.  Highly recommended.