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!

Another Pair of Cirques

It's always fun at the circus!  Here are two more Cirque finishes, and what I love best is that I could show you new finishes of these same pieces every day and they would look totally unique because of the wonderful floss and fabric combinations.

We have Cirque des Triangles here by Nicole from Northern Expressions Needlework.  I don't know how she finds time, given her own gallery of beautiful, original designs but I am totally honored that she does!  (Check her blog to see what's coming up next - a lovely band sampler on red.) Nicole used several shades of silk for her triangles, mostly of Gloriana.  She stitched it 1 over 1 on 28 count black Jobelan.  Believe it or not, she says it is even brighter in real life!! Those colors just sing out on that black fabric. I can imagine it looks like a chest of jewels IRL.

Claudia shared with me this finish of Cirque des Cercles during the online show last fall. My computer died mid-show, and her email was one that was imprisoned in the silicon jail for six months while I sorted things out and recovered.  Since I hadn't shared it yet, I thought I would post it now, as these pieces will never go out of style.  Claudia is self-proclaimed HDF (Vikki Clayton's silk line) junkie.  I haven't met too many folks that have tried HDF and haven't become junkies (although I don't think this is the kind of needle, junkie, or damage that Neil Young was singing about.) 

Edited to change out the photo -as time passed, Claudia had framed this and it looks superb!

This is actually the second time Claudia's stitched CdC. The first piece was left in the frame shop and a worker mistook it for trash and tragically threw it away. Edited to explain - it was accidentally dropped somewhere in Michael's when Claudia got an emergency phone call. Whoever found it put it under the counter with the other unclaimed dropped items (you know: Slurpee cups and pacifiers...)- apparently every few days they trash these things. She didn't realize it had been lost for a few days.  Sadly nobody unwrapped it enough to see what a treasure it was.  It was another one of these stories that just leave you shaking and gasping as you know the amount of time, energy, and money that we stitchers put into our work. Fortunately the solution is MORE CROSS STITCH - it's a stress-relieving therapy, you know!

Thanks go out to Nicole and Claudia for sharing their eye candy with us. Lovely job, Ladies.

Getting to the Point

And there are a LOT of points on this one.  This is Cirque des Triangles, stitched by Nadia in Vikki Clayton's Hand-Dyed Fibers - 1 strand of silk over 1 thread of her 27 count black fabric. That silk color just shines out on that black, doesn't it!  What a beautiful job, particularly considering the scale and the dark background. It matches her Cirque des Cercles that we got to see earlier.  Cirque des Carreaux is in the queue, naturally.  Thanks for showing us your picture, Nadia!  Your wall must have an amazing wall of finishes.

Love Triangle Exposed

Well, I love this chart. Toni loved this chart. Some of you probably love it too.  Is that not a Love of Triangles?

Toni took the monochromatic Cirque des Triangles chart and used a beautiful fall palette to color the individual triangles. Look at that symmetric gold to yellow shading in the center. Is that not exquisite?  What a beautiful balance of colors and shapes.  Thanks so much for sharing your photo finish with us, Toni!

Three Sides to Every Triangular Story

This is Vicki's Cirque des Triangles.  Isn't it so amazing - the colors just sing on that black!  I've had fun watching this one grow in person. Every so often I have the chance to go over the moutains and see friends in Portland.  We always meet for a little stitching and Vicki shows me a few more completed triangles.  And now it is done.

She's done an outstanding job - I can't wait to see the framed version on my next trip to the wet side. It's so inspirational to see how every single version of these Cirques stitches up so differently depending on the fabric/fiber choices.

Most excellent work, Vicki!