Needlepoint Patriotic Strawberry

One of my latest obsessions has been these needlepoint strawberries from Barbara’s Needlepoint in Sioux Falls, SD. This shop is, in my opinion, one of the best in the country in terms of customer service, needlepoint canvases you can get there that are only limited to their shop, the creativity of their finishing, the friendly people that work there, the list goes on.

They started a strawberry club back in June (I believe it’s full now) but they also carry other adorable strawberries that are so much fun to stitch. They are like Lay’s potato chips. You can’t stop at one! I am currently working on the Patriotic Strawberry and have been auditioning stitches for the different stripes.

In the silver stars above, the upper star I have done in skip tent, and was going to fill in with beads. The other star below I basketweaved and took an old Renaissance thread I found that has a sparkly holograph shine to it and just did a long stitch into the center of the star from each spoke.

The left white stripe is done in a scallop stitch, which I found courtesy of Whimsical Stitch. I’m not sure if I’ll keep the stitch I did in the other white stitch, and to be honest, I can’t remember where I found it. It’s a pain for compensating and I think I just like the wave stitch for it too!

The middle red stripe in an upright cross that I did in Vineyard Silk and Silk Lame Braid. I think it needs some more jazzing up though, so I ordered some red beads and will fill in open spaces with the beads. The other red stripe I had started was a Shadow stitch from the Stitches To Go book but I've decided, after looking at it for awhile, I’m not happy with that either, so that will also be coming out.

So, this is my progress thus far. Not bad considering I having limited stitching time when there is a kitty or two in my face interrupting me while I try to stitch! LOL