A New Start With Spring: DMC Contest

My entry for DMC's Spring Florals Instagram Contest

@aureliaeglantine

Project Information

"Floral  Tile"

84 x 84 stitches

12 colours of DMC floss

Whole and 3/4 cross-stitches: 3 strands

Back Stitch: 1 strand, except on tulip stems where 3 strands were used

Stitched size: 6 inches square on

14 Count Charles Craft Aida

10 Hoopla

Hello, hello! I know it's been a while :) So much has changed in my life since the last time I blogged. My beloved Grandpa passed away on Christmas Day 2016. I've written dozens of drafts posts since and have come to the conclusion that I'm just not ready to talk about it yet and, in all honesty, I may never be. Thank you to everybody who left comments with best wishes, they were very much appreciated. To anyone who is reading this and kept me in their feeds - thank you! I'm very grateful for your support :)

Although I'm not ready to blog again yet, thanks to a good friend of mine, I recently joined Instagram! I've never been one for social media so it's a sharp learning curve but there is so much beautiful cross-stitch and embroidery work that it's worth it! Although I don't have an iAnything, it is free to join and follow/comment on people's feeds. There is just so much inspiring content! I find new people to follow nearly every day.

The flowers are stylized, but include my Spring favourites: tuilps, hydrangeas, dahlias and this pretty marigold :)

I thought that was all I would be able to do though - follow and comment. Imagine my delight when I discovered a free app in the Windows store called Likegram, that allows me to post my own photos too! I've been having tons of fun with the Throwback Thursday (#tbthursday) hashtag and posting up pictures of past needlework projects from the blog. It's been nice to have an excuse to go through my archives: there are a lot of things I totally forgot about LOL

This leads me to a wonderful coincidence. DMC has a very active Instagram account (@dmc_embroidery) and they recently announced a new cross-stitch contest, Spring Florals. Five winners would get their patterns featured as a freebie in DMC's 1000 Patterns Project and a goodie bag with unspecified contents.  

Unfortunately the contest became a matter of contention as designers insisted that credit or "exposure" was not enough and that they should be paid for the winning pattern, which is really spec work. Abby Glassenberg wrote an article about it for the Craft Industry Alliance blog that ignited a firestorm. While she made some good points, and the rules did need clarification, it quickly descended into a lot of profanity laced posts which you should be aware of before searching the #dmcxstitchcontest hashtag.

DMC, being the upstanding company that they are, apologized and is now offering the five winners $500 each! It has also vowed to make the rules clearer in the future :) 

This is the chart for my entry! I know it's a real long shot that I'll win, and I almost gave up on the idea too many times to count along the way, but it was a wonderful distraction to design and stitch this project, with the cheerful bright Spring colours!  And I feel a sense of accomplishment that I actually saw it through. Really, I've already won because I gained my stitchy confidence back :) But it would be so amazing to win in reality!

Click on the collage to see a bigger version

Here's a side by side comparison of Floral Tile both before (left) and after the Back Stitching (right). I know a lot of stitchers dislike Back Stitch and find it tedious, but I'm always amazed by how much difference it makes! I love the definition it provides and the way it allows you to fit a lot of detail in a small area. I also leave all my Back Stitching to the end, instead of doing each section as I go, as I find it's easy to work up a rhythm and seeing the change in a simple pattern like this is like magic!

I'd love it if you'd let me know what you think of Floral Tile :)

And if you're on Instagram, come and say hello! 

@aureliaeglantine