Free Gather Ye Rosebuds... Pattern

Hot off the needle, I photographed this stitching project right after I finished and before I removed my gridding lines. The free Gather Ye Rosebuds (Kitties) pattern was inspired by my two kitties, Bert and Ernie. Ernie passed away last year and Bert is living with my Mom because my fiance is allergic to cats. I visit Bert often - so much that Mom says she is glad he moved in with her, but I still miss my boys a lot and I will think of them every time I see this stitching project.

This project was stitched on DMC Marbled Fabric. It is 100% colorfast, but has the look of hand-dyed fabric. This color is Desert Sand (DMC 677). The fabric is washable, so if you have avoided working with marbled or hand-dyed fabric because it is not always washable, you may want to try this fabric instead.

You will notice my "lazy" gridding method. I go over 10 / under 10 horizontally. It takes half the time to grid, and I can still tell where the squares are as I stitch. I prefer this method because it is faster and I get impatient with it takes so long to grid fabric before I get to stitch!