Fruit Cocktail by Glendon Place (and Dinky Dyes)

I related my Mixed Berry Cheesecake story already.  At the same LNS this year, I was once again digging through the depths of Stitcher's Paradise's back room, actually looking to see if there was another Mixed Berry for a friend, and I ran across this one.  Since it was small and relatively easy, I went ahead and purchased it, too.  Honestly, I'm not a fan of oranges/yellows, so I'm not sure what I was thinking, but hey, why not.

This kit also came with the Dinky Dye fibers and a 5 color sequence, specially dyed silk like Mixed Berry.  It did not come with fabric, though, but only called for white (I think?  Anyway, I got white).  I went ahead and grabbed a scrap piece they had for sale so I could start it soon.   I also kind of decided to stitch this one first as a practice for the second one.  And it's a damn good thing I did.

I noticed mine did not look like the model, my colors were in the wrong sequence.  While I don't hate the outcome, I think the sequence is far less obvious and I prefer the model.  Oh well.  To be honest, since I'm not sure I want to frame this or keep it, even, it's not the worst.   I have a beloved cousin who really liked this, I might finish it into a wall hanging or something for her.

The other issue I had with the kit was the same one I had with the Mixed Berry, in that the silks are skimpy as heck.   In fact, I ran out of the regular peach/orange, and I had to pull from my personal supply.  I blended it with the original so that the minor lot difference wasn't as noticeable.    Because of the issues with both kits, I would not recommend purchasing it unless you really like the design or just need to have the entire Glendon Place dessert series.

I started this well ahead of Mixed Berry but did not finish it first because when I finished all of the stitching, I realized that the kit did not come with the mill hill beads required.  I went through both kits/patterns and my personal bead supply and then ordered what I needed.

I started 1/14/2017 and finished 9/25/2017.   Stitched on 28ct white lugana.

Whole thing!  whoohoo!  Ok, so maybe I like it better when I look at it from a distance (still probably not going to frame it though ;) )

I still question the red beads, but whevs :)

I took pictures of this one in the setting sun like I did Mixed Berry, and I gotta say, I do love how the firey colored beads light up in that setting

And just for funsies, here is a side by side.   You can mainly see the sequence difference in the large motifs around the center/outside of the mandala.  I like the green in the middle of the motif more than I do at the bottom, where mine is on that motif; I also like the increased variation of colors on the diagonal motifs radiating out of the center, it's too blendy in mine for my tastes.   The upside is that I made sure to get the Mixed Berry sequence correct, since I was so bent out of shape about it on this piece.

Mixed Berry Cheesecake

There's a small story behind this one.

I saw someone post Mixed Berry Cheesecake (once upon a time), somewhere (couldn't tell ya where, sorry!) by Glendon Place and I fell in love with it.  Unfortunately, it was a limited edition piece and had been out for a while.  With the popularity of the Glendon Place desserts, of course it was sold out everywhere.   There were even a couple of stores that had it listed online, and yet when I ordered, they returned my money, because of course it was sold out.   I'd kind of given up (and I'm not one to engage in any illegal copying/sites).

I was in Las Vegas during my annual sojourn for MLK weekend, and I was at Stitcher's Paradise.   They have a crazy awesome, well stocked store.  More importantly are their two side rooms - one is full of fabric and is a great place to do floss tosses, and the other is full of old stock organized in those magazine holders by designer.

I've found lots of really good stuff in there and I love hanging out in there while everyone else is floss-tossing and doing other stuff.   Lo'!  And Behold!  They had one last Mixed Berry Cheesecake!

The cool part about these limited edition kits is that they have a specially dyed silk that is five of their regular colors and they tell you what the sequence is supposed to be and where to start/finish the particular portion of the design.  I think it's pretty cool.

I did not start it right away because I didn't like the fabric that came in the kit, Bashful by PTP, because it was way too pink.   So I spent a lot of time looking for a slightly pink, but not pink fabric.  I bought a lot of fabric that was pinker than the Bashful, and just sucked it up and used it.  Turns out it wasn't so pink!  Haha.   My only real complaint with the kit is that there was barely enough fiber to finish the design.   If I had made any mistake, I couldn't have finished it - and I tend to be fairly frugal with threads.  I think for a less thread-frugal person or someone who makes a mistake, they would be screwed.  It wouldn't have been much to add an extra length of each (especially the 5 color sequence that you can't buy extra of).  I have a full set of Dinkys, so I could have made up the difference for the solids - not everyone does, and of course there's the lot difference.

So here we are, my first finished Glendon Place Dessert, even if it is a mini.  I took pictures of it in different lighting to try to catch the pinkish (but not too pink) of the fabric.  My camera phone always goes bonkers with pinks/purples/blues, making them over saturated, but I'm still pretty pleased that you can tell what's going on in the design.

Started 9/10/2017 and finished 9/24/2017

Picture in the shade, the colors of the silks are pretty saturated here. 
I do love the beading throughout the piece as well.

In more direct light, the background is so pale it looks white against the berry colors, the silks are more true here, though the purples look a little grey.

Direct/setting sunlight, it shows off how much of the beading is throughout with the shadows.

These colors were so much fun to stitch.  So pretty and easy

Very true colors in this shot.

The middle is bead heavy.  I'm thinking of a triple mat using the pink/blue/purple (if I can get the framer to agree ;) )

I almost forgot to stitch the "natural" (not quite white) bits.

More of the corner beading.

I just added this photo because I accidentally put it through a filter and I loved it when it popped up.
So glad to have gotten this one finished!! :)