If you've been following along and collecting all of the free birthstone embroidery patterns this year, you may have been worried that I forgot this one. Fear not! I have a rosy ruby pattern for you...and some fun gemstone "research" too!
Blog posts around here certainly have been spotty lately, although I have a few things up my sleeve for the coming weeks. But for July I at least have a good excuse. For two wonderful weeks, I was in England, visiting my friend Katie and seeing all kinds of fantastic things. Traveling always inspires me, and I'm happy to report that I have plans for a new embroidery pattern set.
But before I even start on that, I wanted to show you some birthstone and gemstone inspiration I found at the London Natural History Museum.
Okay, so my phone photography of gems on a dark background through a glass case may not be inspired. But seeing so many cuts and colors definitely was helpful to me.
But I also saw something that was so interesting and answered a question that I hadn't yet Googled: How do they cut and shape gemstones? In fact, before I got to the museum I had been considering making a pattern that showed each step in the process. That idea probably won't happen, but thanks to a helpful display, I now know how it works!
Since this is a bit of a DIY blog, allow me to show you how to cut a faceted gemstone!
Start with a rough crystal and cut it into two pieces.
Round the stone against a diamond and polish the first facets.
Keep adding and polishing facets.
Your gemstone is finished!
Now you know how to cut your own beautiful gems and diamonds. Isn't that easy? Hahaha! Okay, so I guess most of us won't be doing anything like this any time soon. But as a "Very Serious Crafter", this sort of thing excites me nonetheless.
The only thing better than seeing step by step gemstone cutting (sort of!) was...
A rainbow of gems!
Okay, now let's get back to what you came here for: the July Ruby Birthstone embroidery pattern!
I haven't stitched it, chosen colors or fabric, or even printed out my pattern yet. But YOU CAN! Share your pics and tag them #WildOliveStitchingClub. And if you're just finding this now, be sure to look through all the past patterns in the series for more info on how these pieces all come together.
And as soon as I get caught up on other work (is that a thing? getting truly caught up?), I'll be stitching my little gemstone heart out!
Glad I'm not the only gemstone freak. Lol
ReplyDelete