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Taiana Giefer’s felted merino wool textiles

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I am a facebook fan of “ecco*eco” and almost every day they feature a new artist. Today it is Taiana Giefer who is a stunning designer using felted merino wool textiles. She is featured in The Moment Blog – NYTimes.com and her designs are marvelous and wearable and usable.  Taiana is a native of California and works in New York.  Throughout her life she has immersed herself in the world of art and textiles and is certainly is an up-and-coming designer.  All her designs are handmade by Taiana in the USA and you will never find an identical piece due to the organic process. Taiana Giefer is only 21 years old, but her edgy, felted merino wool textiles have already captured the attention of some pretty influential fashion folk.  Francisco Costa collaborated with the New York-based designer on custom fabrics for his fall Calvin Klein collection, and Rick Owens liked her cloud-soft creations so much that he decided to sell them at his Paris boutique. Giefer whose boyfriend is the artist and Abraxas Rex Jewelry designer Paris Kain also sells her hand-woven scarves, throws and blankets at Maxfield in Los Angeles. Each richly textured piece is one of a kind and takes up to a week to make. “I love creating things that are new and innovative, but really show off the handwork that went into them,” she says. Get them while they’re relatively affordable: prices start at $300 for a small scarf and go up to $3,000 for a large blanket or tapestry. Go to taianadesign.com for more information.

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Colorful Christmas Tree Cross Stitch Patterns

There’s no rule that says Christmas trees in real life have to be green, and there’s no rule in cross stitch that Christmas trees have to be green, either. While I love a good traditional looking tree (in reality or in cross stitch) there are lots of fun other choices, which we’ll explore here.

Looking for more Christmas tree cross stitch patterns? Check out this post from last year.

I am going to start with a traditional tree, but this one has a lot of color thanks to the lights and other decorations on it. This one is form xCountingtheStarsx, and it uses 20 colors. Worked on 16 count fabric it comes out to about 5.6 by 9.25 inches, or 14.2 by 23.5 cm, with a stitch count of 90 by 148.

These fun designs from Catholic Sprouts have traditional tree shapes but are filled with fun patterns and colors. These would be fun to stitch as a set or you can make each of them and give them as gifts to different people or use as holiday cards.

The Christmas tree shape is a little less literal in this swooping design from Well Stitches. I like this one because it only uses one color so it’s great for beginners, but it still looks dramatic. It is 109 by 155 stitches, which comes out to 7.99 by 11.07 inches, or 19.78 by 28.12 cm on 14 count fabric (dimensions for other counts are also included if you want to make it smaller).

And if you want to go for all color, check out the Merry and Bright Christmas tree cross stitch pattern from Tapestry Barn. This pretty skinny tree is surrounded by multicolored snowflakes. The designs on the tree remind me of knitting patterns. And even though it’s lots of colors, it’s only worked with whole stitches and no back stitching. It looks lovely on dark fabric! The piece measures about 7 by 7 inches, or 18 by 18 cm, on 14 count fabric.