That's embroidery? It's beautiful.

Suzi

Yes, Suzi, they are embroidered, and what fabulous designs they are! These are done on a water soluible stabilizer called Aqua-Mesh by OESD. The designs (there are 10 in the set) are from Embroidery Library (Emblibrary.com, I think). $19.99 for a set of 10 medium sized designs for 3" glass balls. They also sell the same set for large (4") balls, and a set of 8 designs for smaller balls (2 or 2 1/2"). Each set is $19.99. These were stitched out on a Bernina Artista 165. You stitch out two designs and then hand-stitch them together to make a circle, then weave a ribbon at the top. Some of the designs cover the whole ball, so they require a ribbon at the bottom too.

The Aqua-Mesh washes out beautifully and leaves just enough "starch" to help mold the damp embroidery to the Christmas ball. Also it's important to use the same embroidery thread in the bobbin as is used in the upper threading. They are fun to make, but slow on the 165. My Bernina Artista 200 has an owey and is in the shop...it's a lot speedier!

That is really pretty! How long does it take to make 1 ornament? What other colors did you use? I've never seen anything like that. Very pretty!