A Study in Blue by Sue Hillis

I bought the booklet, A Study in Blue by Sue Hillis once it was released to the general public. It had first been offered as part of a class taught by Sue. The booklet includes the charts for all of the projects pictured and detailed instructions for finishing.

While Sue used a paper mache box for her project, I thought about using one of the LeHay Shaker boxes in blue. Later someone in one of the groups posted a box she had gotten from Ikea and I decided to order that and use it for mounting this project.

The Mallgroda Box with lid has an ash veneer and measures 9 ¾x4 inches. The cost is $19.99. It may or may not be available for shipping in your area.

I decided to stitch the project on 28ct Monaco with Gentle Arts Black Raspberry Jam floss.

I have not yet decided whether I am going to stitch the side band for the box or not. If I do, it will be necessary to make some adjustments as the box I am using is bigger than what the project is designed for.

Sue Hillis graciously gave us the following information for making adjustments.

Here’s the math when using the charts in my Study in Blue book. The designs were originally charted for the 7.25 paper mache round box. The chart for the box top is 109 stitches x 110 stitches. For the Ikea wood box, it makes the most sense to stitch it on 14/28 count so it fits better on the larger IKEA box.

14 /28 count—7.86”
16 /32 count—6.87”
18/36 count—6.11”

The strip that goes around the side of the box will need to have additional motifs added to the length to fit the IKEA box. The strip in the leaflet is 367 stitches long x 36 stitches high. The extra height required could easily be attained by adding a border above and/or below the alphabet to achieve the correct height.

14/28 count: 2.57”
16/32 count: 2.25”
18/36: 2”

It’s now July 2021 and I finally got around to adding the top stitched piece to the box. Trying to cut the matboard into a circle that would site in the top was a challenge. Not perfect but I am happy with the end result. If I can manage to cut a smaller circle to fit the inside of the box, I will line it. I also like the natural color of the box so am going to leave it.