SAL 14 – Fishy on a little dishy…

I have had quite a lot going on over the last few weekends so have not made as much progress as I would have liked. In fact I only sat down last night to work on the piece for the first time in three weeks! Nearly a happy dance, but not quite yet! I have finally gotten round to putting all the elements together for one of the fish. Here is what it looks like now…..

I don’t think that I have quite managed to get the right body shape – mine looks a little two round – probably because I have used too much stuffing. Here is the second little fish going in….

Hopefully the next time we catch up I will have finished at least one of these!

Thank you for popping in. Happy stitching and I hope to see you all in another 3 weeks.
We are a small group of crafters using a variety of different techniques. Please check out the fabulous stitching by all the other members of the SAL. If you are interested in joining us you can contact Avis for details.
Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Connie, Clare, MaryMargaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

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Canvas work – hole in one!

Another trip to Hampton Court which was a little bit of a mixed bag. During the morning I thought that things were progressing nicely until that is I realised that I had miscounted my stitches. I was feeling rather cross with myself as I pulled out an hours worth of work and probably wasn’t taking as much care as I should – so, cut the canvas too!

Aaahh – a hole! Luckily for me Owen was on hand to help and he caught the canvas threads with a thick cotton (+glue). The area is still very fragile, but hopefully you cannot see the hole and the rest of the stitching seems to have been held in place.

In the picture you can see the threads that Owen used -the hole is actually under the dark blue stitching, so I think it is hidden pretty well. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful – and here is my progress to date.

I have been concentrating on the houses in the background of the picture. And after taking this picture I managed to complete the woman’s eye and moved onto the bird at the top right of the canvas which I have been filling with upright cross stitch. Once I have completed the sky I will finish off the face and begin on the woman’s hair.

Hope you all had a more prosperous day stitching!

Canvas work – the eyes have it!

I have been pondering over the horses eye for some time as the colour just isn’t right – so this weekend I decided to take it out and try again. Here is what it did look like….

The face going in

Here is the piece after the eye was taken out – which took nearly an hour to remove! I am already wondering if I made the right decision – but it is too late now!

I used the same whipped stitch to put the eye back in but changed the wool colour to a much darker blue. Still not sure that the centre is big enough – but I will leave it for now and decide when the whole piece is nearer completion.

Added a little stitching up the neck of the horse using a Parisian stitch and started to put the moon in on the left hand side of the piece. Now it looks like this…

Nearly there!

Stitch chart

For once I am actually feeling quite pleased with this piece and can see an end in sight – which is a good thing as I have signed up for the intensive silk shading course in the summer, so do need to finish this.

Happy stitching one and all…

 

SAL 13 – All things fishy…

Hello again everyone, another 3 weeks have shot past. But with the Easter holidays I have finally managed to get a little work done on my stumpwork fish kit by The Bluebird Embroidery Company ! Up until now I have been working on the 3d fish body and needle lace background but now I have turned my attention to the fins.

The fins were worked on a very fine organza, which was very slippery and frayed everywhere! The fabric was painted first and then wire was couched around the outside of each shape using embroidery thread. This was a very time consuming process, but one that I quite enjoyed in the sunshine!

Finally a little backstitching was added in between the wires and this is now where I am up to……They do look a little messy at the moment, but hopefully when they are cut out and the ends are shredded they will look more like fins and a tail!

Meanwhile in the garden spring has finally sprung! This is my favourite time of the year as I love all the spring flowering bulbs and rhizomes. Currently in flower are the erythroniums, trilliums, anemone, spring pea and Solomon seal – with smilacima and aconites waiting in the wings. Even the chickens have come back out to play! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

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Thank you for popping in. Happy stitching and I hope to see you all in another 3 weeks.
We are a small group of crafters using a variety of different techniques. Please check out the fabulous stitching by all the other members of the SAL. If you are interested in joining us you can contact Avis for details.
Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Jess, Sue, Constanze, DebbieRose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Connie, Clare, MaryMargaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

Tell me a story quilt swap…. received!

Just thought that you might like to see some of the lovely blocks that I have received from people whilst taking part in the ‘Tell me a story quilt block swap’ run by Amy Friend.

Each block sent was accompanied by a little story – which I hope to keep and sew into the finished quilt. I now have about 20 blocks – so only another 50 or so to go!

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I have already signed up for the next swap – check out the site During Quiet Time if you are interested. I have really enjoyed the swap so far.

Ooh, some more arrived after adding the first pictures….

Happy stitching everyone!

Tell me a story quilt swap.

I have been busy recently taking part in a quilt block swap called the ‘Tell me a story quilt swap’ run by Amy Friend. Each block made should have a story to go with it that is reflected in the fabric choice.

Block 1: Spring was in the air and Harold found himself falling in love again.

Block 2: As the aroma of carrot stew filled the air, Harold hare raced over fields of wild flowers to get home in time for tea.

Block 3: Whilst Milo slept, Mimi and Christabelle made their way home after a successful day at the pick your own strawberry field.

Block 4: Timmy was relieved to find a ripe tomato, for his tea, amongst the rows of wild strawberries.

Block 5: Mimi, Jessica and Fifi had been best friends ever since they met in the ball park as children. Now they were inseparable.

Block 6: Jessica loved nothing more than to spend a quiet afternoon reading stories about the adventures of the mischievous collie, Pip.

Block 7: Rosie spent the whole day at school daydreaming about the little puppy she was going to collect that weekend.

Block 8: As the autumn leaves tumbled down around him, Harold sat amongst the mushrooms and reminisced about his life.

Block 9: Tommy dreamt of carrots as he walked home with his friends.

Block 10: Love is…… sharing your last carrot.

The blocks were then sent out all over the globe – although mainly to the USA  – to feature in the quilts of other sewers. I look forward to receiving new blocks from new friends!

Happy stitching everyone.

SAL 12 – Ocean blue…

Hi everyone, I hope that you have all had a productive three weeks. I have been busy sewing quilting blocks for a swap. Most (actually all) my blocks have winged there way across the water to the USA. I hope to make my first quilt, something I have wanted to do for many years. Not too sure how I am going to quilt all the blocks once I have sewn them together as I do not have a long arm quilter (whatever that it!) – so it will have to be done by hand!

As to my SAL piece, well that has been put on the backburner a little. I have however managed to get a little stitching done but not on the fins. I decided to tackle the needle lace background. My first attempt was, quite frankly, pretty awful! My second attempt was a little better. Luckily most of it will be covered up by the little fish!

So here it is…… the needle lace background.

As it is now the Easter holidays I am hopeful that I will be able to show some work on the fins and tail next time. Meanwhile in the garden the signs of spring are all about and yellow is the predominant colour.

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Thank you for popping in. Happy stitching and I hope to see you all in another 3 weeks.
We are a small group of crafters using a variety of different techniques. Please check out the fabulous stitching by all the other members of the SAL. If you are interested in joining us you can contact Avis for details.
Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Jess, Sue, Constanze, DebbieRose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Connie, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn,Sharon