GWE Samples Finished

I had myself a day at home yesterday working on all sorts of projects so will hopefully have lots to share in the coming weeks as everything progresses.

My one finish though was converting my GWE UFO samples ready to be displayed in CD cases. The Herringbone and chain stitch sampler was already just about the right size for a CD case. I was going to add some more to this and make the stitching more dense, but in the end I decided I quite liked it as it is. Ok it's nothing special, there is no design and the stitching isn't even all that good. But it was really my first go at totally free form stitching with no aim or plan, and so I thought it would be nice to leave it that way. It will hopefully serve as a measure of how much I improve when I get more time to explore stitching in this way.
The second piece which was the white on white with sorbello stitch was actually a little too big for a CD case so I trimmed it down ever so slightly. I've always liked how this one looked. A calico background built onto with some cheesecloth and then decorated with a few buttons, beads and pieces of lace. I knew that I didn't want to do anything more with this one.
The piece that has changed the most is the orange and pink background that I had started to build up when we were lucky enough to have a play session on the embellisher machines that some of the GWE members bought in. As I mentioned in my post yesterday I'm currently working on some 'goddess' postcards and have really been enjoying working with the theme so decided to make a CD piece in a similar style, hence a fire goddess was born. I took my ready make background needle felted some silk fibers at various points to add some different texture to the cheesecloth and organza already there, then added the applique and embellishments and went to town on the hand stitching.
It took quite a few hours to get this one done yesterday but I really enjoyed it so time well spent in my book!

My goddess postcards are almost done and I think I might be able to get them finished up before bed tonight so I'm off to hit the sewing machine!

GWE Samples

Now that the safari cushion is done it's time to pick another one of my UFOs from the box.
Actually I've decided to pick three. These are three small samples that I started at different GWE meetings. The group members have a great concept of displaying their samples in CD cases, so I'm hoping to add some more stitches and get them mounted in the cases in time for the GWE meeting on Tuesday.


I've not been able to get to GWE for a few months because of my earlier health problems so I'm looking forward to being able to go back. I may even pull out my 'Steam' sketchbook and try and get back into that theme again. I really need to come up with some ideas for a piece for the exhibition that we are going to be having at the beginning of next year.

Also on my worktable this weekend are some 'goddess' postcards and a couple of blocks that I want to make for a lottery. I haven't done any patchwork blocks for so long I've been recently craving to make some again.

I don't know how much I'll have time for, I have a busy day tomorrow but today dh is out so I have a day being able to please myself which is great!

On Safari

I'm happy dancing as another UFO is finished up.

My safari cushion is done. Here it is sat on the sofa. In the end I didn't add anything more to the centre panel as I was thinking I might in the last post. I did think about it and actually wanted to add some trees along the horizon line. All the other pictures on the panel are fussy cut appliques. When I looked through the fabric stash I have nothing with trees on, actually I couldn't believe that I didn't, but it's true. I might in the past have rushed out to find some but as I am trying to cut back I really didn't want to go out and get more fabric just for a tree or two.

I also thought about maybe embroidering a tree or two but didn't think this would really fit in with the rest of the panel so decided to leave well enough alone.

I haven't done anything fancy with the back just picked out one of the fabrics that feature in the border. (sorry about the blurry pic, the light here is terrible and the flash just glares back on this fabric)The cushion measure 18 x 18. The only thing I have left to do is go buy a cushion pad that is big enough the ones I have really don't fit properly so it's a bit saggy :)

DH is out tomorrow for the day so I'm looking forward to a day stitching and catching up on some blog reading, with maybe a chocolate eating break thrown in there somewhere for good measure!

Crazy Cats

Ok so you are probably getting sick of seeing these kitty cards by now, but I love making them so there may even be a few more to come! After my recent private trade with Andrea, Andrea said how much her young son really liked the cards. So needing no further excuse I thought I'd make him one all of his own.This time I used some buttons to embellish as I thought they'd be a bit less girly than sequins, and after sequins buttons are my favourite embellishments! I also got my return package from Andrea from our trade. Look at these wonderful fabrics.
And also in the package was this cute box and pen. I have a collection of cat buttons, beads and trimmings so this great box will be a perfect home for them.Thanks for a great trade Andrea!

Siberian Gold - Part Three

It's time for a progress report on Siberian Gold, but first I would like to thank everyone who left me a comment on the last post suggesting the conversion chart, and especially to Sue who provided a link :) I hadn't even thought about this duh! Anyway I now have all the colours I need.

While I have been working on this this week it's really felt like I've made very little progress, but now that I can see the two pictures laid together I can see I've actually done ok.

Last week

And now.

The top picture was taken using a flash setting on the camera and the bottom without, doesn't it make a surprising difference to how the colours look?!

I think this illusion of slow progress is partly because of the way I work these larger pieces sticking to colours rather than small areas. For a few weeks it seems as though nothing is getting done and then all of a sudden everything comes together.

Mermaids

I got my mermaid postcards finished off yesterday. I had a lot of fun making them but the faces are a bit of a disaster. I tried to keep them simple as my drawing skills are pretty poor but they still didn't come out right. I guess I need some practise!

They are a combination of hand and machine stitching with lots of added embellishments!

Pincushion Purchase

As I don't have a whole lot of my own to show you I thought I'd share a recent purchase that I made at this Etsy store.

I have a small (but growing!) collection of pincushions and I couldn't resist this little fella when I saw him the other day!

I think he's adorable.

Dorset Steam Rally 2008

The weekend just disappeared in a flash. I blinked and it was gone.

On Saturday we spend a (long) day at the Dorset Steam Rally. I just love events like this there was so much to do and see, unfortunately my camera wasn't playing nice and even though I charged it before going the battery ran down in super quick time and I only managed to get a few photos most of which weren't any good anyway!

Typical scene from the main ring where they have engines running all say creating smoke and noise.

Taking a break.

Engine at Sunset.

I was driving so no alcohol for me but Mark found the time to sample a couple of the many brands of Cider on sale!

It was a beautiful sunny day which just served to remind what a lack of summer we have had here (again) this year.

Today has been spent recovering from the rally though we did manage a walk down the local canal path too.

Not a whole of stitching has been done, though I am ploughing on with Siberian Gold and the mermaid postcards are almost done so hopefully stuff to share soon!

Andrea's Kitty cards

Now I know that Andrea has received the kitty postcards that I made for our private trade I can share some pictures.

I made three altogether. The first 2 are replicas of a couple of cards I made here.
Andrea said she wanted 2 cards but I just couldn't stop there and had to make another, this time slightly different from the ones that I made before.I couldn't resist adding some orange embellishments this time.
I think sequins are my favourite kind of embellishment at the moment. A while ago I made an order with Cartwrights and was very pleased with their service. I'd love to get some more from them but as I'm trying to cut back I've already exceeded my craft spending quota this month :) However when my numbers come up on the lottery I will make s huge order which will definitely include some of these, these and ooh tonnes of these!

Siberian Gold - Part Two

Frustrating.


Is the word that I think mainly sums up my experience with this one this week. I think this was for a few different reasons. First off although this is a kit there appear to be three thread colours that are missing, I have no idea if they just weren't in the kit or if they have been lost somewhere down the line. On the up side this is an Anchor branded kit so I should be able to replace them, on the downside although I have 5 thread organisers full of these threads my brand of choice is DMC so I'll have to go out and find an Anchor supplier.

Secondly there are so many colour changes in this one it's unreal this made for so many thread changes at the beginning it was really slow progress. In all honesty I almost gave up and put it back in the box. However as now both Vicki and Kate are working and making good progress on their own cross stitches they inspired me to keep going.


Actually in the end I'm pleased that I've made some decent progress on this. (However this was only due to spending a lot more than 20-30 mins a day only possible becasue I was off work last week). Here is last weeks starting point.
And this is where we are now.
As you can see I've almost completed the background at the top of the Tiger (minus the missing colours) and I've started to extend the Tiger's body.

Now that I'm starting to move away from the stitching immediately surrounding where Mum got to I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable with this piece. I've come to realise that Mum and I have totally different approaches to working on these pictures and I think that added to the frustrating times I was having in the beginning.

It looks as though Mum tended to concentrate more on completing small areas at a time whereas I thread my needle with a colour and work on that colour until the thread runs out, which means that I tend to range over a larger area of the picture (I think it's pretty evident in the progress picture). I think my way is quicker, less colour changes, and more progress. However I can see how Mum might have enjoyed her way more as you can see the whole picture emerging piece by piece rather than having scattered areas of stitching here there and everywhere. I have found this realisation quite fascinating.

Frustrating to Fascinating all in one week. My enthusiasm for this project is finally emerging and now I'm looking forward to seeing what progress the next week brings.

And for any Tiger lovers out there you might want to check out these lovely pictures that DH took while we were at Colwyn Bay Zoo the other week.

Sunflowers

Have I ever confessed here how much I love sunflowers?

Sadly I'm no gardener and don't really have a clue about most floral varieties but I do know that I love tulips, poppies and most of all sunflowers. Sunflowers make me smile. Imagine the size of my grin when we stumbled across a whole field full on our travels the other day.

It was one of those sunny/cloudy days which created bands of different golds across the field depending on the movement of the clouds.
And of course there were sunflowers in all the different stages... about to unfurl Reaching for the light ....... And in full bloom

There was plenty of opportunity for some close upsAnd the flowers themselves were home to plenty of insects But my favourite of the lot was Sunflower Sally, with her wilted petal fringe (bangs) and her bonnet of green.

On Safari

As I got the bag finished at the weekend it is time to draw another one of my UFOs from the box.

In November 2005 I took a workshop with Jan Hassard based on an African themed quilt she had made. I came away from the workshop with lots of little blocks but knew that I would never actually make a large quilt using them. So shortly after the workshop I decided to join a few of the bits together to make a cushion top. After doing this and adding some simple quilting it has been languishing in the UFO box. Looking at the centre piece on this now I think that it really needs some more stitching/detail to bring it to life a bit more but I don't know what. I will mull it over for a few days, if nothing comes to me I will finish it as is. If I decide not to add anything else this really shouldn't be more than an hours work to get it all finished up.

Also on the worktable this week I have these watery babes waiting for some embellishment.

Kitty Bag revisited

You might remember a couple of weeks ago I decided as well as working on the cross stitch UFOs I should really dig out a few of my own forgotten projects and get to work on them too.

Well yesterday, thanks to dh over indulging on the amber nectar on Saturday night, I had a nice quiet at home day with time for stitching thrown in too! The perfect excuse to get to work on the bag.

First off I had to repair that hole. Not as easy as it looked as as soon as I sat down, needle in hand, I had cats clambering to get on my lap.Next it was time to set up the machine for free motion to work some stitching on these little straps.

I came a bit unstuck on the next part as I realised that these straps should have been stitched on before the bag was joined together, how I managed to make this glaring error I will never know! Anyway I decided to cheat a bit here and with the aid of my trusty friend (below) the straps were attached.

Finally with this aptly named paint I decorated a couple of pieces of dowel for the handles.

Voila, Angelcat's UFO number one complete.

I really like this little pattern, my bag isn't the best made in the world. I think this must be one of my oldest ufos and I definitely remember doing the stitching on the main part of the bag on my old sewing machine so it must be well over two years old which would make it around about the time that my stitching journey was just beginning. When I find the time I will definitely try this bag pattern again.

The Gift of another UFO

Yesterday bought me the gift of another UFO. While visiting my Nan she said that her friend Evelyn had something she wanted to give me. This something turned out to be an almost finished quilt top.

Evelyn is 91 (though you would definitely not be able to tell) and said that she had started making this top a long time ago out of some fabric from some of her old evening dresses and knew that she would never finish it so would I take it off her hands.

It's very difficult to photograph because a) it's big and b) all the fabrics are shiny and therefore reflect the light a lot.

Of course I couldn't very well say no. But now I have this wonderful quilt top and no idea how to finish it. Basically it needs a border but I don't think cotton would look right with all these shiny fabrics. My immediate thought was maybe velvet but I don't know how I would get on trying to add this when I know it would move around so much in the stitching.

Anyone have any ideas?

Evelyn also gave me a bag of pieced hexagons, the colours and patterns aren't really my taste but I may try and piece them together to make a usable size bag to gift back to Evelyn.

I came back with huge bin liner filled with the quilt, hexagons and lots of other fabric scraps so I will need to have a good rummage through to see whats in there!