Angelface...

Well here it is the end of the month already and here too is the progress I have made on my Angel... Not as much as I had hoped but at least there is some. My goal for the end of October is to have the top of her head completed and some headway down the other side of her face...

I have come to the conclusion I am not a natural stitcher nor for that matter anything to do with textile craft or sewing or knitting. I think it is because I get impatient with the slow going of it all. I am not one of these people who can stitch and talk too - I am better on my own. I can stitch in public places - hotel lobbies, on the train, at the bus shelter etc - but put me in a stitching group and I inevitably make mistakes which then I have to unpick and that I absolutely hate with a passion. Nor can I sit and stitch for long periods of time - an hour, at the most two and then I start to get restless.

I have another big 0 birthday in 5 years and I have made myself a promise that I shall do one major piece a year - that should cover at least some of the bigger kits I have bought over the last couple of years which I would loathe to give away not done - after that what gets done does...

Now back to my angel...

Op - shop finds...

Glasses Case
Easter Bell Pull
Glasses case kit and Pillow Sham pattern & threads

I found these Danish Flower Thread kits at my local op-shop yesterday. Two were glasses cases one a Easter bell pull and the third a pillow sham pattern and threads. The full kits were $3 each and the bell pull and pillow sham were only a couple of dollars each. The bell pull as you can see ( pic 2) has already been started and it is not much wider than a bookmark...

What fasinated me about the threads are that they are so fine and quite a different texture to what I am use to using... On closer inspection they seem to be the genuine article having a' made in Denmark' tag. And I would take a guess that the instuctions are in Danish although they do have and English version too.

Will I stitch them?? Undecided - but I believe they are worth having in my stash :) I think what gets to me is the story behind them. Who owned them originally? Were they bought in Denmark and travelled with their owner to Australia? Why were they never finished??? LOL- I guess the next question could be - will they ever be finished????

Portrait of Wisdom

This is to be my project for 2007-2008.

I had wanted this kit for a very long time and a year or so now it turned up on eBay for a very reasonable price. I was ecstatic when I won it and I carefully put it away in my 'someday' pile... It has been on my mind of late that it's sad that some of my cross stitch kits may never see the light of day and especially this one as I have always loved its imagery.

As I am entering a 'new' year as of tomorrow I have decided to make this my project. I want to bring my Indian 'to life' and it is my goal is to have him at the framers by my birthday next year.

RowanDean

I found this RowanDean Miniature last year in a local op shop - it was the preprinted fabric minus the threads and needle. As I had another (unworked) RowanDean at home I thought that it might make a nice companion piece to it. The fact that it only cost me two dollars also added greatly to its appeal.

Some time ago I sat matching DMC threads to the image on the front of the packet and whilst they aren’t exact I think that they will be fine.

I also began stitching- not getting very far - but nevertheless pleased with the amount I achieved. The dark green tree areas are all done with 2 strands and two wraps(around needle) french knots - they were relatively easy and quick to do. I am having a little more difficulty with the distant pink hill as I cannot seem to be able to get even tension with the one strand satin stitch and I have unpicked it and redone it several times trying to get the look I am after. The foreground is more ‘rustic’ and allows for a more artistic licence approach and I might ‘run’ the design outside of the border for a little added interest.

I am also toying with the idea of using this as a crazy quilt patch - not sure where I am heading with that one though. One concern is that it might not lend itself readily to being surround to multiple seams and ’crazy’ embroidery.

In my mind I have placed the RowanDean just ’off centre’ - but I am unsure how that might work visually. I like the theme of a meadow setting with related aspects of meadow life appearing in other patches - somehow I think that may be a little too ambitious for me. Why can’t I think small??? But for the moment I shall just continue on stitching and see where it leads.

Angelface...

Not very much progress has been made - my goal for Sept. is to complete the top of her head and down the left side of her hair as far as her halo...

I just couldn't resist...

I found this remmant of furnishing fabric at a shop in Warrandyte...