A couple of books and some Saturday night stitching...

The Hand Stitched Home - Caroline Zoob

Celtic, Viking & Anglo-Saxon Embroidery -  The Art & Embroidery of Jan Messent - Jan Messent

Le Jardin - Daisy

As the post header implies, a couple of new books have made their way into my stitching library and I spent Saturday night doing some stitching...Nothing out of the ordinary for me really... As I have gotten older Saturday nights - especially winter Saturday nights are best in front of the heater with my stitching and the telly for company - bliss. As close as I can get to my kind of winter hibernation :)

I have looked and looked at the Jan Messent title for ages... The link I've included is the only information I could find out about Jan -while it is old it gives you some idea of her 'history'. This book isn't available in Australia so and even though it is against the grain to buy overseas when our own book industry is flailing  I didn't want to lose the chance of getting my own copy so I 'bit the bullet' so to speak and ordered one on-line. It is the kind of book that every time you open it the eye catches onto something previously unseen. I just love it.

The other title - The Hand-Stitched Home by Caroline Zoob is a new release and I liked it presentation - clear, crisp and fresh with some appealing ideas to introduce embroidery detail into our homes. It is available from all good books stores including our own Dymocks Doncaster.

The Le Jardin Daisy block has moved on just a little... I was annoyed with myself to discover that I have used a slightly different thread shade across the top of the curve where the scalloped edge is. I must have picked up the wrong thread and in the night light I didn't realise until I gave it a closer look after I finished it. My Virgo nature won't let me leave it like that so before I can move forward I have to step back and re stitch it....

Yesterday I has an enjoyable afternoon with my friend "I"... In her cosy lounge room there wasn't a lot of stitching  happening - more like coffee drinking and conversation making. I look forward to my once a month afternoon catch up we both have lots to talk about, the books we have read, stash 'show and tell' and in her case stitching accomplished... Currently "I" is stitching and amazing piece based on the Egyptian cat statue Baset the gold stitching alone would weaken my resolve - let alone the rest of the stitching it involves. She is stitching it for an exhibition in Oct and she is making steady progress towards that goal. She however helped me out with a stitching dilemma of my own with my peacock SAL... I hadn't been completely happy with the solid colour I had chosen for the motifs - my gut feeling that it was too dark . I had originally leaned more to a blue but had worried that it might be too blue... I gave "I" a choice of the five threads I had chosen and lo and be hold she chose my original blue...I think that I had become 'too close' and needed a fresh pair of eyes to 'see' for me... "I's" work is both beautiful and extensive and she is very adept at making changes when she thinks that they will enhance the quality of the overall project. So I shall chase the Peacocks back into the hoop and stitch some more. "I" showed me a peacock pattern from her own stash and we agreed that it could make a good pair for the one I am doing... But that is only an idle thought - I'll wait until I have 'tamed' this one...

It is a long weekend here in Melbourne and I am making the most of it.. Some reading, some stitching, some DVD watching and some sleeping - bliss

Take care and until next time keep those needles threaded...

Sharon x

Le Jardin - Daisy

Le Jardin - Daisy

... a little look at Le Jardin - Daisy - which is block 2 of the Le Jardin quilt which is a free BOM offered by Browyn Hayes of Red Brolly. Blanket stitch is the featured stitch this month... I am a bit disappointed with mine as I couldn't get them as even or straight as I would have liked... But I do like the way Browyn  does her corners -they look neat and finished... I hope to finish this over this coming long weekend while watching the rest of the series of Silent Witness...

For You Gina, and Others Who May Wander Through...

POPPY - Le Jardin Quilt BOM - Browyn Hayes - Girls Own Stitching Club
You can join it here - http://www.red-brolly.com/red-brolly/girls-own-stitching-club.html

Using the same block template POPPY - Le Jardin Quilt BOM
I thought I would experiment and I used Derwent Inktense pencils  to create a painted effect

First peacock motif

Hungarian Peacock SAL - you can find the details to join here http://mankamintai.blogspot.com.au

Here you are Gina, photos of my latest stitching obsessions... The colours of the peacock are better in the daylight of course....And the colours in the stitched poppy aren't quite as bright as that but again taken with my phone so perhaps not quite as 'true'...

What can I say???

 Me, who has more cross stitch UFO's, kits, patterns and threads than I would care to count went and bought two more. I have loved this swan design after seeing it featured in a cross stitching magazine a couple of years ago and I hunted it down and found it overseas. But I was reluctant to pay the asking price as I knew deep within my soul I would never ever stitch it. However, all that changed when I was cruising ebay a couple of weeks ago.  Now I haven't visited ebay for probably the best part of two years - and what was on the very first page as I scrolled through the cross stitch kits - yep, you guessed it!!!  As well, as the price was less than a third of the original one I had seen, which also included postage. What was a girl to do??? Bid for it of course - which incidentally was in its final hours with no other bids beside it. That surely had to be a sign that it was to be mine. Yes, I know that the likelihood of me ever stitching this is less than remote - but I just love the design and have already had so much pleasure from just looking at it!!!!!

Now the reason I bought this design is harder to explain away.  In my cross stitching life I have seen many North American Indian designs. This is only one of about four which I have and the only one that I have so actively pursued  - I even entered into a bidding war - something that I have rarely done in my ebay life. For some months now I have had a feeling that my life was taking a subtle directional change and perhaps in this design it reflects that change. I would like to think that I will have it finished and hanging on my wall in the opening months of 2014...

And G - this is for you... Not a lot more done - but some... I particularly like the way the stem stitch curves in the variegated colours.  As I suggested to you in our conversation  I think that this block is 'a bit pedestrian' and it lacks that intrinsic  factor that gives it life... I know that the block is far from finished but I just can't bring it into focus at the moment... 

Well, that is enough from me for the moment... But there is one more thing before I go...

I usually don't talk about anything else other than stitching or related things here, but as we all head into the final days before that big day please if you can - just for a moment - pause and say a prayer for all of those families who were touched by such horrific tragedy in Connecticut yesterday (our time). I can't for the life of me come to terms with such a senseless loss of life and innocence. My heart has never been more touched or saddened...

Until later, hug the ones you love..

Sharon x

CQJP2012 - Block 4

The first seam... I must admit I did copy this seam pattern but altered it slightly with the three  flower stems... One seam down - quite a few more to go... :-)

The seam is made up of straight stitches, lazy daisy and French knots using DMC threads..

Until later, take care and keep your needles threaded

Sharon x

Just for fun...

I have put this block together with the idea of just having fun and playing with some stitch combinations... sharonb mentioned this link recently on her blog and I remember that I had made a copy of it last time she had shared it. The idea is to use some of the stitch combinations and use mainly embroidery to embellish it. Again the colours aren't true because I took the photo with my phone - I have 'framed' the block so you can get the idea and  I must admit that I have fallen a little for it - I love the spots and the blue ric rack on the red block and I love its clean lines. I am almost reluctant to stitch on it at all. A  'crazy' purist would spot a couple of errors I have made but this is my block so nothing is 'wrong'... right??? Anyway it is all in the name of fun and learning...

As much as I loved the colours for the  proposed block I showed you last weekend  I just wanted to relax a little and have a bit of fun stitching the next block as the last one was hard work all the way... I started by looking in my 'scrap' container and worked up from there...The spot material was from another project that I become disenchanted with and it had fallen by the wayside. However the material just fitted with all the brights which I had chosen... Now for the next job  - to choose the threads and stitches...

Until later, take care and keep those needles threaded

Sharon x

New Crazy Quilt book

My newest 'indulgence' arrived today... I have long admired  Judith Baker Montano's work. While I don't have any of her books apart from her original - The Crazy Quilt Handbook - which I have just about worn the pages through - I thought that this one was well worth adding to my library.
The book is divided up into nine sections - each with their own sub sections. The sections cover such things as silk dyeing, photography, landscapes/seascapes from photos, embellishing, plus a whole lot more. Each section is like a treasure trove with something different to discover each time you look. I can see already this will be one of my 'go to' references and will be well thumbed through.
Perhaps this will give me a kick start - I don't think that I lack for ideas (sometimes I think I have TOO many) - only the ways to execute them - which seems to be where I fall down. Like for many of us I guess what happens in my imagination doesn't always translate in the way that I 'see' it in my minds eye and I become frustrated. I know one of my biggest failings is that I want everything to be 'just perfect' and that alone stops me. However, as much as I hate to say it - the more you do the more you learn and grow from it.
I am even considering signing up again for for the CQJ2013 . I joined this year and unfortunately fell way behind in the first three months. I think for a number of reasons - mostly non related to stitching -  but through doing the little I did and browsing at other peoples work - I have learnt an amazing amount and I would have a more definite 'game plan' if I were to do it again... But I am not making any hasty decisions as yet. In the meanwhile - I shall dive between the pages of my newest arrival and soak it all up...

Until later, take care and keep those needles threaded

Sharon x

*afterthought - just before my book arrived I had sat and stitched the spider web in silver metallic thread. No spider as yet and maybe there won't be... :-) One more motif to go and may March CQJ2012 will be complete - it's only taken eight months!!!!