Slow Sunday Stitching

I’m continuing to work on my embroidery. I started this piece about a week ago. Most of the stitching on the left side of the picture is done, except for the lettering in the sign above the trailer and also some metallic stitching in the trailer.  I’ve moved onto the right hand side of the picture and am slowly working through stitching all the snow. I have discovered that, although the effect of metallic type thread is really pretty, it is a HUGE pain in the neck to work with. Even when using short lengths of thread and using thread heaven conditioner it shreds terribly. But I will persevere with it.

On Saturday I was reading through some of the rainbow scrap projects on the Soscrappy blog which caused me to remember that I had started an English Paper piecing design by Willyne Hammerstein with plans to do it as a rainbow project. I ended up stalled on it because I couldn’t figure out the logistics of how to go about making the units necessary for each row. I had a knock myself in the side of the head moment and figured out how to do it. So I dug it out and started back at it. It’s early days yet. Each row will be assigned a colour in the order of the rainbow and I’ll follow the layout of the rows as I’m  making the units. Sounds easy..... right? So why did I seem to think it would be difficult? The name of the project in her first book is called Good Times, Bad Times which is rather appropriate at the moment. So here is the beginning..... starting with red. I’m going to link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I am hooked on embroidery. I used to do it all the time as a kid. I think it was actually the first needle work type thing I ever learned to do. But lately in life so many other things took over. Well I don’t know how long this is going to last, but I’m on a roll. I finished the manger scene, buttons included.  I’m not sure just what I’m going to do with it from here. It can either be a pillow or a wall hanging. I’ll decide what it is going to be closer to Christmas. 

I’ve started the next project. Sunflowers and blueberries and leaves in a mason jar. 

The jar is all stitched as are all the stems in the jar. In the picture the oak leaves are done. Since taking the picture I’ve also finished all the blueberries and the leaves behind the berries. I haven’t touched anything else since starting this. I have long admired the Crabapple Hill designs where there are lots of embroidery blocks combined into a quilt. Who knows, if this keeps up I just may end up doing on of those. I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I hope everyone has a great first day of summer. It seems like it was such a long winter, so this is very welcome. And happy Father’s Day too. 

I’ve finished my embroidery folder project and I love it. This is the outside of it. 

 

 I found some odds and ends of leftover bindings that I sewed together and finished the outer edge. I like the additional colours. It took a bit of fussing to get it all cut to the right size so that it would fold up without anything bulging, but it got done. Here’s a close up of the front. 

The inside is divided up into three pockets, stitched in place where the folds lie. 

 And I have my first new project that uses the folder started. It’s the manger scene I showed last week.

 It is stitching up quite quickly. I have at least two more embroidery projects waiting in the wings. Both need to be traced out onto fabric and both need tinting with crayons before stitching. I have threads for them coming from the Crabapple Hill shop. I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I’ve set my knitting aside for a while. My right wrist was starting to really hurt while knitting so I’ve decided it give it a rest. I didn’t do any stitching of any kind for a couple of days, but then decided to do something, but I wasn’t sure just what. But last Sunday all the posts about embroidery caught my eye and I remembered a project that I’d started for a needle work carry folder, so I dug it up and have been working on it fairly steadily for the last 3 or 4 days. It’s almost finished now. I’m working on the french knots that go across the top of the embroidered lace motif and on the words.  After that all that will be left to do is a bee above the pink flowers and I’ll be able to trim the piece down and make the folder. 

I have a few more embroidery projects I’d like to do, but my supply of floss is running low. So I ordered some Cosmo Floss from the Crabapple Hill Studios to go with the projects. It will likely take a couple of weeks for that to arrive which will give me time to finish up this embroidery and get the folder put together. If it hasn’t arrived by then, I can work on a small project that if found for a Christmas pillow. Yes, I said Christmas. These things take time, after all. And it’s so cute! It is a manger scene picture and it has little buttons for the figures. I’ll find a colour that I have enough in my thread stash in order to do the manger all in the same colour.

I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

My new yarn for my Grenadine sweater arrived this past week and I immediately wound it into a cake and got to using it. I love the transition from the multicoloured to the red.



I am two rounds away from casting off the body of the sweater and beginning the sleeves. I’m not sure whether I’ll work on the sweater more this afternoon or get back to machine piecing a quilt. I’ll decide after posting this.

I got as far as pulling out one of my hand pieced quilts this past week. I spread it out and looked at it and pondered what next needed doing and that was as far as I got. I seem to have lost my hand sewing mojo. I’m sure it will come back and so I will wait until then rather than forcing it and ending up with results I don’t like.

I don’t really have anything else to post about today, so I’ll go ahead and link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Design Wall Monday

I’m continuing to work on my quilt using large scale floral fabrics. It is now about 2/3 of the way done. I posted a picture of this to Susan’s Facebook page and she asked me if it had a name and said that she thought it looked like flower boxes. Up until then it didn’t have a name. Now it does: Flower Boxes.



The next picture of it will have to be done after it is finished. Our couch and my sewing table block the bottom of my design wall from the camera. When the centre of the quilt is finished it will measure about 70x70. It’s going to need at least one border in order to tame all the outer bias edges. My inclination at the moment is to use the solid light blue. But that will depend on if I have enough of it left.
I’m not sure yet whether I’m going to stay indoors and sew or go outside and enjoy the glorious summer weather. Right now, summer is edging out the staying inside. I just might wind a hank of yarn that came in the mail today and then go outside and knit. Yep, that’s it, decision made. I’m linking up to Design Wall Monday.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I’m moving very slowly today. On Friday we picked up our annuals for the open area under one of the trees in the back yard. Yesterday was the day to start planting them. We got about half of them in before it was time to call it a day. Or to put it more accurately, until my body told me very loudly that it was time to call it a day. Well today that same body is making all kinds of nasty remarks, mostly referring to my lack of brain to think that it was a good idea to spend hours digging in the garden under the tree that was full of non yielding tree roots in order to plant the flowers. My recliner rocking chair, tylenol and heating pad are keeping me quite close company at the moment.

I’ve made considerable progress on my Grenadine Sweater. I’ve divided off for the sleeves and also changed yarn colours. The photo shoot location for the sweater is proof that I’m not moving too far. A great shot of the sweater on my lap top on my lap. (grin)

I’ll publish this post and link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then go back to more knitting.