Embroidered Bag

I’ve just finished embroidering my tote bag. I bought it at the Knitting and Stitching Show in November, it was from a company called Sew Enchanting. It was pre-printed with the design and I could choose what threads and stitches I used. I started it whilst I was on holiday over Christmas – I used it to carry my other stitching projects too, so it was quite a useful bag.

The threads are mainly from Paint Box Threads, they’re single ply and subtly variegated. They were a nice weight for the chain stitch which I used for all the lines. I think the only DMC one was the pink flower at the bottom.

This is where I was last time I shared it with you…

I cracked on and finished all the words. The hymn ‘Morning has broken’ always takes me back to my childhood as it was a regular at school assemblies in those days. Here’s the finished embroidery…

I’m really pleased with how the colours have worked out, it’s all the rich jewel colours I like. I’m planning to line the bag now, I think I’ve done too much work on it to leave it as a simple tote bag!

Tuesday’s Totter Round the Garden

Apologies for the radio silence, I’ve had major internet problems! My computer is in my sewing room on a desk that is about as far away from where the internet comes in as it could be, it’s been getting ridiculously slow and despite a booster thing nearby it got to the point where I just couldn’t get on the internet. Very frustrating! Last night I suddenly had the idea to move the desk to the other side of the sewing room, when I suggested it to my OH he suggested moving onto the landing where the booster is.,,well it’s a game changer!! So now I can catch up on all those posts I haven’t read as well as tell you what I’ve been up to.

The sun has finally started shining here in the UK and I’ve managed to do several good sessions in the garden. I’ve tried to be a bit more methodical rather than my usual trick of flitting here and there.

I started clearing the autumn bed at he top of the garden, it’s where the chickens and the compost heap used to be and I still get an awful lot of weeds here though it is getting better. I still need to sort the path out at the end as I’m pretty sure there’s crazy paving under the weedy bit.

Yesterday I tackled the other side of this bed, the Amber and Amethyst garden. I only managed half of it but I filled a large garden sack with weeds, there was a new to me weed which was rather prolific in the corner, so I’m hoping it’s one that is easy to control. This photo was taken on a wider setting, so it’s a bit distorted but it gives a better idea of the space.

Down by the patio the choisya is in full bloom, that’s the shrub with lots of white flowers on. I don’t think I’ve seen it quite so floriferous before! The pale pink blossom you can see behind by the lawn is a deutzia, that’s also looking rather splendid. The purple acer in the pottery has come into leaf and is looking very graceful. There’s a few pots need sorting out but they will wait a while.

Up by the pond the Solomons seal is still trying to take over despite a heavy thinning last year, so I think it’s going to have to be moved to somewhere where it can spread to it’s heart’s content. The hostas have all unfurled their leaves over the past couple of weeks so the bed has really filled out. The pond is disappearing behind all the foliage! I have a contact for someone from the local wildlife group who will come and look at garden ponds to advise on how to make them more wildlife friendly, I’m hoping they will be able to suggest something to sort out the duckweed which is safe for the newts.

I’m taking stock of the garden a bit at the moment, seeing which beds need an overhaul and which just need a tidy up, there’s a fair bit of work to do as usual!

Owl and Hare Hollow HQAL

Well I’m still undecided about sashing for my quilt so I haven’t started stitching it together yet. I did spend quite some time however trimming all the blocks to 8 1/2″ as per instructions. I think if I hadn’t had one block which was only just big enough I might have been tempted to make them a little bigger, even 9 1/2 “, but I’m happy with them as they are.

I started laying out blocks on the two fabrics I’m thinking of, this was my first attempt…

I preferred the darker, but I decided to try lay out blocks ensuring I included most of the background fabrics. This is the darker one, which I do still like…

This is the lighter one which gives a completely different feel to the quilt. If I do either of these layouts I do need to buy more fabric as I only have 1/2m of each..

Then I tried the darker one with light cornerstones, these are all the same colour but the idea was that I could use the different backgrounds as the cornerstones.I do rather like the cornerstones…

I then decided to try using other fabrics from this range. I’ve cut some strips from the scraps I have left and laid them over the two main fabrics. I might have to buy a couple of fat quarters, but I rather like this option too and I think it goes with the scrappy nature of the quilt.

I’m still open to suggestions and comments, but I am leaning towards this one at the moment.

I’m not sure if I’ll be any further on in 3 weeks time for the next update – April and May are just crazy months this year! In ten days time I start a long distance walk called the Yorkshire Wolds Way, which we’re taking eight days to complete – it is 79 miles, so days off are spent on practise walks.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

I’ll also be linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Terra Dress

Part of my busy few days away was a reunion, in January it was forty years since I started nursing!! I trained at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, I was in Set 37 and there were 37 of us in our set, we decided to have a reunion down at a pub we used to frequent near to Barts. We couldn’t trace everyone, it was the days before social media after all, but I think to have found over half was a great result.

The Fox and Anchor pub was next to Smithfield Meat Market which was open during the night so they had special licensing hours (this was well before the open all hours pubs we have now) from about midnight til about 10am. We used to go there for breakfast at the end of a stretch of nights. They had a very long griddle and we could go along getting bacon, eggs, sausage, black pudding, beans, tomato…and a gin and tonic!! Then the market men would come in ‘free round of drinks for the nurses’…then the policemen came in from their night shift, ‘free round of drinks for the nurses’!! We would sleep well that day!

The Fox and Anchor is still there but open at the more usual hours. We booked a private room at the back and had a fantastic time, about 18 of us met up. We laughed so much it was fortunate it was a private room!

Of course I decided to make myself a new dress. Last month I spotted the terra dress by Vivian Shao Chen, a designer I’ve not heard of before but it was love at first sight. It’s a shirt waister but with gorgeous sleeves and deep cuffs. It’s a pdf pattern but I got it printed on AO paper by Cool Crafting of Kendal, they were just setting up the service and their prices are very good.

The fabric is from Fabric Heaven on Facebook, she has some beautiful designs, all 100% cotton, this is the lightweight one. It feels gorgeous and it drapes really well too. This one is one of her more muted designs, there’s some stunning richly coloured ones too, I’ve fallen for quite a few as they’re very reasonably priced too, I just need to get sewing them.

The fabric sewed and pressed really easily, I French-seamed the long seams as being soft cotton, it does tend to fray. The pattern doesn’t take as much fabric as I thought it might, 3-3.5m depending on the width. It went together easily, I added about 6″ in length as I do like my dresses long, I also added in seam pockets, there were patch pockets on the pattern but I felt that would detract from the line of the dress. I also didn’t add the split up the side seams. Next time I’ll probably make the cuffs a little closer fitting, I love the depth of them but they are a little big.

I had to change the spacing of the buttons as it is quite a greedy pattern when it comes to buttons, like it needs about 24!! there’s meant to be four on each cuff! I only had 17 as that’s all they had in the shop and they were such a perfect match I just changed the spacing a bit, I used three on each cuff, missed the collar button off and used a different button under the belt.

I love this dress, it’s very easy to wear and I’ll definitely be making more.

Morning has Broken

I’ve just had a very busy week off work – one of those where you go back to work for a rest! I worked out that in four days I had eight train journeys, all over an hour, so I got lots of sewing done, especially as I also reached Kings Cross Station about 2 1/2 hours early on the last day – I just couldn’t face meandering round London with a suitcase in tow for any longer!

My ‘handbag project’ over the last few weeks has been an embroidered bag. I bought the pre-printed calico bag at the Knitting and Stitch show last November and started it during our trip to Australia, so it’s a well-travelled bag. Last time I shared my progress just before my holiday I seemed to have quite a few areas half done…

Well I’ve managed to finish all the half done bits and more…in fact I’ve just got half the words left to do. It’s mainly in chain stitch with a few French knots. I chose the colours from my stash, it’s mainly a single ply thread with a couple of DMC threads too. I love the way the rich colours have worked out.

Once I’ve finished the embroidery it’s going to need a gentle wash as it has got a little grubby, I’m then tempted to line it and maybe put some nice handles on it, make it a bit more that just a calico bag.

Stitch my Garden SAL

I’ve had a particularly busy couple of weeks, culminating with a few days away visiting various friends and family this week. As a result I’ve not managed to start stitching my book together. I have put the pages in some semblance of an order…but that’s as far as I’ve got!

I thought these two pages worked well together and I’ll make it so the page with the quote on it is the last page of the book.

I’m sure others in the group have managed to be much more productive with their projects, so please follow the links to see what everyone else has been stitching.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Jackie, 

Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, 

Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret, Cindy

Embroidered Tote Bag

I’ve managed to do a bit more on my embroidered tote bag over the last couple of weeks, it’s now my in-bag project, the one I work on in dentist waiting rooms etc, it’s a bit bulky to go in my bag ideally but it’s getting it finished.

Last time I shared my progress I was working on the flower at the bottom…

I’ve now finished the pink flower, undid the offending purple line, added orange French knots to the purple flower tips and made a colourful flower on the left. Birdie now has beak and legs too, though I’m still undecided about the eyes. I quite fancy doing an orange/yellow outer ring round the eye like a blackbird but will that look right with say dark blue ‘eyelashes’…decisions!

I love the way this is turning out with all the rich colours, though I am tempted now to make it into a slightly more substantial bag after all the work that is going into it!

I’ve a few long trail journeys visiting friends in the south of England this week, so hopefully I’ll get a fair bit done.

Northern Quilt Show

Yesterday I went with a friend to the Northern Quilt Show, for years this was held at the Great Yorkshire Showground, near Harrogate. I like this show as it’s not too big, there’s some stallholders there who don’t go to the big November show and it’s a reasonable price to get in. This year it’s moved to the Wetherby Racecourse which would prove difficult if not impossible for me to get there on buses, so I was really pleased when a friend asked if I wanted to go.

It’s in two different buildings, three rooms, so it’s not as convenient as the big flower hall in Harrogate but I’m sure we’ll get used to it.

There were some beautiful quilts on display but one really caught my eye, it was by Janet Bevan, called WW1 Centenary and it was stunning. The background is tea-dyed, the flag was torn and distressed and the shadowy figures are in voile which was really effective. The detail in the quilting was just amazing. Quite a moving piece.

Another display I liked was a large group of wall hangings. These were made in 2000 by the Studio Art Quilt Associates. The theme was the Orient Express, the train that runs from Paris to Istanbul, the aim was to bring together the richness, history and culture of Europe and the Middle East. Members were asked to produce a panel to a set size, all had to include a train carriage at the bottom and some sky. There were quite a few on display, here’s just a small selection.

Of course I bought a few bits!! It didn’t bode well when the first stand I went to within 6′ of the door, I bought a kit for a little wall hanging!

I got a dress length, a skirt length, half meters and some fat quarters (at six for £10 they were a bargain!!) some of which are earmarked for potentially finishing my garden book. Also some pretty hand-dyed threads which I hope will be useful for a sea-scape workshop I’m going on next month.

I thought I was quite restrained really 😀

All in all a good day out!

Owl and Hare Hollow HQAL

I’m just doing a mini happy dance as I’ve just finished the final block for this quilt. The quilt is designed by Natalie Bird and it was published in the Australian Homespun magasine in bi-monthly instalments. The quilt officially has 48 blocks as its arranged in a rectangle, 8 x 6, I wanted a square quilt so I’ve made 49 blocks, I’ll make a 7×7 quilt with some narrowish sashing.

Three weeks ago I’d got the hexies half stitched on the garden themed embroidery and still had a circle to stitch in the middle. I’d just started my extra block which is a sewing themed one which will act as a label too.

I cracked on and finished stitching all those hexies down. I chose a fabric with a soft image of a rose for the centre. I do like this block, it’s very pretty…

I could then concentrate on finishing the sewing block. This is a pattern I found on Etsy by a company called MiNiceStitch. They have a huge range of patterns and one feature I particularly like with them is that they provide each pattern in several different sizes, for different size hoops, so I could just print a 5″ hoop one without having to faff about printing to 130% for example. The deer block I did a few months back was also from them…

Well I stitched most evenings to get it finished, added some wording in the centre, just the name of the quilt and my initials with the date. When I went to stitch the hexies on it wouldn’t quite fit. Luckily after a few minutes head scratching I realised I was one hexie short- I’d made four hexie rings last month for the last four blocks and obviously miscounted for what turned out to be the very last block. Of course I’d used my spare hexies for one of the pages in my garden book so I had to get my glue pen out again and a template to make another one!

Finally it was finished…

I now have to make a decision on the sashing. The blocks are only 8″ finished, so I’m only thinking of a 1″ or 1.5″ sashing. I’m wondering about the William Morris fabrics I’ve used in some of the blocks, maybe with a darker cornerstone. I need to sit down and have a play. I’ve got a very busy couple of weeks coming up so I might not have made a decision by next time, but here’s what I’m playing with at the moment…

I think I’ll trim the blocks to size, cut a couple of strips of the potential sashing fabrics and see what everything looks like.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

I’ll also be linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday, so please follow the links to see what everyone has been stitching.

Stitching my Garden SAL

I’ve just finished what I hope is the last page for my embroidered garden book. I say ‘hope’ as I haven’t arranged the pages in order yet and there’s one more page that might be needed.

I decided last month that I really needed a facing page for my three garden embroideries, as they’re pretty densely embroidered and it would be easy for anything opposite it to be a bit lost or even compete with it. Here’s the first one…

Three weeks ago I was just starting the one for the summerhouse and pond area, using up all the leftover hexies from my Owl and Hare Hollow quilt, still trying to decide on the background fabric…

I decided on the flowery background, it was a little softer than the white one. I was pleased I didn’t have to remove all the papers behind the hexies, that’s a fiddly job..

The final facing page was for the Amber and Amethyst garden embroidery,,,

I decided to use another mini embroidery I stitched at the beginning of this project, It was from a mixed selection of mini embroidery designs I got from Sookie Soo on Instagram, they were all on vintage metis, which is a bit like linen, lovely to stitch on. As you can see this is a fir tree. I decided to make it into a Korean Abies, we do have one but it is in the front garden, however it has gorgeous violet/purple cones so it fits in with the orange and purple theme. The little butterfly prints came from Maggie Tuite on facebook.

I’m hoping that might be the last page, but I need to organise the pages into a working order, I might need another one for the front, a title page. Then I need to start stitching them together, still mulling that one over!

This SAL is organised by Avis from Stitching by the Sea, we share our progress on our chosen project every three weeks, please follow the links to see what everyone else has been stitching.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Jackie, 

Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, 

Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret, Cindy