World Embroidery Day

It's already in it's 5th year and I didn't even know until today. I'm a day late here in NZ as it's made it to the 31st. Thank goodness for facebook alerts from later timezones, where it's still the 30th, for drawing my attention to this auspicious day. The 30th of July  is also World Embroidery Day. An initiative started by the Swedish Embroidery Guild the celebration is growing in momentum through the Global Embroidery Network. Here's a copy of the manifesto ~ 

What a fantastic idea and I thought to add my little bit to the celebration I would blog about my embroidered achievements over the past few weeks ~ Creativity for the sake of Peace, Freedom and Equality ~

Since I am ahead on the 2015 BOM for Sue Spargo I thought I would get on and applique the butterflies onto the background for another piece I am working on. I just don't feel right these days unless I have a wool project on the go. It's such a satisfying medium to work with. Can't wait to get to the embellishing/embroidery bit ~ so vibrant, colourful and fun ~ less than a month's sleeps now until the Patchwork Passion Sue Spargo retreat ~ can't wait ~ LOVE meeting the designers in person ~

~ A riot of colour ~

~ Texturising the background adds dimension ~

 I promised last time I blogged that I would have the third instalment of Colmar finished and I have. The latest Quiltmania has arrived with instalment four so I need to get prepp'd to start that soon ~ 

~ A gorgeous bouquet ~

~ LOVE those pretty little hearts ~

~ Amazing how the embroidery makes a piece sing ~

I managed to slip in a little sustenance during the week, Check out these cheeky little Nutter Butter's from Craftsy ~

~ Aren't they cute 'n' tasty too ~

AND, I also had a finish, finish ~ my May Your Hands set is complete. So nice to have an item removed from the 'awaiting finishing pile' and all set up in the display cabinet for admiration. It feels like an absolute age since I did the embroidery on this project ~

~ Such a sweet set ~

To round off the week I tried my hand at something very non embroidery but creative nontheless and a newby technique for me ~ I have had the supplies to make some needle felted pumpkins from Sarafina Fiber Art for yonks and finally decided to give it a go ~ it was such fun ~ now I need to progress to doing armatures and some real animals ~ 

~ It's super quick and super fun ~

~ Gotta love this trio ~

~ And witchy poo pumpkin too of course ~

~ This one's going to a friends home if she'll have him ~

~ Had to put this one under glass ~

~ Oh, I managed some needle punch too this week ~

Hope you managed to do some embroidery this week too ~ Happy World Embroidery Day ~

~ May Your Days Be Filled With Salubrious Stitching ~

Piddling Along

Well that's what it feels like ~ things ain't moving particularly fast ~ 

Managing car selling and car shopping and school holidays are sucking up my mojo ~ it's been a wet and cold holiday for the first part but even hanging around at home things ain't getting done ~ these peeps are ALWAYS wanting to eat ~ OR ~ wanting this, that or the next thing ~

This project (May Your Hands) has been hanging around in my studio completely stitched for months maybe a year waiting to be dealt to by the 'finisher' ~ uh hmm ~ that would be me ~ decided to get it out and darn well finish finish so I can file all away into the prettiest Betsy Krieg Salm personalised box I received ages ago ~ even though I pulled it out for completion asap it's all been sitting on the desk for days now ~ one day!!!

~ Even Craig's sick of waiting for me to finish ~

Next project has seen a bit more of my attention, mainly because I can tend to it whilst watching TV. In typical 'me' style I didn't choose an easy project to start learning this particular skill (rug hooking) on but then I just cannot bring myself to work on boring starter kits that don't excite me so over challenge myself I will ~ actually it's not hard apart from learning to pull the wool evenly and how to execute nice start/stops and corners ~

~ If I pull finger I might get it done before winter's over or halloween for that matter ~

Been also doing a little of Colmar ~ next piccie I WILL have this done cos the next blocks out soon ~

~ Fixing's done ~ onto the more fun embellishing ~

My Ort pile is growing and showing my many and varied projects~

 ~ The ends of the wool worms are outgrowing the threads ~

Right ~ back to May Your Hands ~ ~ May Your Days Be Filled With Salubrious Stitching ~

Number Two's Finito

The second instalment of Colmar is complete, done and dusted & finito. That was the biggest single achievement this week. Doing four repeats around the block was a challenge for me ~ I don't like to 'repeat' and like it to be new and fresh and interesting ~ it ceases to be interesting after about, oh I don't know, yes I do ~ once!!!

She, yes 'she', she's flowery, so 'she' has to be a 'she' is looking very pretty despite being puckered and solid with trapunto and embroidery. I did back with embroidery stabiliser but it's a fair amount of work and I stitch in hand so there you go ~ when the first block was introduced it did say, and I quote ~ " Do not worry if the piece seems slightly (or even quite) <<wrinkled>>, we promise that once it is quilted, everything will lie flat!" ~ unquote ~I'm relying on that promise ~

In the meantime I've started Number Three ~

~ Pucker up my Pretty ~

~ Number Three's A Go Go ~

~ One, three, two ~

The emperor's Kings new clothes are slowly being tailored too ~ it's been a busy week with lots of going out so not a lot going on but every bit counts towards the finish ~

~ Last side of the background and then onto the 'dimension" ~

Here's to warmer and toastier times, it's been freezing here in NZ this week ~ near record cold for some parts, not up here in Auckland BUT then it's all about what you're used to right ~~~~~~ and I'm not used to it as cold as it's been right here and my big ole churchy home is not easy to heat ~~~~~ brrrrrrrr

~ May Your Days Be Filled With Salubrious Stitching ~

Winter Solstice Is Nigh Down South

As the winter solstice approaches and the weather deteriorates again I am blessed that I have my stitching. I haven't posted for a bit and you think that you haven't done much but recollection for blogging makes you realise that you really have done something ~ all the little somethings become meaningful somethings over time ~ 

Life's still so very up and down for me and the girls, with milestones and occasions it's been rough sailing of late and standing alone after 20 years of partnership is not an easy learning curve ~ BUT ~ thank goodness for my 'somethings' ~ to help comfort me on the long road to healing ~ the prospect of having to return to paid employment is looming so my somethings output rate will diminish for sure after that....

Been managing to do a little 17th century during the day, just a little, the fuel in the 'mojo' tank is firing but not on all cylinders yet ~ still I did get that blasted second canopy done I'd procrastinated over for SO long ~ do excuse the photo quality, cannot figure out why it appears to have deteriorated....or maybe it's just my monitor....

~ Canopy on it's scaffold finally constructed ~

 ~ Pinned for admiration ~

~ Alongside it's Kingly counterpart ~

~ Need to attach these same leaves to the other side first ~

~ And at last...... ~

~ We have a pair ~

So now finally I can open the page to the next bit ~ the kingly robes ~there's some background robing to complete in trellis stitch first and then a detached piece for the dimension ~ it's gonna take a while ~

 ~ Start made ~

~ But a ways to go ~

My relaxing evening stitching is coming along too ~

Colmar is progressing, three out of the four applique's are fixed, trapunto'd and embellished now ~

~ Boy, you can sure tell which one's remaining and awaiting the magic ~

~ Loving the vibrancy ~

~ AND the puffiness of course ~

I've also finished the front panel to the Sue Spargo bag, got all the other bits and need to crack out the sewing machine and assemble ~ watch this space ~ I am THRILLED with how this has turned out and the photos do not even begin to capture how blingy this is in 3D ~

~ Simply gorgeous ~

~ The thread variety and dimension ~ love it! ~

~ A drizzle stitch and beaded tail ~ what more could a bird want ~

~ Even the bees and lady bugs think he looks grand ~

~ The velvet applique is a massive favourite for me ~

And so to round off the efforts there is a little 'something' different ~ now that it's cooled off I am trying my hand at another little something woolly ~ rug hooking ~ my very first attempt ~ so many different things ~ so little time ~

~ I'm a newby so it's super slow going ~

~ No instuctors over here in NZ for rug hooking so it's all books and winging it ~

~ Love all those woolly worms ~

Hope this finds you all cosy and warm if the winter solstice is approaching for you otherwise enjoy the warmth at the top of the planet ~

~ PS ~ I couldn't have done any of it without his help ~

~ May Your Days Be Filled With Salubrious Stitching ~

Winter's On It's Way

The weather has turned, it turned about a week ago now, been sometimes raining and sometimes windy ever since and more to come. We have apparently survived the biggest weather pattern currently on the earth although they did get it way worse down in the southern climes of New Zealand ~ the coldest this year thus far! Only 6 more sleeps until winter ~ only 5 more sleeps until my beautiful Tiger Lily turns 14 on the last day of Autumn ~ and it's a long weekend coming up being  the official celebratory day of the Queen's Birthday ~ weather's looking set to throw us another pile of rain so some hunkering down looks to be in store ~ what more could a crafty girl want at the onset of winter this weekend ~

But my stitching fingers have not been idle whilst waiting for it to chill down, my evenings have been productive and even my days have found me preparing my projects and I have even recovered some small 17th century mojo ~

The Sue Spargo BOM is all caught up and I am awaiting the next instalment. Can't show that as per Sue's lack of permission but I can share a little prep. Sue is coming to New Zealand for a retreat in August. The retreat is hosted by Patchwork Passion and Sue has designed a project especially for us ladies attending. We now have the kit in order to do the necessary prep. The prep involves texturising the background and the applique of the vases. I've made a start, pinned it all on and it's ready for adhering by my chosen method which is hand applique ~ 

~ Busy, busy ~ Indigo Vases ~

I've also been spending quite some time with my Colmar Block 2, piecing the block together with those dratted flying geese had me tearing my hair out until I found my rhythm. I had never attempted foundation piecing until now and I'm not hankering to do it ever again, it's SO darned easy to get it out of whack ~ must be the most time consuming background I have ever attempted ~ still it looks good now it's done and the embroidery has started to appear ~ excuse the first few photos, the iphone has a habit of shifting around on you even though it looks right at the time so these should be landscape ~

~ Flying geese are gathering ~ there's a little piece of my dear departed Craig inside the
sphere, I'm sure he's enjoying helping me with my projects! ~

~ The geese are beginning to multiply ~

~ The flock foundation ~

~ Ready to migrate to Colmar ~

~ Pieces of the puzzle ~

~ aaaahhhhh ~ 

~ Makes all the difference adding a little colour ~

~ Applique x 1 attached, 3 to go then it's onto trapunto and embellishing ~ Block 3 is already
published, need to move along ~

So after all that fabric I managed to find a small piece of the week to retackle something 17th century. Many months ago the fact that I had to do a second canopy on my door'd mirror had me stalled in the starting blocks. Well  I have decided enough is enough so I'm going to 'knock the bastard off' and get it done. I'm on my way, two side curtains finished and the canopy to go in the detached needlelace and then I can background stitch the mirror and attach the curtains. That way I will be able to happily move on with another element of the mirror. I am seeing so much activity and awesome achievements on the Thistle Threads forum that I am feeling vey left behind ~

~ Left curtain completed, right curtain nearly completed ~

~ Canopy cordonet'd and ready to begin ~ 

I'm off to stitch ~~~~~~

~ May Your Days Be Filled With Salubrious Stitching ~