Healing Stitching Hands

My hands are my healer, through my stitching I am gathering and maintaining my strength. I am still not up to tackling anything 17th century stitching wise but the simpler things are sustaining me ~ I consider myself totally blessed to have found an obsession interest that brings me such comfort and joy ~

My nightly escapades have been filled with a great deal of Sue Spargo of late. Her colourful and vibrant designs full of animals and flowers and numerous delicious threads are a treat to work on in wool. I have always loved wool as a medium and with it being mid Autumn here in NZ the time it is just right to work on a 'warmer' project, or two, or three ~

Of course one of those projects is her 2015 BOM of which I am not allowed to post photos as per the rules of the group but suffice to say it is moving right along ~

~ So vibrant, just what I need, a spot of colour and fun in my world ~

But in between keeping up with this BOM, where every month comes around awfully quickly, I am working on another Sue design for a bag which I can show you ~ this design was published in Quiltmania magazine not so long ago ~ so far I have appliqued on all the wool, velvet and cotton pieces and have embellished the outer edge of the branch ~ just look how things start to pop on that ole tree branch just with the teeny bit I have done so far ~

~ A riot of colour and design ~

~ And I am only just beginning to 'pimp' that branch ~

It's mega fun getting to use all these many and varied threads to enable effect and texture ~ it's all about the texture in Sue's world AND mine ~ the Tentakulum painters threads are just amazing, love how the colours change so rapidly with the short dyed threads ~ These ones are the same colour way 'Klee' and there's Gimp, Cotton Ribbon Floss, Simmer Ribbon Floss & Pearl Cotton #3 and then some 'Van Gogh' braided metallic for a bit more sparkle. Of course they are quite substantial threads that use quite substantial sized needles but then one would expect no less of a woolly type project ~

~ These threads are all waiting in the wings to create some bark type  texture
on that ole branch ~

When I am not working on a 'Sue' project I have undertaken to work through 2015 on the 2015 Quiltmania Mystery Quilt. This is my Mountmellick of 2015 only with a lot less applique and a lot more embroidered embellishment ~ it's called 'Colmar' and is a La Fee Pirouette design by Nathalie Meance.

So far it's fun, but all that embroidery takes a LOT more time than you think just looking at a photo, when you get into the nitty gritty it is really quite involved but the results are amazing ~ so far I have done the piecing and the applique and what she calls the 'embroidery to secure' the applique, then I have started to trapunto the elements and will then start on the 'decorative embroidery' ~

~ Looking beautiful just with the 'securing embroidery' ~

~ I have trapunto'd the top left leaf, it's looking fuller than the others, I like this poof ~

~ You can see where I have trapunto'd so far, where it's snowy white ~

~ The backing is cheese cloth and you just use the little stuffing tool to make a hole to
poke it all in, just cut thin strips of batting not loose stuffing, it's way easier to poke in ~

~ Here's the nifty little stuffing tool from clover, works a treat ~

A bit more trapunto'ing and then it's on to the decoration ~


I also managed to slip in the completion of a little, well it turned out to be not so little, project that I started  a while ago now and due to life's challenges of late have not picked up again until now ~

It's the Hari-Kuyo needle book design from Susan Elliot of Plays with Needles, I took the basic design and made it my own which of course was Susan's intention and it turned out real neat ~

~ This book for all my favourite handy, dandy needles ~

~ With a place at the back to keep the Hari-Kuyo or used/broken needles, a Japanese tradition
of giving thanks for the needles work on 8th February each year ~

~ With a little pocket in the front for my 'whatever's' ~

~ Personalised for me with added embellishment ~

~ And tied up with a beautiful tie ~

So there you are, these are the lovelies that have been keeping me busy and company of an evening for the past few weeks. Creating something new is a soothing way to start to help heal ones heart from the great loss of something familiar ~ 

~ Blessed I Be For Stitching Will Set Me Free ~

~ May Your Days Be Filled With Salubrious Stitching ~