2013 Finishes - 8 Months in Review

I became a member of the blogisphere in May 2013. This is what I accomplished in 8 months and I am proud of myself.

 

I decided to do this post as I am learning to work with labels on my blog and to declutter before I get too much clutter!!!!



 

Butterfly Pinkeep - Thistle Threads - Cabinet of Curiosities Class Project

 

 

 

Rose Glove Scissor Keep - Thistle Threads - Cabinet of Curiosties Class Project

 

 

 

Mermaid Needlework Treasures - Amy Mitten

 

 

 

Mini Casket - Thistle Threads

 

Summer Daiz Quilt

 

 

 

Dollies Quilt

 

 

 

Morning Glory Quilt - Michele Hill

 

 

 

 

#2 Daughter & Birthday Girl with Claire & Bun Bun

Two Little Dickie Birds Sitting On A Casket Frieze AND In A Tree

Most of my stitching time this past week has been spent on two projects with a wee little progress on starting another.

 

My daytime stitching pleasure has been taken up with the two little birdies on the Essamplaire Burrell Casket Reproduction. I hadn't spent any time on this for a while and have been enjoying catching up with it. The lessons have also been posted for some time for the side of this casket and so I want to move on with this frieze portion of the lid. I also completed the branches for the fruit and have done the cordonnet for the leaves of both. Need to now start the detached buttonhole stitch then it is on to the detached butterfly wings and the flower petals before doing the grass and putting some little beads on the birdies for eyes once all the possibility of snagging threads is gone. I am beginning to understand just how much time these 17th century ladies spent on loads of closely packed stumpwork in a relatively small area but then this is a several years long project and one step at a time without looking ahead is working for me.

Getting Closer!

 

 

 

One Little Dickie Bird....just a bead to slip into where the slit is in the needle lace for an eye and he's all done. I love the feathers along his back.

 

 

 

Two Little Dickie Birds....just lovin those tail feathers... awgh I just love the way he turned out.

 

 

My night time stitching pleasure has been spending time with my May Your Hands. So so pretty and slowly very slowly progressing. Lots of reverse stitching with this free hand embroidery if the shapes don't turn out quite right.

 

 

Two Little Dickie Birds Sitting in a Tree.....maybe they are Peter and Paul.....I hope they don't fly away!

 

 

Two sets of leaves awaiting detached buttonhole.

 

I made the tiniest of starts on the Winter Casket Keepsakes. I need to do the running stitch around the edges.

 

Oops I got my feet in the piccie. Sorry abut that....jandals though....you can tell I am not living in the Northern Hemisphere...no polar vortex or storm flooding down here in the warm southern climes.

 

 

Happy New Year From the Southern Hemisphere

Well hello and welcome to my first post for 2014. It was a very quiet New Year's affair at our house as it has been for many  a year.....all in bed asleep well before midnight!

I made up my mind that I was NOT going to start Amy Mitten's Winter Casket Keepsakes until I did some more work on the Essamplaire Casket as I let this get way behind due to wanting the Mermaid's Treasures to be a 2013 finish. For now I will just have to keep myself happy watching Amy Wilson's Blog to get my fix of the Winter Casket Keepsakes progressing. She is a machine and gets so much done each day it is awesome.

I see on her blog that Amy finally after 6 months received her Home Sweet Home kit  from Stitching Shop in Colorado .This is for Carolyn Pearce's book of the same name. I had been looking at subscribing to this through Country Bumpkin over the 10 months but it works out more economical for me to purchase from the USA as only one lot of postage. I just love the network of needlework women on the web who willingly give up their sources to others. It is invaluable when you live way down here!

I also had a really lovely email from Lee over the holiday period. Thankyou again Lee for your kind words. It is really encouraging when someone finds your efforts inspiring. I too am constantly inspired by the achievements of others and it motivates the use of the needle 24/7...if only we didn't need to sleep every day how much more we would achieve!!!

I don't tend to do New Years resolutions but here is a visual update on my New Year's decision...

 

Since I have kick started this project again I have padded both birds, made the needlace for the right bird which is the best piece yet...practice makes perfect!, made the legs and stitched the tail feathers. Oh yeah...amazing what you can do in a few hours when your husband and kids go to see 'The Hobbit'....

 

Margriet from Essamplaire has posted the lessons for the Frog Purse and so far it doesn't look to onerous but I don't have the kit yet due to xmas mail so don't have to feel guilty about not starting that one yet!

 

Last Post

It's that time of year again, nearly the last day of 2013 and the dawn of 2014! Just think of how much stitching I can accomplish in 365 days, how many projects I can complete....sigh

 

There will be another big milestone this year, 2014 is the year I turn 50. How different the world is now to when I was born back in 1964.

 

My next project arrived in the mail on Saturday. As usual a gorgeously presented kit with all kinds of exciting bits. There is even a teeny tiny embroidery hoop that  measures only 8cm. The pieces are all unexpectedly printed onto the silk....simply brilliant, simply Amy Mitten all over.

 

 

Winter Casket Keepsakes - Amy Mitten

 

May Your Hands has progressed. You can't see it all as some of the smaller pieces are wound around the Millenium but they are all done and now I am working on the Needle Keep, Scissor Keep and Pocketbook. I am up to Lesson #3 out of 4 posted but 1st January is not far away when  Lesson #5 will be posted. I am enjoying the change from counted to surface work on this project although my techniques are in their infancy!

 

 

I love the look of the vine and blueberries and there is quite a bit of this spread over the pieces. Of course being a 'maximalist' kinda girl I have chocked the vine with more leaves and blueberries than Trisha had....lol

  

 

The Pin Keep flower and vine is so pretty. I didn't put the piece back on the roller frame before doing this. I should have as it has ever so slightly pulled but only I would notice. Was just enjoying 'inhand' for a moment!

 

I forgot to post about my finish on the Thistle Threads Mini Casket. I finished sometime ago. I coloured this in with pencils and am using it for 'ORTS' the leftover threads one has whilst stitching.

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

 

A Delicious Project is Complete

I DID IT!!!!! I finished the Mermaid Needlework Treasures and the set is proudly on display in my curio cabinet. I just need to blog as I have an insane need to share the  joy  and to spread the needlework love to all those out there who might happen upon my blog.

 

You can still do this project, It is a beyond fabulous mecca of learning and a joy to produce such a high quality end result. Thank you Amy Mitten for your brilliant design and excellent course, I learnt soooo much.

 

The set of four pieces are represented by, an antiqued mirror scissor keep with stumpwork mermaid , a fish pin and needle holder, a scallop shell thread and thread winder holder and a snail tape measure. In reality the pieces are even more sparkly and brilliant than one novice photographer with and iphone could ever portray.

 

 

Oops - missed basting has since been removed - thanks Amy for alerting me ;P

 

A Fabulous Finish Is Near.....

Only eight sleeps to go until Chrissy is here and only four sleeps to go until Amy Mitten releases the first instalment of the Casket Keepsakes AND I am going to finish the mirror for the Mermaid Needlework Treasures before that kicks off.....YES! I am getting prouder and prouder of myself the closer I get to finishing the last raised backstitch. Such a cool project and a cool result. I cannot wait to photograph the set together and to know that .... I DID THAT! 

 

 

The twisted personality thread used to lace the sides sure is correctly named by Amy as it does have  a mind all of it's own but it is endearing and I like it's result.

 

 

 

The antiqued mirror looks amazing and I am loving all sides of this scissor keep.

 

Several rows of raised backstitch to go yet but looking good!

 

 

The May Your Hands has taken a bit of a back seat this week so I can finish the Mermaid.  I so want to be able to show my Mum the completed Mermaid set when she comes for Xmas day.

 

May Your Hands - Thistle Threads

 

I received the two latest kits for the courses that Tricia at Thistle Threads is running. The Tudor Rose started on 1st December and I need to look at 'will I start this'  and the Abby Couzzins starts 1st January. The WIP pile is growing.....no surprises there!!!!

 

 

Now another fabulously simple but highly effective item arrived in the post last week from Country Bumpkin. I received my Supporting Frame with Hand Rest and Trestle which was designed to accompany Margaret Lee's new Chinese Embroidery Book release. It's quite frankly excellent value even with the $80ish  AUD freight to NZ . Easy to put together and to adjust for frame size and angle. It also holds the Millenium Frame and would appear to have a superior slope adjustment.

 

 

 

Fantastique, but I see all these frames are now on preorder for Feb 2014. So glad I ordered mine early on.

 

The slope adjustment is so simple. The little peg with the yellow top just pops into one of the other holes. All other adjustments are screw and wingnut.

A smidge of work got done on the Floral Glove. I hated getting the three strands of Soie de Paris wrapped into the Gilt #1 Lizardine and it is not easy to stretch the gold wires without a slightly wider gap appearing where your thumb nail holds on. They are slightly messy and wider coiled down the bottom but I am hoping it will not be so noticeable when the other gold is applied and the webgimpe. The inner and outer coils of Gilt Pearl Purl Super once applied made the silk threaded Gilt #1 Lizardine pop out due to it's be thicker. I like that result.

 

Still a ways to go to finish the fourth lesson! All the gold needs to be applied in these roundels and the beads in the centre of the rose. Mermaids Treasures took over......

Brilliant

Brilliant is what I think of my new Lowery frame which arrived this week from Country Bumpkin. What a super duper simple by really effective system. It is slender metal and much less intrusive than a chunky wood stand and the adjustments for raising/lowering the stand and flipping the frame are easily made without lots of turning.....AND the clamp holds the chunky side of the Millenium frame with ease. I had been looking at the Necessaire but they never ever ever have any stock and I got sick of looking. Go Lowery!!!!!

The May Your Hands has been progressing slowly. I am still on Lesson #1 and plugging away on the satin stitch in the sawtooth border.

May Your Hands -Thistle Threads

 

The third project piece for the Cabinet of Curiosities, The Pincushion,  is all framed up and the 30ct waste canvas basted onto the Duchess Satin. The waste canvas will be extracted after the stitching is complete and so will leave a sort of low relief raised stitch but is primarily a way of doing counted work on satin. I have put a few tent stitches into the central motif before setting this aside to work on the doll for my daughter's birthday.

The Pincushion - CoC Thistle Threads

 

I finally after a very long wait due to Jenny's schedule and me changing the colours in the standard kit, have received my Millefiori Heart Brooch kit from Jenny Adin Christie. The kit comes in an oh so pretty calico carry bag. So neat but into the 'stash bank' or 'needlework retirement entertainment fund' it goes for now.

Millefiori Brooch - Jenny Adin Christie

 

Silver Needle sent me the two little Gingerbread mice kits I ordered from Just Nan. Adorable but they are so late here that they won't see the xmas tree until 2014 now. They will have to hibernate until closer to then but not so close they don't get stitched!

 



 

The Piece de Resistance this week was one happy little girl seen here celebrating her 7th birthday with her new friends. Jazmin named her newly stitched friends Claire and Bun Bun and has proudly taken them to school today to share news with her class along with some cake of course.

 

Makes all those stitching hours truly worth it.

 

Jaz is keen for me to teach her to stitch so I bought her a little kit to start on, a wee gingerbread man. My 12 year old daughter is not so keen. I might have another generation starting on needlework!  I was the only one of three girls to take up the passion like my Mum. Just think, girls about a year older than Jazmin were stitching full samplers back in the 1600 - 1800's.

 

Jaz, Claire & Bun Bun

 

Have a happy week