What An Exciting Week This Is Turning Out To Be

I have ordered loads of needlework goodies over the past few weeks but they all seem to be turning up at once. Now I know I don't need to add to the stash but as every needlework addict knows....I just have to have it! I will stitch it in this lifetime!

 

First I received more goodies for the 'Essamplaire Casket Course'. There is the pattern for the next side along with some funky beads and cool Silk Purl in six different shades. I haven't seen this type of Purl before, it's kinda matt and rather springy. I wonder what the core is made of! It's quite different to the Silk Pearl Purl. Looking forward to using it and I am assuming it will be couched down. Fun! I guess Margriet will be posting that lesson soon once everyone has their kits.

Kit #2 Essamplaire Casket Course

 

I have also been continuing work on the first section of the casket. I have added the raised needlace body for the moth (left) and the caterpillar (right). I have also couched the gimp down for the stem on the right flower. We were supposed to make our own gimp in the colour match of the original but I snapped the thread a few times and got fed up so I used some of the Silk Gimp I had from Access Commodities and figured that not being an exact match bothered me less than the homemade gimp failure. I have also placed a couple of raised leaves on the right flower. I have a couple more leaves to go and then six petals. The raised petals will sit over the satin stitch petals. Then I will move onto the left flower before starting the frieze panel. Looking forward to that butterfly, the birds and the raised fruit.

 

Essamplaire -  Casket Course

 

In the evenings I have been continuing on with the Needleworker's Pocketbook as it is relaxing over two cross stitch and the chart is not too heinous. Don't really want to do teeny tiny raised work in the evening. Bigger chance of stuffing it up when you are tired or watching TV and it's not daylight.

 

Needleworker's Pocketbook - Amy Mitten

 

The next thing to land in my mailbox this week was a kit I ordered when the Inspirations Magazine Issue #79 came out a few weeks ago. Took ages to arrive this one. It is a sweet little Gilly (Carnation) Flower box designed by Betsy Morgan. There are some beautifully coloured Gloriana Silk Threads in the kit. I haven't used these before.

 

 

Inspirations Magazine - Gilly Flower

 

The next day I received the sampler chart I ordered from The Crewel Gobelin. This came super duper fast from Austraila. I saw this sampler on the internet when I was ferreting around and hunted a supplier down. It's really cool but quite long and look forward to stitching it one day.

GiGiR - Sampler from Saxony

 

 

Then today........the arrival of the long anticipated and much raved about Kit #1 for the Thistle Threads - Cabinet of Curiosities. I can see now why all the women folk in the first course were delerious with joy. What a haul of fabulous silk threads, materials, trinket box form and even a themed 'Cup of Contemplation'. Outstanding and to think that this is only the first kit in the course. There will be another one next year...oh the joy! The packaging of the kit was also amazing.

 

The Black Box

Inside the Black Box

 

The Haul - Kit #1 Cabinet of Curiosities

 

Tricia also squeezed a couple of other things into the carton ......

 

Kit for the Floral Glove Needlecase starting Sept 1st - Thistle Threads

 

Kit for the Beaded Basket. This can either be a small to go into the casket or there is a competition on for entrants to design and make their own  dimensional embellished basket with beadwork. I am thinking just to do the basic basket as I am a complete novice at this point but will be really looking forward to seeing what the experienced bead enthusiasts do out there.

Pic of basic basket - Thistle Threads

 

 

 

So as you can see I have had rather a fun week!!!!

Quite Some Achievements!

Well, I put the last stitch into the Mermaid Needlework Treasures Part II Section C over the weekend. Woo Hoo! That over one tent stitch on the scallop shells took what seemed like a lifetime but was in fact several weeks of effort. The snail is cool me thinks and I cannot wait to construct him into the tape measure he will become. So I am all caught up on the lessons and waiting for Amy to post the next instalment.

Scallop Shell Case



Snail Tape Measure

 

I also finally managed to put a few stitches into the Needleworker's Pocketbook now that I am freed up from Mermaid's lessons. That might not last long though after I email Amy the pictures of my completed section C. She will likely post the next lesson.

 

Last week I sent the memorial scrapbook album I was working on to those who commissioned the work. The album represents the time spent in NZ by an Irish girl  called Sinead as told by her work colleagues. Due to illness Sinead passed away at a very young age and her family were unable to travel from Ireland to attend the funeral. This album is to be gifted to her family and I am sure they will treasure the memories from this seven year period of Sinead's expat life. The album was very well received by my former work colleagues much to my delight. I also knew Sinead personally and had worked with her in the past. Here are the pic's of the layouts.

 

 

Album Cover

Got goodies in the mail last week from 'The Silver Needle' in the USA. I just love needlework stuff turning up in my mailbox. I also love samplers.  No surprises there. Really looking forward to the first kit turning up. hopefully this week, from Thistle Threads Cabinet of Curiosities.

 

I need to do some more work this week on the 'Essamplaire Casket Class' before Margriet posts the next lesson. I am expecting this to happen in September and we are nearly there. Exciting that there are also some more goodies on the way for this course. I neglected this to finish the Mermaid Treasures. I need to start some work on the detached needlelace pieces for the slope before I do anything else. The unraised  stitching is completed on the  slope for this side of the casket. I still need to do the unraised stitching on the frieze before I can do those detached needlelace pieces also.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

The Past Two Weeks

Well, what have I achieved in the past two weeks. Quite a bit actually but I haven't stopped to blog about it, very remiss. 

I have been continuing to beaver away on my Mermaids Treasures to the exclusion of all other needlework. I am a little, actually a lot over the over one on the scallop shell. Despite running out of the 'Old Lace' coloured thread twice now I have made inroads. I have my second and final request into Amy to supply the remaining threads but plenty else with it to carry on with. There was a miscount in the kit on this colour and the 'Poison Berry' so not due to my stitching methods that the threads are short. I am chuffed with myself for finishing all the scallop back and about halfway through the front. Quite an achievement. It might not look like much but over one on 32 count is a lot a individual tent stitches in a pattern that is easy to get lost in.

Whew....

Want to get through this as another lesson has been posted and it looks fun.

The weekend before last I had to fly to Wellington to attend my sister in law's funeral. It was a beautiful and calm day and the view of the snow on the montains on the way down was beautiful. The ceremony was very spiritual and uplifting and I was moved by the experience. We did not live close and so did not know Yasmin, who was Malaysian, very well. I got a true picture of who she was and her relationship over 12 years or so with my brother and was glad I went. There was a gorgeous rainbow over the harbour in the afternoon which was very fitting.

Aside from the Mermaid's I have been working on a commisioned memorial album for a past work colleague and have nearly completed this project to a stage to be gifted to her mother. Sinead immigrated to New Zealand from Ireland and the family were unable to attend the funeral so this dedication from her work colleagues is very fitting.

 

OMG - What A Challenge

It really doesn't feel like I have progressed far in the last week until I look back at my blog and I can see I have made some inroads. That is the fabulous thing about a blog, it is like a personal electronic diary that you can share with others but maintain a log for yourself. I wonder what the stitching ladies from the past, of whom many would have kept journals, would have felt about the ease with which we can share knowledge and experience in the 21st century.

So all my efforts this week have been on the scallop shell for the Mermaid Treasures. It feels like slow going as it is over one tent on 32 count and the whole shell is filled. Super easy to lose where you are at so don't want to remove any basting until you have to as you WILL have to count to find your lost location! I started at the top and worked down in rows of a single colour in an arch or rainbow shape. I found this easiest as you can reference on the chart to where you should be from the previous colour although that being said there are a couple of colours throughout that are situated side by side and are near impossible to distinguish between when laid down on the oatmeal coloured linen.

I have left the old lace stitches and will fill them in as a 'background' after all the rest is completed. That means at least there is one colour I will not have to reference back to the chart for and it is the predominant.

During the week I started to look like I was going to run out of not only the posion thread but also the old lace so I have emailed Amy who is obligingly sending me some further threads as the poison is also used for lacing the scallop shell so I will be way short. Hopefully what she sends will be enough as there is a lot more old lace nearer the bottom of the shell than I thought. I don't know if the kit was short or I just stitch different but I didn't want to run out and stall the stitching so hopefully the threads will arrive this week.

Me efforts.....

 

I also signed up for the two new Thistle Threads courses 'Tudor Rose, and 'Abby Couzzens Family Register Sampler'. Thankfully though, these are not due to start until later in the year. I know I have signed up for too much but they may never be offered again and you can do them at your pace and I need all the learning & practice in a build up to the fabulous creation of a casket of my own design.

 

My brother's wife died at the weekend peacefully after battling illness so now I need to think about heading for Wellington for her funeral. I need to fly there and they are in the middle of an earthquake resurgence as they sit on a fault line so it is filling me with dread! I hate earthquakes and the disasters in Christchurch did not improve my hesitation.

 

Happy stitching to anyone reading this blog

R

Scallops And Snails - It's All About the Shells

Well, I have been back on the Mermaid Treasures this past week since the latest lesson was posted by Amy. Took me an absolute age, translated into several days to do all the backstitching....all that counting and undoing when you were out.......hooray that bits over.

Yesterday I started on the over one on the back of the scallop shell.The entire shell is filled in with tent stitch on 32 count. Really have to concentrate as lots of colour change to represent the real macoy so not the most enjoyable part of this project. Looking forward to completing this and starting on the scallop front which is less shell and another mermaid, cool.

 

Will take a while to complete this particular lesson  and I am facing the prospect of going back to work part time......sux!

 

No work on the Essamplaire casket while I do this one. Casket requires me to do detached needlework and so need to be amped up!

 

One more week of school holidays and then I need to start work on the memorial scrapbook album I foolishly said yes too as I really had got over scapbooking and sold a lot of supplies & tools already to free up space for my stitching passion.

 

I need more time, time, time.....

 

Went outside this morning and what did I see in the garden.....a daffodil.....but it's only July....what the !........it is really warm today and does feel like spring but OMG global warming for sure as this winter has been so mild.

Leopards Got All His Spots

So, since finishing the mermaid mirror stumpwork last week I have been spending some time on the Essamplaire casket . Got my cute as leopard all completed and I am pretty happy with him. Then I worked on the satin stitches on the right flower along with it's mound and the grass. Need to do all the background work before the raised work so threads don't catch. The right flower will have  detached petals with the satin stitch underneath. Then I outlined the caterpillar with backstitch and moved to the left side where I outlined the moth.

The flower is filled with french knots which worked out just great when the thread is held tight before punching back throught the fabric. I have never been happy with my french knots in the past but then I have only ever done them with cotton so maybe silk is more forgiving. Once the knots were done I moved onto the leaves etc which are satin stitched.

Stitched some trebizond silk into the moth for padding for the raised work and now I am ready to attack the detached pieces of which there are many and that's just this particular
piece! But of course this is a longer term 2yr + project.

Couldn't face starting detached work  late at night and I have kids on school holidays for the next two weeks so put it down and made a VERY SMALL start on Amy Mitten's Needleworkers Pocketbook. Now that I have started that, of course, overnight Amy has posted the next section of the mermaid  treasures course which is the embroidery on the next section C so lots of work here and will need to make a start on that as want to keep on top of this particular course.

I am starting to feel like I am running out of time as I look like I may be returning to part time work. That will leave me only one day of the week to do all my projects and personal stuff....aaaagggghhhh why isn't a win on the lottery comming my way!!!!!!! I just want to dedicate the remainder of my days to learning everything I can about needlework :-)

Then of course I have three of Tricia's online classes from Thistle Threads starting 1st September.  Can't turn any learning experience down though as I build towards eventually designing and stitching my own penultimate 17th century style casket.

I also have another project to complete which is a tribute album to a colleague who passed away at my last workplace. She was only in her 30's and had immigrated to New Zealand from Ireland. Such a short time on this earth. I cannot bare the thought of not being allowed to live a full life to old age and the blessing of being able to complete my needlework goals. We have another friend who is only mid 60's and just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, the second friend. It is rare to find a person not touched in some way by this tragic disease that robs from us.

Of course on a bright and positive note what would my time spent on needlework be without the company of my main man Louis........so regal and just a bub at 5 - 6 months old.

Mermaid's Dressed Up To The Scales

Soooo thrilled with myself. I finished the mermaid for the mirror scissor keep. This puts me right up to date and waiting for the next lesson.

It was quite a journey though to get her scales, tail fin and waist frill needlelaced and assembled. The waist frill was challenging as firstly the stretched out pearl purl is VERY catchy on thread and then I misconstrued the mechanics of the antwerp stitch and so ended up with my very own style of 'botched antwerp stitch' which is not as lacey as Amy's but I was not doing it again after I realised and anyway I rather like it so it stays. Then assembling the scales found me short of scales to go under the frill at the top. I kinda suspected this would happen for as I mentioned in a previous post I suspected I have overstuffed. But not to worry, I just made a couple more scales for her in the Deadly colourway. She doesn't have the same slim waist as Amy's but then my waist aint as slim as it used to be either so maybe she is a more mature mermaid!

The waist chain in the Silver Smooth Purl is cool and I love the way it bends to look just like a real metal chain.

The comb, argh the comb! The beading needle in the kit does not fit the eye through the Silver Pearl Purl. Very annoying and I had no smaller needle. A trip to the local patchwork shop saw them out of stock of beading needles...aargh!!!  So wanting to finish this I decided to substitute and she now has a Gold Lizardine comb along with a hairclip to match. Couldn't help myself adding to the embelishment from my stash.

The sparkly trim and the beads really add a blingy touch and the Silk Wrapped Pearl under the cloud makes it pop. Love it.

 

 

 

Now for some work on the Essamplaire Casket.....