New Embroidery Sew Along

 That  jubilant feeling I had all through the month while enveloped and bustled along in the warmth of the Christmas spirit has disappeared.   I was taking the surplus dining chairs to the storeroom when my eye caught sight of three forgotten chocolate ornaments still hanging on our Christmas tree, three ornaments which had escaped the vision of  my grandchildren.   So I went on putting away the chairs

and extra cutlery that only sees the light of day every Christmas.

Barbie has her new Christmas dress.

Just a simple red velvet dress with a little lace around the neckline and sleeves and a few beads down the centre bodice.

I have been searching the Internet for new embroidery SALs as I wuld like to start something with speciality stitches.  Something like this Perennial Garden by The Drawn Thread, which includes lots of different stitches and was a real joy to stitch.

I really don´t know why I chose to embroider the center whitework design in blue, it would have been much better in the recommended white.
 

Hydrangeas, Irises and French knot Achilleas with tiny lazy daisy leaves.

Violets embroidered in lazy daisy stitch with tiny upright crosses in the centers, Day Lillies and Primulas with Smyrna cross stitches in the centers.

Pretty French knot Lupins and Asters.

Pansies done in lazy daisy stitch, eyelet stitch Hollyhocks and Daisies done in lazy daisy stitch with French knot centers.

A close up of French knot Achilleas, pale yellow Daisies, orange Day Lillies and Anemones.

I am linking to Supermom-no.cape for her stitchery party

Don´t forget your grapes tonight

This is a Spanish tradition, very popular and important if you want to have luck during the whole year. Go and buy some grapes right away.  Every person must have twelve grapes which represent the months of the year and tonight, at midnight with every chime of the clock, you eat one, so finishing them all when the clock finishes chiming and the new year has begun.  Thank you for visiting and have a lovely evening.

  See you next year.

Sheryl







Where is the snow?

I´ve been having a look at a lot of fellow bloggers´ posts, full of photos of their lovely last minute Christmas crafts, of decorations in the snow, fairy lights in the snow and more snow.  Where´s mine then?  I wouldn´t mind a sprinkling of the white substance either!  It´s the right time of year and Christmas is always portrayed as being white.

Inland we have a lot of snow and the ski slopes were in full swing weeks ago, but I live on the North coast of Spain at sea level and we are lucky to have a few pinhead sized flakes float downwards once or twice a decade, and if you are not actually in the streets or looking out of a window, the phenomenon would probably be missed entirely. The weatherman has forecast rain for the next week, so we will have to content ourselves with this other form of H2O. However with or without snow, I have made a snowman.

In fact I´ve made two.

  

These two placemats were made with the itzy bitzy pieces of fabric I bought a couple of weeks ago at our local patchwork shop.

I didn´t use two of the chosen pieces because in my stash I found the perfect white fabric with tiny silver stars, ideal for the snowman´s body although not very appreciable in the photos. However, I may well buy more of the red fabric which is a lovely rich colour with a tiny print, very handy to have in one´s stash.

I added a fringe to his scarf.



I hadn´t planned on making any more Christmas items but I got a last minute request.......

  

  

As my next post will be after the 25th of December, I´d like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas.

 

Who stole a week?

I´m getting quite used to the odd week having only six days.  You know, when you´ve prepared supper that bit earlier to be able to sit comfortably, with embroidery in hand, to watch your favourite Friday night TV program, only to discover that it´s not Friday yet, but only Thursday.

This has happened to me several times this year and I still cringe when I see the man at our local Charity shop who very obligingly agreed to pick up some unwanted furniture from my home one Wednesday morning.  After not finding me at home on that said day, he located me by phone and had to listen to my paltry excuse of not being at home because I had thought it was Thursday.

I seem to rob the odd day now and then, but this month I haven´t done it.  The calendar assures me that December definitely has 31 days, but as soon as the month begins those days sure do start to speed up and I´m suddenly left with a week until Christmas when I thought there were two.

Keep him warm part two

Here are some more photos of this quilt mentioned in my last post.

These small designs are based on life in the country

Apart from the designs by Lynette Anderson and Tasha Noel, I haven´t any record of  where I found the other patterns, but will try to find a reference to include here.

I finished the quilt corners with a little hand quilted design.

and backed it with a pretty blue and white printed fabric.

I enjoyed making this lap quilt and was pleased with the result.  Thank you for visiting and see you on Friday, if no one steals it!



Keep him warm

We all know how our beloved pets always find the cosiest spots where to snuggle up and be warm when the elements outside threaten.  Although our weather here has brightened considerably, it´s still very cold and outside we can find a vast array of dogs modelling jackets, snuggies and sweaters, either knitted, sewn or crocheted by the pooches´ proud owners.

When it comes to waterproof gear, a complete rain suit with fitted legs, cap or hood plus booties, not only assures us that not an inch of the animal will get wet but also that he will be totally unrecognizable beneath such a camouflage.  Has anyone had success with their dog wearing booties for the snow?

 

I made this lap quilt for a young lady last year.  It is made up of 16 log cabin type blocks with a small applique or embroidered centre.

 

 

This little design  is from `The simple life´ fabric by Tasha Noel.

This pretty house  is one of the several designs by Lynette Anderson found in her book Country Cottage quilting.

 

I made this quilt based on life in the country. Here are two more designs by Lynette, the wheelbarrow full of flowers and the little beehive.

 

I´ll publish more photos in my next blog post.

Scissors

Must mention that Missy at Missyllaneous is having a giveaway, so do have a look at her blog if you would like a chance of winning some lovely new scissors.

Until next time.

Men in Red

Here is my finished Christmas table runner which I´m really pleased with.  It´s a design by Rita at Twinkle Patchwork who I particularly admire for her fabric and colour coordination.

I think we have probably all at one time or another embarked on sewing or embroidering a design which colour scheme we have either partially or entirely changed from the original, only to be disappointed with the end result.

Well, at least you can´t go far wrong with our jolly old Santa Claus, clad in his Coca Cola colours.  Can you imagine portraying this charitable elderly gent as before the popular drink´s promotion of a century ago, in his green or brown sackcloth attire?  No, this intense red definitely suits him perfectly along with the terrific weight gain that they also obliged him to undertake.



I added  a small bell to the top of his hat.

and a smattering of beads and sequins to the tree

I really like making Christmas table runners, such a pity we only get to see them once a year.

Happy stitching