Smalls SAL - July

Hello Everyone,

It is the last Friday of the month and time to join Mary of Mary´s Thread for the Smalls SAL check-in, but I have no recent stitching to show.

I have been busy sewing cushions and pillowcases this month which I am sure nobody wants to see - well maybe the cushions when they are completely finished, so to be able to join you all this month, I found some stitching that I hadn´t shown on this blog before.

and I hadn´t shown these two pincushions before because I don´t like them at all.  I saw them in a needlework magazine last year.

and fancied making the two different shaped cushions as they included ribbon embroidery which I hadn´t done for ages.
I had some ribbon in my stash and I chose a purple and pink combination with scraps of matching fabric - big mistake.

I didn´t like the colours at all and even less with the added trim, but they were fun to embroider and might come in handy as gifts.

I´m away on holiday next month so won´t be blogging again until September.  Hope you see you all then.  Happy Holidays.

Sheryl

The Fully-Finished Gallery SAL - July

Hello Blogging friends,

Just a couple of items to show this month for the Fully Finished Gallery SAL check-in today hosted by Rachel of Ten Hour Stitcher.

As many other stitchers, I embroidered or started to embroider the Snowflower diaries Joyful World Calendar collection some time ago, but still to date haven´t finished all the different months.

However, I will get around to it eventually and in the meantime I used two of the patterns to make project bags. March and April.

I desperately wanted a red zip to sew the March design but it was a Sunday with local shops closed, so I had to use what I had on hand.

Maybe the beige zip doesn´t look too bad, but a red one would have been better.

The plastic was easier to sew than I had thought, no problems at all, just had to remember not to iron it.

The April pattern was finished in the same way and I made it the same size.

These bags are going to be useful to store the various stitcheries that I seem to have knocking about in different stages of completion.

Well now to see what you have all completely finished this month.
Thank you for looking, until next week.

Sheryl

The Forgotten Sampler

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday, while making a start at sorting out my photo files which I reckon is going to take a few years, I came across some photos of an embroidery which I don´t think I ever included in this stitching journal of mine.

The Romantique Sampler by Angie, stitched when released sometime around 2012, a pretty design as are all her samplers and can be found on her blog here.

I started the embroidery with the idea of making a cushion cover but changed my mind on realizing how badly my other applique cushions covers had fared over the years - I´ve never ever posted about those cushions, made with diligence during my patchwork classes and now faded into oblivion.

I think a very good idea for any future `last forever´cushions would be to make some pinafores as seen on Mary and RJ´s blog.

Looking at my embroidery after so many years, I really can´t understand why I didn´t center correctly the middle pattern.  I remember changing it from the original because I wanted to incorporate my initial S, but it looks terrible and will have to be redone if I can track down the colours I used.

In the meantime, I´m very busy making more children´s masks for my daughter who requested another 15 or so for her wellness and yoga classes.  I have decided on animals and have 11 made so far.

They will keep me busy for the rest of the month.

Hope you are all busy stitching too.  Until next week.

Sheryl

Fully-Finished Gallery SAL - June

Hello stitching friends,

I made this little button bag last week from one of my abandoned embroideries and am joining Rachel of Ten Hour Stitcher today for the Fully Finished Gallery SAL, celebrated on the 10th of each month.

I´m not sure where this pattern came from but it was enthusiastically stitched some time ago with the idea of covering a jewellery box or similar and was never given a proper finish......

...because at the time, yours faithfully here, just assumed that the embroidery would miraculously fit the box top without any measurements having been taken into account and ignoring the possible eventuality if it did not.  It did not, so the design was abandoned.

I looked at it again last week and instead of embroidering little flowers in each square of the pattern, as was my original idea, I chose to place different buttons and make a bag to hold just my white and neutral buttons.

I used a green fabric from stash for the main fabric and then placed a large doily over the front to decorate a bit.

At first I lined the bag with a plain white fabric and then decided that it really needed a soft white satin and was redone.

I added some seed beads when sewing the metal bag clasp ,

and added a narrow piece of plain  trimming around the pattern,

lots of buttons to fill the bag.  I love the feel and sound they make jumping about inside.

What have you all been doing lately?  I´m having problems with my mail carrier and am way behind with visiting and answering everyone which I hope to get sorted out soon.

Until next time.

Sheryl

Smalls SAL - May

Hello  blogging friends,

I wanted to get a post up days ago but have been slowed down by new computer hardware and finding my way about.

It´s the last Friday of the month, so I´m joining Mary of Mary´s Thread today for this month´s Smalls SAL check-in.

This embroidery is a free design called Blackwork Anemone by Lesley Teare and can be found here.  The pattern was generously shared as a SAL started in January and released in twelve weekly installments.

I loved the pretty colours at first sight and wonderously had all the DMC floss numbers mentioned in the chart, not having to buy or substitute any colour which is usually the case.

Each section of the leaves shows a different blackwork pattern and a splash of floss colour and although I enjoy doing French knots, I changed them, as suggested by Leslie, for seed beads to add a touch of bling.

I´m not sure what destination I shall give this pattern, maybe just add a frame as I hardly ever frame my stitcheries......... something like this ......

Perhaps not such a dark frame, I just had this one on hand and will have to see what I can find and then maybe I could create a collage wall of embroideries? .... hmm.

Thank you for stopping by and looking, until next week.

Sheryl

Fully Finished Gallery SAL - May

Hello Everyone,

Another finished project for the Fully Finished Gallery SAL, hosted by Rachel at The Ten Hour Stitcher.

This is a pattern that I stitched months ago and finished months ago too but never got around to making it into anything useful.

The pattern was a free one from the Yahoo group `The Stitch Specialists´ called Spring Basket and released some years ago.

As always I enjoyed doing the speciality stitches, namely the pansies done in Ray stitch, the primroses in Jessica stitch with modified Smyrna and basket stitch.

The pattern also included seed beads dotted all over the place but I left them out, Sorry about the unclear photos, they are ok until I upload them.

I thought to make a bag to fully finish this piece of stitching as it is ages since I made a zipper pouch - nearly forgot how to complete and turn the lining and had to look at a couple of tutorials on the internet.

I found a plain piece of purple fabric in my stash which would serve as lining and a scrap of yellow for contrast but I had to buy a prettier purple print for the main fabric.

A yellow zip completed the pouch.

I´m way behind with my blog visits and commenting as I have been away visiting my daughter. I hope to catch up this weekend and apart from answering past comments, see what everyone has been up to.

Happy stitching.

Sheryl