Advent Calendar Blog Hop 2022

Hello Everyone 

Welcome to day 15 of this year´s Advent Calendar Blog Hop where you will find each day until Christmas, an assortment of pretty festive stitching by different participants.  This yearly blog hop is hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching and if you click here you will see the calendar so far and each of the stitchers involved.

I finished a small stitchery which I had started last year, using scraps of different linens from stash and embroidering a few  seasonal motifs, mostly free ones or parts of various samplers.  I added a smattering of lace between each pattern and  decorated my small tray.

Apart from sharing a winter or Christmas themed stitchery, Jo asks us to talk about `What´s for Afters¨.

I always prepare a variety of different `turrones´, mazapans, shortbreads and mantecados which are typical Xmas sweet treats here in Spain. Turron is made mainly of almonds a type of nougat mixed with peanuts, candied fruits or chocolate.

We also enjoy a pudding or `cake´ as the recipe says made of turron, which is more digestible after the main meal. The recipe I use is the one seen below by Rosa Maria.. I also make some sugar cookies, not really a dessert but available to snack on during the afternoon.

However being English, I need my annual dose of Christmas pudding with custard and as that is not enjoyed by everyone in my household, I order a small individual pudding just for me J

Thank you for visiting and I wish everyone a happy Christmas.

Sheryl   

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

 Hello and a very Happy Good Friday to everyone,

So pleased you have stopped by today especially if you are taking part in the Easter Treasure hunt blog hop hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  Start at Jo´s blog where the participants are listed, visit the blogs mentioned and collect letters which will spell out a mystery phrase.

I had a go at making a wreath for Easter.

I collected twigs and used scraps of felt to make flowers, not really the colours I wanted to use but the shops here only seem to sell the basic colours and no pastel or interesting shades at all.

I followed a video tutorial by S.Nuraeni for the felt flowers and added a big lacey burlap bow and a fabric birdie made last year.

I also made some crochet egg covers using a pattern by Irina Tsokalo, found here.  A very quick and easy pattern which I think is rather pretty.

A piece of combining ribbon threaded  closes the covered egg.

Your letter for the mystery phrase can be found hiding in this beautiful orchid.

and your next step is to visit Susan at yellowflowermeadow for the next letter.  Have fun.

Sheryl

Adding some buttons

 Hello Blogger friends,

Sad days since my last post.  Cloudy cold days to accompany the heaviness of heart that most of us feel with the latest hostile accions in our ever becoming unsettled world.

I have been sorting out picture frames just lately and decided to give a use to two oval shaped ones bought from a charity shop years ago and never used.

Amazing how long it took me to hunt amongst my vast collection of buttons to find some pretty ones, it seems I have very few attractive or decorative buttons at all.  I chose  red specimens for the first frame.

Then cut a piece of linen to size and embroidered a few flower stems and played about positioning the buttons and some beads to represent flowers.

Not sure if I succeeded´

For the second frame, I chose white and yellow buttons.

and lastly added a piece of lace trim.

I like how these turned out, they were fun to do........

although both frames might look better painted with some chalk paint, maybe an off white or at least a lighter colour, what do you think?  At the moment I´m leaving them as they are until I know where to hang them.

Thank you for stopping by and looking.

Sheryl

Adding some Shabby Chic

 Hello Blogging friends,

I´m late for a Valentine´s Day post, somehow I thought the day fell on Tuesday (today) so I can only hope that everyone spent a lovely time yesterday and found a moment to be with friends or family.

Continuing with my Decor Improvement Plan and trying to get in the romantic mood for Valentine´s day, this month I thought I would replace my bedroom cushions and covers with some pretty Shabby Chic ones.

Not a lot of pink fabric in my stash and even my lace odds and ends are getting scarce, but that is a good challenge to try and make the most of them.

The pink striped fabric was once a blouse and the narrow lace edging adorned my kitchen curtains many years ago.

I used the hem presser foot on my sewing machine for the tiny narrow hems to make the frills but then couldn´t find the gathering foot which made me wonder if I actually ever had one...or just always wanted one.... so useful.

Some very amateurish fabric flowers and a go at making French applique roses.

The last cushion is the one with the most bits of lace and ribbon, probably my favourite as another embroidered one is as yet unfinished and not shown here.

Thank you for stopping by and looking.

Sheryl

Adding some colour

 Hello Blogging friends,

This is my first blog post of 2022 after having dithered about all the month wondering whether or not to continue blogging, so although we are at the end of January, I would like to wish everyone health and happiness for this new year.

I have decided on a plan for `Home decor sewing´, that is making things for the home or trying to improve what I have and started this month with decorating my hand towels with some crochet.

I bought some plain blue towels just before Christmas and wanted to brighten them up a bit, so for inspiration and colour ideas, I looked through the book `Crochet Motifs´ by Edie Eckman .

However,  in the end I chose patterns by Lucy of Attic 24, since I tend to muddle up British and American crochet terms when working a  pattern and mindlessly watching tv.

Trying to use up scraps of crochet thread wasn´t so easy as I thought because although I have quite a few colours, the thicknesses are varied and that decided my color combinations

Well I finished two towels with flowery motifs and leaves, and I want to finish the other two with Lucy´s crochet `Flora granny squares´  which I have been blocking and positioning but am not too happy with the colours.

Thank you for stopping by and looking.

Sheryl