Let the People Choose - August

 Hello Blogging friends,

Jo of Serendipitous Stitching hosts the SAL called  `Let the People Choose´, celebrated on the first Saturday of each month. This month our theme is Books, so do join us if you would like to show any stitching you have done about this subject.

Years ago  I made a fabric book of embroidery stitches for my granddaughter.

It has lots of pages and is full of colourful stitches and small embroidered details.

I also endeavoured one day to cover a folder to hold some ribbons and laces.

And make a couple of small books as gifts. A small heart with speciality stitches and ribbon roses.

And a pattern by Veronique Enginger where I have actually embroidered a tiny book! I think it must be the only one stitched that I have found in my files.

Irish crochet bookmarks. A lovely pattern by Anne Potts to which  I added tiny crochet flowers  with beads and leaves to add some color.

An elastic bookmark I made from a hardanger design by Mabel Figworthy.

Another little notebook cover which I embroidered copying part of a drawing found in my grandad´s sketchbook.

I seem to have a whole collection of embroidered needlebooks too, but I´ll leave those for another day and lastly include here a book cover made following a design by Marie Suarez.

Thank you for stopping by and looking.    

Sheryl

Tray Cloth

 Hello everyone,

Another month over and again very little stitching done. My daughter and her three children are coming  to stay next month and I have been  busy arranging the house for their stay and making the most of all the arranging, to clear out unwanted furniture and ítems.

I thought I might show a tray cloth that I made some time ago.  It doesn´t fit any tray that I have and I didn´t want to make the pattern any smaller, so it will probably be gifted in the future.

I found the design in the magazine Labores and was keen to start the pattern  straight away as I had  a piece of natural coloured linen on hand and the recommended floss colours.  I chose a pretty red printed fabric for the surround.

I like to stitch designs that include different embroidery stitches,  and this includes:  punto de margarita, tallo, feston, nudo, estrella, bolonia and carril.  I added a few tiny heart shaped buttons and a piece of red trim.

I really like the end result, there was a tiny bit of quilting to do which I completed by sewing machine……. Only need a tray now.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer,  here in the north of Spain, we are still awaiting sunny days .  I am very behind on blog visiting but hope to visit everyone during the next month.

Sheryl

Let the People Choose - July

 It`s time again for the People Choice  SAL hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching. 

This month´s topic is houses and if I didn´t have many butterflies for last month´s topic,  I certainly have quite a few houses to show.

 Firstly, an easy to recognise design of Michael Powell´s cross stitch cottages.  I finished the chart and then just went on adding more and more cottages until I got to the end of the fabric.  That was about 10 years ago, so it would be nice to get the design made into something and take it out of the depths of the Dreaded Drawer.

Another cottage by Michael, this time made into a little scissor holder

An applique table runner made as a Christmas gift for a friend, I didn´t have a pattern for this but copied the idea from a Xmas display in a shop window.

A little tissue holder house made for a friend who only wanted me to use the colour brown, so I added a little bling to brighten things.  Lots of beads and sequins.

I seem to have sewn more houses  than embroidered them, more little tape measure houses as Christmas gifts.

and an unknown pattern of a snowy Christmas scene. 

I  have been more inspired to sew houses around December and one year made a Christmas tree skirt for the grandchildren.

I´ve left this post to be automatically published while I´m away soaking up the sun – well at least I hope to find the sun as in the north, we have had a rotten few weeks weatherwise.  So see you all soon.

Sheryl.

Two Mermaids

 Hi Everyone,

Well I can´t but feel a bit more enthusiastic  this week as my husband, my son and I are off to visit my daughter and grandkids next week.  They live in Madrid, a four hour journey from the north coast of Spain and we haven´t seen them for nearly a year.  So with making plans and such I still haven´t regained my sewing mojo but I have finished  a couple of UFOs.

I made lots of little mermaid pouches years ago more or less when I started blogging and as I still had some remaining fabric, last year I started to embroider more mermaids. but I couldn´t finish them completely until I bought more metal clasps.

These two mermaids are the same color and practically mirror images, I just add a few threads of coloured flowers as I go along and don´t use a pattern, so the embroideries are similar but all different, some have beads and others sequins. 

A smattering of embroidery on the reverse sides and more beads to decórate the clasps

 and  some soft pretty coloured satin for the linings.

I received two pretty cross stitch patterns from June of Butterfly Wings this week and am going to start one  right away and see if my enthusiasm returns. Thank you June.  I´m taking the pattern with me to Madrid next week.

Until next week

Sheryl

                                                    

Let the People Choose - June

 Hello Everyone,

It´s time to check-in for the `Let the People Choose´  SAL hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching and while my stitching mojo is at its lowest,  I can at least join everyone with embroideries done in the past.

I thought I had stitched lots of butterflies, which is our theme for this month but alas, I´m wrong  I seem to have embroidered very few over the years  and all are very tiny .

The Rhodes Butterfly biscornu by The Sweetheart Tree is the first and only biscornu I have ever made,  and shows  four Rhodes stitch butterflies.  Both sides of this biscornu are the same.

but the little matching scissor fob  has a different design each side.

There are two butterflies in this Blackwork Flowers and Birds design by Lesley Teare,  I have more in this series to embroider later this year.

And another  pretty pattern by Lesley called Blackwork Anemone, a free pattern which you can find here.

An  unknown  design stitched years ago and abandoned because  I felt I should have used a brighter floss colour or a different background fabric.

Lastly a tiny butterfly can be seen in the month of March of The Snowflower Diaries Joyful World Calender SAL. – I wonder if I will ever finish the series.

I photographed this beauty in the garden.  I think it is  a Swallowtail butterfly.

Thank you for stopping by and looking.

Sheryl