Over the River

This is completed so far and as ususual I have also cut the design larger so I can determine the finished size.

Over The River

Once again I have started back to work on the panels for Crabapple Hill Design " Over the River and through the woods ".  I am using one of the special overdyed brown shades from dmc and enjoying this little challenge.  I am blogging this as a work in progress in hopes that it will get finished before winter.  It will be set together with all autumn browns/oranges etc.

Needle N Thread thread painting.

I am so pleased with the tutorial offered on the Needle N Thread blog that I had to get mine started and not in the sequence of lessons. Heaven forbid if I should be that one person who follows things line for line. I love the detailed lessons and now I am starting to work on the round sections...........I know the squares were first and then some leaves.......I can see room for improvement but I am not used to stitching with just one strand of thread for this type of work, but I am loving the lessons.

Time does fly.

I remember years ago when Nancy Z of sewing fame did the 5 - 10 - 15 minutes to sew challenge and I kept it up and it amazed me at how much I accomplished,.

While reading Mary Corbett's blog I then took the 15 minutes at a time challenge and it does work. I would not have started the Verendah Views Quilt from Willowberry Designs, not got back at the Walking In A Winter Wonderland quilt from CrabApple Designs and both are moving right along. Stress busters.

Sunbonnet Sue joins the Red Hat Society

First of all I had some of these little seven inch blocks ironed and ready to stitch on a recent week visit and did not get a thing done on them because of the heat.

I started one on the weekend and used dmc 75 verigated reds and not sure of the number off hand of the deep purple but it is equivalent to a dmc 550 in verigated's.

When I finished I went in with a good name brand coloured pencil and shaed close to the stitching lines on both sides. I also did a swirling circular motion on the arms and added some fleshtone, I left the rest as is. I then, without heat setting, went to the sink and scrubbed roughly with hand soap and then rinsed in warm water. I ironed this dry, and then added some spray starch. Very little colour was lost.

This is stitched on tone on tone beige and if I were to use this technique again would preset the colours to be sure as this was an experiment. It can always be added to with colour as you are only shading next to the lines, similar to crayon tinting without the wax. It does look like an antique block and it highlighted well.

Off to find some more ufo's.

Finished Linen Purse

A while ago I shared a picture of the actual work on the purse and found in my files the finished purse. On the reverse it has a pocket that is opened and is lined with linen and worked in linen and eyelet linen. This was also given to a friend. She was kind enough to send me the book for my birthday and a request for a purse, so I adapted this from emrboidery to embroidery and silkribbon and love the adventure it created.

Whitework again. This one will be a pendant with a beaded tassel finge hanging from the bottom and a beaded chain going to the neck that will be removable. This is an Ann Benson pattern that I have reworked in my style of beads in tones of white and champagne. I hope to start work on a collar next. I would love the collar to be able to be adapted to different styles of outfits and create them as well to be worn with evening wear.

Oranize or agonize. What one finds when they decide to clean out the drawers in the bins on wheels. I remember when I was notorious for knowing where everything was all of the time, that was before I entered the world of crazy quilting. Last night after putting some more stitches on my art bra block I decided it was time to clean out at least one bin and the trinkets and laces, beads, etc, including silkies sent to me by friends were so worth the time. I am not doing stash reduction as I have plans for what items I have, but I am taking the bins that I have and using them properly. I will also share my organizational ideas with you. I want to stitch in my favourite room and be able to have sunshine all year round. I have a lovely stitching centre in the living room for embroidery and needlework, but one does not attempt to move crazy quilting and art into the main part of the house, or do they? I am also going to share some pictures of my new venture into " Heirloom Treasures " before I open the new blog and estey shop. This has been a dream for a long long time. Attached is my work on my denim purse that is in a round robin at the present. I love workign freestyle.