Chickens

Hi Everyone,

Such joy to see the sun at last after so many days and weeks of cold, wind and rain, so it´s time to get a post done and stop dragging my feet about.  I have just recently finished a design started ages ago. The Berlingot Convallaria by Olga at Saolya.blogspot.

I loved doing the embroidery although I did take ages, as always, on deciding colours.  Did I want a flamboyant psychedelic coloured hen or a more subdued realistic one?  errr....

 I chose DMC Coloris Nº 4510 and its corresponding solid colours, 640, 3819 and 520.

After the embroidery was done I suddenly lost interest in the making up part and wondered if I really wanted a perky dolled up hen and whether my finished endeavours would even remotely represent anything like a chicken.  I added beads, two tiny buttons for the eyes and a piece of ribbon to act as tail feathers.

Not sure whether I succeeded or not but it was a fun make.

 On the subject of chickens as we are, I found this pretty gingham chicken scratch embroidered tablecloth with a hand crochet edging at our local charity shop.

Unfortunately it has a cigarette burn hole but as it is a nice size, one metre by one seventy, I´m going to see if I can cut out the damage and redo some of the embroidery.  That will keep me busy this week.

Sheryl

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

Hello Everyone,

Today I´m taking part in the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop organised by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  Start at Jo´s blog and then hop from blog to blog collecting letters which will form a phrase.  When you know what the mystery sentence is, go back to Jo and leave a comment telling her what the phrase is.

All participants in this blog hop have to show a piece of Easter or Spring needlework and I stitched a pattern by Christiane Dahlbeck with the idea of making egg shaped candy holders.

I made three, changing the colour of the vase and flowers in each pattern, so as to match scraps of fabric from stash that I wanted to use.

I also saw a decorative hen at Iniana polka and decided to make one as a hideaway for more Easter eggs as I had a little basket which would fit perfectly under the hen.  I roughly cut out a pattern and followed the instructions.

I sent the hen and Easter eggs to my grandchildren which I hope they will like and went on to repair, not repair so much as do some alterations to a very old quilt I made many years ago.

but that is for another post, today you are here for a letter and here it is.

For your next letter, hop off to Astrid at astridxstitching.

Happy Easter.

Sheryl

Potpourri

Hi Everyone,

As soon as I saw this hardanger project I knew I had to make it as it is perfect for elegantly holding some of the potpourri I have dispersed in various corners of the house.  I changed the pattern a bit and added embroidery but the design is from Hardanger Creatif by Isabelle Corbé and although meant for potpourri, it could really hold anything.

I used  white linen of 25ct. which I had on hand and perlé cotton #12 and #8 so the holder is rather small but would be larger if using a different count fabric.

After the basic hardanger stitches, a blanket stitch surround, kloster blocks, wrapped bars and doves eyes, four tiny eyelets are made on each side of the four segments through which a cording is passed. Although the pattern includes no embroidery, I added a splash of colour with a couple of flowers.

I spray starched everything before using four lengths of crochet cording to lace up the sides, but it really needs that sugar stiffening treatment which I used on my Christmas snowflakes to firmly hold the sides when the potpourri is added.

Hope to do  that this weekend.  Thank you for visiting.

Sheryl

Smalls SAL - February

Hello Everyone,

Another month at an end and lots of stitching and unstitching done these last couple of weeks on various projects for Easter.  I´ve been busy due to our rotten cold rainy weather but only have the smallest of Smalls completely finished for our check-in with Heather at Stitching Lotus today.

I saw this hanging scissor pouch in one of my needlework magazines and thought it might be fun to make as a future gift and to use my newly acquired 32ct. Zweigart linen and scraps of fabric from stash.

Incomprehensibly, the magazine only includes the cross stitch pattern of the rose and therefore the enticing design of the pouch is supposedly left up to each individual´s aptitude - go figure.

It turned out well enough although I would have preferred a thicker batting and after adding a length of chain and a charm, I only now need some decent new scissors.

I´m off to see what everyone else has been sewing this month.  Until next week.

Sheryl

Letters and cards

Hello Blogger friends and visitors,

In the lack of expecting any expression of romanticism concerning St. Valentine´s Day, I decided to treat myself to a session of nostalgia and sorted through a battered suitcase storing a lifetime´s assortment of greeting cards, letters, invitations and postcards,  Nothing better to lift one´s spirits than to wistfully reminisce about the passage of time - sigh.  I decided to make a holder for some special treasured letters.

I had unexpectedly found a needlework shop nearby that stocked a few Zweigart linens AND Coton a Broder threads, amazing.  So I happily bought two different linens and a few threads and couldn´t wait to get home and start working on my letter holder.

I didn´t follow any design, just embroidered a few rows of different stitches with DMC floss, added a touch of lace and a couple of drawn thread patterns using my new coton a broder thread, which I found just perfect. So pleased I found a shop here that stocks lots of colours.

A little pocket inside to hold the romantic nostalgia.  I  trimmed the holder with some lace from my stash but didn´t have any that I really liked, all too wide, but anyway, what I used will suffice.

I do hope everyone spends a very happy romantic day tomorrow and don´t forget to save those cards and letters as they will be so happily looked upon one day in the future.

Linking to Supermom-no-cape stitchery link party.

Until next week.

  Sheryl

Smalls SAL - January

Check in day today for Stitching Lotus´s  Smalls SAL has forced me to put aside the winter lethargy which insits on joining me each year and publish something bright and cheerful.  How about something red?  A book cover?

I gathered together some linen and red polka dot fabric, scraps of red and green felt and started to make a design by Marie Suarez that I found in a newly released magazine called Bordados (embroideries) which I enthusiastically started to buy until the collection fizzled out with the third issue.

An easy pattern which I really enjoyed making. I did the stitched surround a bit different from the specified and incorporated a bit of cross stitch in the top right hand corner.

I lined the notebook with a combination of the linen and polka dot fabric and added a piece of lace to cheer up the spine.

My new notebook cover goes perfectly with the lovely crochet bookmark that Rosey at Ishkabibble gave me.

I think I might make a few more of these covers and use up some of the felt stash I have.  I´d like to show here, the gorgeous hand made Christmas card and pretty Notre Dame button and ornaments I received from Nadine at Jocondine over Xmas.  Thank you Nadine.

Until next time.

Sheryl.