Tablecloth update

It´s repaired and finished despite the hidden surprises.

Found at a charity shop, a pretty chicken scratch embroidered tablecloth, ideal size for my kitchen table, with a white crochet edging and spoilt by a cigarette burn at one end.

Not very difficult to repair I thought, I just needed to cut off about 30cm from the damaged end and redo some of the white and orange pattern which was all cross stitches -- fine.

BUT..........I couldn´t find a match for the orange thread, so I´d have to redo all the orange stitching with another colour -- no worry, that´s quick work.

BUT .........Oh, one side had more rows than the other !  -- well, another row can be added, easy peasy...........but wait a minute ........ if I add an extra row, the corner pattern will be off centre ......errr no, must be off centre now ............ yes it is -- Oh well, I´ll take out the corner patterns.

AND the crochet edging is a continuation of the blanket stitched hem, so if I cut away fabric, it will all have to be redone, hem and crochet .......... oh.

Thank goodness my grandchildren came to stay the week and I didn´t have time to think anymore or the tablecloth repair would probably have been discarded. I found a blue perlé thread in my stash which would suffice instead of the original orange and got started.

The unstitched corner patterns were changed for a few blue and white flowers and a simple crochet edging added, a bit narrow but I didn´t have enough thread for another row.

Was all this repair work worth all the changes?  Probably not.

Thank you for stopping by,

Sheryl

Smalls SAL - April

Hi everyone,

Not a lot to show this month due to starting and stopping on several projects but I have finished another UFO which I can show today for the Smalls Sal check-in. A free biscornu design by casaerba.

I started the embroidery a couple of years ago showing it on a blog post but it then got relegated to the dreaded drawer without even a start on the second side.

I used 28ct. fabric from stash and white and pink Anchor perlé thread #12 and #8.  The pattern includes, satin stitch, blanket, overcast, stem stitch, bullion, alternating stem and square stitch.

At last I completed the second pattern all in white thread.

When sewing up the biscornu, I added some sparkly fabric underneath the cutwork but it doesn´t show up on the photos, an iridescent button, which doesn´t show up either and hey presto, finished.  Thank you Erba for such a pretty design. 

To join the Smalls SAL, at anytime during the year, click on my sidebar button which will take you to Heather at Stitching Lotus.     Until next week.

Sheryl

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