September Stitch Journal

 

Not much to share this week - pictures of Cornwall next week!

Giving a Sampler New Life

 About 4 years ago we bought a sampler from our local car boot - 'you will be able to clean that up' said my dearest!

As you can see there were a lot of 'foxing' type marks in the fabric. It sat on the floor in our bedroom behind a pile of other pictures we had no room for, for about a year before I plucked up courage to open it up. Unfortunately Jane had neglected to add the date to her sampler so the only clue we have to it's age is from the framers label on the back and the 1817 scribbled on the bottom.

The frame was not meant to be opened with ease!

When I had prized off the back board I discovered that it originally had a different purpose.

And then the next problem revealed itself.

The picture was tacked to the frame with tiny and well embedded tacks which were never going to come out without damaging the fabric. I put it all back together and back against the wall it went!

However it was nice to get some close up pictures without the glass and to admire the tiny stitches. They are by no means perfect - not all the arms cross in the same direction! But there are 24 crosses to the inch so they are tiny tiny. You can also see that the fabric has discoloured and I wanted to be able to clean it up which I could not do when it was on the frame.

So eventually I plucked up some courage and cut it away! I knew that I was going to end up losing some of the stitches when it was reframed but it was either that or spending the rest of it's life against the wall. 

The linen fabric was very fine and so I thought - I will loosly tack it to a backing fabric to stabilise it while I clean. Not a good idea as the linen shrank when I put it in water and I had to do a rapid bit of unpicking! Anyway, I made a shallow bath of Retro clean and laid in. It did a marvellous job and removed a lot of the staining, seemingly without doing any damage other than the shrinking. I rinsed it well, patted dry in a towel and left to dry flat. I then re-tacked it to the backing fabric so that I could stretch it over card to frame it again.

And here she is!

And framed although it's difficult to get a picture without reflections sadly.

I am happy with how it has turned out and will soon be finding it a special place on the wall.

We have not been able to trace Jane Cole sadly and the picture framer's no longer exist although there is still a framing gallery at 20 High Street, Beckenham and I had a very nice reply from the current owner. Sadly she was unable to give me any helpful information. We shall continue to search though.

Another month nearly over

 It's been a busy week so not much to show you. My Stitch Journal of course

and I have finished the Granny Square jumper.

Tricky to find somewhere to photograph it. Really happy with the result, should have photographed the back too. There are some stripes across the yoke at the back which I left off the front yoke as I like to wear a brooch and it would be lost on stripes. Anyway, it was good to make use of all the lovely yarn left over from my Seashore blanket, hardly any left now. It's Yarnsmiths merino so is going to be very warm and cosy if we get some cold weather.

We had a beautiful day out at Sidmouth this week - no photos, too busy talking! And a surprise day out to the Craft and Stitching show at Westpoint, Exeter as a friend had a spare ticket. I was very good and walked purposefully past the fabric stands! I bought mainly art stuff plus a gadget for making perfect bows, we hope. If I succeed I will share the results.

Also this week I have been working on another project but as it deserves it's own post, more later.

Hope you have a good week.

Grey days whizzing by

 Yes, another month is passing by at the speed of light it seems. It has been a grey week with the odd drizzle of rain, sunshine back next week evidently.

We have had a delightful little wren singing away in the garden - far too small and quick to catch a photo of but beautiful to hear. So lovely to see everywhere green again, it is amazing how quickly the grass comes back to life after some rain.

This weeks Stitch Journal - note the bullion knots far right

and my Chookshed Challenge note more bullion knots far left!

I think my fear of bullion knots may be a thing of the past! I just need to trim this and glue the edge in place and it is a finish. Very happy with this and I am glad it is on a black baground as I love it.

I have also been knitting and pulled the crochet jumper out again as cooler weather is coming. Not a huge amount more to do on this.

I will look out a white background for my next picture - that red does it no favours.

I have started an online drawing course with Cas Holmes - find it here under clubs - with monthly zoom sessions. She is a lovely teacher and I got a lot out of the first session, so when not sewing this week I have been busy in my sketchbook which has made a nice change.

I also spent an afternoon at my quilt group and worked on some Field Journal embroidery - such an easy project to pick up and take along but as I rarely go it could be a while before you see any results!

And there we are, that was my week - hope yours was a good one.

 It has been a pleasant week here with some rain and some sunshine, a trip out and friends visiting.

First up though my Stitch Journal for the week and I have been playing with blanket stitch variations.

I have given up with the scrappy squares knitting project - having tried various needle variations and not getting the effect I wanted I am not wasting any more time on it. So I have been concentrating on my crochet jumper and my socks in the evenings.

For my Chookshed Challenge this month I am working on this kit that was passed to me a couple of years ago.

When I opened it up I was suprised to find that the pattern was printed onto black cloth and I was not supplied with the calico and pattern to trace as the instructions said. However, the threads are vibrant and I think that they will look good on the black.

And I have been working on this but it does need good light as it is fine!

We had a clear day this week and headed out to visit Dunster castle, however we hit roadworks and a large traffic jam so we diverted to Watchet another of our favourite places to visit. We found a new to us antiques shop and spent a while browsing as well as in the community book shop. Watchet has a 40's weekend this weekend and all the shop windows were decorated with a 40's theme. Then we walked across to the East Quay arts centre for lunch - a delicious bowl of spiced sweet potato and coconut soup. It was not a cold day but it was overcast and a bowl of soup seemed apropriate. Then a walk out along the quay past the marina. 

The tide was out but this lock holds water in to the marina.

I always love seeing this Samuel Taylor Coleridge quote from The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.

Despite being an overcast day you could still see across the channel to Wales and Steep Holm (that black dash to the right on the horizon).

Walking back you get a great view of the arts centre which was opened within the last 10 years and has become a busy local centre with galleries, workshops and paper mill and which runs events and craft workshops.

There are also three accomodation pods - the three units in the middle with sail like roofs. Look carefully and you can see the bathroom of the centre one which has a splendid view of the marina and town.

Happy stitching and I will see you next week.

September - meteorological autumn

 It does not really feel like autumn - more like the summer we should have had instead of all that mega heat. Anyway with schools back it has been nice to get out and about again at a reasonable temperature - even taking a cardi, just in case.

We took our lunch to Dunster Beach one day. A really clear day with great views across the Bristol Channel to Wales. The tide was going out and there were plenty of birds on the shore line for our binoculars to focus on. After lunch I took a walk along the almost deserted beach purposely leaving my camera behind so I could concentrate on the views and the atmosphere. Of course, I picked up lots of shells - there are always lots along this beach although never very big.

The beginning of the month so a new 'page' in my Stitch Journal has begun.

And a few pictures of August.

With no Chookshed Challenge to work on and awaiting a yarn order, I took the oportunity to finish off this bit of crazy quilting I worked on earlier in the year. It is a gift for someone I am seeing next month so nice to get it finished and ready.

And also made a start on a new pair of socks as a back up project for when all else is just too much!

These are for me - can't remember where I bought the yarn but I fell in love.

Once my yarn order arrived I had another go at the scrappy squares knitting. 

The pale pink border yarn is a thicker 4ply than the one I used before and is better but I think my problem is swapping to stocking stitch which is changing the overall tension. My next experiment will be with using larger needles for the garter stitch frame and swapping to smaller ones for the stocking stitch. It's last chance time - one more try and then I give up!

No plans as yet for the coming week but no doubt there will be a trip or two out. I hope you have nice plans as well and a happy stitchy week.

Chookshed Challenge for August - a finish!

 Yes lovely to have all the little pictures finished and framed. Here they are as a collection

and individually

Looking back I should have balanced the colours better - the cowslip instead of the verbena would have helped. Also one of the left facing flowers could have been right facing.

But overall I am really pleased with how these have turned out. Now all I need are some hanging loops - and somewhere to hang them!

All flowers from our garden so personal to us.

Looking forward to next months challenge now.