A Crazy Pincushion

 I have been enjoying myself this week with embellishing the little pincushion that I showed you in my last post. I have been taking photographs as I go along as some of you may be interested in how I worked the embroidery - skip to the end if you just want to see the finished pincushion!

So this is how the basic block looked.

The pink fabric in the centre section was not lying as flat as I would have liked so first of all I added some tiny colonial knots to flatten and hold it in place, then some beads in the spaces.

The next job was to position the mauve lace and I decided to add it across the corner.

I then added the chain stitches around the edge to hold it in place and some straight stitches to emphasise the flowers.

I like a curve to lead the eye around the piece so this stem was added in next using stem stitch.

I then moved onto some seam treatments. This first small section uses some flower shaped sequins held down with beads then some fly stitch and chain stitch flowers.

For the seam next to it I worked a row of closed buttonhole. In the open spaces I sewed alternate tiny hearts and chain stitches. In the closed gaps chunky colonial knots. I topped the points with chain stitch and straight stitch flowers. Note the gap on the left - a little heart will be added there after construction as it would otherwise get in the way of the sewing line.

I used a simple row of colonial knots along this third seam.

Next I decorated the stem with ruched roses, leaf ribbon stitch and some straight stitches.

Which just left this last seam. I didnt want anything too fancy or complicated here so following the dotty theme of the last seam I used a row of beads to decorate this.

Now all that was left was to add in a spider for good luck. At this point just the legs as again the beads for the body and head would get in the way of the sewing machine during construction.

After I had machined the pincushion together and turned it through, but before stuffing, I added the missing heart and the beads for the spider.

And there we are, one crazy pincushion!

I am back to quilting now - a nice, simple, narrow border on my Red Manor House.

Friday Night Sew In, 2021 style!

 

Many thanks to Wendy for organising our Friday evening again and for setting up the facebook page - great idea. Pop over to Wendy's blog here to see who else was taking part.

I started after lunch by pulling out some of my hand dyed fabrics as I fancy making a crazy pincushion. As always, it takes far more time deciding which fabrics to use than it does to make the block! Anyway, after a couple of hours I had this little 3.5" block pieced and framed ready for embellishment.

In the evening it was nice to sit by the fire with my Red Manor House on my knees! I am still quilting around the Irish chain border but thankfully the end is in sight - just one more move of the frame will do it.

Somewhere around halfway round this border I wished I had diagonally quilted the squares but by then too late! Anyway, it will be nice to move onto that narrow blue border. But first, my 'reward' for completeing the Irish chain will be to embellish my crazy pincushion!

Another frosty morning here.

And a very pretty sunrise which this picture does not do justice to!

Have a great week.

Friday Night with Friends

 Many thanks to Cheryll for getting us together again for our first Friday in 2021.

My day started with a walk around the garden - it was frosty and sunny, just perfect for a photograph or two, or three, or.....

During the afternoon I was able to spend some time playing in my sketchbooks - having collected a few nice bird pictures I found homes for them and splashed a bit of paint around.

I spent the rest of my time by the fire, quilting on my Red Manor House - it's coming along, slowly!

I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else was working on here on Cherylls blog.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2021

I am determined this year to make a decent dent in my scrap box and so with this months colour being pink I made a start by pulling out all of the pink scraps that I have.

 My main RSC project for the next two years are mini hexagon dresdens which will form the border of my Dresden Quilt so I started by making two of these.

There were some scraps suitable for hexies and so these have been basted and stored with my collection of odd hexies.

There were some pieces that made squares for my Scrap Therapy box and the rest I have made into crumb blocks.

Five and a half 4.5" crumb blocks which I have added to my collection for another  Superscrappy quilt at some time in the future. As you can see just a few oddments left which is very satisfying!

Linking up with Angela at Superscrappy/

Happy New Year!

 Lets hopethat 2021 will be a much better year for us all.

Its been a quiet Christmas period here with plenty of sewing, some reading and of course lots of TV.

I finished the Anni Downes block which you can see in my previous post and I have been slowly working my way around the Irish Chain border on my Red Manor House quilt. Its slow going but I am almost halfway now and itching to get on to the next border.

However, the big news is that I have finished the applique on my scrappy basket tablecloth and it is now ready to be layered up for quilting - I just need to find the right backing fabric.

Not brilliant pictures but the weather is not conducive to fancy outdoor shoots! The colours of the applique batiks is not zinging as much as it does in real life.

I have also been working in my sketchbooks and the recent purchase of a Gelli plate means that there is going to be lots of mono printing going on for a while. Hopefully some pictures soon.

Yesterday it was good to catch up with Chookyblue and friends for an hour or so via Zoom - lovely to see faces new and not so new. I managed to pull out a few hexies to baste while chatting and good to see what others were working on.

So I wish you all the very best for the coming year and look forward to seeing lots of lovely new projects around blogland!