After the storm!

After yet more hot weather we finally had a storm in the early hours of Thursday morning followed by a damp drizzly morning. Bliss. It's a sunny but cooler day today which is very welcome and this morning was distinctly chilly, just 10 degrees!
Well now, since my last post I have managed a few finishes so here are some photos. First up my applique which is now a nice new cushion cover.

I have turned my two little stitched squares into tissue sachets.

I have a 'red with a hint of maroon' RSC block for July

and an orange one for August

As I am home alone for a few days I am making good use of my time. First up, and now out of the way, was decorating the kitchen. That done I was able to get down to a project that has been waiting in the wings for just such an opportunity!

In 2010 Popular Patchwork had an article about a Super Scrappy Crazy quilt which gave me an idea for using up various samples and unwanted projects. So since then I have been collecting 4.5" squares to put together to make a super scrappy lap quilt and yesterday I got them out and started to play.

There are 289 squares here (although I am still making them and collecting ready for another quilt!) which will give me 17 x 17.

Here are some of them laid out and ready to sew.

Lots of lovely memories in amongst them - an early hexie project I was never happy with

some City and Guilds samples

a Hundertwasser experiment

playing with clamshells

and lots of scraps left over from projects

I decided that I would put it together in three section and one 17 x 6 section is already complete - heading off now to get on with the next one!

Have a great weekend.

Chain Stitch 2

Thank you to everyone who commented on my previous post - I do hope that I have replied to everyone but if I missed anybody then I do apologise.
I hope that Blogger soon sort themselves out as it is annoyingly slow at the moment to reply to comments.

I have been busily chain stitching away since my last post and have finished my block. If you receive my blog by email and you did not receive my last post then you can read it here

 

 

Here is a list of the different chain stitch variations that I used

 

Chain stitch

Whipped chain stitch

Back stitched chain stitch

Twisted chain stitch

Broad chain stitch

Braided stitch

Knotted chain stitch

Half whipped chain stitch

Long armed chain stitch

Heavy chain stitch

Easy cable chain stitch

Triple chain stitch

Detached chain stitch (lazy daisy)

Detached twisted chain stitch

Detached slip chain stitch

Open chain stitch

Berry stitch

Three chain stitch

Petal stitch

Picot stitch

Detached wheatear stitch

French knot border stitch

 

That's 22 different chain stitches - and there are many more!

 

These are my two old faithful reference books

 

 



I have used my block to make this tissue case for my gift box.

So from a soggy Dordogne I hope you have sunny, stitchy weekend.

Chain Stitch

If you have been following my blog for any length of time then you will have seen several projects that I have worked using this piece of plastic.

It is one of a set of double sided rubbing blocks and my favourite by far. This was my first project using the block.

And I turned it into this little Bushkiri bag.

You can see it here with some more little bags I made using some of the other rubbing blocks.

And there is another one

There is a white version

I have used it as the wallpaper at the back of my blog.

And you can read about how I made this pink version here

So once again I am making a tissue case for my gift box and I never tire of this design. However this time I thought I would challenge myself into using as many different chain stitches as I can. Here is my square of fabric just as I was starting - I used a gold Markal paint stick to transfer the design.

So far I have used nine different chain stitches and am aiming to pack in quite a few more.

The greens in the fabric and the threads are not showing up as well as I would like in this picture - it's actually looking a lot brighter and I am very pleased with the look so far.

Hoping that this post reaches everyone - I understand that there are lots of problems with blogger at the moment.
Hope you are having a great weekend.

A small finish

This lovely Liberty tissue case has lived in my handbag for more years than I care to remember!

And, as you can see, the corners are now very much the worse for wear! So I decided that it was time for me to make a new one. If you follow me on IG you will have seen work in progress on this piece of embroidery.

I thought you might be interested to see where the design comes from and how I transfered it to my piece of fabric.
I have a few of these 'rubbing blocks' which I bought some years ago from Art Van Go. Some of the designs are not to my taste but this particular block has been well worth the purchase.

 Tricky to photograph as it reflects but you should get the idea. It is about 6" square.

I stuck the block to my work surface with some blu tack and then sellotaped my fabric over it.

I then used one of my Markal oil sticks to make a rubbing.

I chose a pretty pearly pink which would glint through my stitching and anywhere else it happened to catch.

The fabric needs to be left for 24 hours and then is ironed, covered with a piece of baking parchment, with a hot iron. The oil is now set and you can get on with your embroidery. I used mainly chain stitch variations with some fly and feather stitches too.

And here is my finished tissue case.

I worked this piece of embroidery for a small bag some years ago using the same method.

Linking up with Super Mom No Cape and her Stitchery Link Party.

Now what are these doing flowering so early - they should not be in flower until May!

Have a great week everyone.