EXPERIMENTATION & UFOs

Today I have made a framed picture using a piece of free machine made lace on silk tulle, over a mirror with shells, leaves and seaweed I collected at the beach before we came to live here.

 I started making the lace more than two years ago and couldn't decide what to do with it so I am thrilled to have used it at last.  My husband really likes this piece and it can hang on the wall in our lounge room.

I bought the mirror in the frame from an op shop months ago so it has been a great success all around.

Wonders of Nature

I am constantly amazed at the things that appear in the garden.  I am speaking of fungi, and more precisely, mushrooms.  This morning I looked outside and there in the lawn was a beautiful, white mushroom.  Now how does that happen.  It appears, pure and white, out of the damp soil.  Anyway, I took a pic this afternoon and here it is.

cold Wednesday

First, let me say thank you for the positive comments.  I am really enjoying the blogging and the feedback really helps.

The idea of "a needlebook a month" was something discussed among stitching friends last year and here we are nearing the end of April and I have done 3.  I also have to do one for a swap on the Country Bumpkin Forum - I know I could use one of the monthly ones but this is a special project, over and above.

About taking your stitching with you when visiting friends:  my rule of thumb is that if I knittted, would I take my knitting with me?  Knitting seems to be something people accept so I think they will accept my stitching.  I don't take it if there are little children or dogs in the house in case I drop a pin or a needle.  I don't take it if I don't know the people well.  Otherwise I take a little bag of stitching with me.  It is amazing how much you can do while waiting for the doctor, or visiting someone in hospital and definitely on holidays.

Anne I love the idea of a place mat a month - or maybe a tray cloth.  Perhaps we can do that next year.

It's done

Well, I managed to finish the needlebook and added a scissor fob and pin cushion.  I took the unfinished pieces with me when we visited friends for lunch on Sunday and was thrilled to have time to finish it off.  I am trying to make one needle book each month - so far so good.  Well actually I am one month behind but am catching up.

Today I received two lovely magazines in the post - Inspirations and Creative Machine Embroidery & Textile Art.  Inspirations is full of lovely projects including a needlebook and some pin cushions.
http://countrybumpkin.com.au

I haven't looked at Creative Machine Embroidery & Textile Art yet.  I will save it for later.

Anyway, I have added some pics of the needlebook.  Hope you like it. 

Photography

It is Autumn here and the mornings are cold and crisp and the days mild and still. We have had a lot of rain which is wonderful after so many years of little or no rain to sustain the garden & large trees in the area.

We took a bit of a stroll down the road yesterday and I collected some autumn leaves to photograph and when I had done that I messed about for a while with changing the images on the computer.

Now I have to figure out how to upload the images.

ANZAC DAY

LEST WE FORGET

Anzac Weekend

I have been fosicking about in my basket of ufos and found a piece I did a couple of years ago. It is a tulip embroidered on silk and just the right size for a needlebook.

Having come to the conclusion that it would work I then needed to find a suitable fabric for lining it. I wanted something with a bit of body to it as the embroidered fabric is quite flimsy and I wanted something interesting that would add to the piece rather than vie for attention.

Over the past few weeks I have received several parcels of goodies from friends so I thought I would look through that collection and see if anything worked well. Of course it did. A piece of painted fabric with a bit of a metallic look about it. It is quite stiff so is a perfect backing.

I stitched the two pieces together using some of the inbuilt stitches on my sewing machine and it turned out well.

I will just add a folded piece of felt for the "pages" and finish it of with a couple of charms or tassels.

SUNNY SATURDAY

It has been another really lovely day and I have been trying to sort out some of my photos so I thought I would add some here.

I made the purple bottle bag for a friend for her 50th birthday. I designed it myself and embroidered lots of flowers to make it look very femine.

The garden is one I did during a class I attended at Eliza Wool & Crafts - I really enjoyed this project.

GARDENING

Today is one of those perfect Autumn days that Melbourne specializes in. Cold morning, clear blue sky, no wind and it will reach about 20 degrees later today. I should be in my office but it is only 2 steps from the garden so I keep finding myself out there - first with my camera and then with the rake & spade.

We have lots of big eaucalyptus trees all around us and the bottle brush is just outside the front door.

IN THE MAIL

Just lately I haven't had time to do much stitching so was thrilled to receive a parcel in the post yesterday: the parcel contained a lovely atc and some fabrics and yarns from another member of the Stitchin Fingers atc swap group. The theme for the month of April is landscape and this one depicts the area in Wales that its creator comes from.

STITCHING FRIENDS

The last week has been one of happy encounters and conversations with some surprises in the mail as well.

A few days ago I bumped into Bev Tully when I was out shopping. I have attended some classes with Bev and it was a real delight to see her again. Bev is off to do a tour of stately homes in the UK - it will be her pleasure to teach some needlework classes to the people on the tour. I am sure the classes will be great fun with lots to learn as well.

Yesterday I received a gorgeous Easter Card in the mail and along with it a gorgeous little fabric egg which contained a crystal charm. These treasures were sent to me as part of a swap conducted on the Embroiderers Guild UK Forum.

As if that wasn't enough I received a lovely parcel from a friend - it contained some hand dyed and painted fabrics and a lovely ATC which was made just for me.

There is something so special about the world of needlewomen - such kindness and generosity is just so lovely.

EASTER SUNDAY 2010

It is a glorious, still, sunny day today. Very peaceful.

The lorikeets and magpies have been for their breakfast and the little girl next door has been looking for Easter eggs in her garden. Such a delight.