Melbourne Cup Weekend

This weekend will be busy with the Spring Art Show.  I have been trying to decide on things to include on the stall and you can see hubby has been relaxing with the tv and a glass of wine. 

After Christmas Tree

 I started this piece of embroidery quite some time ago but it has been sitting in the basket neglected through lack of imagination.

 It is worked on yellow cotton and the basic outline of the tree trunk and limbs are worked in wool yarn.

 The little flowers are worked in cotton thread in various colours and stitches.

 The next step is to add some more beads - actually lots of beads.

 After that there will be more threads, maybe even some silk ribbon.

There also will be buttons and  embellishments.

 Maybe a little painting too. Let's see where it takes us.

Framed Posy

 This little embroidery is almost finished.  

The total size including the frame is approx 9cm x 7cm.

I took this pic at Mills Beach a couple of weeks ago after the storms.

Seaweed

 The seaweed wreath is coming along quite well.

It is a little hard to see the detail in the pics but I am building it up with yarns and beads and anything else that comes to mind.

 When creating something like this I love to have lots of options available.

 

It is rather messy but it all goes back in the basket at the end of the session.

Buttons and beads

 There hasn't been too much time for stitching lately but I have been working on a new brooch whenever I had a spare moment.

 The background is calico which I have dyed some time ago.

It is a lovely soft green .  Some of the pics look as if it is pink but it is just the lighting.

 I started off with tiny green seed beeds, just wandering around on the fabric, then some silk ribbon stitches in a soft mauve surround a green crystal slide.  Tear drop shaped glass beads catch the light.

Add caption

 More beads and lots of french knots and long and short stitch filled in lots of space.

Then some more stitching.





Damp stretching on a cork board overnight.

I find this damp stretching is such a great way to finish off a piece of work and pull it into place.

Then the finishing touch.







 

 
 Fitting it on the button as well as can be done.

It fits beautifully snug and smooth.

encrusting a box top

 At last I have found time to do something crafty.

 I have several little boxes just waiting for some attention.

Two coats of cream acrylic paint gives the cardboard box a bit more strength and a neutral base.

The stash has revealed lots of options and the colour scheme is decided by an old doiley that was  dyed a couple of years ago. 

It is the colour of smoked salmon and there are lots of other embellishments to choose from.

The doiley is glued to the top of the box and over the sides.

On top is I have added some lace and bling - a little at a time.

A search through the button and bead boxes has revealed some great options. 

I do love embellishing box tops.  There will be more pics tomorrow.

christmas is on its way

As the festive holidays approach I thought I would make a brooch to wear on the day but I wanted it to be something I could wear anytime.

The stitches include bullion stitches, french knots and and spider web flower in the centre.  Buttons fill the spaces.  Because this is on a dome shaped button I had to be sure there would be no fabric showing through so the stitching and the beading is very tightly packed and took many hours to do.
The outer edge is bullion stitches and button hole lace very casually put together.  Again I wanted to be sure there was no fabric showing.  I think in future I would use a coloured fabric for the background instead of the white silk.  

Several people have asked about the size of the buttons and brooches I have been making.

The buttons are 5cm across and the toggle on the previous posting is 5.5cm long and 1 cm across the end.

Thanks also to everyone who comments on this blog.  I really appreciate all the feedback and encouragement.

a little bit of stitching

 I bought this pretty little doiley some time ago and had intended to dye it as the fabric in the centre was very worn with some small holes.

It was so pretty that I really didn't want to add colour to the lace so I decided to add some embroidered  silk flowers and a few beads.


I am quite pleased with the results.  

 On Friday, after lunch at the Tanti Mornington Hotel I took the grandchildren to Sunset Beach which is nearby.  The water comes right up to the wooden steps when the tide is in.

The children would have stayed for hours but I was freezing so we set off to the mobile library in Mount Eliza to stock up on reading matter.

Crazy Patchwork Update

Life is busy at present but I am managing a little bit of work on my crazy patchwork.  It is progressing well.

making a mask

I have been making a mask as a gift.  It is something I am making up as I go along and so far it is going quite well.

I started off cutting out the shape on a piece of medium weight vilene - I then added a piece of pellon another piece of vilene and then some lightweight black fabric.

I stitched it together with 6 strands of black dmc cotton using a blanket stitch.

The next step was to add to the basic mask to personalise it.  Bugle beads and tiny sequins secured with a bead form an arch over one eye.  Kind of like eyelashes.

I cut up some black lace which had beads and silver sequens  on flowers and leaves.  Each flower is attached individually.  I removed the silver sequins and added blue ones with black beads.  I am not sure about the colour.  I would have used black but my husband thought it needed colour.

To give it a bit more movement I added some black tulle to one side and behind the eyes.

This last pic is not very clear - I will take a better one tomorrow.

Past projects

I have been busy stitching but have nothing new to show as the things I am doing are to be sent to others as part of swaps and challenges.  I don't want to spoil the surprises so I will post some of pics of past projects.

I don't have anything new to show today so I will see if there is anything interesting on the back up drive.  I have had a big clean up here this morning which was great - I also dropped a heavy piece of wood on my already painful sore thumb.  Lucky no one else was home so my comments on how I felt were not heard!!!!  I have since been to the doctor, he put something nasty and painful on the wound, ordered me to take better care, covered my thumb in a big bandage and prescribed antibiotics.  I am glad I finished drilling holes in the wall this morning - my husband has forbidden such activities for the foreseeable  future.  

I made this little casket some time ago with some of the goodies I received in a challenge held by the Embroiderers Guild UK forum, It is a pretty simple four sided box, with stitching and added fabrics for contrast.  the lining is painted fabric.

This little casket was inspired by an article in Stitch magazine.  It is made from hand dyed fabric, added some especially dyed lace and covered in lilac organza.  Blanket stitching finishes it off

This casket was made using some fabric I "created" as part of the 3creative studios monthly challenge earlier in the year.  The fabric was hand dyed when I visited Linda  some time ago.  The colour was just a bit too .......sweet... for my liking.  Anyway I painted it with some Lumiere metallic paint and then did some machine stitching.

I lined this box with heavy vilene, and added a tassel to the top and beaded feet to the base, some beads and charms finished it off and I think it worked out quite well. 

RAINBOW CIRCLES

I have been looking through some photos of my embroidery and found something I would like to share.  Some time ago the Embroiderers' Guild UK forum participated in a project to make some "rainbow squares".  Each circle in the square had to be just 3 inches and worked in one colour.  These are two that I created.  I wanted to use as many stitches and materials as I could to demonstrate the diversity of the opportunities available to needlewomen.    There are silk ribbons and threads as well as tiny beads and crystals.