Welsh Poppy revisited

As it's Sew in Love's eleventh blog-o-versary tomorrow, I thought I must mark occasion with a post!  What better thing to talk about than revisiting and improving a project from a couple of years ago that I wasn't very pleased with.

The problem with this one was the leaves, especially the darker one.  I just couldn't seem to get the shading right and it only looked decent upside down!!!  Also, it's a teeny bit puckered (a problem I constantly have with heavy embroideries, despite backing my fabric and making sure it's all held very taut in a hoop) I was wondering what to do with it as I didn't want to display it and it didn't seem to fit anything else.

Recently I needed a small piece to put into a baptism card and this one, turned on it's side so as to both fit better and to lead the eye more to the flower than it otherwise might have, met my needs about as perfectly as it could as long as you ignore the fact that the main stem shading is clearly upside down!!  The good thing is, by far the majority of people wouldn't notice that at all. =)

I'm almost out of white card blanks and I can't get any more as the company who made these seem to have long since disappeared from the marketplace, so I had to paint around the rim with white acrylic (not terribly well, I'm sorry to say....), in order to have a white 'mount' effect.  I liked it, just need to make sure and get it without any spills next time.

So, happy eleventh blog anniversary to Sew in Love and here's hoping that the next eleven go ever better!

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2016

New hardanger scatter cushion well in progress

Exciting!  I'd been admiring some other embroiderers' hardanger work on Instagram and wanting to be able to do another piece myself for a few weeks and now it's in progress! =)

Here's the floss toss, including a plain peach fabric which will back the actual stitching and peep through the cutwork areas and a patterned piece that will be the cushion backing.

You might remember that I showed this scatter cushion cover last week and said I intended to cut the design down as I found it too busy for my simpler tastes.  Well, here is the section I'm working:

And now photos of my progress so far taken one day apart - and showing how much time I've had for stitchery from Sunday to Tuesday of this week!!!  I was quite amused to see how much positive attention a photo of the tiny central diamond attracted on my Instagram stream, ending up as my most 'liked' photo.  It seemed strange when there was so little to see. =)

I'm now working on the final stages of the surface work - the cable stitch outlining and then some eyelets in the four 'outlying' squares.

What do you think?  Like it?  I'm loving the colours.  I don't think I've ever really done a peach coloured piece before and it makes a lovely change.  Peach was my high school best friend, Wendy's favourite colour.  Coincidentally enough, whilst waiting for my doc's appointment (nothing serious, just a persistent sinus infection), I met up with another old schoolmate who I hadn't seen for 25 years.  An 'old flame' in fact as we were an item for about a week!!!  Fun that we still recognised each other. I've been 18 again in my mind and listening to tapes I made back in sixth form ever since.  Need to wake up now, get on with the housework and be back to the present day...

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2016

Anniversary things finished

I had a feeling of déjà vu this anniversary.  Last year I didn't feel very satisfied with the things I'd made for Sir, and this year was pretty much the same.  He liked them well enough, so that's what really mattered, but I wish I'd done things just a little differently....

The Bible cover project was a bit of a bodged up job as, sadly, the textile I'd created here was too the tiniest bit too short and one of the four inner flap edges (two on each of the two flaps, of course), didn't catch in the main seam.  I had to sew it up by hand.  Also, some of the decorative seams are straining a bit and won't last well Having said that, he's pleased with it and he likes the fabrics and the gold zig-zagging.  I do too, I just wish the whole piece had been just half a centimetre or so 'taller' so that the seams wouldn't have failed and there would be just the tiniest bit of give in the length, thus avoiding some of the stretch.  Still, it was a first attempt at several things - creating this sort of fabric weaving effect, using metallics in the machine, making the cover at all and doing the fastening stuff.

For any future projects of this type, I'll be making the whole thing at least 1cm bigger than needed and I'll make a press-stud flap, or something similar, instead of trying to do Chinese knotwork with the most horribly springy elasticated cord.  Totally unsuitable for the job!  I need to look into some good alternatives.

The card wasn't too bad, but I wish I'd thought on to put a fancy paper shape under the stitching as I did the first time I did this kind of crafted XS card.  Need to remember that for next time too.  Lots of learning curves!!!  Not a bad thing on the whole, but I often wish I could learn in a 'safer' environment than to be always experimenting with new techniques on someone's gift.  So, I'm looking into courses again....

Again, I only used things that I had in stash for these projects with the exception of the elasticated cord, which I had to spend an extravagant 35p (US 50c) on!!!  I've recently used up quite a few things and run others down quite low.  I'm going to need some more Bondaweb soon, esp. if there are to be any more of this sort of project in the offing.

Coming up soon:  A new hardanger scatter cushion cover project and a small thread painting that I thought I'd never use mounted in a nice card.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2016

Projects in progress and on standby

'Project on Standby'.  Isn't that so much nicer and more positive a term than 'Unfinished Object', or 'UFO'?? =)  Sometimes I call them 'stalled projects' too.

Of course, long-time readers (you kind souls!) will know that I don't 'do' UFOs.  I always try my hardest to finish my projects as I dislike wasting work done in the past and the time spent on it.  Wasting time is soooo much worse than wasting money, and that's bad enough!  OK, so I'll admit that I have pulled out the work on a couple of small pieces and dumped the idea, but it gets thoroughly dumped, not just dropped in a drawer or box waiting for the elusive 'someday' as when we say, "Someday I'll finish that".  I do have a few 'Someday I'll start on that's though....  But that's another story.  After Janet Granger's post this morning on projects she wants to give attention to after a major finish, I felt a similar stock-take coming on, so let's talk about things that need finishing off and other things that I'm planning to get done soon for this summer's shows.

I really need to get back to and complete the little hardanger samples you can see here and that I plan to mount in small, coordinating cards.  Thankfully, one of the shows I hope to be entering (Heckington in Lincolnshire - where we'll be on holiday/vacation the same week), has a 'Handmade Greetings Card' class, so that will give me some impetus to get them completed so as to be able to exhibit at least one, especially as there are free exhibitor entry passes for anyone entering 15 or more items.

I also want to get that needle-painted violet finished off and, as my confidence in my needle-painting skills has been boosted by the success of the white roses, I feel more ready to get back to that one.

And, of course, there's still the old Paradise Island cross stitch, which I've worked a few hours on since we moved here 4 months ago and currently looks like this:

You might be able to see a tiny white dot on the very top edge of the photo, just left of the centre.  That's where, alarmingly enough, a hole has appeared in the fabric!  It's outside the design area and should be taken in under the finishing fabric when the time comes, but I'm keeping an eye on it in the meantime.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Perhaps I need to invest in some Fray Check.

However, before any of that comes back into commission, there are anniversary things to finish as it's our 17th on Sunday and, as usual, I'm making a couple of things for Sir.  This year, (after having bought him something he wanted earlier in the year), there's a card, for which this is the cross stitched piece.  Just needs pressing and mounting.  I'm going to have another go at surface mounting, I think, but I haven't fully decided yet.  Need to get my card blanks out and experiment a bit.

In addition to that, I'm in the middle of making him a new Bible cover, because his old one, as you can very clearly see in the first photo here, was incredibly worn and absolutely unfit to be seen.  I've 'lent' him mine, which is in much better condition, for the interim period as he's very much a cover fan and rarely goes without one.

Yup, you've guessed it - using up some scraps from the oriental baby quilt. =)  I just need to strengthen the machine zig-zag stitching on the outer edges where it could easily fray, organise some kind of fastening and then finally seam across the top and bottom including a lining.  These covers look so clever, but once you turn them fully inside-out, they're amazingly simple.  More on this one when it's done.

I'll also have some mounting of older pieces that I can enter in the shows to do (including a slight repair/improvement to the goldwork viola) and this hardanger cushion cover to start.  I'm not going to work the whole thing as, I don't know what you think, but I find it too 'busy' a design to be really attractive as it is.  I plan to do the central diamond and some of the squares abutting it, but probably nothing more.  Maybe one or two small surface motifs in the corners, but not cutwork.  What do you say?

A productive summer coming up!  What about you?  What are your creative plans for the next few months?

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2016

Wedding pillow - lettering and finishing up

The final stages of the project coming up today! I managed to transfer some of my mobile phone photos over to the laptop too, so have included one of those shots here as well - one of me working on the lettering!! =)  As you can see, I have an incredibly high-tech, fancy, professional set-up - balancing my plain old embroidery hoop on the edge of my desk!!!

I was working on a lilac and light cappuccino shot silk fabric and so I chose a light gold thread to stand out well against the mid-toned background.  I tried a few metallic shades against it, but this was the one that really stood out - Kreinik Very Fine Braid in 102C couched down with coordinating Kreinik Cord in 102.

This third photo really shows the sheen on the flowers and also the good contrast of the pale gold.

I had originally planned to work the letters and numbers in a sort of solid method, probably by couching in rows, but owing to time limitations and, if I'm totally honest, complete lack of confidence in being able to pull off my first idea (and no time to trial it), made me think that outlining would be best.  I owe that idea to Amber of Ambrosia Stitches who, when I asked for ideas on Instagram, asked me if I was going to outline or fill the shapes, thus planting the idea of simplifying in my mind.

Here's the completed embroidery in the hoop before I removed and trimmed it for finishing.  As you can see, there were two lots of different light when I took these photos as they were done at different times of day and also in two opposite windows.  I've yet to work out the best lighting in our new home!!

Below you can see the completed pillow.  Sadly, I didn't get a very good full frontal shot of it as there was too much light bleaching out one side (as you can see a little here too), and I couldn't wait for a better time as I was about to hand it over!!

The finishing process was fairly simple.  After pressing the backing fabric and as much of the piece as I could (I was most disappointed to see I'd failed to avoid puckering....), I trimmed the surplus fabric away from the work and placed a line of tacking style stitches along the line I'd marked on the front when first transferring the design.  Then I placed the right sides together with a small piece of cotton based fabric (a reject square from one of the baby quilts!!) in between and tacked to the backing to protect both the stitching and the cream backing silk from getting scuffed on the metal work stitches.  They were tacked just next to the marking stitches, leaving the bottom open except for a centimetre or so each side of the corners.  I machine stitched just inside the marking stitches, trimmed off the corner excess and pressed back the edges of the open side.  After removing the tacking and marking stitches and putting some toy stuffing in to make a proper little cushion shape, I slip stitched the bottom edge closed.  Done!

I was delighted to hear that the bridal pair were thrilled with it and this photo was kindly sent by the groom's mum the day before the wedding.

You can also get some idea of the size from this shot too.  It's only a 7"/18cm sided square, so only a souvenir size.

Glad to have a big project done and so it's on to anniversary things for Sir and also making things for the two or three shows I hope to enter this summer.  More on all of those soon.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2016

Wedding pillow - white roses

Part three of the wedding pillow.  Today let's look at the roses.

I didn't seem to take many WIP photos with my digital camera, but there are plenty on my Instagram stream, if anyone would like to see more.  @sew_in_love_blog

Instagram is great and easy to use.  All you need is a simple smart phone to set it up, then you can also follow your selected accounts on a computer if you want to.  Quite a number of needlework bloggers already have accounts and we often post there well before blogging as it's so quick to do, whereas a blog posting can take quite a lot of writing and tweaking.  I didn't have time to stop and blog during this project, but a quick shot on my phone camera and upload to IG meant that followers were able to track my progress in real time.  It was quite fun!!!

I've now filled in the Pipers Silk colours for the rest of the project on the previous post and the white rose petals were worked in White, Ecru, Pale Mushroom, Pale Sycamore, Sycamore, Lime Yellow and Bright Lime, with some tiny stitches in China Pink at the base of the rosebud.

This last one shows some of the sheen nicely, although it isn't the sharpest of photos.

Next time I'll share the lettering and the finishing up into a small cushion/pillow.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2016