2019 Needlecrafts Review

One last annual catch up post: We've made it to 2019!  I seem to have photos of all the finishes from this year, except one super chunky knit cardigan, which photographed very badly indeed.

The first one, above, was a wedding handbag I made for my bestie when she got married in June, just 6 days before our 20th wedding anniversary.  I designed the floral embroidery myself and painted the appliqued silk, all based on the floral design on her bridal gown, but in the colour of her afternoon dress.  The bag construction wasn't stellar, but it did the job and I was pleased to see her using it.

And now, after being in progress for around five years, we present:

The completed Paradise Island cross stitch!

I was really pleased with how it turned out, especially as I'd had to design quite a bit of the lower sky myself (it was designed on blue Aida, but I'd done it on black Jobelan instead).  It looks great in a gold frame with a white mount.

For the above mentioned 20th wedding anniversary, I made this card for Sir, which he was pleased with.  Each part was cut out and the fabric stiffened before being glued to the paper sky background.  It was something quite different for me to do, so it was enjoyable - even if the kite tails didn't quite behave as I'd hoped.

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This last cross stitch piece for the year is one I'd been drooling over since I saw it sparkling in the lighting of a stand at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate a couple of years before.  I finally bought the kit and stitched it up.  I haven't framed it yet, but I'm thinking a small silver frame with bright white mount.  The fabric is actually a pale lilac.  It would have been the perfect match for the early February weather, no?

Part cross stitch, part hardanger and part other counted thread stitch work was this rose cushion.  This was a quick stitch and I'm pleased to say it took first prize in the cushion class at the 2019 Bingley Show.  It now lives in our bedroom.

The final stitchery piece for the year was the 'Hardanger With Bling' bellpull that now stands out nicely against the red of our living room feature wall.  This is only the top section as I don't seem to have any full photos to hand, but I will share some more later on.

If embroidery is your only interest, then this is where you exit as we now move on to knitting and no less than seven adult garment completions this year, although two were begun (including one almost finished) in 2018.  The five chunky jumpers are worked in my favourite King Cole Tweed Chunky, three of which were for friends.  It's virtually impossible to get actually warm woollens, so I take orders from close friends.

My first adult DK finish was the  lilac shoulder cable jumper for me.  I love this one and wear it a lot.  Some of it was a challenge to do, but I love that I learn something new with each garment.

The grey cardigan was worked in Brett's Chunky with Merino and, again, was for a friend.  Jenny had admired my black cardy I was making with the same yarn and kept stroking it, so I ran her one up in a colour I was sure she would like.  It made a nice surprise for her when we met in the summer.

The dark green here was one of the woolies for cold friends, as was the cream one below and the violet one near the top of this section.

That's all for the catch up posts.  The next annual needlecrafts review will be at the end of this year or the beginning of next.  Hope you've enjoyed seeing some of the things I've been busy making.  Some will be featured in their own right with more detail, so look out for some of those in Friday Finish and Sunday Yarn posts, as well as ongoing projects in Work in Progress Wednesdays.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2021

Work in Progress Wednesdays - 24 February 2021

Anyone who knows much about my embroidery work knows I love hardanger.  It's quite quick, it looks great and is deceptively simple to work.  So, when I saw this kit going on LoveCrafts.com, I instantly fell for it and bought it with my anniversary money last summer.

At first I thought I'd make the square mat up as a dining table centre or something like that, but it really didn't feel right.  So, I decided to omit the edging and make it up as a scatter cushion cover for the sofa, even though it will work out as a rather larger one than I'm used to having.

Naturally, starting out with the white diamonds and the linking segments, then moving on to the coloured work in cross and back stitching.

Below is all the surface work completed.  As you may be able to see, I changed some of the colours in the cross stitch.  I didn't really like the blues in and around the flowers, so replaced them with pale yellow and a light yellow-lime.

Beginning with the cutting and removing of the threads.  I know a lot of stitchers find the very idea of this part quite unnerving, but I'm OK with it.  You just have to bear in mind the traditional carpenters' saying: 'Measure twice, cut once'.  In this case, count twice, cut once.  It really helps to avoid mistakes if you double check at every stage of a counted thread project - especially when it comes to things that would be hard to hide, like taking out one thread too many!  It's possible, but I don't recommend it. ;)

More on this one soon.

Again, just over four years since the last Work in Progress Wednesdays post!  I can't promise them weekly from hereon in, but it may be possible, even if I don't fancy doing a full blown multi-photo post, to do a brief one with one image from the Blogger app.  It's quite basic, but will allow for that nicely.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2021

2017 Needlecrafts Review

Welcome to 2017!!

This is the year the Big Blog Break began in, so those of you who are kind enough to have taken an interest in my creations over the years will have seen some of these pieces in progress.  I don't expect you to remember any of them though, as I had a couple of surprises when I went back through my Instagram feed to see what had been finished during the year!

It was more of a knitting than a stitching year, but I'll present the 4 embroidery finishes first as that's what most visitors are most interested in, I think.  There were only four finishes, all of which ended up in cards, but at least they were all different styles.

First above is the violets thread painting from Trish Burr's 'Needlepainting Embroidery - Fresh Ideas for Beginners'.  I had some trouble with the bud on this one and put it on hold for a while (from 2016, if I remember correctly), but I cracked it in the end and it served well as a baptism card for a Chinese friend.

The green based hardanger piece I believe was a sympathy card, but I can't quite remember for whom....  Anyway, it was nice to work with this colour scheme instead of always on white.

This beaded, coloured blackwork style piece I confess to having copied from a picture I saw somewhere.  Pinterest, probably.  It was quite hard going, but it made a nice anniversary card for Sir.

This last one, a cross stitch 'Forever Friends' bear, was for friends' 10th wedding anniversary.

Onto knitting, which was much more prolific.  If you're not interested in yarn crafts, feel free to exit here. 

In 2017, I knitted no less than seven baby jackets from two in premature sizes for charity, to two 6-12 months sizes.  One had a matching hat and several of them had embroidered trims on them.

There were also three adult garments, but I don't seem able to find any decent photographs of them.  

The first completed one was for a cold friend and was a simple chunky, purple jumper with a basic double cable up the front.  Started before that one, but finished afterwards was a black chunky jacket/cardy for me.  Both were done with budget yarns, but seemed to come out OK,

The third was worked with James C  Brett's marble chunky, which hasn't photographed well so far.  I'll have to try again some time.

Last up is the bamboo cotton scarf that I made for myself, but which really isn't warm enough for winter use.  It's really only useful as a trim,  but it's a glorious colour. 

That's it for 2017.  

Catching up slowly!  Look out for 2018's review this time next week.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2021

Review of the stitching year 2020

Well, hello! Here I am, still alive and crawling out of an almost 30 month silence to present a mammoth needlework year review.  I may not have been blogging here, but my needles - of various types - have been busy just the same.

I managed to complete 27 things over this last year, but it's not quite as impressive as it sounds when you realise that 14 were fairly quick sewing tasks, such as finally finishing up 3 of those Lizzie*Kate 'Button Up!' seasonal cross stitch pieces as hangings which are changed with the natural season and hung on our coat rack (and are a lot bluer than they seem here):

The other 11 were 4 Bible covers:

4 quick cushion covers (not the white one, that comes later) - the black ones don't even have zips:

A padded, drawstring bag for my hubby to take his visualizer to work safely in:

And 2 pillowcase liners, which aren't shown here as they're on the pillows!

Knitting was productive too, with 4 adult garments done and 2 small girl's cardigans. 

I'm also half way through the last piece of an Aran jumper for Sir, but that'll obviously come in on next year's list.

Embroidery finishes were 5 cards, all for wedding anniversaries:

One picture that I'd started in Germany on World Embroidery Day 2019:

And, finally, one hardanger scatter cushion cover:

I'll try and get back in a few days to start sharing projects from mid 2017 to the end of 2019, so you can catch up with what I've been working on whilst my tech was sub-functional.  Afterwards, maybe I can get back to periodic updates on current projects as before. I can't promise prolific posting, as I'm really out of the habit now and building up a blog is no longer a priority as it used to be back up to 2015, but I'll try my best. :)

In the meantime, look me up on Instagram, which is much more up to date.  You can click on the link at the top left of the blog, or search @sew_in_love_stitch_art from your IG account, if you have one.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2020

Welcome visitors from Pintangle!

Thank you very much for clicking over to see me. ☺

I was very flattered when Sharon asked to include me in her TAST interview series, especially as I haven't been able to join in as much as I'd have liked to.  Also, if you've read the interview you'll know I'm not very good at the exploratory process - I'm very different from many of the artists featured thus far!  However, I do like to learn new things and develop as much skill as I can, so TAST is one of the challenges that offer a constant opportunity to move forward.  I'm planning on looking more closely into the Embroiderer's Guild distance learning courses towards the end of this year, so they may provide the needed impetus.

If you'd like to know more about the wedding dress panel, you can see my series of seven posts on the project, or hop over to the Kreinik Threads Blog to read their interview with me about it. ☺♥☻

I'm having some technology problems at the moment - both my laptop and my digital camera urgently need replacing (the camera I can only use if I seal the battery door up with duct tape, and the laptop is exasperatingly slow, no matter how much I delete, disable or otherwise clean up), so blogging has been rather neglected of late.  It takes a lot of patience and planning to get anything done, so there are a few projects waiting to be published.  Assuming I get my tech up to speed in the next few weeks (as I very much hope to, and Sir has agreed the funds for it ☺) , here's a sneak peek at what's coming up soon:

Here you can see some previews of counted thread and freestyle embroideries, sewing and knitting projects, and preparation for entering some local summer shows.

I'll be blogging all of these projects and more in the near future, including my sewing workshop days and some overviews of all the handicrafts exhibits at the Bingley and Ryedale Shows held later this month and the Shadwell Flower Show in mid August.

You can subscribe using the e-mail service (just remember to complete the verification process, or you won't be signed up), or any of the usual reader services.  There are widgets for some of the most popular part way down in the side bar.  I'm also on Instagram.

If you'd like to know more about my work, please do feel free to have a look at the gallery pages which you can find links for just under the blog header image.

My apologies for a relatively short and dull intro post, but I seem to be in for a bout of tonsillitis (or a cold at least) and I'm feeling just that little bit ropey today. However, thanks very much again for calling in and I hope to host you in my web home often. ☺♥☻

If you haven't seen the interview I'm referring to in this post, click here for a look!


Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2017

Time for a Paradise Island update

First of all, thanks so very much to all of you who left such nice comments on the last posting of the completion of my Rowandean sample card. =)  It was a fun piece to work and, yes, I feel a bit more confident about trying more of that sort of thing in the near future.  I certainly have enough sheer fabrics and special (i.e. not just plain dyed stranded cotton) threads to use!!

Over the last few nights, Sir and I have been watching 'The House of Eliott' on the BBC Worldwide YouTube channel.  He's loving the business development and general drama side of things and I always find this show inspiring and creative, but as I've watched it a time or six, I don't need to pay much attention to the screen, so have been getting on with the Paradise Island greenery.  The first photo shows progress made over the first four episodes and the second, the next two and a bit.

Still a fair amount of tree parts to do and, as it's such bitty work - a few stitches here and there, then change colours - it's taking a long time to get done.  Still, I'm aiming to have this part completed by the end of the year.  Will I?  Well, let's see...

Today I'm home with the start of a cold (probably), but as all the shopping is done, the ironing is up to date and I have good stocks of all the things I need to deal with a cold (Vitamin C, Echinacea, Kleenex Anti-viral tissues, which are incredibly soft, pills and potions if needed and dry skin treatment things for when my poor face dries up!!), it's a good day to slob out, catch up with my blog, mess about with my Pinterest boards and so forth.  I just can't fake feeling sorry for myself!!! =)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2015

Harrogate Show and the current 'Paradise Island' status

So, the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show is over for another year and I am very proud to say that I came home with only the above - a part worked 'make and take' from the Rowandean stand and two packs of goldwork thread I needed for one of the Craftsy class projects I've bought recently, (on which more another time).  I ran out of time and needed to get off and catch the first of three buses home, so I wasn't able to complete my sample then and there, but that's the next thing I want to do.  As you can see, I didn't realise a stray bit of fabric thread got caught on the photo too...

I'd been at the Show long enough to visit the Ladies, tidy myself up, down a quick carton of orange juice (I realised that I suffered dehydration at the Show each year and that was spoiling it for me, so I took extra drinks this time) and make my way to the first stand I was interested in, the Golden Hinde one, when a text message came from Glenis, a Nottingham friend, to see if I was there.  Turns out that she was and that we were able to have a natter over lunch and a bit of a walk around together, so that was a lovely surprise.  Later on, whilst I was at work on the above sample, I looked up and realised that Rachel was standing next to me!  So, I had the unexpected pleasure of catching up with two stitchy chums as well as getting some stitching inspiration.  I missed Kathy, who was flying over for the weekend, but I hope she got the message I left for her at the Nicola Jarvis stand. =)  It was nice to see two of her pieces for real, (the other was in the RSN display.)

I need to give myself a bit more time there next time around, or maybe even do as Rachel has done and buy tickets for both Thursday teatime and the full day Friday. It'll be much easier if I'm just coming up from north Leeds (assuming we ever get moved back!) as I'll be able to leave home after 9 and get there for opening at 10, whereas I had to leave home in Sheffield before 8 and didn't get there until 11:30.

Something that made me smile happened when I was chatting with the lady on the Mulberry Silks stall about how I was enjoying using very bright greens in my current cross stitch, but that I really didn't need any more thread as I already owned over 1600.  The lady next to me promptly turned around and said in admiration, 'Oh, well done!'  Here's me wanting to use up and cut down too.=)

On the subject of the bright greens, here's how far I've got on the Paradise Island.  I think I've only had two sessions on it since I last posted an update, but the greenery is slowly filling in.  I'll be done with it one fine day.  Here are both the area I've been stitching on lately and the whole piece so far.

I hope to have the full Rowandean piece to show you soon and, as I  recently bought a pair of compasses (i.e. for drawing circles, usually just called 'a compass', but I had a maths teacher who was very particular about correct naming!) which I needed to get the beading charted up on those mini hardanger pieces I was talking about recently, I should be able to complete some of those too.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2015