Totally Finished

This has been sat in my studio just waiting for it's binding. Well it finally got one.

Catch Up

I am very pleased with myself this year as I have kept up with both my embellished BOM and the ANG stitch of the month, still have to do December but not sure if I wish to use the final month or do something different.

Christmas is coming and my house is still like a building site as my DH has now tiled our fireplace and hearth.  This weekend when he is back from a business trip we will start on hardwood floors in the family room.  Hopefully this will be done before Christmas so I can tidy up a bit.

Penguin to finish and then the name band and ye Amanda will get her secret stocking this year.

It is a good thing I used to be a needlepoint finisher otherwise that would be it for this year.

ANG stitch of the month done thru Nov, I have ended up taking out the outline threads.

Now how to finish this up as I'm not liking the final month.

 Festival of flowers the final block.  Tried a new to me stitch around the leaves called a scroll stitch.



The pistal stitches are because Fiona thought it needed a little something.

All this means that my next post should have a few finished projects.  Wouldn't that be nice?

Summer photos - lots

Leeds Arcade, England

View from Scarborough Castle grounds, England

We will build a sand castles even if cold.

View from hotel room of Versailles

And the soldiers were lucky to have boots!

Foutain Bleu

Chateau de Vincennes outside of Paris

That's what I call a moat.

My girls with their cousins outside Grandad's garden shed

A sample of my purchases

Chicago before the storm hits.  Within minutes we couldn't see the lake.

THe girls and I made over 100 cards, now what to do with them?

Husband decided to tile the girls bathroom, our master bath and here the kitchen.  Now he is working on the mud room and foyer.

Yes it was a busy summer with a lot of pool time slotted in whenever possible.

Fantasy Flowers June

 I got these two new fabrics this month and was so pleased when they worked with the basic block.

I'm addicted to doing these.

 Sometimes a simple running stitch is all that is needed as is one the leaves.

The stem is a silk cord couched with a chain stitch and then a thick cotton used for the fly stitches down the sides.

For those that have not guessed I love doing bullions and knots of any kind.  The gentle overdye of this red Needle Necessity floss work very well to pull the several shades of pinks and reds in the petals.

Spring is blooming

Well it would appear that my new flower has fallen down. 

This one seems to have ended up as an exercise in couching.  Blame Smith and Owen of Grand Rapids.  I went in for the basic block kit and they tempted me with a new selection of grosgrain and velvet ribbons.

Then to add insult to injury they had this lovely fabric (okay and a few more that may appear at a later date) that I have used on the leaves.

For the stem I used three lines of Kreinik ribbon stitched down with their black #8 cord.

These are addictive blocks that stitch up in no time. 

April - Festival Flower

I think festival is very apt for this one.  She is now fully embellished.  I have added to my collection of embroidery books and many of the ideas for this piece are from it, the right-handed embroiderer's companion by Yvette Stanton.  I resisted this book for several months by not viewing it however when I picked it up at my local store it sang a siren song and I fell under it's power.

 I particularly enjoyed doing the stem using double pekinese stitch.

I am getting to the stage of thinking that when my 3 year old starts Kindergarten I may enjoy teaching this type of thing both on wool applique and also other bases.



Naked Flower

I thought I would post one of my flowers before it is embellished.  This time I decided to try my hand at using reverse applique with wool.  So far the results are good, however I wish I'd be more daring and used a busier cotton fabric should as a Kaffe.

You may be able to see five slits in the center I intend to stitch these back to reveal some of the black.

Flower Festival Block of the Month - March

I have to admit that I wasn't sure about the colours that my local store picked for this.  I think the addition of the turquoise really lifts it.

Had to stop myself last night from over embellishing this one.

I decided to fancy up the fly stitch by using a bullion.

Also falling in love with Trezibond silk.  It gives the sheen of rayon without the headache.  Used the last of this green on the leaves so yesterday had to purchase another.  Well it is a beautiful green after all.

Used sea grass for the chain stitch on the stem.

I've tried to do a lattice on other pieces and this is the first time I have been happy with the results.

The stamen are done in the new overdyed Petite Velvet by Rainbow Gallery.

For those that don't know Sue Spargo's techniques the mini circles are created with a Friskers hole punch.  I keep even tiny pieces of scrap wool for this purpose.