January Finishes

 I bought this framed vintage car in an op shop and immediately thought about tearing it out of the frame and making a boys baby quilt out of it. Thank you very much to the maker, whom has painstakingly cross stitched this for me. Colour Inspiration- check, center focus - check , and left over triangles in brights already cut for me. Easy Peasy.. rip up an old sheet and quilt made in two afternoons. Got to be pretty happy with that! I put a running tacking stitch in red to give a little interest in the zigzag. One down , two girl quilts to go!

I riffled through all the bits of printed cottons I had and started whipping up cushions. Some I have crocheted edges to, others left simple.

I have also eco dyed some cloth to get leaf imprints on the fabric . I have then echoed the eco print with either a eucalypti flower or the actual leaf shape. 

 And more printing
magnolia flower and seed pods

Fan shapes

That's my crafted lot!

Berry Christmas Stocking

Do you want to see lots of the same but different?

Having finished the Christmas stocking I was stitching I couldn't wait to photograph it - therefore flash photography. The alternative is wait until the weekend and that seems to far away by all accounts.

Then I played around with lots of other photos i had stored - a flash of red, one with a more neutral tone and back to a bang of red again.

Anyway it is done - can't decide whether I like the stocking but I enjoyed the exercise in stitching.`

Should I give it a bit of fur trim?? What I really would like to do is add one more star in the top left hand corner I think that would balance it out a bit better - but that would be too hard now that it is all sewn together. you know it is going to bother me! Not tonight anyway. Better go clean up my mess.

Cross Stitch - Dutch Treat

A little bit of visual loveliness.

I went to have coffee with Mum today and she pulled out this lovely cross stitch / petit point which was made by a friend of hers.

She had decided that the cloth had become too worn and made herself another one. (In one and a half months! The woman is a machine...She must really love cross stitch.)

Anyway the work is superb. Mum wants to make one of her own. and she was talking about cutting it up so that she could use the pieces of linen to copy.

Well I shot that idea down... "Mum people would pay big dollars for a piece of work like this,  don't you dare cut it up. All those hours of work..breathe taking. Frame it just the way it is and appreciate it for its age, beauty and the efforts of its maker."

 

The whole cloth depicts differing regional costumes of Holland/Netherlands, yet it has a sense of community and almost a picnic atmosphere. Really lovely design.

A work of pure delight don 't you think?
Mum still wants to make one of her own. I suggested maybe picking a section that she likes and start with that. I dibs owning the "old raggedy masterpiece".  Cross stitch envy.

Christmas ornament swap and op shopping

I've finally decided on a choice of decoration for the Christmas Ornament Swap and have purchase some souvenir spoons for the project. Of course I bought way more than I need but you never know when you need a nice tea spoon.

Any body know what the flat "spoon"is third from the right in the picture above?

I also found some lovely cross stitch to utilise for bags. I thought they would make a great side panel pockets for bags. I'm undecided whether to go vintage or jazz it up with some lovely brights. I 'm actually teanding towards the brights
i love the fact that someone else has done all the hard work for me and that I can put to good use all their handy work, I'll just have to find a few spare hours in between  the full time work.

also found a bag of pearls for $2, more hanging decorations on the way I feel. well better finnish cooking dinner for the hungry hoards and then on to the decorations for the swap. 

I can't really tell you what I'm making otherwise it wont be a surprise for the recipient, and generally there are few too surprises I feel in my life at least.