HOME AGAIN

Yes we are home again, and I have been de-stitched!!! Oh my face feels so much better.

Arrived home to some very exciting news, Annette from California who  regularly emails me has joined the world of Blogging.  I know she is a visitor to many of the same blogs as I do so please everyone go and visit her  here-  http://californiastitcher.blogspot.com.

Great Escape weekend was for me a wonderful reunion with friends made over many years. This was the 20th Escape so lots of celebrations. And yes there were traders to take our money. Ribbon Rose from Auckland and Jane Van Kuelen from Christchurch  were both there and I stocked up on my favourite threads and lots of them!

The Workshop I attended was Holographic Monarch.... in the workshop we were stitching a fabric frame border round the image printed on silk organza.... I was particularly interested to find out more about creating a mutli level 3D holographic image.... and can see I will be making further use of the knowledge gained.

Here is my piece not the best photo as I found it hard to line the camera up with the image.

A LIEBSTER AWARD

I have been awarded a Liebster Award by Rowyn of Stitching under the Southern Cross Thank you Rowyn that was a surprise.

Liebster is a German word meaning favourite, dearest or beloved. The Liebster is awarded by bloggers to other new bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to help spread the word about their blogs and to help them gain wider recognition.

The Liebster award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting.

1. Choose 5 up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers to award the Liebster to

2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blog so they know about the award.

4. Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you. 

 I'll start with the last bit first.- 5 Random facts about myself.

1.  I am a Christian and very active in my church.
2. I grew up in the far south of NZ in a small place called Ocean Beach (near Bluff)
3. We lived in Melbourne Australia when we were first married and both our children were born there ( Kiwi's born in exile claims son)
4. And I am the world's worse speller- spell checks on computers were invented for people like me.
5.  I cant knit. tried and that was the biggest disaster possible '-till I discovered knitting beads on very fine needles- that I managed.


I would like to share this award with.
 Gracie from Needles pins and Dragonfly's.
 Pam of Confessions of a Southern Stitcher.
 my friend Mouse at Tales of a Stitching Mouse.
A friend who also enjoys Wessex Stitchery MaryJoan from Mary Joan Stitching
and Evelyne of EEF's Needle.
 Do visit them and enjoy their blogs.

I'm off to post the news on their blogs.

IHSW and UPDATES

Feel at the moment I would like to hide behind a mask ! (Had a small opp the other day and have stitches on my face) this lovely mask was created some years ago and worn to a dinner I even made it so it would fit over my glasses.however no mask this weekend just the stitches ment a quiet weekend and as it was IHSW that was great I got a lot of work done as you can see here

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I will not be waiting for the next IHSW to finish this piece will probobly try and finish it over the next week or so. It is a lovely relaxing piece to stitch.

I receive a big  cheer me up when this lovely parcel of goodies arrive from Annette in California, as you can see I have been very spoilt with all the lovely things she has sent me. Thank you Annette.

 We are off up North on Thursday as this weekend is The Northern Region Embroiderers Great Escape Weekend, this is the 20th one and I will share all the details when I get back next week meanwhile have a great week and lots of stitching time.

A HAPPY WEEKEND TO YOU ALL

And a Happy Day to all blog visitors

This is IHSW weekend and this time I am working on a mon ami pierre design, which I has started last year, it came to light again when moving things round ready for the builders to start. Yes at long, long last work has started on repairing the front room that was flooded at the begining of December last year, on removing the flooring it was discovered the original floor boards were under neath and they were still quite damp... so a little delay while that area drys out.  Back to my stitching plans for the weekend this pocket shown here is what I am working on.....

 and here is what stage I am at hopefully there will be lots of progress to show by the end of the weekend.

I am working on 40 count permin linen using 1 strand of Chameleon stranded hand dyed from The Cherry Tree in South Africa, the shade is Thatch a lovely blue/grey shade which I am quite fond of.

Happy stitching to all taking part in IHSW.

MY JOURNEY IN TURKISH EMBROIDERY

Something that did survive the flood, was all my research notes, teaching notes and photos on Turkish Embroidery. It had been stored like other things in a box, and recently I needed a large box so took that one and transferred everything ( was to be temporary) into a large plastic bag which was leaning up against something else in the room. The bag was sound and no water seeped in for which I am very grateful.

My interest started when son, Barryn while travelling overseas sent home photos taken in East Turkey, including these two, the first is a view of Mt Ararat taken from above Ishak Pasha Palace, near Dogubayazit, with it was the comment about Noah and the Ark in relation to Mt Ararat, which gave me a smile as I thought who told him that in the first place..

 Barryn's reason for visiting the Palace would have been the architecture with its influence of Ottoman, Georgia, Persian and Armenian styles. At this time he had not long completed his degree in Architecture. The second photo was taken in the Palace court yard, everywhere he travelled he sent back photos that he thought might inspire me for embroidery designs, if only I had the time to stitch them all. This one however did get me excited. the wonderful tree of life with a large sunflower at the top carved in stone This was on a small building in the Palace courtyard.

 Being very sure it would be of interest he also sent a magazine cutting as well to give a second view.

 When he returned home to NZ I had him draw the tree of life from the photos, Its quite long, 30inches  and I started thinking about how I would go about stitching it. Although at that stage I had not seen any Turkish embroidery I set out to  research and find out what I could, this was long before I had a computer, and isn't it so much easier today to put what you want into google and up it comes. After being introduced to an excellent book by the tutor of the Master classes I attended in Auckland,  I was able to get a second hand copy for myself.
Turkish Embroidery by Gulseren Ramazanoglu, this book is in English the author did her research well and the drawings and instruction on how to do the traditional stitches opened up a whole now world for me. I have just googled the book title and found second hand ones available at a wide range of prices but you would not want to buy a new copy!
As much of this work is stitched in silk, I decided I would also use silk thread and  I really enjoy stitching with Maderia silk  thread, There was an exhibition a little away in the future and I made my plan to stitch this project for it,  however before I could even go shopping for the colours I had decided on I had a major health scare, and this greatly changed my plans. The result was that I only stitched the top sunflower.

'Turkish Fragment 1 - Sunflower'  1999 was embroidered in silk on 40 count linen  and mounted on hand made paper then framed, it was sold at the Exhibition and is now privately owned.

By now I was really enjoying this form of embroidery and went on to stitch more.

 'Turkish Fragment 2.- Pomegranate' followed in 2000 and is also privately owned.

Several more smaller  pieces followed and a lot more research, then I added turkish embroidery to my teaching folio, I have always enjoyed sharing stitching with others  and when I post next about Turkish Embroidery  I will have a piece to share  with my blogging friends in the form of a give a way and if anyone is interested will do a small SAL in this work next month

 Enough of my ramblings for now. keep stitching.

AND THE FLOODS CAME DOWN

I know the song goes the rain came down and the floods came up..... but recently after shopping we return to the cottage to find yet another flood and it was coming down from the kitchen ceiling.

 We have had heavy rain and high winds and it seems that some  nails for the roofing iron came loose let the water in and it puddled up in the ceiling till it could find a week point to drip through. The plumbers are getting to know us know as yes we were flood the week before too when the tap connection for the dishwasher sprung a leak during the night.... need I say the kitchen floor was a wash!  The joys of old houses... for those who have not followed my blog for long the cottage was built in the 1880's and modernised about 1992, so for the most part we have the traditional old look outside with all mod cons inside. Son Barryn was here at the weekend and did an inspection of the roof and attended to any nails that appeared loose or needed sealer round them. This weekend the weather men are predicting storms with gale force winds!!! So we should know after that of the roof is weather tight again.

 This months IHSW... yes I did manage some stitching but not as much as hoped... but every little bit gets me further on, running stitch is not very exciting but I am almost ready to start a lovely border.

 No photo will try and get one later

A little other stitch has been working on a challenge piece on the theme of an acorn it will be a while before I can share that project.

The month of February seemed to be filled with hospital appointments and re appointments when they failed to tells us they had changed the dates, the last one took 5 hours from when we left the house till we go back and finally a decision , they will no operate on Paul because of the high risk of infection   with  no immune cells in his blood.

Annette and Gracie have sent me photos of their finished friendship hearts Well done both of you. They are both different and delightful I hope you will go on to make more to share with your friends.

I will have to think up another SAL sometime.

On my other blog "Other side of the mountain"link I posted recently a second posting about the dolls house. Do call in sometime for a visit. I plan to do a posting on each room and its contents in turn.The doll's house has had quite a few visitors during the past month including a couple from England on a return visit to see it. At present it is still in the living room, hopefully the builders will start on the repairs to the front room soon and then we can put the dolls house back in there and have some more space.

Will catch up on visiting friends blogs shortly, now that there is  a quieter month ahead. Thank you for visiting.

SAL FRIENDSHIP HEARTS PART 3.

Time spent on finishing your hearts will make all the difference to the finished results.

First cut from white or matching felt,  2 hearts the same size as your original one. It is important to have a sharp edge when the fabric is turned in round the felt, so you need to trim these felt hearts slightly. Note some pulled thread stitches will alter the original size and if you are using a heavy fabric 26 -28 counts these will be slightly more bulky so again don't have the felt right up to the back stitched  edge where you turn your linen over. Worth taking the time at this stage to get it just right.

 

 Cut round your linen hearts about half cm out from your back stitching. then turn in along your back stitching to make a sharp edge press first with your fingers then if need be with an iron, this edge is very important to the next stage of construction. Open out the fabric again place the felt heart behind then fold edges in again and TACK TO HOLD IN PLACE. do the same for both the front and the back pieces. Note the one above has moved slightly in the scanner the felt should be just a fraction inside the stitching.

Next add any extra decorations. I often add small butterflies or dragonflies  and as these are heavier than the beads it is a good idea to stitch them on once the felt has been put in place behind. Now stitch in place the cord or ribbon for the hanger stitch this to the inside of the back piece. If using ribbon I recommend a narrow satin ribbon as it will stand up to the test of time much better than a silk ribbon. Do you make your own cords ?   these made with matching thread these are my preference.

 sometimes I finish with a tassel at the bottom or a lovely pear shaped crystal bead add these now if you wish.  If you plan to add a tiny bow at the point where the ribbon or cord comes out, leave this till you have finished putting it all together. I like to use narrow silk ribbon if I can as it will sit flatter then other types.

Next pin the two piece together and using the same thread that you back stitched round the edges whip through these stitches to join the pieces together. I then finish off with a buttonhole stitch edge . small stitches worked into the whipped back stitches and just catching the fabric as you stitch. There are different buttonhole stitches and the one I favour is the one I was taught many,many years ago for making buttonholes on garments, (also called looped edging stitch) it is worked from the back to the front and forms a very neat edge. Keep these stitches small and close together.

  If you plan to edge your heart with a braid, add this to the front heart shape,  stitching it on from the back.,  I like to show only the edge of the braid to keep the heart looking dainty.  here are tow of my favourite braids, I wonder what you can find in your shops I'm sure you will probably have different choices.

Now continue by slip stitching the back in place and you may widh to add a finishing touch here. I Hope you have enjoyed making your little hearts and that your friends might be the lucky ones to receive them. I Thank you all for your comments specially the ones telling me of your progress.

Here is another idea how you can use a small heart, this one was stitched on fine linen, the edge buttonholed ( including the loops) then added on the centre front of a needlebook.

SAL FRIENDSHIP HEARTS PART 2

Do you know Honeycomb stitch ? This is the stitch I have used for this little heart. Any pulled thread stitches can be used and I will show you some others as well. I have worked the top row shown first  after carefully counting out the spaces of threads (groups of 4) to make sure I have the stitching nicely centred.  This stitch is pulled slightly and I have stitched it with a perle 12 thread, I enjoy using perle 12, tencil, wildflowers and other threads I can use singly.

Don't start the stitching too high up on your heart leave room at the top to add to your design , sometimes I add petite beads to this stitching as shown here.. Mostly I leave the back plain  but if you decide to fill it in with stitches dont add beads as well as it makes it too heavy

To finish I have added chain stitches, a few straight stitches and some beads across the top.

In Part 3 we will look at the construction of the little hearts meanwhile if you have time to fill you might like to try out some other ideas.

This one is worked on the diagonal, satin stitch closter blocks ( that is 5 stitches  over 2 threads, for each block.) Dont pull this stitch have your threads lying nice and flat. Work the first full row  starting at the bottom, then fill the rest in To finish  petite beads have been  added in the squares.

Here I have stitch in the bottom section only, the stitch used was double cross stitch and small beads hadve been stitch in between the crosses. this stitch always looks good and I have used it on several different things.

I do hope you enjoy stitching your little hearts. I will post the final part at the weekend to give you time to stitch some ready

Have fun stitching.

Friends fill your life with joy,

Your soul with sunshine and

Your heart with Love.

SAL... FRIENDSHIP HEARTS PART 1

Here is a collection of my small friendship hearts, I enjoy making these little hearts for friends, and they are quick and easy to make. For these ones I used pale pink linen which I have dyed using fruit tea bags. These were Twinings Cranberry, Raspberry and Elderflower ones. It is wise to test a little fabric first, as it depends on the strength and the length of time the linen is immersed . 3-4 teabags and 1/2 tsp salt with very hot water. Then I iron the fabric dry (placing it on an old towel as some of the colour will come out )and have your iron set for linen. I have tried other fabrics but they did not come up as well.'

Make yourself a paper template of a heart shape, my small one is approx 2 inches across at the widest point. I am not sure what size the one I have posted will come out as. So please decide for yourself what size you would like.
You need enough linen to transfer the template onto twice, with generous seam allowance, one can always cut of any extra but to little and you will have spoilt your piece.

Cut out your paper template and pin to your fabric. I never transfer the design using a pencil as it is to hard to cover all the marks. I simply backstitch round the outline and this stitching becomes part of the design. Use a perle 8 or 12 thread for this a single thread is easier to work with in the final stage of the construction and it needs to be strong when the edges are whipped together.  Here I have two different size hearts making the most of my piece of material, however in this SAL I am just giving instructions for the smaller one                      I will leave you with a couple of days to gather up fabric, threads, some small matching beads and narrow ribbon, white or matching felt is needed for finishing.  The SAL will be in three parts, I will post how to do the stitching next.       .

AND THE WINNERS ARE.......

Well its the 6th of February and I promised I would announce today who would receive the Shepherds Bush Chart that I receive from Rowyn. I must add it is a delight to stitch and takes no time at all. I will include the last of the silk thread but sadly there is not enough to stitch it again in the silk but I have matched the colours as closely as I could to DMC shades.

 Have you noticed I have headed this the Winners are?  I have taken Annettte up on her suggestion and will send it to her first and then she has promised to pass it on.... and the name drawn out is

 Gracie of Needles, Pins and Dragonflies blog.

Gracie please email me your postal address so I can include it when I send the chart on. I have resently read about a travelling chart and I think I will make the next one I share like that as I wouls have loved to have sent it to you all

 I have been asked how I store my WIP,  I use a fabric roll, infact I have several of them now, all different sizes. We have even taught the Junior embroiderers not to leave their work in a ring frame, but to store it in a fabric roll when not stitching and Maree who helps with Juniors has made each one a roll. My photos are not very good I photographed a small one so I could get it all in the picture. They are made up of two layers of fabric, the inner one plain light colour suitable to go against your work, at one end a sleeve has been stitched and with  a strong cardboard roll inserted. I have seen some where the ends are also covered in but I have left mine open so I can replace the roll when it gets bent!

I am not sure where the idea came from , it could have been a Patchwork and quilting idea, I was given a large one years ago and would not be with out them now. easy to store and also easy to take your work to a class  The important thing to remember is to lay your work face down, then when you roll it up the stitches will  will have the correct tension on them.

We have had a lovely few days away and I will share our travels with you soon and also have a small SAL which I will post shortly.

Till then

Happy Stitching.