CATCHING UP

My Easter tree is still up  and when the family came up from Wellington to visit the weekend after Easter, the children loved it, I invited them all to chose their favourite egg decoration, and to the four chosen will make more ready for next year so they can have their own Easter tree. Jan set up an Easter tree, this year this is her display

and requested some felt bunnies, and has said she would like a few more eggs decorations for next year so when the mood takes I will be stitching  eggs and bunnies instead of Christmas decorations each month. I also need to have small projects on hand to stitch because when Kaytu curls up on my lap its hard to manage stitching on anything other than tiny things. I have been good and trying to keep my feet up which Kaytu thinks is an invitation for her to join me.

It has been a busy month and not a lot of stitching time, however I did get the apron finished for Rosie  This time it has a cross stitch squirrel on the pocket with the tiniest acorn charm the  fabric is very pale apricot shade most suitable for Autumn. 

We have had some really lovely warm sunny days and I have managed a little time in the garden, The garden is in need of much attention and I have had to admit to the fact that age is catching up with me and now have the help of a gardener. My sister Joan and Denis   have just been over for a few days visit and there were lots of reminiscing and realising how fortunate we were growing up and experiencing the changes of the times. There is so much to count our blessings for.

 

The Easter Egg Hunt

 The Easter Egg hunt continued and there were plenty to find.

Easter Sunday here is a bright sunny warm day, a larger than usual number at church   and with more freedom over covid mandates we were able to welcome out of town visitors. It was my privilege to select the "Hymns and Dawn added really lovely Easter organ music and we finished with the  Hymn "To God be the Glory" which is a favourite of both of us.

Last night I had dinner with Jan and family and next weekend the Welligton family will be here to stay the weekend with me.

 I hope everyone has a blessed Easter and able to share it with family and friends.

The photo shoot

My plan was to take some photos to have something to post on Easter Sunday, the theme the Easter Egg hunt with Rosie and Poppy. Just setting up when Kaytu decided to join in !!!!

 Basket and eggs rescued and I did get a photo with both dolls and will share on Sunday

APRON FOR APRIL

This months apron has a rabbit on it a reminder that Easter is this month, and the flowers are Autumn crocuses, I have several groups for the purple crocus in the garden but unfortunately the buds are too small at this stage to see the colour, maybe I should do another photo shoot when they bloom meanwhile  the last of the little rock cyclamen provided the floral touch. I took a second photo inside trying to get a better view of the apron.

 Fiona had a delightful surprise for me last week when she came to stitch, she had finished my new count thread mat design, I am pleased with how the changes from the original turned out and really must sit down and finish my one,  meanwhile I have a request from Jan for some small felt bunnies to hang on her Easter tree along with the fabric eggs I made her a couple of years ago .I have taken the Alice in Wonderland set off my tree and its time to decorate it for Easter

I have seen several embroidery charts and kits raising funds to help the people in Ukraine, the one I love is this one from The Drawn Thread, I plan to make it my Easter stitching project and have bought the chart.

Covid numbers here are slowly dropping  but who knows what changes the winter may bring.

Where ever you are in the world, my wish for you is to stay safe and keep well.

A NEW MONTH AND A NEW APRON

 Here is Rosie wearing the apron I made for March, I wanted to take the photos outside but it was too windy so brought a planter in plus a couple of small rocks and created my own scene. Love the tiny Autumn snowdrops (Leucojum autumnale ) The original bulbs came from my mothers garden way back in 1980's, they multiply freely and I have several clumps growing in the garden and in pots. Also appearing at this time are the tiny cyclamen. The damp summer has not been kind to the cyclamen and I have lost quite a few rotted in the ground. The plan now is to lift and put in to pts  as many as I can however the best group of them are growing between rocks so I think they will remain where they are.

Sadly I have come to admit that the garden although is not large is beyond my being able to look after,  and this last year the weeds have taken over. but all is not lost I now have a gardener who come fortnightly for a couple of hours and her energy and effort at tackling the overgrown areas is a blessing. 

The hardest thing I think about getting old is facing up to what one can no longer cope with doing. 

But I am blessed as my eye sight is still good and  while my feet suffer my hands are still as good as ever so I can keep stitching.

I did enjoy making this months apron, am still trying to get the the neckline and armholes the finish I want with something so small there is not a lot of material to turn in and finish. Maree suggested trying  a bias binding  and it was so easy yes I will use that method again. The sleeping cat in the pocket was stitched separately  and add on.

Saturday. guild work day was at my place, just a small group , lovely to have company to sit stitch and chat, The girls Rosie and Poppy got to show off all their clothes,  I specially wanted to share with Mary Rosie's coat, she gave me the very fine wool fabric that made up so beautifully. Photo does not give a good colour its  sage green and what you cant see its lined with fuchsia
coloured silk. I am now on the look out for something to make Poppy a coat.

I was reminder on Saturday that some of the group had never seen the Doll's house, so we had a viewing, its been a while since I have opened  it up and I enjoyed seeing the house and all its treasures through other peoples eyes. ( and many memories of all the research and time Paul and I put in together building and furnishing the house)

I still enjoy the research that goes into the preparation for some projects. when I  write next I will share with you my latest research project because by then I will have been able to take some photos of my efforts.

Here in New Zealand we have seen the daily  covid  numbers double over the past week and those who  have had their vaccine jabs and boosters, try to stay well and safe while a few protesters  tried to show their strength in the capital city  we are not facing anything like what is happening in other parts of the world.  Photos of the floods in Australia with houses almost completely submerged in the water are unbelievable, and the horrors of war that the people in Ukraine are facing, Please share prayers for them 

Happy Valentines Day

 

The little apron for February  

  

I used Valentines day and hearts as the theme for the little apron I made for February.

Although I plan to make all the aprons from the same pattern I am still making some alterations to get the apron to sit just how I want.  Next months apron will be for Rosie.

Valentine greetings to all have a nice day and stay safe.

INTRODUCING POPPY......

 I am really enjoying stitching small outfits for Rosie, but how many dresses does one girl (doll) need? I decided that I needed a second doll and after lots of studying the different dolls hairstyles and colouring I bought  this one who I have named Poppy. 

Because of her colouring I found any of the dresses I had  made for Rosie did not look right on Poppy, well I did say I enjoy making these outfits, so here is Poppy in her first dress

  Inspired by some little blythe doll aprons seen on Julia_toy_arts on Instagram  I have decided to make a monthly project of an embroidered apron for one of the dolls. Here is Januarys Apron, the little bird is the pocket, this way I avoided heavy stitch on the back of the apron. I am trying to have my February apron ready for Valentines day and have a heart theme planned.

And they danced in her hair......

 In the unicorn story the butterflies were dancing among the flowers.... but it seems they danced somewhere else too

 I received lovely videos of Eve opening her birthday parcel and looking at all the pages in her book and this photo, as you can see the butterflies are now dancing in her hair. 

There is plenty of the pretty glitter felt left  so I plan to make some butterfly hair clips as I don't think the wee wooden pegs these butterflies are on will last long. There will be some happy mail going south this week.

 Back soon to share  the latest stitching. 

Keep well and keep safe

THE LITTLE UNICORN

 I have just finished a felt book for Eve's third birthday, I had asked what she was interested in and told unicorns, rainbows and sparkle.....So I made up a story about a little unicorn and created a felt book. This one is a little different as it has story cards hidden in parts of the book to tell the  story line.

Here is the book..........

The little unicorn was looking for his special friend. he went to the forest to ask the animals to help but they were too busy playing hide and seek.

(

There is a bird song record hidden and so the bird sings when 

you open the flap) 

The little unicorn went to the garden to ask the butterflies to help him look for his special friend, but they were too busy dancing in the flowers.

( note some of the butterflies are on small pegs so can be moved from flower to flower.)

The little unicorn went up in the sky to ask the stars to look down and see if they can find his special friend, but they had not come out to shine.

The little unicorn saw a rainbow in the sky and the birds flying nearby  told him to look for a door, so he slid down the rainbow to get back to earth

And yes he found a door nearby................. open the door and see...                                                                             its his special friend.

Behind the door is a photo of Eve so she will know she is the special friend the unicorn is looking for.

Its take ages to put it all together , This Granny has had  lots of a happy stitching time, upset Kaytu while I was getting the bird recording mounted, she could not find the bird!! I will show it off at Guild tonight  and then it will be off in the post tomorrow

 Tonight its back to some serious stitching, Guild project this year is to be Schwalm Embroidery, I have updated a set of workshop notes  and am ready to introduce this traditional technique. Will share on my blog later.

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

I wish you all  a safe and meaningful Christmas

 and blessings for the coming year

 Rosie with her stocking and new doll on Christmas morning

A LITTLE STITCHING.......

I am sharing the first stages of a new project, this count thread mat is a companion piece to one I designed for the last Workshop I taught. ( that was way back in 2010) 

“ Threads of Monet”  named for the lovely hand dyed  linen with matching threads that were used had a reticilla design in the centre and  was suitable for a needlewoman with some stitching experience. Using the same basic design and changes to the centre design I want to create something a beginner could enjoy stitching.

Here is the original design  “ Threads of Monet” 

Here is the new start, I am calling this Monet's Flowers. and as we are at present in lockdown again, Fiona and I are stitching this as a SAL and we are both ready to move to the next step. The linen is Belfast 32 count Platinum  and the threads Perle 12 & 8.   no. 712. 

32 count linen is not my preferred linen but I need to see how the thread coverage goes on meanwhile I have started a second one on 40 count Permin Linen linen and just using some threads )Perle12) left over from other projects. The colours are very soft. and not showing up in the photo will try and get a close up next time.

 NZ went into lock down  as soon as the first community case of the covid Delta variant surfaced in the country, and in the days following the numbers increased but fortunately the outbreak has not been too drastic,  I feel for those in Auckland who are still in the strictest lockdown while the rest of the country moved today to level 3.   I don't mind Lockdown as it does not make life hard for me, my bubble is Jan and the cats, Jan pops in with my messages and a chat ... I rather like having someone else do my grocery shopping, and the cats like the fact that I am sitting stitching and so my lap is free to be a sleeping spot for them. Yes I do need to make sure I have everything I need at hand before I sit down.

Stitching has included some more small Sylvanian dresses, this set will be put away for Christmas, for a little girl who has three different size animals,    and I am working on some more for a different 

Sylvanian family, Miss Kitty had to come back for a visit and be a model for the middle size.

I was fortunate to have a trip out last week I had to travel to Hawera, about 20 min drive from here to get my second Covid vaccination jab, Jan drove me down so I was able to enjoy the countryside and the signs of spring, and a slightly longer trip home while she did some contactless deliveries of iPad to some of her school families so the children could do remote learning.  Here at home I have spring at my backdoor with this lovely pot of mini  daffodils in full bloom.

I hope the sun is shining in your part of the world and you are safe and in good health 

READY FOR AN OUTING

 

It's winter here so of course I needed to make some suitable clothes for Rosie. I bought some pieces of wool fabric from Plume art + stitch, its always hard to decide exactly what a colour is when looking at it on line, I love when I am ordering from the Felt Factory all her shades of felt have been matched to the closes DMC shade, so I bought two pieces of the wool fabric planning to use the one I like best.

 I am pleased with how the cape turned out, it is lined with a piece of Liberty print and there was enough  left over to make the hat. Fiona knitted the scarf ( more on this later) and boots and bag completed the outfit  and she was ready for an outing.

I plan to make a coat sometime , so with the other piece of fabric I made a jacket . This gave me the chance  to see how the pattern I drafted fitted and what I needed to adapt when making something small. Rosie is 11 1/2 inches tall and the rest of the fabric was used for a pinafore. the pinafore photo is more true to colour.

Fiona got busy with her knitting needles... I have to admit I cant knit, I have tried and I am hopeless

Two hat and scarf set have been added to Rosie's wardrobe . Thank you Fiona.

And material is here for a coat to be made when I have time, Thanks to Mary

A new embroidery project started no photos as the computer refuses to upload them its nice to be stitch count thread work again and I plan to post work in progress, that will have to be in my next post, which I will try and not leave it so long before I do. Oh where do the days go !