I Was There.....

Even if I didnt  RSVP on my blog, I did link on Wendy's blog, and I did turn up.

I hope you all had a fun night on Friday and managed to get some stitching done - or maybe you had some yummy energy boosting snacks to enjoy.  I cant remember that I had any of the said snacks handy, but my stitching did come out.  And some of it needs to come out in another way - I was stitching in a place where the light was not so good, and I have very crooked back stitch.  Maybe instead of redoing it though, I could hang it towards the back of the Christmas tree - Sound like a plan????

This is a little kit/pattern I bought while on the Quilters Trail last week.  It looked like a simple no stress project that could be achieved quickly.  Just the thing for last Friday night.  It is "Christmas Maidens 1" from Petals and Patches.

 Hmmm.  It is the top left one that is not so good.  Looks ok in this photo so no need to look any closer.

They are fun to stitch, and take only a short time.

To check out those yummy treats and snacks  great projects everyone worked on, go and see Wendy's post here.  It was lovely to join in with you all.

The boys are counting down.  3 sleeps till their Mum is home again.  I hope I havent spoilt them TOOOOO much, but we have had a fun (exhausting) week so far.

Experiments with colouring and shading

While doing the stitching on my watercolour pencil shaded embroidery (previous post) I got to thinking of the other mediums/methods I have used for shading or colouring fabrics.

 The one above uses inktense pencils and water soluble pastels  to colour the leaves and flowers.  It is heavily coloured.  I have used fabric medium to seal it, some of it full strength, but then I started to mix it with equal amounts of water, as the fabric medium tended to make the fabric quite hard and sticky.

 The girls have been coloured using folk art paints, watered down with half water and half fabric medium.  I love the colours and the soft effect of this.

 The rose on this postcard is shaded with water colour pencils and diluted fabric medium. I have used stem stitch to outline it.  The pencil has been applied much darker than the piece I am working on now.

For this "Hugs and Kisses" design I have  coloured the dress and shoes using inktense pencils, but keeping a much lighter/softer effect than on the flowers above, and using fabric medium with water to seal it.

I have found them all to be interesting to do, and for the most part have been pleased with the result.

FNwF stitching

At our Hand sewing class at Sew This and That for the past couple of months we have been experimenting with water colour pencil outlining and shading of an embroidery design.  My FNwF project this month was to commence the embroidery outline of the design.

The shading is very subtle, though I may go over some of it if it needs to be more pronounced.

I haven't decided what I will do with my finished design - when it is eventually finished.  I have a lot of flowers and leaves to do in the meantime.

You can go over here to check out what everyone else has been up to for this month's FNwF.  Oops, and just as well I went over as I realised I had not linked up.  All done now. Thank you once again Cheryll for linking us up for a cyber stitching night.

From this..........

 To this........

This month's club project at Sew This and That is a peg basket.  I am not sure that my pegs will cope with being in a shiny new home, after the dingy, dull flower pot that they have called home for ever.

We used mesh for the base and laminated fabric for the hanging top, with boning stitched in to give it the shape.  Even better is that we finished it in the class with time to spare.  Every one took home a completed peg basket so we were all very happy.

Added bonuses are that I dont have to keep bending down to pick up my pegs, and also the little Grandies and the dog wont be able to knock it over.

Win Win........

I have just been reminded too that it is 1st Friday of the month, so I am off to join in with

If you are keen to join the fun, go here to sign up.  I am looking forward to having a lovely stitchy night.

The party is over.... for now

While I was having a great time at the Chookshed Party I also had  2 Grandies visiting. Not to be outdone by Gran stitching, they were on a hunting and gathering activity.  They needed cardboard, pipecleaners, glue, tape, pens - all of which I could provide.  I couldnt provide "you know - those circle things"  (maybe I could have if I had known which circle things were required).

One of the masterpieces created - a flower with lots of leaves - must have been autumn because the leaves kept falling off.  Many pieces of sticky tape later he was happy enough with his creation.

Bedtime - they love to read their books together.  

  

While that was going on I thoroughly enjoyed my time celebrating the Chookshed Birthday.  Thank you so much Chooky for organising such a wonderful Blog stitching party.  Sounds like everyone had a wonderful time and lots of stitching was done, even with all the bubbly, chocolates and other yummy snacks.  

Still partying

Two more finishes from the Chookshed party.

These 2 placemats were requested by 2 of my Grandies.  When Charlie saw the Octonauts library bags I had made for Harry's birthday, he asked for a Tunip placemat.  Kai then wanted one but I couldnt get the character he requested.  I found the Scooby Doo embroidery so as he is a Scooby Doo fan, I decided to use it.  Again it came from the Diva Doodles machine embroidery site.


They are rather happy with them, and have used them at dinner time tonight - straight from sewing machine to table.

piping finishes the cushion

My first finish during the Chookshed party is our sewing club project for May from Sew This and That.

  

We did double piping between the 2 fabrics on the top, and a piped edge around the cushion.  It was to have piping accent meandering over the main fabric - I left that part off at the request of my daughter as she preferred it without, and she is having the finished cushion.

I think I have said it before - I love doing piping, and it finishes off many projects so well.

Party, but help first

Today I am joining in with Chooky for the Chookshed 2nd birthday celebrations.

There is still all day to join in if you have a bit of stitching time.

Go visit Chooky's blog to say hi and that you would like to stitch too.

While there, read this post where she is asking us for help.  It wont be a hard thing to do but if we all do what we can we hope it will make a difference.

I will be back later to share what I have been up to today.