Francis 1863 – La-D-Da - ‘Some you Win, Some you Lose’!

Having stitched 'Sampler Hare' from La-D-Da, back in April 2024, I decided it was time to stitch the other two charts that were in my collection.

Sampler Hare was stitched on 32ct evenweave, so she was small and quite fiddly to finish, especially as she was to be my first stand-up.  So taking that into consideration, I decided that  I would used 28ct evenweave for the next two, so they would be a little bit bigger and hopefully a little easier to finish.

First up was  ‘Sweet Pea’, stitched on Antique White evenweave, with the called for threads and a substitute for dmc 844, which I was missing. 

 ‘Francis 1863’, came next, again using the same fabric and the called for threads.

It was all going well until I decided to fully finish them and that was things went awry.

I tackled Sweet Pea first and didn’t think she turned out too bad…..or at least that was what I thought at the time.

But sadly, when I got to 'Francis' and turned her the right way out after sewing, I realised I had trimmed the edges too close, the Evenweave had badly frayed in several places and she was beyond saving.

That made me go back to take a closer look at Sweet Pea and sure enough there were also one or two threads that were pulling apart. 

I'm not sure there's anything I can do to rescue her either, so I'm thinking the only thing I can do now is to re-stitch them both and may be use Linen or Aida this time instead of Evenweave.

Oh well, it's so frustrating, but I'll have to put it down to a steep learning curve and next time remember not to trim so close to the stitching!

My next new start was this darling kit 'Patterned Pretties #4 from Jeanette Douglas. 

This was a Christmas gift from my stitchy friend Stasi, over at   Bee-Mused and Bee-Stitching, who knew that Jeanette is my favourite designer, so thanks so much Stasi.

Jeanette loves her specialist stitches and this piece is all done in Bargello with beautiful silk threads.

You've gotta love this colour combination too!

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Quintessential Frisian Smalls Sal – Biscornu

When Caroline from Evertote, Jacob from Modern Folk Embroidery, and Kerri from Roxy Floss Co  announced the ‘Quintessential Frisian Smalls Sal, I was keen to stitch along, but I have to be honest, I had doubts if I would enjoy stitching in one colour for a length of time.

I don’t know why I was worried though, because the more I stitch on this little collection, the more I want to stitch and the 'Falu Red' thread is to die for!

The project for October was a cute little Biscornu, which looks incredibly difficult, but is in fact quite simple to make. 

It’s all in the finishing!

The stitching is just two squares, one for the top and another for the bottom.

While I was stitching mine, I decided to add  some evenly spaced threads, which were later removed,  to aid the placing of the panels at a 45 degree angle when finishing.

The shape is achieved by offsetting the corners, positioning a corner from the top square at the centre of  one of the sides of the bottom square and whip stitching through the back stitch around the squares.

Once the edges are stitch together and the Biscornu stuffed, a button or in my case  a bead is stitched through the centre and pulled tight to  give it it’s unusual shape. 

 Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Quintessential Frisian Smalls – Scissor Fob 1681

 

This is the  second of the five ‘Quintessential Frisian Smalls’, and for this,  Jacob  has designed a tiny  scissor fob 

using a motif from the oldest Frisian sampler in his personal collection and finished it off with a twisted cord.

The back is personalised with my initials, again replacing the ‘J’ with and ‘I’ as was common with Frisian Needlework.

 I just happened to have the perfect pair of tiny red scissors!!

 Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Jelly Bean Jubilee – Brenda Gervais

Wishing everyone a very happy Easter.

 

Why, when there’s holiday stitching to be done, do I always bring it down to the wire?     Well, if I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be writing this, Lol!

I purchased Jelly Bean Jubilee by Brenda Gervais last year and only managed to get two of the designs stitched before the Easter weekend. 

This year my plan was to  finish the rest, but with Easter being early and not starting on them as soon as I had hoped,  I still only managed two of the remaining five!

 Jelly Bean Garden,

‘Hop, Hop, Hippity, Hop

I decided to make them stash busters and used scraps of 36ch mystery linen and Roxy Floss Co threads for both of them. 

I’ve also done some more stitching on the band sampler from ‘My Stitching Box’ from Jeanette Douglass, adding another four bands.

My Sewing Box

Started 29/2/2024

Designer -  Jeanette Douglas

Fabric – 32ct Murano Evenweave – Antique White

Threads – Called for Classic Colouworks Belle Soie, NPI Silk, Gloriana Silk & Rainbow Gallery Splendor

Beads – Mill Hill

 

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Jelly Bean Jubilee – Brenda Gervais

 I purchased this little book of seven charts last year and stitched a couple of the designs, so my aim this year was to finish the

 rest.  But Easter is early this year and I only managed two more, leaving three for next year.

First up is Jelly Bean Garden, 

I then I stitched Hop, Hop, Hippity, Hop, Hop.

Both were stitched on mystery scraps of 36ct linen from my stash and I did a floss conversion to Roxy Floss Co threads.

I’m making them into pillows, as I did with the others but at the moment I don’t seem to have the right colour trim, so I feel an on-line shop coming on, Lol!

Also, over the last couple of weeks I made a good bit of progress on ‘Palace of the Winds’, by Jan Hicks.

This is where it was when you last saw it.

And this is where I am now.

I finished filling in the semi-circle (although I have just noticed I have miss the little flower in the top right) and then went on the bring the stitching up on the right-hand side.

Last but not least for this post, if you have seen my Instagram you will already know that my weekly food shop this week through up a most surprising item.

Our local Sainsbury’s has a small ‘Habitat’ home goods section and tucked in amidst the candles, and ornaments was this small bud vase made of Mango wood.

 

The perfect scissor holder, right!

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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 Jelly Bean Jubilee

Designer – Brender Gervais

Fabric – 36ct Scraps from stash

Threads -Roxy Floss Co,  

 

Palace of the Winds

Designer - Jan Hicks Designs

Fabric – 36ct Evenweave – Light Grey

Threads – Cottage Garden  Threads