New Starts

Someone posted a photo of this on FaceBook.

The person wanted to know whose design it was.  I know! It is David Smyth's Garden by Susan O'Connor.  The instructions for it are in the first Passion for Needlework book.  I had already traced the design on satin a couple of years ago.  I even had the silks for it. It sat in the basket of shame for a long time. Now it was time to find it. I dug and dug - and I found it! I had been a bit afraid that it was hard but you know what they say, inch by inch it's a cinch. So I started in on the chain stitch stems. Easy. The big leaves are next.

By the way, David Smyth was Elizabeth I's embroiderer. This design might fit very nicely on one of my caskets.
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The Rose

I had quite a time trying to stitch the rose.  I kept getting lost. I put the wrong color in places. I started over. Taking out the queen stitches was a royal pain in the you-know-where. The only thing I think of when I look at the rose is the acronymn "FUBAR". Pardon my French.
I finally got to the point where I just wanted to make it look okay even though I knew it was full of mistakes.

 I am quite happy to be done with this rose.

Now on to my first Queen. Let's hope I can not mess this up! It doesn't look too hard and I am not doing it in queen stitches.
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Happy Mail

I ordered a couple things from Stitch n Frog the other day.  I was enamored with this chart when Jean Lea Posted it.  I don't know why but it reminds me of Italy. So I ordered the chart and threads. There was only one thread I couldn't find but I might have it, Garrison Green.  Sometimes I am just too lazy to try and find all the colors and it is much easier just to order them.

 The roll is worked on 40 count - ugh - but over two. 

 Then my friend Anna in Australia showed me what she was working on.  They have so many classes and clubs and guilds in Australia.  I'm jealous of all the things she does.  One of the stores is offering kits every so often from the Blackbird Designs Book "Sewing Club". First they stitched a drum. 

Now they are stitching this huswife.

Next they are stitching a button bag.  I decided I wanted to stitch the huswife. I found some Cameo 32 count linen that I think will work well for this.
I have a few other things I'm thinking about starting. I'll tell about those another day!
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Another Finish

I have another finish! I am done with the OOP Blackbird Designs Strawberry Garden.

I don't know what to do with it.  Pillow? Frame it? Anyway, I'm happy with it. 

I only made a couple of color changes to it and I stitched it on 36 count.

Pretty soon I'm going to have to start something new!

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Oh Happy Day!

I finshed the peacock totally and completely!  Yeah!  I am so pleased with how it turned out.  It's not perfect but it is beautiful.
Back of the tail: Snaps sewn on needle page in place

 Front of the tail: Italian ribbon sewn around the edge

 Legs attached and glued in:

 Snaps sewn on the body:

 Ta-Dah! Done!

I am so lucky to get to stitch Jenny's Peacock.

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Ready

I'm ready! For what? To put my Jenny Adin-Chrstie Peacock together. 

I did the topknot on the head. Now I am joining the lining to the back of the tail. I am so happy to be able to finish this lovely project. I'm tickled pink with it.  It isn't perfect of course but it looks good.
Love it!
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Happy Mail

I got two small kits from Needle In A Haystack yesterday.  I put them both together (it was easy!). They each have three layers of felt inside them.
I wasn't sure which one I liked best so I ordered them both.  Now I have one to keep and one to give somebody.

They look like Mother of Pearl but are really acrylic. They are pin discs. Cool.
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Queen's Sampler

I was unable to put off working on the Queen's Sampler any more. So I finished up the leaves. The first two leaves aren't as nice as the last two leaves,  There is a bit of a learning curve as to what method works best.  I think I've got it now. I was dreading the queen stitches.  I got off and had to do some frogging. But I kept at it. Only half a million more queen stitches to go.

When I get this rose done I can start on a queen.  First you stitch the outline then you fill it in. I can do that.

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Strawberry Garden

Here is where I've gotten to on Blackbird's Strawberry Garden.

I'm a little more than half done. It is going well (which means no frogging, lately). It's nice to have an easy stitch and to be able to see good progress.
My friend Jan gave me enough tart cherries to make a cherry pie.  That's something I like to do every July when the cherries come in. So I made a delicious cherry pie. It will take DH and me a while to eat a whole pie!  It is so yummy. I totally missed the strawberries this year but DH can get some at the grocery store. Strawberry shortcake is one of my favorites too. I guess when it comes to food, I have lots of favorites!
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Italian Ribbon

This is Italian ribbon.  I've seen it before in Jenny Adin Christie's kits.  It is fun to work with as it stretches and you can shape it. It can cover raw edges or simulate water.

 My friend Janet got some from Specialty Beads.com. See the little spools? Aren't they cute? I think I got those from Jenny's boutique last year. The ribbon comes in lots of colors. It has a sparkle to it too. Here it is covering the edge of the wool.

 This ribbon will be under the scalloped edge,

 After I was all done stitching the scallops, I realized I didn't do them right,  Do I take them out or leave them?  I decided to wait until morning to decide. So now it is morning and they don't look too bad.

Next is the topknot of beads on the peacock's head, I'm close to being done!!
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A Finish!

I finished the Assisi Bird and sewed him onto his spool.

The design didn't meet up at the back but I knew it wasn't going to. In a way, I'm happy to be done as I had to so a lot of fudging to get the lines to match up.  There are a lot of mistakes in this one. The bottom of the spool is flat but the top is convex, like you could put a pair of sissors in the center.

Does this mean I can start something new??

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Neck

I have been working on the peacock's neck.  It is slow progress but I like how it is looking. The challenge here is to add extra rows where needed so that the buttonhole stitches conform to the neck of the peacock.

Have a good weekend!

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Happy Mail

I was delighted to get two project bags in the mail yesterday.  I am fortunate to know Vicki who makes the best project bags.  I went on the most marvelous tour, Queen to Queen Tour, with Needlework Tours and Cruises.  One of the places we visited was William Morris's childhood home in London.  We got to see how his prints were made. I bought some of the hand printed fabric in my favorite design, Strawberry Thief.  I asked my friend Vicki to make a couple of project bags with it.  What a nice souvenir from my trip!

I like that you can see what is in each bag.
They turned out great.  Thank you Vicki, you are the best! I just love how they turned out.
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The Peacock

I'm working on my peacock's neck.  It has a sparkly thread in it so that it shimmers.  Love the design. I've got more to go but it's coming along great!

I wonder what magical delight that Jenny is thinking of next.
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Assisi Bird

I got a little bit more done on my Assisi bird.  The challenge here is for lines to match up. Or look like match up even when they don't!
This is close to being finished. I have appointments today so probably won't finish today, but soon.
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New Start, Old Pattern

I ran across a pattern on Pinterest that I really liked.  It is an old out of print Blackbird design called Strawberry Garden Loose Feathers #18.

 It is almost half done. A fun stitch.
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A Finish

I wanted to post my progress on the Queens Sampler but since I didn't work on it, there is nothing to show.

 I did finish -finish the Susan O'Connor pin disc.

I hear there will another book of Passion for Needlework this fall.  I look forward to that.  I think I have one more Susan O'Connor pin disc patterns somewhere.  I really like making these.
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Peacock Gets Dressed

I've been working on dressing my Peacock.  First I put felt around the body, then I stitched on his tweed coat. 

 There is a line printed on the felt to get it in the right position.

 Now it is time to stitch on his back.

Progress!

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A New Start

I wanted something new to work on and ran across an Inspirations kit.  The project is from Susan O'Connor who is the editor of Inspirations magazine.  It is from the book A Passion for Needlework.

I had already made the rose hip one and was impressed that I could stitch it.

 Here is the back of the rose hip.

 So I started the Cornflower.  I worked hard on it and the front is done but desparately needs ironing.

The back will have just has a single cornflower but I haven't started that yet. It's great to make something small and actually get a finish.
Have a great weekend!
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