Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Drawn Thread Fillers

At my local lace group some months back, one of our members asked me if I could teach her how to do "that". "That" being a corner in a beautiful drawn thread tablecloth, pictured in a magazine that someone had brought for show & tell. No, not the whole piece, just the corner, as a brooch. Of couse I could. So with some thinking, we organized what had to be brought for the following meeting so that we could make a start. Come the next meeting, both of us forgot things, and of course we did not have the magazine anymore, so I rummaged in my bag & found pencil & graph paper & quickly sketched up a design. There were scraps of fabric in my bag, as was some thread, so we went to work. So the above little square is the result, really too big to be a brooch, but that really depends on taste. It is yet to be cut from fabric, & I think it will still become a brooch or bag clip or some such item. As far as a design for a corner, it really is not strong enough to be a corner design in a table cloth. Worked on even weave linen with my own hand dyed threads.

I did have plans for doing three of these little squares, all in differnt colours, but by the time I did the pink one, I wanted a different design. The problem that I had was that the border stitching had already been done on the others, so I was left with a limited space with wich to work. So I just filled in the spaces with laid threads, coral knots & woven wheels. I quite like the effect, and feel it could be a very interesting filler on something.

The third colour is yet to be worked. The ouside border is done but I have to think of something to put on the inside yet. That's tonight's plan.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

2009 Challenge Update


Yesterday I sat down & set myself my 2009 challenges. Guzzisue has already been reading them & has handed me another challenge, well not really another one, but something to spur me on with my bobbin lace. It has been suggested that we work through the book together. How cool is that? Having someone to spur me on & help me achieve my aims, even across oceans. I have until March I think to get my current piece off my pillow & practice my basic stitches again, before delving into the book. So guess what I am working on, in between everything else.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Blog Award

Over in my side bar I have a list of blogs that I visit every day to see what people have been up to. This morning I noticed over on Carol's blog that I had been given this award. So big thanks go out. I feel really chuffed at recieving it, so to continue the spirit, here are the five people that I would like to pass this award on to.

1. Guzzisue
2. Marg B
3.Textile Dreamer
4. Margaret
5. Adriana

2009 Challenges

Each year at this time of year I like to set myself some new challenges for the following year. Sometimes I achieve them & sometimes I don't, but at least it gives me something to aim for. Usually I give myself too many challenges & that would be the main reason why I do not achieve what I set out to do. The list that I set myself for this year was a perfect example of that, way too many large projects. So my list for 2009 reads like this.

1. One quilt. This is left over from this year. It was supposed to a present for a family member who was celebrating a special birthday. Needless to say the birthday has been & gone & all I have done is purchased & washed fabric. I have promised it by November 2009.

2. A piece of reticella, which is also another challenge left over from this year. I've started to have a look at this already, but the fabric that I have chosen to work the piece is different than I used for my failed attempt earlier this year. So consequently I have had to do more samples to make sure that the fabric/thread combination will work, as this fabric is a higher thread count than before.

3. To start learning Bedfordshire Lace. This is a form of bobbin lace that just makes my toes curl. I have the book pictured above, which seems to take the learner from the beginning. To achieve this, I will have to finish the piece that I currently have on my pillow, or aquire a new pillow from somewhere. I will also have to go back & revise all the Torchon techniques that I have previously done so as to refresh my memory on how to work some of the stitches. Note, the operative word in this challenge is to "Start" learning.

OK, so I have only given myself three challenges for 2009. Personally I think that is enough, considering I did not get though all that I set myself for this year. I do tend to overdo it occasionally. So that is why I have steered myself away from signing up for the Stitch Explorer challenge that Sharon B has going. I will follow this one with interest & may even participate in my own way. We shall see. There is also the fact that I really want to explore pulled work. I have in mind to do a sampler of stitches, but this might be just one of those things that continue from year to year. It may even get to be started in 2009. Just another "We shall see".

So watch this space to see if I achieve all the challenges that I have set for myself for 2009.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A Treasure Found

I just had to share this gorgeous piece of work with you all. Recently I have been away, and as I always do, I went looking through antique & bric-a-brack stores. I never know just what I might find. I just love to go through the piles of doileys that these shops seem to have, & on one particular day I could not believe my luck to find this for a bargain. It is all buttonhole stitch & wrapping in what I believe to be the Aemilia Arys style. Just beautiful! I have no idea as to the origins of this piece, or who has made it, but it is now mine & I will treasure it while ever I walk this earth. I take it that some very talented lady has passed on, & her family have been left to sort through her things. Such a shame that they have not appreciated the time & effort that has gone into making this piece. I am such a lucky little vegimite!

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

A Treasured Gift

It certainly has been a while since I have posted anything here. It's not that I haven't been stitching, because as you all know I stitch just about every day. I have just been busy with real life stuff and playing with my garden.
So today I thought I would share with you all a little gift that I recieved from a very good friend. It's a thimble holder, beautifully crocheted in my favourite colour, ready to hang on my scissors so I will be able to find my thinble at all times. This has come just at the right time. With the little project that I am working on now, I am reaching for my thimble all the time, and it is constantly getting lost in amongst all the other stuff in my sewing tin. A gift to be treasured for a very long time.