Filet

Well, the cream table mat that I mentioned in my last post is finished, well almost. All the stitching is done, & it just needs to be blocked & cut from the remainder of the linen. So you will all have to be patient to see pics.

One of the ideas that I had for this piece was to work some filet in the center. I set myself a challenge way back in November 2007 to try the technique & did so here & here. Filet can be produced a few different ways. It can be crocheted , made with pre-made purchased nets, or on nets made by ones own hands. Adriana over on her blog has shown us some of her stunning examples here, in which the netting is made with a needle & thread, sort of like a fishing net. A different type of net can be made by withdrawing threads from fabric, like in the photo above.

I have tried filet crochet, & working on pre-purchased nets. The crocheting is easy, the purchased nets upset my hands & give me dermatitis, so working on meshes made from withdrawing fabric is my next mission, and was to be included in my cream table mat. However, after working the above sample, I decided that the filet would not suit the border that I had stitched, so scrapped that plan & looked for another filling. That still left me with this sample that I had to find a design to fit the space. It needs to be stitched before I can block my cream table mat as the sample is on the edge of the fabric.

So on Saturday I went searching for a design that would fit. I have graphed it out, & spent hours on the stitching order ( which has to be worked out first). Finally yesterday I got to stitch my little design, ( a practice on my pre-purchased mesh), hours of planning for 5 minutes of stitching! Oh well, I put it all down to practice & the planning maybe won't take so long next time. There should be pics of my practice piece soon & then I will work on the fabric mesh above. All have to be done before I can block my cream table mat.

Bullion Picots - Something New

As I do every time I go away, I work out what piece of stitching I am going to take with me. I have to consider where I am going, how good the light will be, how much room I have to pack reference books etc. So last year when I went on a cruise for 11 nights, it had to be something small & mind numbing, in other words all the thinking had to be done so I could just sit & stitch if I had the time. It also had to be easily visible as I was not taking my portable lamp in my luggage. So my cream table mat was born. I had scoured my books for something new that I had not done, worked out a border & hem, & got it started before I left. Since then the mat has grown, with a filling in the center and decoration on the hem.

The photo above is my sample of my hem finish. It just needed something, and some of my stitching friends suggested a few things, including these bullion picots. I hadn't done them before so I had to practice. I am happy with the result & feel they just make the finished piece. I'll certainly do them again, & it has made me think of other finishes for something different. This piece will be totally finished in a few days! Yippee! Now I have to think of what's next.

Waste Not Want Not

A few years ago I was given a bag full of scrap triangles. They were off-cuts from someone's quick method of making a Flying Geese quilt. I brought them home & had a play, thinking I would join them together & just see how far they would take me. All the triangles were slightly different sizes but they all had one thing in common, they were all right angled triangles. So over time I have joined them together, and then re-cut them into the same size squares. I have 157 of thes little squares, & have worked out that if I join them together into strips, and add in some strips in a plain colour, I have enough for a quilt. As I child I was taught not to waste anything, so I am making use of someone else's waste, making it into something very useful. What a shame though that I have to visit the fabric store to purchase fabric for the other strips!

Happy New Year & 2010 Review

A few days late I know, but I would like to thank all my readers & wish you all a very happy, joyous, prosperous, & productive 2011.

In the past, I have usually set myself challenges for each New Year, but in review, I usually set myself too many and then get disappointed when I don't finish them. So this year I am going to go with the flow, and go just wherever my needle decides to take me.

My 2010 review reads like this:-
Challenges set 4, challenges achieved 1 ( to reduce the WISP file)
Pieces started 13
Pieces finished 10, one of which was a UFO

So what does this all mean? More WISP'S of course, something I do not need.


However one of the pieces I did start & finish in 2010 was this Christmas decoration. I like to make a new one every year, and I managed to make a few of these to give to family & friends. It is playing on the Teneriffe lace theme again, set into a gold ring & hung with gold ribbon. I wonder what my new decoration for 2011 will be. You will all have to watch this space to find out.