Productive saturday!

Today has been so good. I got up really early, a major achievement at the weekeend I can tell you! I went into town, braved the millions of cars to get on the car park, bought some essentials like card, thread etc etc. Bought a couple of christmas presents, queued for what seemed like hours at every shop, came home and the sun was shining. That made the day even better.......I took some photos, yeah!
This piece of work is a gift so I am going to have to be careful what I say but I figure that you can't see the whole piece here, the intended recipient doesn't know who they are, and if I didn't show you the gifts I am making we would have another imageless post!

I have used some of the silk muslin I bought last weekend along with scraps of vintage cloth. It even has a small area of needleweaving.

and as you can see, my obsession with folding continues!

As all these gifts will need to be wrapped I also bought some lovely, lovely paper and ribbon. I have promised myself a glittery free wrapping season this christmas!

Still here!!!

I am so sorry I have been away this long. It hasn't been intentional but I have been working on so many things, gifts, the lining for swaddling band one, a couple of orders. Then there is work, you know the proper taxpaying kind of work. Aswell as that I cannot get any images, it is really dark when I get home and I do try to get them in artificial light but sometimes they look just dreadful. Hence today is an imageless post but come tomorrow I am going to take lots of photos. If you check back saturday night or sunday there will be a feast of pics for you.
I am off to london next saturday, just for the day to meet a friend. I am really excited about seeing her and as you know I need no excuse to go to London I love it so much. I plan to visit Portobello Road......again......and will hopefully show you how amazing it is when I get back. In the meantime, please don't desert me......I promise pics before the weekend is out! x

It is so dark and wet here today, we have rain and sleet. I wish we had proper snow or nothing at all. I keep seeing these beautiful images on blogs from Scandinavia with amazing winter wonderland scenery and what do we have.....grey, damp and miserable. I have had a busy few days, this is nearly finished, only needs a few more 'tweeks'. I am working on my lining for the swaddling band, told you it would take a long time, but it's getting there. (sorry, no images yet!)

Yesterday I went to the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate. I don't know if it's just me but every year I am less impressed and almost disappointed. I would be interested to know what other people think. It also depends on the gallery section and who is showing I suppose but it seems to me that exhibiting work is becoming less of a priority for them and it's more about the selling, supplies etc. Also, there used to be a stand from the hospice shop where I bought all my old cloths, they weren't there this year so I feel cheated as I couldn't stock up on my essentials. I did do some buying, but look how restrained I was, 1 skein of silk, some gorgeous tiny buttons and a metre of silk muslin. Wasn't I a good girl!!

And here it is....the new love of my life! My lovely hubby bought me this gorgeous doll from Nicola. She is so pretty and her clothes are hand painted in the most amazing detail. I wanted to show you close up's but she wasn't playing! Check out Nicola's blog and you will be able to see what I mean about the detail in her work, stunning.

I hope you like her as much as I do, she makes me very happy!

Round!

It's a circular post today! I have made a couple of pin cushions. One is an order for the shop, one is a gift. That is why I haven't shown much of it here. if you look closely at the first picture of the buttons I made you can just see a small amount of embroidered text, part of the 'gift' pincushion. I can't tell you what it says, that would give it away and although the person who this one is for doesn't have access to the internet, you never know who is looking!

I have started to embellish the lining for 'swaddling band one'. Hopefully I will have some pics next time but don't hold your breath as it is taking forever, work etc etc. I have been so busy this week and it's also my gift making season, I'm sure it is for you too, so I am going to have to be very carefull about what I reveal on here.

My lovely husband bought me the most amazing present this week for our wedding anniversary. I am definitely going to take pics and post them here next time, I can't wait for you to see, It's so exciting!

Finally, sorry it's short, hope you don't mind, If I owe you a comment or an e-mail or I haven't visited for ages please bear with me, It is definitely on my 'to do' list!

Hold on tight, it's a long one!

There are lots of things to share with you today and have you noticed it's only saturday, only TWO days since my last post. I think I've got a second wind or something I am getting through so many things on my 'to do' list today. There is a bit of a story to the first few pics. My daughter went to university in 2002, consequently her room became the dumping ground. My son went to university in 2005........amazing, another dumping ground. My daughter never came home again, moving seamlessley from graduation to a job and life in London. (and yes I still miss her every minute of every day) My son graduated this summer and is now at home, (one very happy mum) that meant that dumping ground two had to be emptied for him and yes you have guessed right, it all went in dumping ground one! Now I have coped with all this dissaray, mess and confusion since july. Never being able to find anything, all my precious fabrics, finds and stocks hidden behind wieghtlifting gear, a television, a video recorder, numerous guitars, a mini drinks fridge and suitcases which remain unpacked to this day. No more, today I sorted out, are you proud of me?? I am so happy that I did because look what I found. Well I found more than this but these got me so very excited, isn't it amazing when you find beautiful things you forgot you had! I bought these three little patches at an antique textile fair about two years ago. I wish I could claim credit for their creation they are so beautiful. Definitely something else for my 'looking at' corner, never to be used.

I found these gorgeous pre wound bobbin threads and the antique needles in a bag of stuff my mum gave me ages ago.......thanks mum!

and then I found about 200 cards which I had printed for my degree show, in a box, in a corner. These cards may have been a lucrative find, I have listed them in packs of 10 in the shop.

Dumping ground one is now looking almost immaculate, I use the word almost very loosely but believe me it's a massive improvement.

Now back to embroidery, I am trying desperately to finish this patchwork piece. I can't say too much about it but I am nearly there. I have bought the silk to finish swaddling band one and an order from the shop is almost done. What a productive week, I think I may need a lie down!

p.s. Blogger is putting these huge gaps betwen my images, aaaaaaaaaargh! It's so annoying!!

Thankyou!!

Thanks to everyone who has helped with the blog/book problem. Lulu seems to be getting a lot of mentions so I will check that out properly at the weekend. I have a bit of an objection to paying for my blog, hence the reluctance to move to typepad or wordpress, but I have to say that image upload on blogger is becoming such a nightmare I am more tempted to move every day. I am going to give it all some serious thought, only not on a weekday because when that bell goes at 3.30 my brain dies and I become catatonic.
I had massive plans for my evenings this week, oh yes, but it's never that easy is it. The lining of swaddling band one was going to be almost complete ready for the ritual of damp stretching. No, not a chance, not enough silk, nowhere near long enough. Due to the brain problem which arises at 3.30 there was no way I was going into town shopping after work, my bones need a sofa at that time of day not a shopping centre. Saturday plan......buy some silk! All is not lost though, I have been making presents and finishing a piece ordered from the shop. By saturday night I will have started my lining, finished my order and made progress with something else which is ongoing. see, I'm not slacking, just disgracefully disorganised!

See you at the weekend!x

Glorious damp stretching!

As you can see from the first two pictures, the love affair with damp stretching continues! You know, I think this has to be my favourite process in the entire cycle of creating with stitch and if you have never tried it I recommend it, you will also be hooked! I have a real sense of achievement getting to this point with swaddling band one. Now I am thinking about the lining, the inside, before I put all these pieces together.

I do have a concern though. With the main fabric piece being linen you can crease it just by looking at it! So, how am I going to pin, tack, machine stitch and construct the finished piece without it looking like a dogs dinner? I am not looking forward to crossing that bridge. The running stitch lines incidently were sewn using the thread from my stash, I was very restrained and didn't buy any more. There is a small glimpse lower down of how the appliqued piece looks next to the patchwork section, what do you think?

Amongst other things going on chez moi, like ironing, cooking, cleaning etc, there was a request from a customer which led to me gathering all my vintage scraps together to photograph. I love how they look but I also realise that my stocks are low, more shopping required!

Now a plea for information......I want to turn my blog into a book. Unfortunately Blurb does not support Blogger. I have looked for other companys but they seem really expensive so two questions,

Does anyone have another site I could try? and if not,

Is it possible to transport your blog lock stock and barrel to another host, including archives and everything?? I would be grateful for any tips, hints, advice etc etc.

Oh, and another request, does anyone know where I can get some really funky gift tags for christmas. I have trawled etsy and dwanda, I like dangly things, bells maybe, or plain but very unusual.

Finally......yes really......have a great week and GINA I haven't forgotten, honest!!!!

Darkness, winter and slow progress.

There aren't many pictures today, sorry. My intention was to leave the next post until the weekend but I was suffering terrible withdrawals and wanted you to know that I am busy making, slowly, but I am making. On top of that it is almost black outside by the time I get home from work, not the best for taking photos. I was trying to remember how I tackled the issue of poor light last winter, then I remembered I was home all day then and could take photos at any time, no such luxury now I'm afraid. Having said all that I am not going to complain, I love winter, it's my favourite time of year. My favourite thing about it is the dark. I absolutely always prefer the dark to light, I cannot bear the main light on in any room and huff and puff until the offender switches it off. (if you are wondering how I manage to embroider in the dark, I have a strategically placed anglepoise lamp nearby)
Anyway, back to the progress, I am getting the petals appliqued to a piece of linen. At the rate of approximately six an evening this will take some time....patience is a virtue they tell me! (the mustard stitch visible here is tacking, not some kind of artistic statement.)

I have been sorting through my embroidery threads looking for a matching red to embellish the applique. At the moment the card in the foreground is in the lead but I'm not 100% convinced and may have to buy some more.

And I have also been packaging orders from the etsy shop, including this jar pincushion. Now that christmas is almost here I am hoping to see more traffic passing through that little part of my empire!!

I hope to be back at the weekend, I miss you!! Truly I do!