A finish - and a new start

I have finally finished my Roses Runner project!!!  And I'm so delighted with it.  The hardanger parts weren't too difficult after all the practise with the Classsic Embroidery Tiles, but I was worried about cutting around the outside border.  However, when I finally plucked up the courage to get on with it, it cut easily and as you can see, didn't fall apart when I did it! 

So, what next?  Well something I've wanted to try stitching for a while now - a Judy Dixon design.  This one is a class from Classic Stitches magazine, and I haven't been able to put it down :-)

It started out last Monday as a lovely delivery from the postie:

Those threads are lovely :-)  Two colours of Gloriana silk, a Kreinik silk mori, Petite Treasure Braid and DMc perle.  The fabric is 28ct Jobelan and the beads, Mill Hill (of course).

Within a few hours of starting I had a WIP like this:

And up to date today (unbelievably quick for me!) it now looks like this:

More updates soon on this one I think :-)

Hardanger Practise

So, I've been doing lots of practise hardanger and enjoying it so much too.  I can thoroughly recommend the Classic Embroidery tiles from SewAndSo as a great way to learn.  I've now completed two of them.

Pearl was first (here it is without any cutting):

and finished:

Then I started on the second one, Peridot:

I decided to have a go at making this one into a cushion and have been sooooo pleased with the result that I can see myself making lots and lots of cushions now!!!!

What do you think?

So now it's back to my Roses Runner project - more photos soon .....

Roses Runner

Roses Runner is a beautiful little table runner kit I was given by my Mum for my birthday.  It's also my first real try at stitching Hardanger.  Here are some updates of it so far.  The first is simply satin stitch worked in no 5 perle with some cross stitched bordering:

Here's a close up, showing the stitches:

Here I've added some cross stitched roses - there are also two more now on the other side and upside down:

Next came the edging in buttonhole stitch.  This was easy to do, but I'm terrified I've done it wrong and the whole thing falls to pieces when I cut round the border :-(

And lastly, here's an up-to-date photo showing the satin stitch being worked for the hardanger cut area. 

For me, I've flown through this and really enjoyed stitching it. But now I'm terrified to go any further as the thought of cutting the wrong threads is not funny.  I think I'm going to leave this one for a bit now and complete some small Hardanger kits I have in my stash, just to get some practise in first :-)

Stitch Club Stitching Basket

This year in stitch club, we're starting a new project - a Stitching Basket. We'll have the basket (obviously!) and lots of stitchy bits and pieces to keep in it. Our first project is a fan shaped floss keeper. Here's what I managed yesterday:




And today we've had a snow day at school, so I've had a lovely morning finishing off the stitching:



Now I have to figure out how the finishing is done. I have lots of wadding and fabric and not much idea what to do next! I'll post the finished floss tag soon (honest Mum, I will!!!)

UFO

I've hardly had time to stitch at all recently, and it's amazing how quickly you just get out of the habit. But luckily, Crossstitchforum has come to the rescue. We've started a new UFO week, for the first week of every month and as I have just found a project that's at least 12 years old, I decided it was high time I joined in!!

It's called Skipping Together and is an old All Our Yesterdays kit. Here's how it started out

and after an enjoyable weekend stitching, here's where I am now:

My Latest Stitch Club Project

We're now working on a 'Pocket' - no I haven't a clue what that means either - but I'm sure it will look just like one when it's finished!!

I've really enjoyed this stitching project so far. I've discovered that I love working with perle floss and Satin Stitch. The fabric is blue 28 count evenweave (I think it's Jobelan, but I'm not sure) and we're using Chameleon perle and Chameleon cotton floss. Lovely to work with, although the yellow is a bit of a sickly colour :-( The pattern is once again from Thimble Cottage designs, so is actually designed by our stitch class teacher, Tanya.

Here's what I managed to do in class last time (I was stitching non-stop for three hours - how could it take three hours to finish just this much??)

I've now finished all I can before going back to class on Tuesday. Here's how it's looking:

And a close up to show off the little Rice Stitches and the Satin Stitch that I have been so much enjoying:

And finally the finished piece so far. There is a bit more I should have done - there should be a line of cable stitch underneath the backstitched daisy stems. But unfortunately I ran out of the perle floss so I just hope I'll be able to get more on Tuesday.

Stitch Club Update

I've done loads of work on my stitch club projects - although got nothing actually finished, though :-(

First is a Scissor Keeper. The design is by Tanya of Thimble Cottage Designs and it's worked on 28 count white linen using perle cotton and beautiful Gloriana silk. I love this floss - it's now my favourite silk. I would start collecting it, but at £4.40 a skein I don't think the collection would get very big!!!

So here are my updates on this project:

Front finished:

A close up of some of the design features. The little Rhodes hearts are cute, aren't they?




And here's where I've got to on this - front and back finished, but no instructions on how to complete the project :-(

I was a bit disappointed when I got to Stitch Club last week to find that we're just meant to finish it off ourselves - somehow. Anyway, I've found some fabric to line it with, so piccies soon on how it turns out.