You can teach an old dog new tricks.......

Hi everyone,

This Sunday 27 April is the 2nd part of my Wessex class. All went well last Saturday and everyone went home happy with the colours they had chosen and with samples of the stitches ready for homework if time permits. I am hoping to show some photos if the girls will allow me and my camera in class.

There was a little stitching done during the week, some more birdcage and santa's village but not enough to show. But.....

I have been thinking about joining an Embroiderers' Guild course called Back to Basics for sometime. It is self paced and focused on construction. Some by hand and some by sewing machine. You might say why? Well me and my sewing machine have had a love/hate relationship for many years so I thought with a lot of help from fellow tutors at the Guild we may fix this.
The first piece is a pincushion, the original was on Aida cloth but the group have allowed me to use 32 count linen. After tacking construction lines we were asked to embroider the top with straight stitches with some that were whipped. The construction edge is then created using a row of chain stitch. The pincushion will be filled with real sheep's wool so I hand stitched an inner liner bag. (Yep I know I skipped the sewing machine, don't worry I wont get away with it for long)

Back to Basics- Project 1, Pincushion

The photo shows the sampler of stitches, my inner lining and the pincushion outer piece. The next course day is the 4th Monday in May when I will filling the cushion and closing the final edge. This then goes to the assessors of the course and I will get back a critique of my end result. So you see I will learn lots and lots. There are 6 projects in all, so by the end my sewing machine and I will be great friends. (well that's my hope anyway).

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

PS: Silkstone Designs Australian houses can be purchased and Ozstitch.com.au

A little quiet time

Hi everyone,

No I haven't emigrated to Santa's Village. I have been quietly stitching and working on several projects which have deadlines so there was not a lot to share.

I managed to finish the diagrams and notes for my Wessex class on the 20th April which I had left until I knew if the class would go ahead. It is, so everything is ready to be photocopied for the students. Here is a little bit of the design.

Part of Wessex Embroidery class piece
Carol J Young Designs, 2013

This week I had a lovely day out with a couple of friends at the Adelaide Central Market. All sorts of yummy foods and goodies. For anyone that has been to the Philadelphia Reading Market this would be the sister of this market. We had Asian food, I opted for Sushi (tuna of course) with no wasabi. Friends had Chicken with plum sauce and Tofu with vegetables and noodles. Topped it all off with green tea and Korean custard tarts. Yum Yum, this is making me hungry. Great day but no stitching, so here is what has been stitched this week and a bit.

Milady's Needle
All stitched up waiting for construction

and

Indigo Rose-Peek a Boo Pin Cushion
All stitched up waiting for construction

Pretty designs aren't they. Indigo Rose has always been a great favourite and I have enjoyed stitching many of Catherine's designs over the years. Love the idea of using a canvas stitch on linen. Catherine calls the stitch "Jack in the pulpit" and canvas folks call it "Amadeus stitch". There you go its official anything is possible.

I had a comment about Silkstone Designs, unfortunately I wasn't able to find them on the net. Like so many Australian designers they don't seem to have been able to continue designing. Sad because we need more Aussie pieces.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments and although I don't always get around to posting comments on your blogs I do read them all.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol

PS: Sending my best wishes for a speedy recovery to all people injured in Boston and to the families that have paid the ultimate price of losing a loved one.

Aussie house stitching

Hi everyone,
This week has been a very good one. I caught up with family and my Aunt from Western Australia for a lovely lunch and chat. Found out that I will get a income tax refund (Always a good thing) and received some special emails from friends overseas.

I have managed a little stitching. The first one is an Australian design by Silkstone Design called "Oaklands"

Oaklands by Silkstone Design
Blackwork on 26 Lugana

Stitched with DMC brown 839 on a Platinum Lugana. This is a very familiar style of Australian house with its wide front verandah and leadlight panes of glass alongside the front door. The only  departure from the reality is the shingles on the roof most of these homes have corrugated iron roofs. I enjoy blackwork and its grows nice and quickly.

The second piece is a set of needlework accessories.

Le Jardin Accoutrements by Milady's Needle
40count Ivory linen 2 over 2, DMC cotton

This has been in the to do box for quite a while the chart is dated 2009. It has been in and out of the box several times but this time it made it out for good. It would have been nice to stitch it in the Soie Cristale silks but I am trying to use up what I have in the stash so cotton was the go. When they are finished there will be a scissors holder, pinkeep and a Needlebook. I have stitched 2 other pieces by this designer which are always very pretty and feminine patterns. Click here to go see more of Gloria's designs, her website in undergoing update so I have linked the blogsite so you can see her designs there.

Happy stitching, bye for now, Carol