A couple of years ago I started stitching the Joyful World series of cross-stitch designs. This was originally a free SAL on the Snowflower Diary website. I got as far as October and stopped – I think the month overtook and that took away any sense of timescale. I’ve been making them into mini pillows and they are always part of my monthly display of smalls at home – here’s October…
As I had finished both the Anthea design for October and my Believe cross-stitch and there as still a bit of October left, I decided to try and complete November. I had just enough time to comfortably stitch it.
November’s design is a peacock, as many of you know, I’m rather partial to peacock designs – my sewing room is full of TKMaxx boxes with peacocks on! I sorted out the colours recommended and was quite surprised that the peacock blue and green colours seemed quite drab, so I swopped them for colours just a shade brighter, the green one is the DMC variegated one, I think it works pretty well…
Last night I made it up into a mini pillow, I used a soft green bee fabric which I particularly like, it co-ordinates with the blue and the gold colours too. I made a cord to go round the edge too, I have to be honest and say it’s that long since I made a cord I couldn’t remember how many strands of thread I usually use! I made it with a green and a blue thread, really I should have doubled them up as it’s come out a little meagre. I used it anyway and it’s pretty enough. It also has the advantage that it’s thin enough to thread glass beads onto so I could make some tasselly bit’s with the ends.
I’m pretty pleased with November, it’ll be going on display shortly, I just need to get organised and make December now!
This year I’ve been making blocks for F2F, a quilting swop organised by Kate from Tall Tales from Chiconia. Each month we make three twelve inch blocks for someone in the group, everyone has been allocated a month and also chooses their colour scheme. This month it’s my turn, I’ve chosen a soft blue and taupe colour scheme, inspired by this colour board on pinterest…
Of course having chosen my colours, when it came to making the blocks I realised I had very few fabrics myself in these colours! I had a look on the Wool Warehouse website and found a selection I liked. They have a useful feature on their site where you can pull all the fabrics you fancy onto one project page to see how the work together, I had a good play with various fabrics and I was very happy when the bundle arrived…
I made a flower block first, I made this one earlier in the year for someone else’s colours, this one was like a big sunflower…
In soft blues however, it could be a meconopsis or blue poppy. I’ve always fancied growing meconopsis, they’re beautiful flowers but very fussy! As a quilt block though, it’s not so fussy, it’s actually quite an easy block to make as it’s base is four simple house blocks.
The next block I made was a basket of flowers, again it’s one I made earlier in the year in what is actually a very similar colour scheme…
The instructions in my book used a large triangle for the top half of the basket, I find it much easier to just use half square triangles and a square. This time my blocks were just a shade lighter…
My final block is pairs of flying geese blocks. I tried to make one earler in the year but the size didn’t come out right, I think I had only just got my new sewing machine and hadn’t yet sussed out the settings for a scant quarter inch seam. This time the size was spot on…
So that’s my three blocks made, I’m restraining myself and waiting til the end of the month to have a look on the F2F website and see the wonderful blocks everyone has made for me. Hopefully soon we can post them all to each other and make some quilts.
The town where I live is involved in a project called Walkers are Welcome, it’s a way of encouraging visitors to the local towns. It means there are several leaflets detailing local walks, anything from two miles to 37 miles!!! Last year I spotted a new one in the library called the Guiseley Gap walk and a week ago my friend and I decided to walk half of it. The leaflet reckons it’s 8.8 miles, however we walked about half of it and according to fitbit we walked about 7 miles…and no, we didn’t get lost!
We live in Wharfedale in the market town of Otley, the next valley down is Airedale and Guiseley is just over the hill from us in Airedale. Apparently there’s a hanging valley in between the two, I can’t say it’s noticeable though, but this walk goes through the ‘gap’, hence the name. The leaflet has information about the sites of interest you pass and a map, I must admit when I first saw the map I wasn’t too impressed as it’s so simplistic. However, having used it, it is perfect, we used it a lot more than the OS map of the area, it has just enough detail on.
It’s a circular walk but the route is almost a figure of eight shape, it just doesn’t cross over, if you get my drift. We decided to park in the middle between the two sides of the path, so we could just walk half of it without a long walk back to the car.
We started in Guiseley, up through Parkinson’s Park and along various old paths and tracks round the back of Guiseley, passed some lovely woods. We then followed a very slippery, muddy path with a barbed wire fence on on side and a stream on the other – not our favourite bit of the walk!
It proved to lead to an easy way up to Surprise View on Otley Chevin. As the name suggests the views up here are great, especially when you can spot the sites of earlier walks. Here’s Arncliffe Crag which we walked up in August…
In the other direction, looking up Wharfedale you can just make out a cone shaped peak on the left of the horizon, that’s Sharp Haw which we walked up over the summer. We sat and ate our sandwiches and enjoyed the view.
The path then took us along the ridge of Otley Chevin, the views the other way are more industrial but still impressive. This one is looking over to Bradford and beyond to the Pennines…
Looking to the left and the view is towards Leeds…
The autumn colour on the chevin was beautiful, there’s lots of beech trees and they are a lovely copper colour at the moment. I love walking through the crunchy leaves too. This end of the Chevin is a lot quieter, we found a reat tree swing and of course I had to have a go – I wasn’t very gainly when trying to get off!!
From the Chevin we walked back towards Guiseley across the fields and down some old tracks. We passed a cluster of trees known locally as the Elephant Copse…I think they have vivid imaginations in Guiseley!!!
We carried on into Guiseley until we reached the car. It was a good walk, the weather held off until we got home and although we were close to home, we discovered lots of new paths. We’re hoping to do the other half soon.
During the summer I discovered Anne Brook (designer of Harold the Hare) had started an on-line SAL called Stitching 4 the Soul, I was very late in starting, but better later than never! All the tutorials are on YouTube, I think originally they were released monthly, but I’m not sure, but it does mean I can go at my own speed.
I stitched the first pair of pages a while ago…
I’ve decided I want to concentrate on this project for my SAL. Anne made a book from batting and is stitching straight into the book, I decided I preferred to use the calico pages from Untangled Threads, the same as I used for the Stitchbook Collective. For fabrics I’m using a sample book from James Brindley which I got at Embroiderers Guild for £3 when the Cone Exchange came for a talk. There’s some beautiful embroidered silks and linens in there, though I’m adding a few other fabrics such as tweeds too. Anne also suggested a colour theme to run through the book, to help it to flow, each page should include at least one thing of this colour, even if it’s just a button or a bit of lace. My colour is ecru/taupe, so this nicely encompasses quite a few laces and trims in my stash, together with mother of pearl buttons!
The second set of pages had a theme of crosses and circles, but first of all we made a pocket, I decided to use a lovely sample which has a wide stripe of fine gauze and a coarse linen, I cut it on the diagonal so I could incorporate it into a cross. I then started playing with scraps and trims. This was my work table..
I stitched the pocket first, adding lace and frayed linen strips. The embroidered twined circle is from the sample book. I added rows of running stitch to echo the cross and added some buttons too.
Having made a pocket, I needed something to go into it, like a tag. I’d previously cut out an ‘M’ from one of the fabrics, I decided to use this as a starting point. I stitched it onto some tweed, added a bit of lace and some buttons, all it needed then was a length of trim to make a hanging loop.
When I was playing with the textiles for the second page I formed a lattice from lengths of tweed and trims. I decided to follow this train of ideas and make a noughts and crosses board. I believe it’s called tic-tac-toe in other countries. I used buttons and circles or spirals of running stitch for the noughts. The crosses were either embroidered or incorporated in the fabric design of the base.
I’m pretty pleased with this pair of pages, I’ve stitched them onto the calico pages already. I like the soft muted colours, though it doesn’t make them easy to photograph in artificial light! Next months involves Suffolk puffs from what I can gather.
This stitch-a-long is organised by Avis from Stitching by the Sea. We post our progress on our chosen project every three weeks, just long enough to keep us motivated. Please follow the links to see what everyone else is stitching.
This week I’ve managed another finish, a couple of days ago I put the last couple of stitches in the Believe cross-stitch. This was a Dimensions kit, I think I bought it on one of the destash facebook pages a couple of years ago and it’s been languishing in my box of kits ever since. I’ve been trying to steadily work my way through my box of kits, though it would probably help if I stitched faster than I bought!
Anyway, last time I showed you Believe I was about half way round the border…
I finished the borders with just one major mistake, which I left as by the time I noticed it it was too far gone! The word ‘Joy’ is meant to be one square to the left, I fudged that one which meant I also had to fudge the spotty one as it was now one row narrower…
I was surprised how much the little bit of back-stitching really finished off the design, it’s just a row of soft brown round the ‘patchwork’ bit, but it does make such a difference.
So, the finished piece now looks like this…
I really like this one as it’s Christmas without being to Christmassy, if you know what I mean!
I now need to decide whether to make it into a little cushion, more decoration than useable, or make it into a bigger cushion, as it happens I saw a mini jelly roll on offer of Christmas fabrics on line and the colours looked too good a match not to buy it (a feeble excuse I know!!) They do match well, in fact some of them look very similar to the cross-stitch fabrics themselves…
Last week I finished making a skirt for the autumn, it’s a pattern I’ve used before, back in 2017, Newlook 6876. I made it then in a beautiful teal blue tweed…
…it still fits me nicely so I just made it to the size already cut out. The skirt has a button closure all the way down the centre back, I was a bit nervous of wearing it at first but I never had any wardrobe mishaps with the buttons! Otherwise it’s just a simple straight, lined skirt. This time I used a gorgeous fine wool in a lovely shade of purple, a sort of damson colour. I think I might have bought it in Fabrics for All in Armley during a Sew Up North meet-up, it’s very similar to a charcoal grey fabric I made into a jacket.
It’s straight forward to stitch up. I loved the fabric details down the selvedge so I cut it out so that would be down the centre back. I wanted it lining so I made an identical skirt in a purple lining which I had in my stash. I trimmed off the back facing and then hand-stitched the facing to the lining with a simple prick-stitch using a purple embroidery thread.
I found the buttons in my stash too, we’re heading for a big lock-down here so I didn’t fancy button shopping and I don’t find it easy matching buttons on line, especially with all the possible shades of purple. Anyway I don’t think I would have got a much better match.
I added one of my labels too – I ordered these a few months ago for a finishing touch!
I’ve worn my skirt about three times already, it’s one of those that’s instantly comfortable, I love the colour too. The only downer I’ve found is that it does crease surprisingly easily for a wool skirt – it’s OK when I’m wearing it, but I certainly need to hang it up straight away at night time – there’s no popping it over the back of a chair or it needs a good press in the morning!
I’ve just this week started a four week on line course on pattern fitting though Denman College, the WI college in Oxfordshire. Hopefully by the end of it I’ll be able to iron out any extra wrinkles and have a perfect fit!. I’ll let you know how I get on.
In the last couple of days I’ve finished the October design for the Anthea SAL by Faby Reilly. I would have finished it a few days before only I mislaid the dark maroon I needed for back-stitching the flowers, I searched high and low, whilst being aware that this was a well travelled stitching – it’s been to Northumberland and to work, so the potential for it not being in the house was there. In the end I bought another one…and then of course it turned up – it had been through the wash and the tumble dryer!!!
Anyway, it’s finished and it’s gorgeous! Each month before the pattern is released I try and guess what flower it will be, I don’t think I’ve ever got it right! This month it’s cyclamen, the plant stalls on Otley market are full of them at the moment, both the big blousey indoor ones and the delicate looking outdoor ones. I used to have a few near the back door, I tried to move them but I don’t think I’ve seen them since, though I’m not exactly sure where I moved them to – I’ll have to have a mosey round the garden
Here’s the half way point when all the cross-stitching is complete…
The colours of the cyclamen flowers are beautiful, so rich against the dark green mottled leaves. Even at this stage it’s lovely, but then you add the Faby magic with back-stitching, sequins and french knots and you end up with this…
Isn’t that just gorgeous! Nearer the end of the month I’ll start stitching the wordplay to go opposite it in my textile book, I’ll enjoy stitching with these colours.
We’ll have to wait until next month to see what the flower is for November, I’ve no guesses for this one!
I’m enjoying making this quilt so much, it’s a design by Kathryn Whittingham and all the instructions and patterns are in a book, called, unsurprisingly, The Cottage Garden Quilt. The instructions are great, leaving lots of room to make it personal, it’s just a gorgeous design! Three weeks ago I was about half way across the top row…
The next block to embroider was of a beehive. There’s flowers around it’s base and bees buzzing overhead of course. I stitched similar flowers to Kathryn on the left, but I decided to put foxgloves on the right. Having stitched the flowers I realised that Kathryn’s stem stitched narrow leaves just weren’t going to work as big foxglove leaves, so I drew a clump on the bondaweb paper and cut it out of a soft green, I could then just back-stitch some outlines of leaves, it works pretty well. The bees are cute! They’re stitched with back-stitch, satin stitch, a couple of french knots and lazy daisy for wings. As Kathryn says, they’re not anatomically correct but they’re cute! I’m really pleased with this block.
With all the embroidered blocks stitched I could start making the various pieced blocks and put the row together. The beehive just had two narrow borders. I chose a darker green for the inner one which I think frames it nicely. The hand fork has a similar 1.5″ simple border too.
The two flowers are centred in star blocks made with flying geese blocks. I picked two similar olive green fabrics for the stars. I love the daisy one in particular. A third star was needed, I chose a pretty rosebud fabric and fussycut the centre square.
My chicken block, everyone’s favourite so far, needed a second border. I prevaricated for a while, eventually using a mid green fabric. I laid everything out on my design wall and it did look very pretty, if a little busy. I then noticed in the book that Kathryn has four blocks, including this one, with an off white self color patterned fabric. Using the almost plain fabric just brought a bit of calm to the quilt. I unpicked my green borders and replaced them with a soft cream fabric with pretty oak leaves on. It works perfectly.
The filler in squares are just 2.5″, it’s a useful way of getting some balance with the fabrics. For example, I’d used some pretty blue fabric on the flower block and one chicken, but no where else, with the squares I could spread it around a bit more.
I started to look then at how she had spaced her main colours, so now I know which ones need repeating further down to get the balanced look. I need to keep enough of the red and the green bordering the flower and the hive to border two more blocks at the bottom.
I love this quilt so far, the colours are working out well, it’s just so pretty, it makes me smile every time I look at it. I’m even thinking of hand quilting it, only six months after I said never again when I finally completed my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt!!!
If you like this style but not sure about the theme, Kathryn is apparently just about to release her second book, a seaside quilt, you can pre-order copies from Fabbadashery in Halifax.
Hand Quilt Along Links
This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.
My Christmas ‘Believe’ cross-stitch is coming on nicely. This is a kit by Dimensions, I think I bought it on one of the facebook destash sites a couple of years ago. I started it a few weeks ago as my ‘handbag’ stitching, that’s a little project I keep in my bag for occasional moments of stitching. Last time I showed it was just after our weekend away when I’d made a good start…
Whilst I’m working my way round the ‘patchwork’ border, I’m using up threads that have been cut in other areas, it’s worked pretty well as two small stripy blocks have been completed just on leftovers!
I won’t make as much progress for a couple of weeks as I’ve just started my Anthea Calendar SAL for October, but hopefully I’ll finish it in time for Christmas, I’m thinking of making it into a cushion.
At the end of September we finally had a few days holiday. I say finally as my OH hasn’t been on holiday for a couple of years, we were meant to be having a big holiday in December, like a month away, which although it hasn’t officially been cancelled, it’s clearly not going to happen as at least three of the countries we were visiting are not allowing anyone in! I spotted a window in our diaries and booked an Air B&B.
We stayed in Whistlestop cottage in Redesmouth, a tiny hamlet in Northumberland, just a couple of hours drive away. It was perfect, just what we needed – it was a good sign when the welcome tray included a bottle of Merlot!
Whistlestop is an old railway cottage, Redesmouth once had a bustling station, just down the lane was the old station house and the signal box, with the platforms still visible when you walk along the old railway line – even the old platform waiting room was there, albeit in a state of disrepair. Just at the end of the platform you could still see the remains of the turning circle, the engine sheds are apparently now part of a farm. It would be a great place if you’re into railways.
The cottage had a woodburner, a roll top bath, big comfortable bed and a well-equipped kitchen, it even had a secure garden for Lucy, our little dog and a sheltered spot in the back garden which was perfect for a drink on a warm afternoon. It was ideal for a relaxing long weekend.
We went on several walks, just around six miles on average, which was far enough especially for Lucy’s little legs!
We walked from Bellingham, which is a large village nearby, up to a waterfall called Hareshaw Lynn, it was a lovely walk up through the woods following the stream. There was a steady trickle of people walking but luckily when we reached the waterfall it was quiet. It was a lovely spot.
Another day we visited Hexham, I’ve never been before but it was an interesting town, lots of beautiful old buildings and houses. I visited the abbey which is right in the centre of the town. There’s been a church on the site since AD674, but much of the current building from what I can gather is from the 1800’s, the highlight for me was the wall hanging made by local groups to celebrate the millennium. It was stunning! Round the edge the roundels are beautiful embroideries depicting things or places nearby. The quilting in the centre is just gorgeous…and of course it’s the sort of colours I love!
We were pretty close to Hadrians Wall, so we drove the scenic route back from Hexham and walked over to one section of the wall, it’s amazing to think it has been here since Roman times. I quite fancy walking Hadrians Wall Path now, the countryside was beautiful, very different from the Yorkshire Dales too. It’s an 84 mile path from Newcastle upon Tyne to Bowness-on-Solway. We would have walked coast to coast across the country twice then!
On the last day we went up to Kielder, this is a huge reservoir surrounded by Forestry Commission land. To walk round the lake is about 26 miles, so I found a 7 mile circular walk round a peninsula instead. Forestry Commission land walks don’t tend to be the most exciting, but they’re easy walking with good paths usually.
It was at Kielder that I saw those amazing mushrooms…
We were lucky with the weather as you can see. It was cold but sunny. However the cloud cover came across at night time, this was a shame as the area is part of the protected dark sky park, it’s the largest area of dark skies in Europe so it’s brilliant for stargazing – if it’s not cloudy!
We had a great time, very relaxing which was just what we needed. Hoping to go back again next year as there’s lots to see in the area and Whistlestop cottage made a great base for us.
