Seascape

Posted on September 10, 2024 by craftycreeky

I think I’ve finally finished my seascape, I say ‘think’ as I posted on facebook that I’d finished it two days ago, then added a bit more…it’s that kind of piece!

I started this at a workshop organised by Skipton Stitchers with Laura Edgar, an amazing textile artist who uses lots of different fabrics, lots of worn or torn pieces, layered up and then embroidered….way out of my comfort zone!

We all took a picture we wanted to use as inspiration. My photo was Scarborough’s South Bay under a moody sky, it’s one I took a few years ago on one of our walks…

After a day’s workshop I had the rudiments of a collage and I’d started tacking fabrics down. I used layers of organza, lace and tulle over various fabrics to create the basic image.

I then started stitching it. Last time I shared it with you I was working on the sky, with lots of meandering feather stitch. I fiddled with the headland fabric a bit as it just looked too dark, despite being that dark on the photo it just looked too much in stitch. The criss-cross pattern you can just make out is some dark grey lace. A few more feather stitches gave some texture to the dark silhouette of the headland.

Next I tackled the sea. In the photo is very calm. I decided to just use lots of running stitch, I wasn’t sure if that would lose the glassy nature of the flat sea, but I really like the effect and I think it does look calm. I used several different shades of embroidery thread, stitching two or three rows in one colour before changing over. I love the way it’s merges the colours of the sea.

For the waves I started stitching a wave of feather stitch, intending to do several intertwined ‘rolls’, it didn’t look right though so I unpicked all but one.

I stopped the stitches at the breaking waves on the shore. After a bit of pondering I stitched the beach the same way. I was still a bit stuck on the waves when I found a fluffy textured yarn. I did running stitch down the wave and then whipped it with the textured yarn. I actually did two rows but again it looked too much so I unpicked one…it’s been very much trial and error stitching this piece!

I still had a gap between the sea and the sand, I looked at the photo again and realised I needed to bring the blue of the sea onto the sand, to merge the too areas…more running stitch…but I was finally happy with the bottom part.

Next area was the sun. I was pleased with the general effect round the sun, but it needed softening. I stitched round the sun with some silver thread to help it to gently stand out. I then stitched thinly torn strips of organza, some folded in half to add opacity. I added wisps of ‘fluff’ and some blue silk fibres teased from a tube. I stitched with a very light grey or warm white at first, but then realised, like with the sand, I needed to bring the blue into it.

So this is my finished collage, I think I might get this one framed! I’m well chuffed with it.

Posted in embroidery, Skipton Stitchers, Workshops | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Owl and Hare Hollow HQAL

Posted on September 8, 2024 by craftycreeky

I’m making steady progress on hand quilting my Owl and Hare Hollow quilt. Three weeks ago I had just started and was still feeling my way a bit with design etc…

I’ve now quilted ten of the blocks, each one has same size (more or less!) outer ring, then the quilting inside the circle depends on the design of the block. I particularly like the deer block, I’ve quilted a circle to look like the moon or the sun. The little dots you can see is from a Frixion pen I’m using to mark it, so a bit of heat and they’ll disappear.

There are forty-nine blocks altogether so I feel like I’m a fifth of the way through, but in reality I haven’t started yet on the big circles which will overlap on the sashing, they’re about 11.5″ diameter so they’re going to take a while. I’m using different sizes of embroidery hoops as templates for the bigger circles and I have a set of smaller round plastic templates too.

I might go back and quilt some more smaller circles, for example I could quilt round the hexagons the hare is jumping over, maybe a smaller ‘sun’ behind the flowers on the wheelbarrow or a big moon behind the owl.

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.

Kathy, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

Posted in Owl and Hare Hollow BOM, Quilt-a-long, Quilting | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Sewing Basket

Posted on September 6, 2024 by craftycreeky

Over Christmas whilst I was on holiday I embroidered a top for sewing basket. It was a kit I bought at the Harrogate Show from Sew Different, you could buy the whole kit with all the fabrics in, but I chose to just get the printed lid panel and instructions for making it up.

This was the completed embroidery, competed back in January…

…and so it sat in my sewing room, waiting to be made up!

Last week I had a week’s annual leave, I ended up decorating for much of it, but on my birthday I put my foot down and said I would spend the day in my sewing room! I wanted something I could make in a day, so I decided to finish the sewing basket.

The fabric I chose for the outside is a lovely purple with bees and moths on, the piece I had left was only JUST big enough. For the inside I chose a sewing themed fabric which matched well colour-wise. When it came to cutting out the lining it was a bit weird. The fabric lay flat and appeared square on the cutting table, but the pattern went off at a slant, I was a bit irked at the time as I really wanted the pattern to go neatly round the sides. When I looked closely however, the pattern did follow the grain, somehow the grain was at like a 30 degree angle, yet the sides appeared straight! I’ve never come across a fabric doing this. In the end I tore it along the grain and cut true to the grain rather than the sides…very strange!

The instructions started with the bottom and worked upwards, they weren’t the clearest instructions to follow, but I got there in the end. The base and lining was sandwiched with bosal and quilted, half inch cross-hatching, so it took a while.

Next was the sides….the zip is a double-ended one, in that there’s two zip pulls in the centre and it opens outwards. I bought a nice purple one on line, not cheap but it finishes the basket off nicely. The zip was stitched in with the outer fabric and the lining on either side of one half of the zip. The bosal was then slipped in between the two layers to stiffen it. The instructions said to pin or clip this to the base, I decided to baste round the bottom edge of the sides first and I was glad I did, the seam allowance was only 1/4″ so it would have been very fiddly without the basting.

The hinge instructions also caused confusion! The piece was 2×3″, fold the sides into the centre…which sides, 2″ or 3″! In the end I cut a 3″ square and used that.

The inner seam was bound, I decided not to make my own bias binding after the hassle I’d had with the fabric. I had some purple satin bias in my stash which needed using up and it matches perfectly.

The lid and the inner lid were gathered round a circle of bosal, tacking this onto the zip was recommended, which I did. When it came to actually stitching it though, I couldn’t work out how. If I stitched with a 1/4″ seam I would lose some of the embroidery. In the end I stitched it together with edge-stitching. The inner lid was then hand-stitched in and my box was complete.

I’m really pleased with my box, it’s going to sit next to my chair in the lounge for when I’m sewing in front of the TV.

Posted in embroidery, kits, Quilting, sewing room | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

Bee Book SAL

Posted on September 1, 2024 by craftycreeky

It’s time for my three weekly update on my fabric book about bees. Last time I shared my progress I was doing nicely with the second half of my bee cross-stitch. This was a kit I bought at a destash sale and I’m using it to make two pages for my book about bees.

Well I’ve now finished this piece, there was meant to be the word ‘bumble-bee’ on the far right hand side but I decided to leave it off as the set of images is about hives and honey, bumble bees don’t live in a hive, they make a nest. I don’t think they make honey either as only the queen survives over winter so they don’t need the honey stocks to feed on. Anyway, here’s my finished piece…

I’m now stitching a set of three bumblebees, I kept seeing this pattern on instagram and having done a google image search I managed to track down the designer on Etsy. I had told myself that I had enough cross-stitch pieces for the book but I particularly like this one as it has three different types of bumble bee and gives their Latin names too. It’s designed by FloReen Studio.

I’ve almost finished the first one…

…as you can see I just need to finish back-stitching the wing. I need to do a bit of calculating before I start the second bee, the design is portrait shape, whereas I want it either square or landscape. I thought I’d move the second bee across a bit so I can move the top bee down a bit.

I only realised today that the big bumble bee I’ve just stitched is actually the same design as the one I made into cross-stitch smalls, one of which is going to be used in the book! I’ll mount it differently so it’s not too obvious.

After these bees I’ve a whitework bee, a blackwork bee and an embroidered bee to do, then I will start making the pages.

Please visit the other blogs that are also taking part in this SAL. There are so many different projects to enjoy. The participants live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences. We’re posting today at local time. Click the links to their blogs below and see what they’re up to.


Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Jackie,

Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie,

Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Posted in cross-stitch, embroidery, Stitch-a-long, Textile Books | Tagged , , , , | 20 Comments

Festival of Light

Posted on August 29, 2024 by craftycreeky

It’s my birthday this week and as a surprise my OH and Helen organised a weekend in the Lakes to see the Festival of Light. I’ve wanted to see it for years, it’s usually held in the spring, but this year it was postponed due to bad weather. When Helen saw it had been moved to August she dropped a hint to my OH!

The Festival of Light was started a few years ago as a fund-raiser following a bad earthquake in Nepal when several sherpas were killed. As the mountains in the Lake District are used as practise for those wishing to attempt Everest, quite a few of the walking community in the Lakes knew them. The first Festival of Light raised money for their families. I think since then money raised goes to a relevant charity. This year the money raised went to the Michelle Jurd Trust who help both disadvantaged young people and veterans to have adventures in the Lakes.

Anyone who is reasonably fit can take part in the Festival of Light. Basically lots of walkers head up Catbells at dusk, about half an hour after sunset they turn their head torches on and face the lake, the result is beautiful when the outline of catbells is lit up.

Sunset was at 20.30, so by 19.30 we had our camping chairs positioned in a prime spot on Friars Crag. We were just watching, by the way, I’d love to climb Catbells for the event, but with my balance issues it’s a definite no no. I’d already worked out that Friars Crag would be a good spot, easy to get to and from and a perfect view.

We watched the twinkling torch lights making their way up the fell, I think they probably had someone checking for gaps along the path so it looked good photographically. There’s hundreds of walkers who take part, they walk from Keswick, meet at Portinscale, then walk up Catbells. There must be an amazing atmosphere on Catbells.

By the time it got to sunset, there was quite a crowd along the lakeside and Friars Crag. There were some children behind us with infectious giggles, they sounded about 7 or 8. We were well wrapped up with a flask of coffee to share.

At 21.00 the head torches were turned on, for me it was a bit of a Wow! moment…

I thought it was lovely, the kids behind us were not impressed however, in a loud voice one of them proclaimed ‘Is that it? Well that wasn’t worth waiting for!’ It caused a ripple of amusement from everyone 🙂

We were staying in a very nice barn conversion out in Lamplugh, near Loweswater. The following day we had a walk up the fells, not as far as Helen intended, as the route she had chosen involved a lot of what I call off piste walking, i.e.there wasn’t necessarily a pth, so it was hard going in places. We did however get high enough for some lovely views across Loweswater and over to Crummockwater.

All in all it was a lovely weekend, I think Helen fancies climbing Catbells in the Festival of Light another year, she’s definitely got the bug for the Lakes 🙂

Posted in Walking | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Summer Skirt

Posted on August 19, 2024 by craftycreeky

Straight after making my hummingbird skirt I cracked straight on and made another summer skirt. This fabric was an impulse buy from Boyes in Ilkley, I really shouldn’t meander round there when I’ve time to spare! It’s not a place I would go if I was looking ofr a specific fabric, but they do have occasional gems in there, I’ve had Lady McElroy fabrics and other designers at greatly reduced prices.

This is a linen viscose mix, 20% linen, it has a lovely heavy drape to it. I loved the flowery design, it’s a sort of watercolour style. The pattern is McCalls 7906, I bought it when they last had their half price sale on. It has a raised waist line, deep pleats, button down front and side pockets. As usual I added a few inches to the length.

I cut out a size 14 as according to the finished sizes given, that should only have given me about 1/2″ ease round the waist. In reality it’s a little big so I’ll probably go down to a 12 for the next one.

It went together really easily. I made the belt carriers slightly longer so they would fit a 2″ belt. The buttonholes all went smoothly – a miracle in itself! I didn’t have ant suitable buttons in my stash so I decided to cover some instead and I actually tried to pattern match the buttons, some more successfully than others…

I love this skirt, it drapes beautifully, it’s got a lovely swing to it, I tried to get a photo of it swishing, the skirt looks great but I did have to smile as it looks like my foot faces the wrong way!!

I’ll definitely be making this pattern again, maybe in a 100% linen I have in my stash.

Posted in Dressmaking, Serendipity | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Owl and Hare Hollow HQAL

Posted on August 18, 2024 by craftycreeky

I’m away in the Lake District this weekend but last week I finally managed to get myself organised and started quilting my owl and hare hollow quilt.

Three weeks ago I was still trying to decide whether or not to add borders, compounded by difficulty in finding a ‘perfect match’ fabric! After showing the quilt to my daughter we decided it was big enough and design wise it didn’t need them, so I was then free to get started on it.

For backing I’d already bought some ivory cotton. It was standard width cotton so it needed a seam down the middle. I quite like adding a strip of fabric down the seam, it adds a bit of interest to the back and makes a feature of having a seam, rather than trying to hide it. I decided to use some of the William Morris fabric I bought a while ago, I intended to use this as a border but it just looked too busy, but perfect for a 6″ strip down the back. I needed two strips to get the length, but if I say so myself, I’m pretty impressed with my pattern matching! I had to feel the fabric to find the seam for the photo!!

I sandwiched the quilt last weekend and started hand quilting it on an evening. I’m basically doing lots of circles in cream/ ivory quilting cotton. Each square will have a circle round the basic design which is about 7″ across. I’m then stitching further circles inside depending on the design of the block. I’m also planning to do a larger circle round each block which will include the width of the sashing, so these will overlap down the sashing. I’m also thinking of a circle round each meeting point of four squares which will touch each of the 7″ circles.

At the moment I’m using embroidery hoops as circle templates, though I think I might cut out a 7″ circle in an 8″ square to make the regular circle easier to centralise. I’m working on the fifth square just 42 to go and that’s just the initial circles in the blocks!

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.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

Posted in Owl and Hare Hollow BOM, Quilt-a-long, Quilting, Serendipity | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Hummingbird Skirt

Posted on August 16, 2024 by craftycreeky

Earlier in the month I made myself a new skirt for the summer. I bought the batik on a facebook destash site earlier in the year. When it arrived I liked it but I didn’t love it, in fact when I was planning for the destash sale a couple of weeks ago, it was in the pile to go. When the sale was cancelled at the last minute, I decided to use some of the fabric as what these days is often referred to as a wearable toile. When I’m trying out a pattern for the first time I don’t want to use my favourite or special fabrics, then if I’m not careful then the patterns never get made. Using a fabric that’s OK if the garment doesn’t work out is a good compromise.

I decided to make the Estuary Skirt by Sew Different, it’s a pattern I think I got in a sale, a gathered skirt, buttons down the front and an elasticated back, a good everyday going to work sort of skirt.

I made so many mistakes making this skirt it’s amazing it’s come out OK! It’s a very fabric hungry pattern, the envelope says it needs 3m for the longer length which is what I had, but I wanted to add about 7″ to the length! As the humming birds weren’t in one direction I decided to cut it out sideways, that way I could just about get it out of the piece…

Somehow I managed to put the centre front on the bias and the side seam on the straight grain! I also thought when I started sewing it that the two sides were identical – they’re not, so the hummingbirds on the front are not quite as distinct as the ones on the back!

Anyway, I’ve ended up with a very wearable skirt, so wearable that I’ve worn it several times already! I’m happy with the length, it’s got lovely deep pockets in the side seam and the elastic in the back makes it super comfortable!

Posted in Dressmaking, Serendipity | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Bee Book SAL

Posted on August 11, 2024 by craftycreeky

I’ve made pretty good progress over the last three weeks with my bee cross-stitch, this piece is for a fabric book on bees. I’ve quite a few bee cross-stitches so I thought I’d put them all in a book, I do like my fabric books!

This is where I was three weeks ago…

Not only have I finished the cross-stitched areas, I’ve done all the back-stitching too! Yes I have my happy dancing shoes on for another finished piece!

The back-stitching proved quite a challenge as I found the chart difficult to read. It’s an old Fleur de Lis kit and they had thoughtfully provided two charts, one with just the cross-stitches on and one with the back-stitches on too. Unfortunately the lines they used were so wide I actually found them difficult to read, it wasn’t easy working out exactly where on the cross-stitch I was meant to be. I have to confess to making some of it up in the end! I’m happy with the end result anyway, the back-stitching makes a huge difference to the finished piece…

You may recall that the bumble bee was the bottom half of the original design, I’ve now started the top half of the picture. My original plan was to break this design into four separate pieces. However I’m now thinking I might stitch the top half as one, with the beehive, honey and honeycomb together, I’ve quite a few cross-stitch bees already and I don’t want the book to just be cross-stitch.

I’ve almost finished the honeycomb. just a few more half cross-stitches and more back-stitching to do…

Hopefully next time I share it I’ll be well on the way to another happy dance. I’ve already got two more patterns lined up, a whitework bee and a blackwork bee and I’ve spotted a lovely embroidery kit of a bumblebee on Etsy. I think with those stitched I’ll have enough bees for my book.

Please visit the other blogs that are also taking part in this SAL. There are so many different projects to enjoy. The participants live all over the world so you may need to allow for time differences. We’re posting today at local time. Click the links to their blogs below and see what they’re up to.


Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Jackie,

Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie,

Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Posted in embroidery, Stitch-a-long, Textile Books | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Seascape

Posted on August 10, 2024 by craftycreeky

Earlier in the year I attended a great workshop organised by Skipton Stitchers, the tutor was Laura Edgar who does the most stunning pieces of textile art inspired in particular by the seascapes of the Northumberland coast near where she lives. Here’s a link to here website where she has some amazing examples. We were asked to bring a picture of a scene we wanted to stitch, I chose a moody photo of Scarborough beach I took at the end of our Cleveland Way walk a few years back…

Laura’s technique is to use lots of different textiles, often worn and distressed, ripped or frayed, layered over each other with lots of free stitching over the top….completely out of my comfort zone, but sometimes I surprise myself!! Laura was a great tutor, very inspiring and encouraging.

Here’s my piece by the end of the workshop, still a lot of work to do, it’s like the bare bones of the picture, I liked it enough to want to finish it…

As you can see there were still lots of pins holding various scraps of fabric in place. The shiny areas of the photo are organza, it’s not actually as shiny in reality, just a little! It does vary hugely though depending on the light when I photograph it, the sea is identical in the photo below but looks very different. I had done a little stitching round the sun just to give myself the idea of how it would work.

I felt the headland was just too black, OK it’s very black in the photo but against my sky and sea, it looked a bit too much. I removed the black lace and used a strip of dark grey lace instead, it just softens it a bit.

Over the last couple of evenings I’ve been adding stitching. So far I’ve stitched over the headland with running stitch and feather stitch, I’ve also done a fair amount of the darker sky area with feather stitch.

It’s amazing how these photos differ so much, I think the last one is probably nearest the actual piece.

So I’ve still a lot to do, and it’s probably one of those where it’s difficult to know when to stop, but I’m happy with it so far.

Posted in embroidery, Skipton Stitchers, Workshops, Yorkshire | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments