Seaside Quilt HQAL

Posted on January 16, 2022 by craftycreeky

It’s six weeks since I last shared my progress with the Seaside Quilt, a design from the book of the same name by Kathryn Whittingham of Patchwork Katy. I completely forgot to do a post on Boxing Day! Last time I was skipping round having just finished the quilt top…

I love the top, it’s such a happy quilt, it was a delight to stitch.

My next task was to sandwich it ready for quilting, I didn’t have a big enough piece to just back it in one piece and I am trying to reduce my stash a bit so I looked at the decent sized leftovers from the quilt. I realised I could piece the remnants together in a sort of sea scape design with the sandy colours beneath the blue sea fabrics. Time will tell how straight I managed to get the horizon once it’s quilted, I did try! The dark blue is quite faded in places, it’s odd really as it’s right across the fabric, not just in the areas exposed when folded, I bought it out of the back of a car very cheaply (literally! someone was selling a stash at the stitching weekend I went on last year) Hopefully once it has quilting lines on it it won’t be quite so obvious.

I have just started the hand quilting. I’ve had a general idea in my head for a while, but I think I’ve finalised it now. The large embroidered blocks are just having simple straight lines round the borders, I will see whether I also need on just inside the embroidered blocks too, I’m using a variegated dark blue sulky thread for the blue border and a creamy one for the sandy border. So far I’ve just started stitching round the lighthouse block in the centre of the quilt…

OK so I’ve not done much actual quilting but I’ve started and I have a plan. I still need to regain my rhythm with hand quilting so I can relax into it.

I found with the Cottage Garden quilt that I found it much easier with designs I could quilt in one direction, in other words, not trying to stitch towards me or constantly turning the quilt. I stitched a corner to corner quarter circle arc which could make petals or leaves, but importantly could be stitched right to left. I decided to use the same basic pattern but just stitch rows so it looked like the sea waves, sort of a scalloped line

I then had the dilemma of which looked most like waves, all the points up in line or staggered! Helen didn’t help when she looked at the options as she said it would look more like a wave with what I would call a scroll design, which missed the desire for all the quilting to be stitched in one direction! I then realised that with the points staggered it was basically a clam shell pattern…which is equally apt on a seaside quilt! So that is what I’m planning for the rest of the quilt, I have another reel of sulky thread in mid blues and greens. I’ll probably still do a square round the little embroidered blocks and I’ll have to do something different with the star blocks in the corners as they are a different size.

Hopefully next time I’ll have a bit more to show you, now I have my quilting chair set up on the landing with all my threads, thimbles and needles to hand.

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, and Daisy

I’ll also be linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Posted in Quilting, Stitch-a-long | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Crazy Times

Posted on January 12, 2022 by craftycreeky

Our programme for Skipton Stitchers has had to change this month as the lady who was teaching it is now isolating, so next months workshop on Crazy Patchwork has been brought forward. This meant I had some prepping to do. The workshop is concentrating on the embroidery and embellishment side, so we have to prepare a patchwork block.

We’ve been given instructions on how to make the block so everyone is working on the same design. It’s put together like foundation paper piecing but stitched onto a calico backing fabric. It confused me at first as rather than stitching it from the back through paper, the pieces are accurately cut using freezer paper and then stitched on the front in order. I only cut one the wrong way round so not too bad really!

We chose five coordinating fabrics, my starter fabric was one of my favourite bee fabrics, I’m thinking of using this piece for the front of a fabric book I have in my mind on bees. I used another bee fabric too which doesn’t coordinate as well but I’m hoping I can bring it all together with the embellishments.

We’ve to take any trimmings, buttons, beads, threads etc along to the meeting so I started having a rummage through my stash. I’ve just started bobbinating various embroidery threads and storing them according to colour, these are the non DMC threads, there’s linen thread, perle, finer threads. Hopefully I’ll use them more stored in this way. I’ve chosen two or three of these to go with some DMC threads.

This is my collection so far…

Looking forward to the meeting as always.

Posted in embroidery, Quilting, Skipton Stitchers, Workshops | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Skipton Stitchers Workshop

Posted on January 11, 2022 by craftycreeky

At our Embroiderers Guild meeting we usually had a speaker at each meeting on a wide variety of textile topics. Since the demise of the guild set-up and the loss of our funds we have started having mini workshops at meetings run by members, I like it just as much if not more, we get to try out lots of different techniques such as Brazilian embroidery (November) and Kamal Kadai embroidery as we did in December.

Kamal Kadai means lotus embroidery in Urdu and Hindi languages (guess whose just googled it!) It’s a form of simple embroidery which is often used to embellish traditional Indian garments such as sari’s. We were taught a design which looks like a poinsetta, very festive.

We were given half a large cotton ball to work on so afterwards it would be a useful pincushion. I didn’t realise until half way through the morning that these are actually dryer balls, bought very cheaply and cut in half! Ingenious idea!! I came home with a spare one too!

The basic stitch is a form of needle weaving, we used perle thread so it was a decent weight and had a nice sheen to it. The difficulty was trying to get the poinsetta central (failed!) and stitching the supporting threads evenly and long enough (not bad for a first attempt!) I think it might have been easier to mark the main points with pins before hand to get an even shape, but even nature isn’t perfectly symmetrical! I didn’t take any progress photos I’m afraid, so just two finished views.

I was pretty pleased with my poinsetta. I decided to embroider a border with feather stitch and added a few red beads too. With the border stitched round the edge my poinsetta looked very off centre so I tied a red ribbon bow to fill the gap.

I was trying to decide how to finish it, others have put them in bowls or on a small dish. My bottom wasn’t flat enough, so someone suggested a felting needle on the back would compact it down again. This will have to be done at a later date as I haven’t got a felting needle. I then had a bit of a brainwave…I have a 3″ embroidery hoop left from a course I did, with a bit of encouragement it just nicely frames the pincushion. Once I get the bottom levelled I’ll make it a bit more secure with some glue and a card on the back.

This month we’re doing crazy patchwork, so I’ve some prepping to do.

Posted in embroidery, Skipton Stitchers, Workshops | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Gingerbread House

Posted on January 10, 2022 by craftycreeky

I’m trying to get a few things finished before I start anything new, I like having several things on the go but every so often I feel I need to clear the decks a bit. Last night I managed to finish putting my gingerbread house together, it was a bit fiddly but I love it.

Last time I shared my progress I was still stitching the roof…

The roof needed some red and green stitches in the white squares and a gold bead in the brown square. I realised fairly quickly that I wasn’t going to have enough beads, I still had the baubles on the Christmas tree to do too. I counted up and I was 24 short. I sent an e-mail to Nutmeg Designs on bank holiday Monday, they replied with an apology on Tuesday and the beads arrived Thursday, pretty good service, especially knowing they are based in a little village in Swaledale, miles from a post office! I think someone got the quantities mixed up as I had loads of the clear beads left. Anyway, by Thursday night all the beads were stitched on.

The shapes are laced onto precut plastic canvas, this makes quite a good base as it’s bendable when you are trying to sew it, but once it’s all stitched together it’s fairly solid. The string of beads were stitched onto the edge of the roof and the porch at this stage too. I actually do wonder if the ones round the roof would be easier stitched on at the end as the thread was regularly catching on them.

The walls were stitched together to make the square building. That bit was easy enough. Next was the roof…third time lucky is the most apt phrase I think! The instructions do say this is the trickiest bit and they’re right! I think possibly my roof wasn’t 100% true, so when I tried to stitch it on the lower edge was very uneven. In the end I started the roof a couple of stitches above the gable end and that seemed to do the trick. The porch roof was a doddle after that!

Finally there was a square of brown felt to lace around a square of plastic canvas to make the base. Stitching this in really solidified the cottage.

I really enjoyed making this kit, I’m hoping in time to make the others in the collection, a chapel, a house and a tree, I’ll just give myself a bit more time before the festive season! If you fancy having a go at a 3D cross-stitch, do have a look at Nutmeg Designs, they have some lovely kits.

Posted in Crafts, cross-stitch, kits | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Peppermint Purple SAL

Posted on January 9, 2022 by craftycreeky

It’s three weeks since I last shared my progress on my Peppermint Purple blackwork. This is the free SAL that Claire from Peppermint Purple has kindly published for at least the last two years. She gives layout options and colour suggestions then releases a pattern each week. They’re only little so it doesn’t take long. This years SAL has just started, if you fancy trying blackwork it’s a good way to test the water and see how the different patterns work.

Last time I’d just done some frogging as my reflection of Catbells in the lake was rapidly disappearing…

As all the patterns have now been released I decided to stitch the reflection first and then go back to complete the rest of the squares. I’ve not spent a lot of time on it as I’ve been concentrating on my gingerbread house, like I didn’t pick it up til yesterday afternoon! However it is starting to take shape…

I’ve not found it easy choosing the colours for the water, colours often look quite dark but with just one thread they lighten considerably. I decided to use pretty light grey’s for the squares on the skyline, even so they’re not as light as they look once stitched. At the moment I’m thinking I’ll outline the top of Catbells maybe in a darker grey and then outline the reflection in more of a mid grey, just to make it show up a bit more. This is the piece so far…

In my last post I forgot that many of you won’t have heard of Catbells! Catbells is one of my favourite hills in the English Lake District, I first climbed under my own steam when I was four years old and I’ve climbed it many times since. It’s a hill that thinks it’s a mountain! It’s not an easy walk, especially now with all the erosion and rocks polished smooth by thousands of visitors but the views from the top are amazing, over to Skiddaw and Blencathra, Bassenthwaite Lake, Borrowdale, Newlands Valley and of course Derwentwater. In my younger days I walked to the top to watch the sunrise, it was stunning with mist forming over the lake, the sun rose over Blencathra and everything was bathed in a golden light.

I’ve often stitched Catbells as it has a nice recognisable outline and it means a lot to me…

This SAL group is organised by Avis from Stitching by the Sea, please follow the links to see what everyone else has been stitching over the festive season…

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Posted in embroidery, Peppermint Purple 2021 SAL, Serendipity | Tagged , , | 25 Comments

A Dress for Christmas

Posted on January 8, 2022 by craftycreeky

In mid December I decided to make myself a new dress for Christmas, not a Christmas dress as such, just a nice one to wear this year. In the summer I had splashed out and bought three Deer and Doe dress patterns, one of which was the Passeflore, a shirt waister style wrap dress. I’ve always had an issue with wrap dresses showing more than I want when the wind blew but as this pattern has a double breasted button style, I’m hoping that’s not going to be a problem.

In the autumn I’d also fallen for some gorgeous baby needlecord in kingfisher blue from Fabrics for All in Armley, Leeds. I’d bought it on line and when it arrived I did think oh gosh, that’s quite a bright colour but I decided that with some navy blue buttons to tone it down a touch it would look great. I even wondered about doing the cuff and collar linings in a contrasting blue but I didn’t have anything suitable in my stash. The fabric feels gorgeous, so soft to touch.

According to the info on the back of the pattern packet I had just enough fabric, I rarely follow the suggested pattern layouts so I was a bit miffed initially having cut everything out to see I still had 1.5m left…then I started sewing…step 2, stitch second pair of fronts to yoke lining…second pair, what second pair!! So I did actually have just the right amount of fabric! The only change I made to the pattern was to cut the skirt pieces as one length rather than having a deep strip round the bottom of the skirt.

The dress went together really easily, it took a while but the instructions were nice and clear. When it came to buttons I wanted the plain flat navy buttons, I think they’re called smartie buttons. I had a look in my button drawer, I had exactly what I wanted, but only seven, I needed ten. The local shops didn’t have any so instead I found some almost matching ones in my stash, some of them are actually the back of a button to get that flat matt look. I used the matching ones for the lower ones on the front and used the oddments for the ones under the belt or hidden by the collar. I’ll try and replace them with some matching ones in time but I think I’ve got away with it.

I bought a broad elastic navy belt on ebay which just finishes the dress perfectly. I’m really pleased with it, it’s lovely to wear, my only change next time would be to add pockets, I did think about it at the time but decided to make it as was, but every time I put it on my hands want to find pockets!

I think the passeflore is going to prove quite a useful pattern as there’s also a short sleeved version and suggested fabrics include linen and cotton lawn, so it would make a lovely summer dress too. I’m tempted to get some more of this needlecord to as they had it in several colours, though I’m trying to use my stash rather than buy more fabric at the moment!

Posted in Dressmaking | Tagged , , , | 28 Comments

Gingerbread House

Posted on January 3, 2022 by craftycreeky

During December I was madly stitching my latest cross-stitch kit, I bought it at the knitting and stitching show at the end of November. It’s a kit by Nutmeg Designs for a 3d gingerbread house. Last time I shared it I was still working on the walls…

I finished the cross-stitch and added the back-stitch, I’ve just got some beads to stitch on now, I’m waiting to finish all the stitching before I start the beads…

The little rectangle at the top is going to be the porch roof.

Once the walls were stitched I just had the roof to do, I say just, but it actually seems quite big as the roof has a steep pitch. I thought it would be a bit monotonous but actiually it was quite a good one to stitch over Christmas as once I worked the pattern out I could just stitch it whilst watching a film without having to constantly look at the pattern…

I just need to finish the white border, each white square has a coloured centre too, then I can stitch a bead in the centre of each ginger square.

It’s grown pretty quickly really, just not quick enough to finish it before Christmas! I need to remember next time to buy them earlier in the autumn – there’s another house, a church and a Christmas tree in the set so it would be nice to do one each year.

Posted in Christmas, cross-stitch, kits | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Happy New Year

Posted on January 2, 2022 by craftycreeky

I’ve had a little break from posting over Christmas and New Year, I’ve been pretty busy though, both sewing and trying to sort my sewing room out a bit.

One of my Christmas presents was a bobbin storage unit from Creations by Rod, this is my third unit, they’re designed to fit in a Ikea Kallax unit. I’ve got one with DMC threads in, just before Christmas I treated myself to a set of bobbins by Pip and Chip, this was a big treat as they’re not cheap. I love them though, they’re acrylic bobbins, each probably a couple of millimetres thick, with the number and colour of each DMC thread at one end. I spent several evenings transferring my threads onto the new bobbins…

I’m using the second unit for other types of embroidery thread, I seem to have acquired quite a bit over the last couple of years and my mum’s old floss box was falling apart and not well designed for my needs, so I’ve started winding all the other threads onto bobbins too. At the moment I’m arranging these in colour groups, as they’re ones I use for embroidery, I may change my mind and go for thread types but I’ll just see what works best. Here’s my green threads so far…

There’s all sorts of different thread types such as chenille, metallic, stranded, perle. There’s one group of threads which are proving difficult to wind onto a bobbin, they are beautiful variegated threads but they’re twisted into a large hank and they’re proving tricky as they’re tangling a lot. Unfortunately I’ve got about twenty hanks – and they’re 50m each!

There’s five drawers in each cabinet and I also have one with very shallow drawers which I use for dies, templates, rulers, rotary blades etc. One day I will paint all the fronts and make them pretty …

…one day I will be organised!

Posted in embroidery, Serendipity, sewing room | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Peppermint Purple SAL

Posted on December 19, 2021 by craftycreeky

Since I finished my Jacquie Magic Needle-case I’ve been mulling over whether to start a new project I have several in the pipeline!) or whether to finish something first. I put my sensible hat on for once and I’m going to be sharing my progress on my Peppermint Purple SAL every three weeks. This will hopefully keep my motivation going as it does go hot and cold with this blackwork piece.

This is a free year-long SAL organised by Claire of Peppermint Purple, every week she releases a new blackwork pattern so by the end of the year you have a lovely blackwork sampler. The squares are only 1″ square or a 2×1″ rectangle, so they don’t take too long. Claire does suggest a colour scheme but I decided to go off-piste and choose colours so a picture of Catbells emerges.

Last time I shared it with you I was unhappy with the way the reflection of Catbells in Derwentwater was working out, I was losing the effect…

Last night I decided to bite the bullet and do some frogging, unpicking the dark square on the left and the bottom part of the 1st square on the left. It’s not as easy as it looks picking shades for blackwork – as I have found out, as the density of the design makes a huge difference in how dark it looks.

All the patterns are out now bar the last two, so I could stitch most of the shape of Catbells’ reflection and then plan which shades to do the rest of the lake. This is the reflection so far…

I’m much happier with it now, it’s not perfect but I think it’s definitely an improvement! I’m using very light greys next to the outline and then I’ll use slightly darker ones for the rest. Once the squares are complete I can work on the filler design in the corners which square it off and then a final border.

If you fancy trying blackwork Clare has just release details of the 2022 blackwork sampler, or she has some lovely designs, both modern and traditional, on the Peppermint Purple website.

Our SAL group posts every three weeks with our progress on a chosen project, it does help to keep the motivation going. Please follow the links to see what everyone else has been stitching…

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Posted in embroidery, Stitch-a-long | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Stitching on the go

Posted on December 16, 2021 by craftycreeky

I always have a little stitching project in my handbag for those odd moments when I’m sitting around waiting…at the dentist, in a cafe. It’s usually something small but over autumn it’s been a slightly bigger project which will end up as a wall hanging in my sewing room. It’s a cross-stitch design by Stoney Creek which includes quilting squares, cotton reels and a vintage sewing machine…what more could I want on a sewing room hanging!

The central image is of a vintage sewing machine and it’s taken me quite a while, there’s a lot of dark greys! The design is traditional in that there aren’t any half stitches and the eventual back-stitch goes round the squares rather than rounding them off. This is how far I’ve got so far…

I’m changing the colours for the rest of the design as it’s all dusky pinks, whereas my sewing room is purple. The only bit I’m hesitating on is the tomato pin-cushion which is sitting on the sewing machine. It works in pinks but I’m not sure it will work in purple, but then it could just be a pin-cushion! This decision will wait a while however as since the Knitting and Stitching show this has been put on hold…

I bought a kit from Nutmeg Designs, they’re a small company based up in the village of Reeth in Swaledale, I’ve stitched a few of their designs most recently a cross-stitch postcard of Swaledale.

Nutmeg Designs do a lot of 3D designs, such as boxes or models. On their stand at the K&S show I spotted some gorgeous gingerbread house designs, well there was a cottage and a big house, but also a church and a Christmas tree. I bought the kit to make the cottage, it’s stitched on aida and then laced round plastic canvas, I’ve been stitching it as my main project this month, trying to get it finished for Christmas, it’s going to be a close run thing if I do get it finished as there’s an awful lot of stitching. I’m working on the walls of the cottage at the moment…

I’ve still got lots of back-stitching to do and beads to stitch on, then there’s the roof and the porch to stitch! I think I’m pushing it to get it finished for Christmas Day!

I think it will be nice to do one of these kits each year, maybe try and buy them earlier in the autumn, then I’ll have a little gingerbread village!

Posted in Christmas, Crafts, cross-stitch | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments