Over the weekend I finished stitching this month’s design for the Anthea Calendar, a SAL by Faby Reilly. Each month has a seasonal flower and I was wondering what November’s would be and it’s physalis.
Physalis is otherwise known here in the UK as Chinese Lanterns as the flowers are an unusual round shape and a wonderful shade of orange. I actually bought a pot of these on Otley market last month to go in my Amber and Amethyst garden, I just need to get round to planting them!
This month proved fairly quick to stitch, I think there’s not as many little colour changes, it’s a lovely colourful design with all the extra detail that makes Faby’s designs so good. It’s rice stitch round the edge interspersed with woven rose stitches every so often.
I do like the detail of the skeleton leaf in gold as that’s just how they turn, I’m tempted to include that bit in the wordplay, maybe in a slightly darker thread so it shows up more…
Once we get nearer the end of the month I’ll start thinking about the wordplay to go with it, though I already know one word that will be included, goldcrest! They are one of Britains smallest birds, smaller even than the wren. I’ve never seen one before and there was one in our garden last week, very exciting! They’re tiny brown birds with a flash of gold on the top of it’s head, so quite distinctive.
Gosh, it’s a whole week since I last wrote a post! This year seems to fly by at times…and last forever at times too! I have been busy, just not got round to writing…
Last weekend my walking buddy and I finished the Guiseley Gap walk, we’d done the first half the week before and as the weather forecast was reasonable we decided to crack on and finish it.
We parked the car in Guiseley and walked up the hill to where we could rejoin the walk. The first thing I saw when I reached the top was an elephant! You may recall that towards the end of the first half we passed a copse of trees known locally as the Elephant copse, I jokingly commented that they must have very vivid imaginations in Guiseley…well I must eat my words as from this different angle I could see it…
We walked across fields and down some old lanes towards High Royds. High Royds’ full name used to be the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, it actually only closed down in about 2003, it’s a huge Victorian complex which was largely self sufficient with a dairy, butchers, bakery, farm and of course a ball room!! There were some very sad tales that came out of High Royds about the reasons people were admitted and how many then couldn’t get out and spent the rest of their lives there. I’ve just found a fascinating website on High Royds hospital with entries from past staff and patients, please follow the link for more info about the hospital and the care of mental illness in Victorian times. The walk took us past the Memorial Garden which was only recently restored by a local group, there’s nearly 3000 people buried there in unmarked graves. Next to it is the route of a railway line which served the hospital. A small remnant of track has been left as a reminder of it’s history….
The old hospital site has been turned into a new village with the old buildings converted into flats and lots of houses built. It still has large grounds which have lots of paths to wander round. We did appreciate the well made paths as many paths are getting muddy and slippery now…
One thing that we did comment on whilst walking round High Royds was that there is a distinct lack of seats, the occasional wooden bench would have been nice – we do like regular breaks on our walks – sausage roll break, coffee break, sandwich break, sticky bun break…the first place we found to sit down was in a lovely beech wood at the far side of High Royds…
It was lovely walking through the crunchy leaves, but they did obscure the path somewhat!
Once we were above High Royds we could finally just about make out ‘The Guiseley Gap’. The gap is a hanging valley between Airedale and Wharfedale. It’s not very distinct as it’s quite shallow but it separates Otley Chevin from Rombold’s Moor which stretches over towards Skipton. From this vantage point you could also see all the Gothic towers of High Royds.
From there all we had to do was wind our way through old lanes and snickets back to the start.
We enjoyed the Guiseley Gap walk, it was a bit further than we anticipated – the leaflet says it’s 9.8 miles altogether , fitbit reckons more like 12.5 over the two walks- and we didn’t get lost that much! It’s been nice this year to do more local walks, discovering the little paths in the neighbourhood that we didn’t know existed.
I mentioned yesterday that I had two cross-stitch finishes to share, so this is the second one, stitched over the last few days.
A couple of weeks ago I finally got round to stitching November from the Joyful World SAL, I’d stitched the first ten months over a year ago. This was November…
Whilst I was on a roll I decided to crack on a stitch December, I had just enough time before the next release by Faby Reilly for my Anthea Calendar.
December is a pretty design with a stag on it. It also turned into a fudge from the very first stitch!!
I usually stitch from the centre outwards. I find the centre by folding the linen in half each way and making a gentle crease, so X marks the middle. I did this…and then started about half an inch away where a there was a fold in the fabric from how it was packed!! So the very first stitch was over half an inch too far to the left. I didn’t notice until I’d stitched the dove and some of the tree, too much to go back. I’d been a bit tight with the linen too as I was using up a scrap so it was becoming rapidly clear that it was going too near the edge. I decided to curve the tree inwards a bit, which meant rearranging some leaves etc, there was meant to be a big green leaf to the right of the red flowers, but that had to go as leaning the stem to the right left me with insufficient room, I added a little green square instead, like the ones above! So I ended up with a whole box of fudge!!!
Luckily the other side went without a hitch, though I did change a few of the colours. You can see on the photo above how near to the edge I was!
Yesterday evening I made it into a mini pillow. I used a pretty sage green cotton for the back and then made a cord with the DMC thread used for the red flowers, twisted with a DMC variegated thread with red, green and brown in, it seemed to contain all the colours of the design. I’m pleased with how the cord came out, it works!
As this will be on display over Christmas I decided to add a bit extra. I’d already stitched beads on the corners, next I shaped the cord ends into a bow, stitched a jingle bell in the middle and then added some tails of beads, I like it!
So I have finally stitched the complete set of the Joyful World SAL, it’s only taken about three years!! I can’t lay my hands on photos of August and September, but I did them, promise!
I’ve two cross-stitch finishes to share with you, they’re both pretty quick makes so I stitched them over the weekend, finishing the last one just now…
Firstly I stitched the wordplay for October. This will be opposite the colourful cyclamen square from the Anthea Calendar SAL by Faby Reilly…
I’m trying to base these wordplays around things I’ve done, places I’ve been, notable dates…that was the plan anyway, but of course the way the year has panned out I’m not doing much at all! We haven’t any birthdays in October, the only date really was halloween.
My walking buddy and I did manage to walk 7 miles of the Guiseley Gap walk, we finished the walk this morning but that will wait for another post. This is my favourite photo from the first half…
Conkers, for those who don’t live in the same climes as me, are the nut produced by the horse chestnut tree. They’re not edible unfortunately, the chestnuts we eat are from the sweet chestnut tree. Conkers however are beautiful, they’re the sort of thing you can pick up on an autumn walk and play with in your pocket, smooth and shiny. As kids we used to hang them on a piece of string and play ‘conkers’, basically trying to bash the hell out of your opponents conker, great fun but unfortunately now banned from playgrounds in case the little darlings get hurt. I was stood in a bus shelter the other day when there was an almighty thud on the roof, I jumped a mile, it was only when the second thud occurred that I realised it was conkers falling from the tree!
The hedgerows have been particularly plentiful this year, with haws, blackberries, elderberry’s, hips…
I always associate the smell of woodsmoke with autumn as a lot of people these days, us included, have wood burning stoves, so you get the wisps of smoke from the chimneys and the lovely distinct smell.
When I was young, dunnocks were called hedge sparrows, they are now though called dunnocks, as apparently they are not at all connected to the sparrow. Dunnocks are the ubiquitous little brown bird, we regularly see them in the garden, bobbing about in the undergrowth.
I’ve three cotinus coggygria in the garden, a burgundy one in both the front and the back, and a golden leafed one in the front too, I love the splash of colour they bring. If you don’t prune them you get frothy plumes of tiny flowers late summer, hence it’s other name of smoke bush. Somehow the colour never looks as good in a photo!
I struggled a bit for a quote this month, in the end I went for a couple of lines from a Carole King song called Tapestry;
My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue,
An everlasting vision of an ever changing view,
A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold,
A tapestry to see and feel, impossible to hold.
Usually this is the time for Harvest Festivals in schools and churches around the country. I remember when James was a toddler we used to attend a little village church near here and it was beautifully decorated with fruit and vegetables, James was about 2 at the time and he kept eating the grapes off the display in front of us!
Sometimes it seems to take longer to design the wordplay than it does to stitch it. I was planning to add a cyclamen flower but I didn’t quite have room so I used the furled bud and a frond instead, I think they work pretty well. I added a couple of sequins and an inch or two of the border and the square was finished. Just in time too as November’s design has just been released, the penultimate page!
I think my second finish will wait until tomorrow…
It’s three weeks since I last shared my cottage garden quilt, so it’s time for an update. This is the quilt designed by Kathryn Whittingham, she has published a book with all the patterns and instructions in. I’m throughly enjoying makig this one.
Last ime I’d just finished the top row of the quilt…
Having worked out how she balanced the quilt colourwise, I decided to stitch the bottom row next, as shape and colourwise it’s the mirror image of the top. It means I know I have sufficient fabric to do the more dominant borders the same, in particular the flower and the beehive block partners.
Everyone loves the chickens, but just as cute is it’s partner, the ducks. I think this is one of the blocks that made me want to buy the book! Aren’t they cute! I used the same fabricsfor the borders as the chickens, I need to check if that wave on the side borders irons out, if not I think I have a date with the seam ripper!
Next I stitched the garden shed. I didn’t quite place my applique pieces for the shed and the boots etc close enough together, so my tripod is a little near the edge, I might add another bee in the space to the right as well as it’s looking a bit empty. I stitched the borders on using the same green fabric but a different pink to the beehive.
I’ve a few more blocks to embroider before I can stitch this row together, but only one big one, so it shouldn’t take too long hopefully.
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.
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…
thecraftycreek 