WIPW

The next embroidery is all ready to go.  This is a traditional style of stitching from Norway.  It is very like Japanese Kogin but stitched with wool on linen.  I have stitched a sample bookmark using the Japanese technique, i.e. starting in the middle of the fabric and thread.  This time I am going to trial the Norwegian method, starting at the top left hand corner and the end of the thread.  It is on 40 count linen so I think I will need to use a a magnifier.

I am also using up 'orphan blocks' for CQ 4.  I have another row of 5" blocks to go around the edge and perhaps another red border or perhaps just red binding.

I have 'fudged' some of the measurements to fit the blocks together but I think once it is quilted this will not be too noticeable.

 

Cornish Coast Embroidery

This piece of embroidery is about so much more than the actual embroidery. 

It was sent to me in friendship from the other side of the world and arrived when I wasn't sure if I would live or die at the time of my cancer treatment.  The cancer has awaken my auto immune system complaint and a number of those illnesses have been inflamed.  The worst is Rheumatoid arthritis, which has severely impacted my ability to stitch.  I thought I might never stitch again.  But this gift has  brought hope, moral support and the recognition that there are angels here on earth.  What is that old saying?  "Friends are angels who hold us up when we have forgotten how the fly" or something like that.

It gave me the motivation to keep stitching, and this has been the one great love of my life from childhood.  When the parcel arrived I knew I had to stitch it no matter the pain.  It has taken more time than I would normally take before this and I do not have the same fine motor skills I used to have but I have accepted that and kept stitching.   Now the piece it is finished and there are some stitches that are not as perfect as they would have been but I can't actually see them.  (Maybe my eyes are going as well!)

I laced a mounting board with a wool batting and then pinned the embroidery over this.

I left this to "settle" over night and then laced the embroidery onto the board.  I then mounted this in a shadow frame.  (The sun is so bright I can't stop the reflections.)

It is ready to hang on the wall.  And everyday I will look at it know I am blessed.

Thank you Marion. xxx

(Postscript:  I went to mount the lovely card she sent me on the back and found an Email address.  Boy am I unobservant!!)

Still Struggling with Technology and a Surprise Gift

I am determined to get to grips with this technology issue.  (Says she gritting her teeth and pulling out her hair!)

I was all set to buy a new desktop but then Mr Apple wouldn't let me into my Email account and on top of that said I had security issues because I was trying too many ways to get in.  So I have put my $3,000 back in my bank account and am going to learn how to use this laptop properly.

I have had some wins, but I am still behind.  I managed to link this machine to the printer, download a new browser and attach an external hard drive, air drop a photo, (which I can't open), they were big wins.  Next I have to transfer everything over from the old desk top.  Hope I survive that!

And then in the midst of all this chaos a parcel arrived in the post from my friend Marion in the UK.  It was a lovely embroidery kit .

 

I already have it set up in my hoop ready to start stitching.  I find stabbing easier than scooping when stitching these days, hence the hoop.  This isn't something that I would have bought myself but I just love it.  Thank you Marion.  (This will now be part of my WIPW.)

I spent the morning with the scrap material and and thinking, "should I continue with this, or should I put it all in the bin?" The constant cutting is aggravating my wrist problem but then again it is starting to take some shape. Maybe just a bit each day.

The mess is getting to me but I don't want to waste the fabric.  Then again if I put it into the bin I can concentrate on other things?

Decisions, decisions.

Some more on those "Envelope Bags"

As I embark on the third of my envelope bags I thought I would do a bit of research about them.  I first saw them in India when I travelling but also remembered I had seen them years ago in Afganistan, (back before the wars when you could catch a bus in Rome that took you to India.  The young men who ran the bus then started Flightcentre.) And I seem to remember seeing some on display at the V&A.

I found this article in Piecework Magazine  about dowry bags.  There are some interesting stitches used and I love the tassels.

And then there was a "Dowry Purse".

And there are any number on the auction sites.

All these images come from the Indian region and I could find nothing much from Western culture but perhaps the "clutch purse" is a descendant of this original design?

Then to top it off I found some examples from Japan.  (They look rather modern to me.)

Computer problems

I am having trouble switching over from my old desk-top computer to my new Laptop.  In fact I'm trying to work between the two at the moment and my google Email account is giving me grief, as is my Apple Email and nearly every other thing on the computers.  Added to this is the fact that I am not thinking straight or logically which is just complicating everything.

I'm sorry if I haven't replied to your comments.  I know the comments are there but I just can't find them.  I will work this out, eventually!!

WIPW

I find that my cancer treatment has had lots of unwanted side effects.  My slow brain and the pain in my hands and feet being the worst.  So, I just do what I can do.  I'm not happy with it but I can't change things.  Mr Doctor says it may improve with times, I can only hope.

So I doggardly keep sewing, just a bit everyday and I have now finished my second roll.

I could have choosen something easier than gold thread but I wouldn't have got the same effect.

Sewing with that thread on the machine was even worse than sewing with a needle, so I settled for a rayon thread for the edge.

I did however manage a neat ladder stitch when I  joined the sides.

I want to make a smaller version in floral fabric to hold my sewing kit.

 

WIPW

I have now finished my version of the sewing/knitting pouch.  As I was using the quilt left-overs it took a bit of effort to get it square.  In Kate's original it was hand quilted, I no longer can manage this so mine is done on the machine just a simple circular pattern.

This bag is for my knitting project for tea cosies.  (I will write a tutorial for making this bag and post it at a later date.)

As you can see it can be rolled up to make a smaller size and expand as your knitting grows. I folded the sides to make and envelope, joining the edges with a slip stitch and then over sewed this with a decorative stitch to give a better finish.

 

I added a tie and button to the flap for the closure.

It was a very pleasurable thing to sew and although I said I would never teach again I have agreed to teach a class for this project.  It has got me thinking about how else I might make this style of bag.  Watch this space!

 

 

Stitching again

I have decided to try and stitch again, even it it isn't 'wonderful'.

I can't stitch as well as I did before just yet but the Kogin stitching is very 'doable'.   I have a bundle of wooden pin holders that I have vanished and as these are 1 day projects, for the Kogin stitching part, I have embarked on some of these.  I started by organising all the threads that I had bought in South America.  I have to admit that I was seduced by the wonderful colours, I bought every colour and even 2 of the mauve.  I have since realised that these threads were meant for weavers, not embroiderers.  The 'give away' was the way they came in 'hanks' just like artisan knitting wools.

The hanks were knotted, which is a traditional weaving thing,

Following this you could stretch out the hank and find that traditional knot that spinners use to mark the beginning of the thread.

I treated it as though it was a floche thread No16,  which it is similar to, cutting through all the stands and plaiting the threads.  This can then be pulled from the un-plaited top loop and the plait stays in place. Oh I love these colours.

I have prepared 10 or 12 pieces of fabric and am just stitching.

I have to concentrate on the count which is a good way to get my brain working again.

 

Boxing up

Brain fog is real,  I am trying to deal with it.  But I can manage little felt mats for the bottom of the boxes that hold my Kogin wooden pin bowls.

But, improvements are needed.  The mats should have a drop of glue to keep them in place.

And perhaps I need to anchor the bowls as well?

These are for Xmas gifts.

At least I know that the cushions are quite secure and the pins will not fall out!

I added a little tag explaining what the stitching was for those who will not know.

Advent is here

Here we are in December again at the beginning of Advent.  I have dug out my little Xmas tree and some of my old decorations.  I selected some that came from my time in Denmark and Sweden.  ( I have to admit that some are now 50 years old.)

The big tree was great when we had a big house but this little one suits our down sized home.

I have also brought out the nativity, minus one wise man who broke during out move.  The Xmas runner that was started by my friend Angela and which I finished the stitching of, and the Xmas candles, which are new.  I will light them on Xmas eve.

I have downloaded my advent calendar from Drops Designs.  I always say "Oh I must knit that" and never do.

And I see that Arne and Carlos have similar knitted decorations at their site.  They talk about Norwegen traditions at Xmas.

 

And they have some very attractive Xmas cross stitch as a background to their demonstration, and, Arne is using both the English and Continental methods of knitting in his colour work.  I really miss knitting.

It is normal Xmas weather, hot, humid and lots of thunder storms.  (This is the time for the Monsoon up north.)

Sometimes they miss our island and go right around us.

Other times we get hammered.

Well that's normal at Xmas.  I just hope that I get home from my cancer treatment each day before they hit .