Blasts From the Past

Back in the 1980s and 90s I used to dabble in needlepoint, or tapestry as it's often known here in the UK. It was more popular then than it is now, although I think its popularity is slowly returning.

To needlepointers, this will be immediately recognisable as an Elizabeth Bradley design.

My Kaffe Fassett rabbit cushion is looking a bit worn these days, but it's still one of my favourite tapestry projects.

A classic!

One of the things I bought back then, with needlepoint in mind, was a hexagonal footstool which I never did anything with. I liked it because of the unusual shape. I remember buying it when my second daughter was a tiny baby. How I thought I'd ever get any sewing done at that time, I don't know. (She's 23 now!)

Recently I'd been thinking I should do something with it. I'd seen patchwork-upholstered furniture in magazines and in the Cath Kidston shops, and thought I would like something like that in my house, so I decided to have a go at covering it with patchwork. Not cotton patchwork, but something more substantial - wool.

(Knitted cherries from this book)

I made an actual size hexagonal template to work from, cut out squares and machine-sewed them together. I did find that woven wool is a lot more stretchy than you would think - and and some wool is more stretchy than others. The seams were quite bulky as well, so it wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd imagined, but I managed to get it sewn. On the plus side, it cost nothing because it used up some long-held stash.

I tried to include a few different weaves of wool for some visual texture. I lined it with a piece of cotton fabric to stabilise it, and stretched it over the upholstery pad. I don't think it turned out too badly. What really made a huge difference was replacing the modern "mahogany" finish with a new coat of paint.

♥

Birthday Owl

In our family there are several birthdays close together at this time of year. This week it was daughter no.2's birthday - can you believe she is now 23. Not too old for a birthday tea made by her Mum though!

The birthday cake was a chocolate marble cake with white chocolate and cherries, with white chocolate buttercream icing.

She likes owls and had asked if I would make her an owl cushion. This is my homemade version of one she saw in a shop.

Firmly stuffed or what? A huge amount of stuffing has somehow disappeared into it.

Some respite from the stifling heat today. Thank goodness cooler temperatures are being forecast for next week. I might even get some gardening done.

This year I grew some marigolds and this is the first one to come out.

Enjoy your week whatever you're doing.

ETA: There is no pattern for the owl, it was based on a similar ready-made one and I just winged it (no pun intended)

Birthday Quilt

I've spent the past few weeks working on this quilt, which was a requested birthday present for someone. It's been given away now, but I remembered to take some photos and now I can show you it, finished, quilted and washed.

The spec was for a multicoloured quilt with red and blue predominating, with the fabric choices left to me.

I think it must be at least a couple of years since I made a quilt, so I thought my quilting wheels would be rusty, but amazingly, like riding a bike, it all came straight back.

The idea was that it would be used for the seat area of a sofa. Fine, I don't mind if they sit on it. Also, part of the requirements was that it be twice the size actually needed, so it could be used folded. Hmm!

I stuck to the instructions though, and generally I'm pleased with how it turned out. I think the red border does a lot for it.

The best thing was, I was able to make the whole thing entirely from stash. The biggest thing was the backing, which I made by joining 3 shorter lengths. I already had the wadding, so the only thing I had to buy was thread.

Some pattern info: The quilt is based on Amy's Four Patch, a 2003 pattern by Jo Morton, but I added an extra row of blocks to change the proportions. I also did the outer border pieced instead of all one fabric, and made the border wider.

The circular motif I used for quilting the blue blocks is from 60 Machine Quilting Designs by Pat Holly and Sue Nickels, published in 1994 but still available. I've used this book many times. I reduced the size of the pattern to fit the block, and made templates to transfer the design.

It's been too hot this week to do any work in the garden, so I've just been keeping the plants watered that need it, and making sure the bird bath's full.

I'm not keen on the heat, but it's nice to see the garden full of flowers again after a long cold winter.

More flower pics another day.

Christmas Birds

Hello, busy in the run-up to Christmas but just popping in to show you some recent projects.
More birds, this time from Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle. I intended to make some of these last year but didn't get round to it. They are fiddly to make but well worth it, and just the right size for hanging on the Christmas tree.

The lace is vintage and the ribbon flowers were bought from the annual Harrogate K&S Show, not the one just gone, but from a couple of years ago now.
I particularly liked the idea of sewing a metal ring to the top of the ornament to thread the hanging cord through. I think this gives quite a professional look, and and from a practical point of view it enables you to easily hang your bird with the best side facing outwards! I got an inexpensive packet of jump rings with lots in from Hobbycraft.

Hope you have some time for needlework in amongst all the Christmas preparations. We're getting our Christmas tree tomorrow! Back soon with some knitted projects.

Birds

Birds have featured in a few of my projects over the years. Some of them are perhaps looking a bit dated now!

These two are from my folk art phase.

This one is several years old, but I recently gave it a makeover with a scrap of lace and a tiny glass button, and I like it better now.

An applique bird. . .

. . . birds in cross stitch. . .

Once I even tried my hand at a painted bird.

My latest bird is a knitted one in lovely Baby Cashmerino.

(Pattern by Sandra Polley.)

A Few Minutes. . .

. . .was all it took to turn a china ornament from a charity shop. . .

. . . into a pincushion.

Wool Pincushion

We've had some nice bright weather this week, so I've got some sewing done despite the short December days. I like to work in natural light where possible, and of course decent light is necessary for taking photos. This was a nice quick project which I really enjoyed.
It came about because I wanted to make something with the lovely blue hand-dyed wool I used for the background. I didn't have a pattern, I just played around with colours and shapes until I was satisfied with the arrangement.

I deliberately left the flower petals unstitched, but I wanted to "work into it" a bit, as my daughter's art teacher used to say, and I added some touches of embroidery and some beads. The beads were left over from the Christmas card I made a couple of posts back.

It was just a bit of fun really, to see what I could come up with. I might do it differently if I did it again, but I love these colours, and as a pincushion it will be useful as well.

I'm taking a Christmas break from blogging now. I hope you have a lovely Christmas and I'll be back in 2009.

A Different World

A long, long time ago, before I was married and before the responsibilities of home and small children took over, I used to go regularly with my father to visit local fleamarkets and second-hand book sales.
He was looking for authentic old fittings for our house which he was renovating, or old books for his collection, while I kept my eyes open for old needlework patterns and magazines.
This was in the early 198o's, long before eBay existed. There wasn't the level of interest in crafts then that there is now, and I was usually able to find interesting items for a pound or even 50p.

These are just a few examples of what I bought at that time.
In the early 20th century, not all publications were printed with a date, but if they aren't, you can usually get a good idea of their age by looking at the styling and advertisements.

There are some lovely illustrations.

Wouldn't you love to have these applique curtains hanging at your window? I would.
Cottage garden flowers like foxgloves were popular subjects for needlework in the 1930's.

The usual way to get your embroidery design onto fabric ready for stitching was to use a hot-iron transfer, and many magazines gave away a free transfer with each issue. In other cases the reader was invited to "send for" the transfer needed to complete the project.

I've always thought it would be quite possible to copy some of the designs, because the stitch diagrams often give all the information you need.

Crochet patterns were often designed to be worked with extremely fine thread - in this case, size 80!

I've kept them all these years, and I still like to look through them from time to time, for inspiration and just because they're so interesting. For me they bring back memories of time spent with my Dad, who encouraged my interest, and they really are an authentic glimpse into another age.