Stitching Accessories

This photo shows all the stitching accessories that were part of a Cyberclass that I took with Carole Lake.

First row from top to bottom on your left are three views of a "needlecase". The center row from top to bottom are a "weight", next going down is a "name tag" followed by a "scissor fob". Finally on the row completely to your right, going again from top to bottom are two views of a "laying tool case" followed by a "scissor case"

I have done both the stitching and finishing of all those accessories.

Pierrette =^..^=

Pincushions

I thought that I might as well unite all the pincushions that I have either made or received under one big photo as well :-)

The first top row are pincushions that came from kits. There is a Victorian Triangle which I have made for my friend Terry, then the Victorian Heart that I have kept for myself and the third one of the first top row is called Victorian Antique Ivory which I have given to Rengin as a thank you.

In the middle row, the white one on the left with silk flowers I have also made for Anne as a thank you, the middle red one I have given to Terry and the little Assisi one I kept for myself.

On the bottom row, the white and blue biscornu was a gift from Terry as well as the doggy and also the pink one with the Brazilian embroidery.

It is fun to be able to see all of them together since many have found good homes and I can't see them anymore :-(

Pierrette =^..^=

Needlecases

This is the first needlecase I have made of the whole series and it was part of some stitching accessories, a cyberclass taken with Carole Lake. You can see the front view, the complete view seen when opened and the back view when needlecase is closed.

I thought it would be fun to put all my needlecases on the same blog entry. Some of those needlecases were made by myself, others by friends and exchanges and one I bought at a time when I had none.

The little horse looking over the fence is one that I made for my friend Terry and so is the one with the lady with the hat holding a bouquet of flowers. The horse's head is one that I made for Pauline for an exchange.

These are the only two needlecases that are as pretty on the back as on the front. The under the sea theme was made for me by Elsie during an exchange and the cottage garden is the latest I have made and it is for myself :-)

Here are the two that we have seen completely opened on the top of this photo, then the little white one is the first one I ever had and I had purchased it at the needlestore at the time. The bigger one in the middle is made crazy quilt style and was made during a group project and finally the pink one with the "P" initial was made by my friend Terry. She had made me a trio at the time (needlecase, pincushion and little scissor fob).

I have been busy this morning reorganizing my needles as my goal is to have a different needlecase for different needles. Example: the under the sea scene needlecase contains all my milliners/darners needles as the person who made it was doing a lot of brazilian embroidery stitching, so that makes it easier for me to remember what kind of needles are inside, plus of course I have written the names and sizes inside too :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

A Cottage Garden

I am doing a happy dance this morning as I have just finished the stitching part of "A Cottage Garden".

This is a Kris Richards of South Australia design taken from the fantastic Australian magazine called Inspirations, issue 53.

I must say that I have learned a lot doing this project and it will greatly help me when I tackle other similar projects from them.

This Cottage Garden will be turned into a needlecase. I believe that I can never have too many. What I want to do is keep different sorts of needles in different needlecases, so when I want to find some straw/milliners or embroidery/crewel or tapestry, etc. I will get one of my needlecases and start stitching.

In this design, here is the list of stitches that have been used: blanket stitch pinwheel, bullion knot, bullion loop, couching, detached chain, fly stitch, French knots, granitos, rosette stitch, running stitch, satin stitch, stem stitch and straight stitch.

One book that I have that has been real helpful for helping me along with those stitches is the book called "The Embroidery Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Thread Embroidery. This is again an Inspirations book published by Country Bumpkin Publications.

Now, I will need to get busy doing the finishing. Will have a look at my fabric and see what will go well with it. When it is all done, will add another photo.

Pierrette =^..^=

Bruges, Belgium "Doorways to the Past" Series: Painted canvas by Anne Stradal

I am quite happy today as I just got back my Bruges door all beautifully framed. I just love what "Romancing the Frame" have done for me :-)

If you want to have a better view of how the frame with my stitching really looks like, just click on the photo itself and it will make it much bigger for you to see details.

Pierrette =^..^=

Bruges, Belgium "Doorways to the Past" Series: Painted canvas by Anne Stradal

I must start this entry by saying that my husband was born in Belgium, not far from Bruges and I wanted to stitch this door called "Bruges, Belgium" which is part of Anne Stradal's "Doorways to the Past" Series. If someone wants to pay a little visit to Anne's website, it is http://www.absdesignsonline.com/ .

Like all good new owner, the first thing I did is repaint and change the greenery as I wanted flowers. I love flowers even more when I don't have to care for them. I am saying that mostly because we are having a severe drought here where I live and everything in our garden seems to be quickly fading away, so this is fantasy time for me. I will never have to water and feed these flowers. Isn't marvelous? I don't have that magic green thumb either so that is not helping any :-(

I stitched the two little shrubs in silk ribbons (leaves and roses) and then I wanted some wisterias like I have in my garden. They are so pretty and smell so wonderful. Watch out for the bees though when the flowers are in season as they become very proprietory and will go in pursuit of anyone coming too close. Ask me why I know this?

At the front, there is a sidewalk and my husband wanted some cobblestones. He is European, remember? I started looking in those wonderful books called Stitches for Effects, More Stitches for Effects and Even More Stitches for Effects by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson and found what I was looking for. The stitch I chose can be seen on page 39 of volume 3 of the series. It is called "Continuous 2-4 Woven Scotch". It is not the kind of stitch that you can just breeze through it, but when you got the rhythm of it, it was rather fun to do. A good laying tool is a must with this stitch as I was using regular DMC cotton floss threads (two different colors).

I got another idea from their books. They suggested beads to use for door knob. It was a great idea and I was able to find in my stash a bugle bead just the right size and color, so that was quick to attach and before I knew it, I had completed the project.

Not sure how I will finish this now. Need to have a serious think about it :-)

Moving on to the next project. What will it be??????????????????

Thursday August 2/2007: Just heard from Anne telling me that she added my door to her guest galery:-) Here is link: http://www.absdesignsonline.com/guest_gallery.htm

Pierrette =^..^=