Angela's Needle Book

I've made a few of these for friends. One of the things I love to do is personalise them. In this one I've appliqued and embroidered a couple of little girls (Angela's granddaughters) and embroidered her initials on the cover. The picture was adapted from a Pin I found on Pinterest, incidentally one which I noticed that Angela had liked and pinned. I have improved the pocket area by adding a button down flap for scissors so that they don't fall out. Adding some vintage  thread, a tape measure and some vintage pins to the pocket completed the package.

New Mugbag for Am

We have a new member in the Yarnspinners. Am's specialty is scrapbooking so we anticipate she will contribute to the group in many ways. I have questions to ask about displaying photos of my grandmother. In the meantime I have made the requisite welcome mugbag complete with mug.

I have been using the experimental crocheted flowers as decorations on mugbags.

Cushion Cover

In the previous post I wrote about the linen squares I was creating using applique lace and stitching. One of those squares I gave to a friend and being the meticulous sewer that he is, Len made a beautiful cushion cover for what he calls his "boudoir". Even the zip is a work of art! Len is a retired garment maker and sews like heaven. Here it is:

More Hearts Aflutter

These are the last two in this series of expressive needlework pieces. Completed for a friend they are intended to be the centrepieces of two cushion covers for a "boudoir".

Cherry Blossom Square and Hearts Aflutter Square: more silk cotton, linen and doilies

As you know from my previous post I have been working on some expressive needlework. No it's not going to be a quilt or a wallhanging or anything so far as I know. I wanted to try combinations of linen, silk and cotton with handstitching and one of my mother's doilies in small manageable projects just to see if I could create something beautiful. Somewhere in the back of my head is always my love of anything Japanese and I think the squares I have made reflect this too. This next square is called "Cherry Blossom". It has a backing of rough silk and could be made into a cushion cover should the recipient fancy it. One of my objects in doing these squares was NOT to try for perfection. I didn't want perfectly even stitching or superb composition. I wanted to run with it and not be too precious about it. It's hard to say what I mean. I see many perfectly executed quilts but few creative or artistic ones.

 The running stitches which decorate the squares are like Kantha stitching as is done in SE Asia although they are not so neat and fine. In "Cherry Blossoms" I made leaf shapes to go with the flowers using neutral shades of embroidery floss. The Kantha was great fun to do because it was both easy and effective.

The friend I gave this piece to has had it framed in lovely soft colours.

The next square is called "Hearts Aflutter". Well I had to do something about the fact that the heart is slightly skew-whiff (can't spell it) because I thought it looked cute that way and didn't want to unpick it if the truth be known!

Unlike the other two squares, "Hearts Aflutter" has been lightly quilted and has a backing of off-white silk from a wedding dress purchased years ago from Vinnies.

Old World Charm : Silk, linen and cotton

I have been trying to do something out of my usual square as well as do something with my mother's rather beautiful doilies that I no longer use. Finished this today. The block is made from silk, cotton and linen as well as a hand crocheted doilie. It's a gift for a friend and I hope I have interpreted her taste correctly and that she will like it. It needs to be blocked and framed I think.

Mug bags for "The Yarnspinners"

My craft group in Sydney is called "The Yarnspinners". We meet every Tuesday afternoon at St Peters Library and have great fun doing various different crafts. Recently some new members joined, Leonard and Leonie so I made a couple of mug bags for them. These are great for craft groups or for the staffroom at work. Encased in a pretty bag your mug

 will never be "borrowed" by other staff members and left unwashed. The ubiquitous Sydney cockroaches won't be able to get at it and it will be protected from dust and dirt. If you're doing one of these for a gift make sure the mug matches the fabric of the bag perfectly and your gift will be greatly appreciated. My photos aren't the best, sorry, I should have cropped them. I'm good at mug bags but not so good at photography!