Thursday 30 October 2014

Blue, blue and more blue

Lately I've been very busy with my day job (paid work), but I've still managed to do a bit of stitching along the way. Strangely enough, most of it was blue!

First up, my Celtic Snow embroidery by Northern Expressions Needlework. I'm turning the final corner now and just need to check both sides are going to meet up correctly. Then I'll finish some more crosses and add all the yummy beads. It might even get finished before Christmas.

Celtic Snow

I've also had another lesson on the Needlelace I started five weeks ago. There's hardly anything to see, but this is the start of a chrysanthemum flower. It's really hard to get these petals even but I'm persevering. It's stitched on the same hand dyed linen as the Celtic Snow above.

Needlelace in progress
I haven't made much progress on the first motif because I was out of action for a few weeks with a problem in my elbow. It's a lot better now thank goodness. The photo below shows what it will look like eventually.

the model answer

The third blue thing was a star block I made for the Capital Quilters block of the month. These stars looked so good when they were up on the wall. Bridget was the lucky winner, so have fun with them Bridget.




The final blue thing was this lovely surprise that I found in the letterbox. It's a pincushion, custom made for me, by Carla of Granny Maud's Girl.  It was a great surprise, because it wasn't part of a swap or anything - it was just a random act of kindness. We've got to know each other through Possum Magic, and for some strange reason, Carla just thought those fabrics were meant for me! Carla has written a blog post about it, in which she calls me Mrs Peacock. You can read it here.
I love it Carla, and as you can see, it fits right in to my home. Thank you.

pin cushion by Granny Maud's Girl

14 comments:

Melody said...

So many beautiful blue delights. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Oops-Lah said...

You are in a "blue mood" and everything looks fantastic. I can't get my head around your needlelace thought as I can't imagine how you do it. To me it looks almost like knitted or crocheting. And what a lovely surprise you got. Lucky duck ;)!

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

The needlelace in the top flower is just lots and lots of buttonhole stitches done with 2 strands of DMC stranded cotton. Each petal is 6 stitches wide and 8 rows high before the decreasing forms the point.

Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl said...

The star blocks look amazing, and what a delightful treat from Carla. :)

margaret said...

your embroidered piece is nearly complete well apart from the beads and looking great. Your needlelace is amazing, certainly you have shown amazing skill on this piece. All the star blocks look well together and love the pin cushion you were given

Helen@Till We Quilt Again said...

Incredible talent! Everything is so.... beautiful.

Liz said...

Beautiful handwork! I'm especially fond of the embroidery, looks great!

Unknown said...

Wow - these are all so amazing. Seriously the needlelace is fabulous - I've never seen anything like it before. I love blue and these blues are wonderful. Can't wait to see them finished. Love your pinchusion!

HeathersSewingRoom said...

You are a real inspiration when it comes to time management as I think you must be very focused to get through all that stitching and all so beautifully executed. You are certainly working on some very beautiful pieces that will be cherished. I love the blue colour choice.

JanineMarie said...

Beautiful needlework! I don't think I've seen needlelace before. That's going to be so pretty in the variegated blues.

Granny Maud's Girl said...

See! I thought you might like blue!
I can see a lot of progress in the needlelace. I haven't tried it, but I get the sense of how much detailed work is involved.

Unknown said...

Wow lucky Bridget! She must have a very very lucky star as she also won my giveaway :-)

Wendy said...

lots of beautiful work there! The needlelace is coming along and will be fabulous and I love your cross stitch. The navy star blocks look just like the night sky!

Joanna @ Riddle and {Whimsy} said...

I can't even comprehend how you even do the needle lace so I'll just sit back and admire your progress!