Stumpwork Needle Book for Marie

Marie e-mailed me and let me know she received her For the Love of Needle Work exchange and she absolutely love it. This is an exchange from the Friends Through Threads blog organised by a wonderful stitching friend. I stitched a little stumpwork design from Jane Nicholas and have changed it by adding a dragonfly and finished it into a needle book. I also stitched her a personalised matching scissor fob that I think Marie will enjoy and made her some matching butterfly pins, just for fun.

Marie it was a pleasure stitching this for you and I am thrilled that you love it so much! I am glad I had the opportunity to spoil you back.

Update on some stitching - Natures Circle Stumpwork

I have started a stump work design I had on my list to do for some time. The design is called ‘Natures Circle’ and is designed by Petra Pullen form South Africa. The design consist of various fruits, leaves and insects with al the components get stitched on the main fabric and several of the leaves, berries and insects is stitched separately and later attached to the fabric to give a 3d effect.

I started at the top of the design and will work my way down as the thread often get caught on the raised areas - how frustrating! The grapes were fun to do and I still need to attach some tendrils. I have stitched the leaves using long and short stitch in shades of green (DMC) and the berries of the grapes is done in various shades of petite Mill Hill beads. I just love the tiny little bees aren’t they gorgeous?

I have also completed the cherries, using and interesting technique of covering wooden beads with thread and then attach them to the main fabric. I have finished them off with a single Mill Hill bead. The leaves and stems were stitched in satin stitch and stem stitch.

After the cherries I stitched the Raspberries. The berries is embroidered in clusters of french knots on a separate piece of fabric using 2 to 3 strands in various variations of red, pinks and greens, again using mill hill beads to add color and dimension. To secure the berries the shapes are cut out with a 4mm allowance and gathered just inside the raw edge (like you will do a covered button) and secured it to the main fabric with tiny tack stitches.

Here is the total progress to date..

And here is Miss Paisley insisting that her photo is also taken :-)

What fun! I have started on the oranges and strawberries so will do some more posting on my progress. Happy stitching till next time! Bye.

Personal exchange with Cathy Boyd

After enquiring about joining the HOE (Hooked on Exchange) I was invited by Cathy Boyd, Maplewood, Minnesota to do a personal exchange with her. I really felt honoured to be her first South African exchange partner. We decided to keep the choice of item, theme and type of embroidery open. This was my very first exchange and I was really anxious on what to stitch for her, so I decided on a name tag and scissor fob with a little bag to keep it in. It is custom in South Africa to wear a name tag to all our embroidery events/classes and I thought she would enjoy a name tag as she also likes to attend embroidery classes and workshops. I stitch the name tag, fob and bag in stump work as she loves hardanger and cross stitch and I thought having something different will be nice for her. I have used designs from Jane Nicolas - Fruits and Flowers Stump Work Collection and adapted them slightly to fit the name tag, bag and scissor fob, stitched on off white linen and I have used DMC threads and Mill Hill beads.

Thank you Cathy, this was such fun doing my first exchange with you. I love stitching these items and putting the exchange together for you. Thank you also for making me feel so welcome and sharing your passion for stitching with me.