Out of the workroom

The retreat, that is. I moved it out earlier this week. It's not completely finished but it's almost there and I really needed the space on my workbench to work on other things. So ... high time I showed you the latest pictures.

This is the decking on the front of the retreat...

and here is the other end of the decking, complete with sewing box at the ready beside the wicker chair.

and here's a peek in through the door with the light on. I'll show you more pictures of the inside next time.

At our dollshouse club we're getting ready for the annual show and this year we're each making a table for a table-top sale room. The owner of my table is selling patchwork materials and quilts.

It's not quite finished yet - the baskets need filling with threads and I need to think of something else to put down there on the floor - perhaps some quilters' rulers or something.

I know it's not Saturday ...

... but here's a stitching roundup anyhow. I didn't post last weekend and I'm away at our Embroiderer's Guild summer school this coming weekend so there'll be no post again. So this is a review of my latest stitching adventures.

The first piece I have to show you is another piece of lace. This one is worked in really fine silk threads - from my favourite thread lady, Stef Francis, again. I mounted it on a piece of silk and then onto the lid of a box which holds note cards.

The second piece I've been working on is my sampler book. The Little House Sampler page is complete and the band sampler is almost finished. There's a lot of spare fabric around the edge of each page as the finished page size is just a little larger than that border around the house picture. Lots of pieces to make miniature cushions for the dolls house and book marks for gifts!

There will be more lace to see next week as the summer school workshop I'm doing is on needlelace, led by Pat Gibson. Pat is well known as both a lace maker and a textile artist and did publish a book entitled Needlelace Stitches - sadly now out of print though I did manage to buy a copy online.

Lace and samplers

This is the piece that I've been working on for the past couple of months - finished at last!

 

It is a copy of a motif from a piece of 17th century lace which is part of the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and it will be one of the pieces that I contribute to next year's exhibition on 17th century embroidery that our branch of the Embroiderers' Guild is putting together. 

I was given the pattern and a photocopy of the original lace way back in October last year when I went to my lace tutor's studio in Wales on a lace-making holiday. Bearing in mind that I only started making lace in July last year, for a long time it felt like a challenge too far! Then in April or May this year I started thinking that maybe I'd give it a try - nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that. I go away for another lesson with Pat in a couple of weeks' time so watch this space to see what we make then.

Apart from the lace, I've been working on the sampler book which my son gave me for my birthday. Here are the first two pages finished ...

and the third one begun.

 

I've also been stitching a patchwork quilt for the retreat. I printed a picture of patchwork onto some cotton fabric and then backed it with wadding and a piece of cotton fabric and just stitched along the lines - so much quicker than stitching together all those little squares. The binding is attached so now I just need to slip stitch that in place and the bed has a quilt.

 

Retreat progress

I will start today by giving a big welcome to my new followers. It's lovely to have you around. Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my offerings.

I have made quite a bit of progress on the retreat in the past week and now I'm onto the really fun bit - making the building look cosy and lived in. It's all fun of course, but I do enjoy the search for all those little bits and pieces of accessories and soft furnishing that make a miniature home come to life. So, here's the latest guided tour ...

The carpet is in place in the living room and since taking this photograph I've added flowers and a couple of notebooks to the table and a lamp beside the armchair. I'll show photos of that in the next report.

The back door has a lock and handle, and there's a new set of shelves above the sink. Can you just see the cat's food bowl down beside the dresser too?

I added a washstand upstairs and, of course, made some suitcases in pink and cream leather as additional storage - and a pair of fluffy slippers in pink. I'm not sure those particular toiletries will stay. I have some which are much prettier to add instead I think.

There's a new chest of drawers (minus handles) beside the bed and a wicker chest together with a shabby little bird cage. That sharp angle on the roof is a little tricky to fill but I'm getting there. Do you like the sun hat hanging on the end of the bed? That may eventually go outside on the deck but just for now it's safer hanging there.

Saturday stitching roundup

I have two finished pieces to show you this week, one of which has been several months in the making. And now I'm currently working on another fairly long term project together with a piece of lace which is almost finished. This lace is going to be a part of my offering for the exhibition next year on 17th century embroidery - but more of that when it's completed.

So ... to the finished pieces ...

 This is the second (and final) project for the Sumptuous Surfaces course I've been taking online. The design was inspired by lichen on rocks but I really wanted to slip outside my comfort zone for a while and work a more abstract piece than I usually do.

Aren't these colours gorgeous? Regular readers will remember from a few weeks ago the sweetie jars filled with threads which my good friend gave me for my birthday - well here they are, stitched into this project.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this course and would  recommend it to anyone. I've learned such a lot about the design process and about colour theory and how to apply it to my embroidery designs. I've also learned a little more about using a working journal/sketchbook with my embroidery. This is a topic which I'm finding increasingly useful, though I've never really used one before this year. Just goes to show that you're never too old to learn new techniques!

The second finished item this week is a mixed media fabric journal, which I've been working on for for a while. Earlier this year, whilst I was clearing up some shelves, I came across a folder filled with poems which a good friend sent me following the death of my husband. After re-reading them I began to think that it was a shame for them to just sit unread and often forgotten on a shelf. And so, the idea for my 'Stitched Therapy' journal was born. The words are all either from the poems or were spoken by my bereavement counsellor and the book now sits on the coffee table in my lounge.

Pieces for my shop

No progress at all on the retreat but I've been really busy making pieces to sell in my Etsy shop so I'll share those with you all.

The first piece is this little gardening bench complete with drawer full of seed packets, gardening tools, and even a little hedgehog which seems to have taken up residence in the plant pot on that bottom shelf.

 

There's a wedding memory box filled with all kinds of memorabilia related to the owner's wedding day.

Then there's a whole lot of luggage sets in readiness for the holiday season. Where will your dolls house occupants be going to this year?

Saturday stitching roundup

I don't feel that there's an awful lot to show this week that's finished. The blackwork tree of life is complete.

and I've been busy working on my second piece for the sumptuous surfaces course. This piece is in colour and I've based my design on lichen covered rocks but really didn't want it to end up being a true representation of that. I wanted it to be more of an abstract design, which is a bit of a diversion for me as I don't normally do abstract. I did the low profile stitching in a pulled work stitch known as four sided stitch.

And then I've made a start with the colour. At first I felt that I was in danger of this becoming a symphony in green but I'm better pleased with it now I've added in some of the reds.

 In other news ... on Thursday I went to Sheffield to meet up with a third cousin who I've 'met' in my searches for family history and we went to Renishaw Hall gardens. We didn't really have time to go inside the house but the sun was shining (for the first and only time this week!) and it was beautiful.

 This castellated folly is actually a pet's graveyard and there is a whole circle of tiny headstones inside.

 This is the white garden.

 and this is the long border

 

 The whole garden is set out like a series of 'rooms' so it's lovely to explore as around every hedge corner there is another surprise.

Have a great weekend everyone!