Tuesday, June 05, 2007

More stitchery and some new fabric acquisitions

Last night it was our monthly Guild meeting - the speaker was a lady called Jenni Dobson and her talk was right up Bonnie's street - 'In praise of scraps'. As usual, like the muppet I am, I forgot to take my camera so have no photos to share but I think hers was the most entertaining and inspiring talk I've listened to since I joined the group

I was very lucky and won a prize in the raffle - this lovely fat quarter of very unusual leaf fabric has already got the creative imagination buzzing away working on a mid green and sand colour scheme for another quilt - after all I've no others in the cupboard still to finish - NOT!

We also had some fabric for sale - the local Oxfam charity shop often receives ends of rolls of fabric which they try, not always successfully, to sell for a measly 50p per yard. I suppose you don't often get people looking for fabric from the roll in charity shops.

Anyway one of our committee members offered to try and sell it at our meeting for £1 per yard - half to Oxfam and half to the group.

Most of the fabric was poly-cotton - fine for the back of say Women's Refuge charity quilts - but there were the odd few rolls of 100% cotton.

I managed to obtain over a yard of the dark blue stripe and well over three yards of the turquoise gingham - when I say the measurements they were pretty rough because the ladies were, with everyone's agreement, measuring with the old standard 'nose to finger tip' method. All this for the princely sum of £4. With £1 for the strip of raffle tickets I came home with an armful of treasure for a fiver :o)

It would appear that the charity shop gets in this sort of fabric quite regularly so who knows there may be more on the horizon.

As for stitching, my 'white elephant cover' is coming on apace - I think I'm past half way done now and really liking the result

Originally I drew the little stars with a single dot in the middle, but once I started I thought I'd rather have a pair of french knots in each star so it looked like the holes in the middle of a button.

One or two people have asked me which stitch I'm using and I have to tell you it's neither back stitch, stem stitch nor chain stitch. A few months ago, when I was looking at redwork patterns on the internet, I came across as article I've never been able to relocate which describes 'winchester stitch'. In trying to find the article again I've come across lots of other 'dictionaries of stitches' where this same stitch is called 'split stitch' or Kensington outline stitch. Basically it's a back stitch that is worked into the previous stitch instead of meeting it. Essentially you enter your needle into the stitch you've worked before thus splitting the old stitch. If it's done neatly it does give the effect of a very fine chain stitch and is wonderful for going round corners and odd shapes. It's very quick and effective.

And finally here's another little piece of nonsense that I've stitched this past week too - lilac's definitely the flavour of the moment, but this time on cream. It seems I've caught the stitchery bug!

14 comments:

meggie said...

That is not a 'cover' -that is a work of art!! It is wonderful. And I love your little stitched heart also. You are amazing with your speed!

Joyce said...

Lucky you with all those fabrics for a fiver. I really like the green leaves. It would look nice on my pile of greens. Lol.

Juliann in WA said...

Thank you so much for the link to the stitchery site - I have been trying to figure out how to do a button hole stitch in a circular pattern and there it is in the stitch directory. Hope you enjoy the stitchery bug!

May Britt said...

I have to try split stiches in my next stitchery. Stitchery is addictive LOL glad you joined the group.

Tanya said...

Oh Anne! You're embroidery is just beautiful. You've made that White elephant a piece of art.

Lily Mulholland said...

Anne it's coming along fabulously!

And thanks so much for the link to Sharon B's split stitch and then from there her stitch dictionary! Wow what a resource.

Might have to go get me a hoop! LOL

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh it is turning out beautiful! I am really interested in that stitch - I'll have to do some searching on that one! My stem stitch always looks blah!

Libby said...

Oh that turquoise gingham is just wonderful . . . reminds me of my grandma. She used to buy 1 yd of of gingham check and without a pattern tear it into the assorted pieces needed to make an apron. She did cross-stitching in the squares before assembling. It just makes me smile to think about it.

Unknown said...

I am liking the elephant more every time I see it. The stitchery is working very well I think. Congratulations on your prize and on your purchases. I particularly like the navy stripes. Take care.

Sew Create It - Jane said...

My my you've been busy while I was stuck in the 19th century! I love the purple stars and the stitching is lovely. You do have some patiences to do all that stitching!

Judy said...

I still use the nose to finger method if I just want to cut about a yard from a big piece of fabric!*G*

kcdi said...

Congrats on your leafy win. I can't wait to see what you do with it! And your white elephant is just gorgeous!

Ruth's Place said...

Love the fabric you won, very pretty. Thanks for describing the stitching technique, I'm not a stitcher, but I've got some to do and I've been wondering how to go about it.

atet said...

Oddly enough, I just saw the stitch you use in a book I picked up this week about embroidery stitches. I think all the inspiration I've been seeing in blogs is getting me motivated to try some embroidery!