A long post!

It's a while since I've posted anything but I'm so excited to be showing you what has been keeping me busy over the past few weeks.
A couple of years ago Christine gifted me a piece of gorgeous Laurel Burch Ocean Song fabric. I'd looked at the fabric many times and wondered what I might do with it. I knew I wanted it to be something special but what............
When I made my first dilly bag last year it occurred to me that this would be the perfect pattern to showcase these gorgeous mermaids and so the idea was born.
Ocean Song is an old fabric line and the mermaids are like gold dust to find now but it's still possible to find some of the other fabrics in the range. I bought enough to be able to make two bags as I knew friend Sheila, another mermaid fan, would love one of these bags as much as I did.
I felt these mermaids deserved to be photographed where they would feel right at home so I took the bags to a beach where there are some nice rocks for the photo shoot :) Be sure to click on the pictures for a better view





When Sheila came over to see how her bag was coming along she blew me away when she presented me with this gorgeous Laurel Burch Ocean Song mug!





Now I know for a fact I'll never be able to bring myself to drink out of this mug for fear of dropping it on the hard tile floor we have throughout the house but it will be displayed somewhere safe that I can enjoy looking at it every day.

On to other things... a friend who loves owls had a birthday so I made a matching pincushion and fob for her. The design is one by the Prairie Schooler from the Autumn Leaves book. This is the front view



and here is the back



another small gift I've been working on is a sewing pocket, pincushion and fob.
The pocket and pincushion are from a pattern by Calico Farm and I added the fob by taking a small element of the stitchery design.
Fabrics used are Kona Cotton Natural and the print is Blackbird Designs Madeira



Here's a view of the inside of the sewing pocket



Since there is not a lot of cross stitch content in this post here's my finished Return to the Sea which is a lovely design by The Sampler Girl
I used the recommended threads and a piece of unknown linen from my stash



Another small finish is Stacy Nash Hanging Bluebird Pinkeep. Again this is the recommended threads and unknown linen. This was my first attempt at ageing fabric with walnut ink crystals and I was quite pleased at how it turned out.



Finally, just for fun, here is a picture of the local merceria where I am lucky enough to be able to go to buy trims, buttons etc. The man and wife team that run it know me well and are always delighted to see what I've been making with the things I buy from them. You definitely need to click on this picture! I can take orders LOL.



and since we've already done the nice beach pictures here's a sight you don't see every day in UK which is where I'm from. These goats live about a mile away from us and every day they go out for a walkies. I love to see them out and about even though they do hold up the traffic at times!




Wow! what a long post. Are you still with me? I hope you've enjoyed the pictures as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you. Thank you for visiting my blog and, as always, thank you for your lovely comments.

Margaret

Poppy's Sewing Set

As soon as I saw this sewing set by Gail Pan I fell in love with it. I think it was specially designed for a gathering of Australian Quilters/stitchers and at first only available to them. As soon as it was available I sent off to Mrs Martin's Quilt Shop for the pattern.

The set is a drawstring bag, pincushion, needlebook and scissor fob.
I was taken with the unusual square shape of the bag. It was a little tricky to get the base sewn in but otherwise straightforward to make.
I did take a picture of the inside of the needlebook but it seems to have disappeared in my PC somewhere!
If you would like to see a close up of the sewing set you can click on the pictures for a better view.



A couple of other small finishes are a Lizzie Kate design that I finished as a small hanging pillow




I bought this design on eBay years ago as just the chart from a kit and it has taken me this long to put the last few stitches in. It turned out cute so I don't know why I didn't finish it sooner.

Finally, one of Tanya's (The Sampler Girl) lovely designs Hope Perches.
I used Vikki Clayton's silk threads for the design area and silk duponi for the pillow.



Things I'm working on now are my long neglected Beatrix Potter Sampler and I will soon be starting a SAL with a few friends for Blackbird Designs Sarah Tobias Needleroll.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today and for your nice comments. I enjoy hearing from you :)

Margaret

Tiny Treasures

Just a quick post to show off some of the stitched gifts I've received over the last few week.
I just love little things and all of these are so tiny.
First up is a pinkeep from Brigitte in Germany. Brigitte stitched a Prairie Schooler design with the letter M. Isn't it lovely?



I was blown away when I received this tiny little pinbox from Francoise (no blog)
Francoise has stitched Blackbird Designs Buttons and Blooms over one and fitted it into the lid of a box of pearl head pins. Everything about this is so dainty. I love it.




Finally, Sandra in UK stitched this gorgeous strawberry scissor fob for me. Click on the picture for a close up of the stitching and finishing. It's so beautifully done.
Sandra doesn't have a blog but she if you want to see some gorgeous stitching and finishing you can visit her Picasa albums.




I've just remembered a few things I stitched as Christmas gifts but forgot to show here. Some of you may already have seen them on Nancy's blog but for anyone that hasn't seen them here's a pinkeep I made using a chart from a German booklet I have called Kreuzstichmuster. This is the front of the pinkeep




and here's the back view. The initial comes from the same pattern book




This is a set of needlework smalls that I stitched using a chart from Theron Traditions - Stray Pins and Moms Scissors. I was getting a little tired of the design after stitching it three times (once over one for the fob) and the border yet a fourth time for the back of the needlebook!



Here's a view of the back of the pinkeep etc.



and a view of the inside



I have a few more finishes to show but will save those for next time.





Thanks so much for visiting me today :)

Margaret