Wednesday 21 April 2010

Alphabets and lettering

That's pretty much what I've been stitching during the last few days. I didn't plan it that way but that's where I arrived on all three pieces I'm working on. I started by pulling out NS once more. Besides the lettering I'm also continuing with the border around it. Not much progress on this one since I only pulled it out yesterday.



Next up is He is Risen. The pattern calls for the use of a small letter h in the second phrase but I prefer to use a capital H when referring to the Lord. Well changing that meant I could no longer fit in the punctuation but I don't think it's really necessary on this anyways. I also didn't like the way the capital H looked once I got it stitched so I altered it slightly. I guess I better finish stitching the first word in the phrase. It looks a bit silly without it right now.


Finally we have my new start, Colette's Cat Sampler. There are just two more words left to be stitched in the quote but I got tired of working on the lettering and decided to move on to one of the cats for a change. The quote in this piece is by a French novelist, Colette, and consequently her name is inscribed at the bottom of the stitching. I've decided I want to substitute it with the name of my cat, Clarisse but once again I find there is no room to fit the entire name in. If I changed the spelling to Clarice it would work and I might have to do this if I can't figure something out. The latter spelling is the one that most people use anyways but I'll have another look at it this week and see if I can adjust things somehow to make it work.


Having lots of time on my hands while I recuperate, I decided to try my hand at finishing again. I dug through my drawer of finishes and found my Waxing Moon Checkerboard Bunny freebie. Perfect for spring. Next up, find a corresponding fabric. Okay, that only took me about 30 minutes! Because it had been more than a year since I'd tried a pinkeep finish, I looked up my copy of Vonna's tutorial to guide me once more. After only a couple hours of trying to figure things out, here are the results.

Not too bad, if I do say so myself!



More time on my hands also means more time for online shopping! Not always a good thing according to my DH but this time I found a goldmine. Since the demise of Sugar Maple Fabrics, I've been looking for another Canadian source of hand dyed small fabrics. I prefer having smalls for the ornies I want to stitch. Of course it always works out that you find something when you're not looking for it. I was looking for a particular floss and kept finding listings for Ayrloom fabrics. I decided to check them out. Turns out they are an established dyer of yarns and wools in the Ayr, Ontario region which have now branched out into dyes for needlework fabric and floss. I ordered some of their itsy bits of fabric which included 10 pieces of 9x9 fabric in various counts of linen and evenweave per package. The cost was very reasonable. They arrived yesterday and I was thrilled with the fabrics and colours. Take a peek!






The floss has since arrived and I love it as well. I'll try and remember to have a picture for next time to show you.
Yesterday I tried the drive into Ottawa to join my Tuesday night stitching group. Between my trip to Florida and my surgery it has been 4 weeks since I've stitched with the group. It was so good to see them all once more and catch up with all their stitching. Most of the group are headed off to a stitching retreat in Gananoque this weekend. I opted not to this time because of my recent Florida trip plus the fact that I'm saving for a trip out west this summer.
Although it was fun joining the group again I did find I was pretty tired from the drive and left earlier than usual so I could hit the sack as soon as I got home. I couldn't have sat any longer anyways. The trip to Gananoque would have done me in for sure.
I'm wondering if anyone can help me out? I've been admiring many of the pin pillow finishes on several blogs. I find they are just too cute and would love to try one out. Trouble is I don't know where to start. I don't have a machine so I would be hand sewing everything. I know how to make a standard little pillow but I'm not sure just how to insert the piece of stitching in there. Are there any tutorials around?
It's another beautiful and warm day. A cold front is passing through overnight, dropping temps again so I'm going to head out and enjoy the day while I can. Stitching on the deck anyone?

9 comments:

  1. Hi Lynn,

    Does this company have a website? I would love to find an Ontario source for fabby.

    Thanks!

    Jo

    joannm (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your pinkeep turned out great, love the multi colored ribbon! I have to check out the fabric you got.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh wow! Love your He Is Risen and your Kitty Sampler! But your pinkeep is PERFECT! Love it :)

    All that fabric makes me itchy to buy something myself! LOL!

    Have fun on your stitch weekend :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Lynn,

    Glad to hear that your surgery
    went well and you're recovering
    nicely from it. The silver
    lining to this is of course all
    the extra stitching time that
    you'll have during your time off
    of work.

    I'm admiring your new pinkeep in
    the photo that you've posted and
    think that you did an awesome
    job putting it together. A cute
    Waxing Moon Designs freebie with
    lots of pretty Spring colors and
    an adorable bunny too. No
    wonder you were inspired to get
    this one finished.

    Your finish of Home of A Needle
    Worker Too is beautiful. Love
    the blue color of the house
    with the white trim on the
    windows and door. This one is
    in my stash to be stitched
    someday as well and looks like
    a fun stitch. I don't mind
    stitching the borders on Diane's
    designs because they are always
    so pretty, colorful and never
    the same from project to project.

    Those fabrics from Ayrloom
    Fabrics look wonderful in all
    their glorious rainbow colors.
    Very nice selection there to
    stitch on. Love the sparkly
    ones.

    Every time you feature a picture
    of your Nantucket Sampler I go
    gaga over it. It's so beautiful
    and looks so good on the blue
    fabric that you chose for it.
    It looks like a lot of stitching
    but it's worth all the time and
    effort. A stunning design!!

    Sounds like you had a wonderful
    time in Florida and were quite
    lucky with the weather that
    you had. I loved seeing your
    pictures of the birds, the croc
    and some of the trees. My
    favorite is the one of the
    Eagle soaring towards you (or
    so it seems). Wow!!

    Congratulations on the weight
    losses that you and your DH
    had recently. Good for you.

    I do my puzzles on our dining
    room table and so at the moment
    it has two large puzzles on it,
    plus the cardboard pieces that
    are covering each puzzle so
    that the cats can't get at them,
    plus "stuff" on top of the card
    board so the cats can't shift
    it to get to the puzzles. Sigh!!
    It looks frightful! Guess I'll
    have to break them up soon and
    pack everything away.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congrats on the pinkeep finishing!! It looks great. :) Beautiful work on your WIPs, too. Isn't it funny how you get into the same sort of thing on different projects--letters on everything, or algerian eyelets, etc.? :)

    I'm glad you were able to make it to your stitching group, even if it was exhausting. It must be good to get back to some of your regular activities.

    Have a good weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That pinkeep finishing is just perfect. I finished my little bunny the same way. And you are doing some great stitching. I love love love the By the Bay piece.
    About pillow finishes I can only recommend you the following site
    http://focusonfinishing.blogspot.com/
    It has some awesome tutorials.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Lynn,
    Wow you have been busy. I am impressed. I love the fabric from Ayer, which is very close to me. Please publish their web site or where you found them.
    So you have stitching friends that go to Gananoque, I have two friends in my group that use to go every year Pennie and Irma. They now go to our retreat that is the end of May.
    I have just finished Evangeline and my Lizzie Kate projects I am also finishing my last monthly Christmas ornament, good thing the next one will arrive this week.
    Have a good week end!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You really HAVE been busy!! Wow!! Beautiful progress on yours wips and congrats on your sweet finish! Great fabrics too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lynn I'm glad to see you're taking full advantage of your recuperation time and stitching your little heart out! Funny how you've ended up on lettering on all of your projects at the same time.

    I'm hoping you might feel up to joining us for some stitching at my place on May 8th!

    ReplyDelete

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