Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Life is just a bowl of .......
Strawberries!
Every year the Spanish embroidery list I belong to runs an "Angelita" (their name for a Secret Santa.) This is what I have made to send to my lady in Spain. I have also been collecting CrossStitch magazines, because she has said she loves the English ones, but rarely gets them where she lives.
The wisteria is coming along, although I'm still woefully short of loose bunches on the water soluble fabric. Once I've finished the background I'll have a better idea of how many I'll need. I've got a frame and built a proper box out of wood, so all I need to do now is embroider constantly!
I've put on a kilo in weight. Yippeee!!!
This isn't normally anything to be happy about, but I was beginning to get worried about my weight loss, as with very little effort, I seemed to be losing weight steadily. Paranoia set in, and I was beginning to get convinced there was something seriously wrong with me. So, a few McD Mint Matchmaker Mcflurrys (really worth breaking any diet for) later and other similar treats, I was pleased to see I'd gone up! Now I'm back to a 'normal' diet, so it should come off again.
I'm all shopped out! This weekend we hired a car so we could do all our Christmas shopping at once. Most of the presents are got, all the food and drink has been bought, so the freezer, cupboards and loft are all full and I don't want to see a major supermarket until mid-January!!
Moo
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Progress report
The bunches of wisteria that I first did on the flimsy water soluble fabric, have worked out fine. I've attached them above the arch and am now embroidering more onto the base fabric and then will put the others over the top to give it the depth it needs.
The scan isn't brilliant, as I can't shut the lid down, the frame is too big.
Got favourable feedback at Embroiderers Guild today. I do love it when a plan comes together!
Moo
The scan isn't brilliant, as I can't shut the lid down, the frame is too big.
Got favourable feedback at Embroiderers Guild today. I do love it when a plan comes together!
Moo
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Getting productive
I've been doing a lot of embroidery lately as well as some playing. I've finally got the 'garden' project up and running, with the first layer coming together nicely. I'd made the stone arch and bricks out of Fimo clay a while ago, so stitched them on, then painted the foreground. I dyed some string with black food colouring, (didn't have any fabric paint in the colour I wanted) for the wisteria tree, but when it dried, it was purple!
On Monday when I was in town I went in and got a dark brown fabric paint and came home and dyed some more string, and because I hate waste, threw in the purple as well. Result, a yummy dark brown from the purple, but a rather nondescript brown from the plain string, which was beige to start with!
Last night I sat and sewed the tree, so now it's a case of filling in leaves and flowers. I've been embroidering bunches of wisteria onto water soluble fabric. The first lot I tried is so flimsy it falls apart as you're sewing and is very difficult to tension, so not very conducive to making loads of colonial knots. I then dug out some that my s-i-l got me, which looks like a clear plastic. It's very easy to work on, although it does look very strange. I presume I will dissolve it in hot water, because the wee corner I dipped in cold water just went soft and gluey!
I still need to work out what size to make the scans so they're visible without being too big or too small.
Last week I knitted a Christmas tree. It was a project at the Monday group and very surprisingly, I managed to finish it within the hour, (first person too) considering I don't like knitting and haven't done any since March of 1999!
Unfortunately I had to leave early, so I didn't have time to sew it up and finish it completely, but I did that once I got home. Got the pattern, but doubt if I'll ever use it again as it's a case of been there, done that, got the tree!
Moo
On Monday when I was in town I went in and got a dark brown fabric paint and came home and dyed some more string, and because I hate waste, threw in the purple as well. Result, a yummy dark brown from the purple, but a rather nondescript brown from the plain string, which was beige to start with!
Last night I sat and sewed the tree, so now it's a case of filling in leaves and flowers. I've been embroidering bunches of wisteria onto water soluble fabric. The first lot I tried is so flimsy it falls apart as you're sewing and is very difficult to tension, so not very conducive to making loads of colonial knots. I then dug out some that my s-i-l got me, which looks like a clear plastic. It's very easy to work on, although it does look very strange. I presume I will dissolve it in hot water, because the wee corner I dipped in cold water just went soft and gluey!
I still need to work out what size to make the scans so they're visible without being too big or too small.
Last week I knitted a Christmas tree. It was a project at the Monday group and very surprisingly, I managed to finish it within the hour, (first person too) considering I don't like knitting and haven't done any since March of 1999!
Unfortunately I had to leave early, so I didn't have time to sew it up and finish it completely, but I did that once I got home. Got the pattern, but doubt if I'll ever use it again as it's a case of been there, done that, got the tree!
Moo
