For Needlecrafters

This is one I still have, though not any particularly good photos. It's a quilt I made for sozlet before she was born/ before I knew whether she'd be a boy or a girl. Her room needed decorations. I had an address book with a limerick alphabet by Edmund Dulac, good quality, so I scanned each one, printed onto photo transfer paper, ironed on to white canvas, and then added a ribbon border. I was rather desperate to finish it before the baby arrived -- nesting instinct -- and a couple of hours after I put in the last stitch, I went into labor.



Here's a closeup of one of the panels:

Oh, the "W" was taken off of that for some reason. (All of my original scans are in pdd format, can't get at 'em. That image -- the witch -- is one I found online)

Sorry to stretch!

BK & Soz
Very beautiful things :-D

Local Needlework Groups
Hi everyone! I've been having 'puter problems, so haven't been able to post, but I think I've fixed them now, after 4 hours of messing with it (Grrrrr!)

Yesterday I went (for the first time) to a local needlecraft group which meets at our library, and was Very Surprised to find 19 women there, all working on crochet, knitting, plastic canvas, embroidery, or just browsing needlework magazines. What a thrill for me! Everyone was older than me (at 43!), so I'm "the baby." This is Florida, after all.

There's no group leader or instruction, everyone just works on their stuff & chats....lots of talk about cats....it was wonderful! So I encourage you all to find a local needlework group & just show up!

Seems to me women have been gathering in groups to do needlework for millenia. It was really comforting, even though it was my first time. This group meets every week for 3 hours, and next week we're all going out to lunch afterwards. Big fun for me!

These women were very kind & a lot of fun....there's one woman in a wheelchair who had a stroke, who is still stitching and selling her (cross-stitch) items at local craft fairs. I finished my first picture of flowers in our yard while there.

A Japanese woman invited me to another group on Wednesdays, she said, "We Honeybees, way more fun, you come, you see....' I really liked her, and do plan to attend this other group at a tiny local community center.

I was shocked & thrilled to find so many people there! This is a very rural area, and I thought maybe 2 or 3 women might be there. This group meets every week, and I plan to keep going (of course it's free).

It's A2K that has made me brave enough to actually go out and meet people, and I thank you all for your kindness. I can now say you all have actually changed my life for the better.

I've got lots more stuff to post, will do so in a day or two!

Thought I'd revive this thread to post some new stuff.... First, the jacket I put some silk ribbon flowers on, just making up the pattern as I went. I got this nice, boring denim jacket for $1 at a thrift store, and thought it needed something to liven it up a bit.

I'd gotten a LOT of silk ribbon really cheap on eBay, so I can use it with abandon!

And now for some yard flowers! I've been taking pictures of flowers in our yard for years, and finally designed a series of small panels, stitched on a set of vintage ($2) linen napkins. These are all worked in perle cotton, all my own designs from the photos. I plan to string them all together when I'm done (there will be 6 or 7) and mount them above a long window.

So what's everyone else working on? Please post pictures!

PLUS (no stopping me now!) I finished half of this linen runner, which was pre-stamped for embroidery. This was fun, and easy, since I used perle cotton # 3 (a rather thick thread) and it went really fast. I just picked my own colors and went at it, pretty much ignoring the pre-printed colors and using whatever stitches I liked at the moment.

This has another pre-stamped half, set opposite this pair, so I'm not sure whether I'll just mount this half, or complete the runner and actually put it on a dresser....

A good deal on eBay, thanks to Homeland Security... someone is selling 25 pairs of small embroidery scissors for $5 (for all of them!)

These were all confiscated at Chicago's O'Hare Intl. Airport, from people trying to get on planes with them. These scissors go for more than $5 EACH. And at the rate I lose scissors, these 25 pairs should last more than a week!

Hee hee!

Oh, never commented here on your latest projects. I did in my head, so must've been distracted as I started to write. Very very cool! I like the vintage feel of the runners. And your embroidery on the jacket really does liven it up. But my favorite is the series of flowers from your yard -- really lovely. Nice job!!

Ahh, its all so perdy.

Im into clothing and design clothes tho not professionally.
Im going through a card making phase at the moment with beads and wire,
I love the idea of scrapbooking but havnt taken it up yet.

Soz, my yard flowers are my favorites too! I'll probably try a needlelace stitch to put them together for hanging. I plan to hang them in a long (horizontal) row, maybe above a window.

Did I mention I loved that quilt for Sozlet? It looks like it would always be interesting to look at... some quilts I just don't look at after a bit, the designs are just too simple, you know?


Material Girl, can you show us your designs? I used to sew all my own clothes, back in my corporate days. I bravely sewed all my work clothes for several years (even suits).

I know from experience that the pattern can look right, and seem right, up until you try it on, and then it's really small, or just hangs wrong, or something else awful. When this happened I'd always hang the thing in the closet for a couple of months, and it would miraculously improve (well, except for being the wrong size!)

Also I've done set-in sleeves many times, and I still don't understand just how those pattern pieces fit together. It's like I have to close my eyes & just start pinning, and then it'll work... So I always thought clothing design was beyond me.

I adore beads! I have lots, and used to do a lot of beaded jewelry. Lately I've been doing silk ribbon embroidery, thanks to a load of cheap silk ribbon from eBay!

bm

Hi!
Sozobe directed me to this thread after I posted a call to quilters.

Haven't read the entire thing yet and am pressed for time today.

I quilt and I, like sozobe, used to sew lots of clothes for myself and kids. A thing I used to do for my boys, who were never into sports and would not have worn team logo clothing (which I wouldn't have purchased for them anyway), was to use coloring book pictures as applique and quilting guidelines. I made my dinosaur crazy boys -- now in their twenties -- a jacket quilted with dinos and appliqued and applied counted cross-stitch dinos to their sweatshirts and sweaters.

I'm glad farmerman was able to rescue his leg with his needle skills.

Hey, great idea. I have a dino-crazy girl, myself.

sozobe -- Coloring books are a boon to any sort of crafters because the drawings are so simple. I've been trying to create a quilt block featuring a pieced Mount Ste. Michel. Wow! Talk about difficult! I bought some art deco posters that I hope will help.

Ive done cross stitch in th epast and liked it.
Im starting a silversmithing course tomorrow to make perdy jewelery.

I'm very jealous! I signed up for a silversmithing course earlier this year, but it was cancelled due to lack of interest .

I make beaded jewellery. I also started with cardmaking and adding beads and wire, but got carried away...

I'd like to post some info on the quilt shops I visited on the north of Boston shop around. The shops were in Boxborough, Newbury, Chelmsford and Merrimac, MA, and Amherst, Hollis, Salem, Lyndeborough and Manchester, Ma.

I don't have my notes with me, so I will talk about one or two a day.

I'll start with Mill Girls in Chelmsford. This shop has been sold because one of the owners is relocating back to California. The shop will go through changes after the new owner comes on board, so, in many ways, it isn't fair to speak of it at length.

I will say that the owners were lovely and the other is looking forward to returning to teaching quilting, now that she won't be running a shop.

The selection was pretty sparse, due to selling down in anticipation of the sale, so it is difficult to say what it would have been like. It is located in North Chelmsford, off the intersection of Routes 3, 4 and 40.

The Quilted Crow in Boxborough is also for sale. The owner feels after five years, it is time to move on. I hope the new owner will maintain the store as is.

The Crow is a folk art and document fabric shop with a primitive New ENgland feel. It is located off Route 111, not far from 495, and shares its building with a law firm, a day care center and a wonderful tea shop.

The other interest at the shop is rug hooking and punch needle embroidery. The fabrics are a primitive lovers dream and this shop has been one of the discoveries of my life. Love it! Its on line if you care to explore.

One of the most important discoveries I made on the shop around was Quiltopia in Hollis, NH.

This shop features contemporary fabrics and the owner is fun to talk to. Loved it!

Also, there is a great little restaurant called Country Kitchen across the street which features diner style food at the top of its game.

Oh no, how annoying!!!

I spent about £50 in beads last week!!