The Itch To Stitch

You know that feeling you get sometimes.....You have loads of projects you could be getting on with. Should be getting on with! But you have an overwhelming desire to start something else, something new. Well for me, that something this weekend, was some embroidery.
I used to do loads of it. I have an enormous stash of threads! (not very tidily stored, I might add!)

I knew I needed to re-discover the joy of selecting the colours, of stranding the thread, and listening to the quiet whisper of my needle as it goes in and out, in and out, forming those tiny stitches.

 I was wondering what I could  embroider, when, as luck would have it, I came across some Instagram photos of a Stitch Along on  Lilipopo's blog.

She is such a talented lady. As well as the drawing the pattern of this adorable little girl and her lists, she has a detailed photo tutorial suggesting stitches for the embroidery and which colour threads to use.

Before I knew it, I was downloading the pattern and tracing it onto some quilting weight cotton. I used to use even weave linen, but I didn't quite have a big enough piece of the colour I wanted, so I used quilting weight cotton instead. I traced the pattern onto my fabric with a Frixion pen. It's easy to get a nice fine line with this pen. Some people say that you can sometimes still see the lines, when you iron over them to make them disappear, but I've never had a problem.

It was such a joy to sit quietly and just stitch, purely for the sake of it. I had no plan in mind for the finished piece, I was just enjoying the process.

I love the simplicity of the back stitched outlines, the texture in the hair, and the pompom on the hat.

I only have the legs, boots and lists left to do now. I shall be sad when I've finished.

Wishful Wednesday

Welcome to my second Wishful Wednesday post. This is where I show you what I would make if we lived in a world with a million and one hours in the week. There is a mixture of sewing, knitting and crochet and this week three of the items have free tutorials or patterns, so if you like them too, you may want to have a go!

First up is this gorgeous crochet blanket. I have promised myself that I will actually make this, as it would be a wonderful stash buster. I'm not sure I have enough bright colours in my stash, but hey, we all know how to fix that, don't we!!

It is called the Groovy-Ghan (what a brilliant name!) and the free pattern can be found on Marinke's blog "A Creative Being" here

She's used Stylecraft Special DK which is an economy yarn and is widely available. You can buy it online at Deramores

I really do hope my crochet skills are up to this as it is just so bright and colourful, I know it would fill me with happiness just wielding my crochet hook through all those scrummy balls of yarn.

 

 

Easter is only a couple of weeks away and these little chicks would be great for hiding chocolate eggs. Again the pattern is free and is on Ravelry

I have seen these knitted up and on sale for charity around Easter time for the last few years in my corner newsagents. I've always resisted the temptation to buy them, thinking that I could so easily make them myself. The fact that I'm posting them here is testament to the fact that I've never yet found the time!! Maybe this will be the year.

 

 

My next Wishful Wednesday project is a beautiful quilt . This design is called a string quilt because the pieces that you use to make the block are long and thin like a piece of string. Again, a great way to use up all the scraps. The quilt is paper pieced, meaning that you sew the pieces right onto a paper pattern and then tear the paper away at the end. I've only done paper piecing a couple of times on small projects and I'm not sure how I feel about it - it's the tearing the paper away at the end that I don't enjoy very much, but I know a lot of people really like this method, so I should make the effort to give it another go.

The tutorial for making this is over on  Film in the Fridge blog. She is one of the first bloggers I followed and never fails to inspire.
If I ever get round to making one of these I shall include plenty of white or neutral strips like this

 

so that the colours don't overewhelm each other and the prints are shown off to greatest effect. I think I shall also have to make the strips in each quarter segment of the blocks the same width, as they are in this second string quilt. (again from Film in the Fridge and  tutorial is  here  I'm too much of a control freak to go with "wonky", random width strings.

My final project for this wonderful "million and one hours week" would be from a book "Doodle Stitching Embroidery and Beyond" by Aimee Ray. I have often thought of buying her previous books which have modern embroidery designs in them, but this one includes different types of embroidery, such as crewel work.

 

 

I would so love working the embroidery around the little felt applique pieces on this Babuska doll.

If you fancy dabbling in a little embroidery too, there is a giveaway raffle you can enter to win one of these books at Wild Olive's blog

Phew! Now I've just made an imaginary throw, quilt, half a dozen Easter chicks and a babuska doll, I think it's time to grab a coffee, put my feet up and start thinking about next week's projects!
Happy crafting everyone :)