little mats for Helen

A couple of days ago I finished some little mats for Helen   (pink of course)   These I started a while ago, it was going to be a table runner but then we had a change of heart so now she has one square mat,   2 funny shaped and 4 mug sized ones.   How I dread cutting them around the buttonhole stitch but amazingly I did not cut in to any of my stitches.   Like most of the hardanger I do I just stitch with no pattern and let the needle go where it wants to.

Not sure what she is going to do with these, whether they end up in a drawer or are out on the sideboard, maybe they will appear when she knows I am calling round!  They compliment the large picture I did for her for her previous house,  that was done as a request to go over the bed, needless to say it never got hung but she is planning to put it in her lounge as she has decorated it, 3 walls grey and a feature wall of pink  flowers on a white background, it really looks lovely.   This is her first proper house as she calls it, until now she has lived in shared accomodation since she went away to uni when she was 23, she is now 37 and has bought this house.

I have also done some flowers on a piece of hardanger for my friend Carol who lives in Manchester, she was struggling with a mat she was doing so I have done the bits she could not see to do.   Must admit I find this technique so relaxing, especially after doing so much patchwork.Posted it back to her yesterday so she will get it either today or monday.

The batik blocks quilt is now tacked together with the wadding and backing and on the spare bed until I decide what to do next and also pluck up courage to do it.


Will add the latest tula blocks in the next few days.

my embroidery journey

I thought I would share an embroidery which got me into embroidery in 1989.   My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was little, unfortunately I was only 9 when we lost her but the love of creative crafts had been planted.  Nor much embroidery was done but I did start making my own clothes whilst as school and carried on making them for myself then my 2 daughters as they came on the scene until they got to the age when they were embarrassed about wearing what Mum had made. I continued to sew for myself and also made for a small clientele until I found the machine was causing me problems, spondiliitis in the neck which the hospital said was caused from too much machining.   That is when the knitting needles came out. Then I came across an old piece of linen in a shop with a picture on it which I purchased then put away for a few years in a  drawer. In 1989 I decided I would try and stitch it so went along to a class every week and the teacher would help pick the threads and told me what stitches to do,   I thoroughly enjoyed this project and even now when I look at the picture I feel pleased with myself,  the one part I would redo is the grave stones, they stick out like a sore thumb to me ,never mind .  After completing this project I started on a piece of hardanger (my grandmother`s mother was Norwegian) and from there my teacher suggested I take the city and guilds course which I started in 1992.
This taught me so many techniques, a lot I would never use again but on the whole enjoyed the course and completed part 1 in 2 years,   3 years away then a glutton for punishment I went back and took another 2 years to do part 2.  Sorry I have rambled on rather a lot,    will now share the photos of the embroidered piece that got me started and my first hardanger piece.

sorry about the reflection caused by the glass.

   Now a photo of the latest half metre lengths I have bought to add to the stash,  what a shock when I counted them today I have 153 half metre pieces,    time I got something worthwhile made with them!

these are a bit different,  camper vans, owls and tiny russian dolls.

stitch magazine

I have been wanting to share my claim to fame for months and now I can!!    I have had a piece of my hardanger made into a project in stitch magazine and today I got my copy so can now put it on my blog.

Kathy the editor told me about 3 years ago so would like to feature a piece and finally it has all come together.  The chart and instructions were difficult to do and I was not happy with them but the magazine came up trumps and have done a great job with them, they have even done the chart in the colours of the thread.. The colours I used originally were no longer available so had to stitch it again with a different variegated thread. Here are some photos.

I did the hardanger design for the top and the bottom piece I put my initials and the date in.


to those who have requested more quilt photos I have not forgotten will put some more up soon.