All the Pillows

I have been enjoying my new crafting space/work space/sewing space/studio (I still don't know what to call the space) so much that I haven't spent anytime on the computer, so I have lots to show. This post I'll just show some pillows I have recently finished.

The first is a stitching one. 

This is a piece of cross stitch that I had started last year.

The chart is from this Sajou book. I used almost a whole skein of a Thread Worx floss (colour #1070), and stitched (3 over 2) on a 25 count natural linen.

I backed the piece of cross stitch with a dark fabric because I thought it showed off the texture of the fabric better (in the top photo of the cross stitch I was trying out a white piece of cotton and a dark piece).

For the back I used a scrap of blue velveteen, and just did an overlap (it is covered in down in the photo - more on that in a minute).

The next pillow is a quilted one - although there is some stitching too, but not mine.

These are some cross stitch pieces that my Dad has been making recently (the charts are from the book 'Répertoire des Motifs' by Valérie Lejeune). I tea/coffee dyed them (they were on white aida cloth). I pieced them together with 1+1/2" pieces of fabric, and quilted it with a walking foot. The back has a button closure.

I used 1+3/4" single binding to put the front and back together.

I couldn't be happier with the results - I stepped out of my box for the colours for this (there are no reds!).

I made the pillow forms for these two pillows out of a very old, worn out down parka (such a messy, time consuming job - I don't know if I would do it again).

The cross stitch pillow needed a specific size and then I just cut up the rest of the ticking and made the other pillows. The large one needed a bit of feathers from an old pillow because I didn't have enough down from the coat (I am sure only about half of the down from the coat made it into the pillows - I wore a mask and a large plastic apron, and worked in the craft room storage room with the door closed to try and contain the mess).

The next two are tiny pillows ('pin-keeps') that I cross stitched using linen fabric and cotton floss that I dyed (more about that on another post). Both are stitched one strand of floss over two linen threads (1 over 2).

This one is a free pattern from Blackbird Designs - Souvenir de France. I stitched it on a 28 count linen.

This is one that I designed. It is stitched on 36 count linen (I wanted to see how it was to stitch. It was easier than I thought it would be - with a good light and 3x magnifying glasses).

I finished them both off by machine stitching them all around, making a slit in the back to turn them around, and stuffing them (they are stuffed with shredded wool batting). After the slit is whipped stitched and covered with a felt heart. I learned this technique from a Lori Holt video.

They are only a couple of inches in size,

and fit perfectly in an old basket with sewing things (the basket was given to my Grandmother by her Father-in-Law - full of fruit, when my Dad was born - 86 years ago)

These are more tiny pillows that I finished for my parents - my Dad has been doing lots of stitching during the pandemic (I believe the charts for these are all from the book 'Point de Croix Retro' by Véronique Enginger).

All the best

 

All the Crafts!

Instead of blogging recently I have been making things! I love my new craft room - it is wonderful being able to easily access all the tools, books and supplies, and I have been spending a lot of my time there. Here are some of the things I have been working on (picture heavy)-

I turned a piece of the card weaving braid from earlier in the year into a door hanger.

I added a couple of tassels, twisted and braided some of the fringe, and added lots of bells and bobbles. For some of the beads I used jewelry making skills to make little charms.

Along with the other piece of braid they should be good for Christmas decorations.

Quite a while ago I read about a quilter that made test blocks, and class blocks out of Christmas fabric, because if nothing else she would eventually have enough blocks for a Christmas quilt - I apply this to other crafts and make things in Christmas colours, so they could always be used for decorations.

I made a little bit of Russian punch needle (igolochkoy).

The circle is about 1.5".

I used 1 strand of embroidery floss (the three were all handdyed).

My oldest son made the box - he is working on his new laser cutter and trying things out.

I made a couple of pairs of moccasins (my husband and I needed new slippers).

They are made from moose leather and beaver fur, with a fleece lining.

It is the first time I made moccasins with a sewn on extra sole, and it worked surprisingly well. For one pair I used the smooth side of the leather for the foot and the suede side for the top with the beads, the other is reversed. Both have the soles made with the suede side, so that they aren't slippery.

I took a class on making moccasins and mukluks many years ago, and use a book from MacPhee Workshop that is still available (there is also a video link on making mukluks).

The beading starts with a drawing on paper.

The designs are outlined, the paper removed,

and then filled in. 

The first pair had more beads than the second one because my fingers were getting tired of beading.

Apart from machine sewing on the soles (with a walking foot) the moccasins are hand sewn (I used imitation sinew for the first time which was much easier than what I had previously used - nylon thread and beeswax).

There is nothing like a new pair of moccasins!

I couldn't resist participating in the new Temecula Quilt Company's Mini Monday Sewing Bee.

These are the blocks for January and February (4" blocks).

Recently I have been watching Floss Tube (the term cross stitcher's use for their YouTube channels). It seems that cross stitch has changed recently - there are lots of new-to-me terms, so it has been interesting. 

I love the overdyed fabric and floss that people use, so since I have lots of floss and scraps of fabric leftover from other embroidery projects, plus dyes for plant fibres, I tried my hand at dyeing fabric and floss. They all came out really well and I hope to dye more.

The first thing that I embroidered with the floss and fabric was this little pincushion - it is a free pattern from the Primitive Hare.

With a little bit of fabric I stitched just the hand and turned it into a tassel.

Last time I showed a skein of yarn that I spun, now I am knitting a cowl with it (I am participating in a spin/make along). This is just a simple 6 stitch entrelac cowl.

This isn't something that I made recently - this is my Quilt Along quilt from 2011! It is a very big quilt and never fit on any of our beds. Last week my husband and I celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary, and bought ourselves a new queen size mattress ("love you, but need a bit more space"). Our antique brass bed was converted into a queen size by cutting the side railings and welding on extra metal, and longer wooden boards were added to support the mattress. It worked out well and we were pleased that we could keep the bed frame.

Photos from Around-

Miss Maggie enjoying the sun.

Miss Molly enjoying the cold (she runs like the wind!).

She loves pushing her ball down the snow banks and running after it.

The snow from the surrounding fields seems to have blown into our yard.

We have had strong winds and cold temperatures,

Such cold temperatures (-35ºC) that one of the windows cracked (really exploded - there were tiny shards everywhere) - this is the inside pane, luckily there are 2 more panes of glass (hopefully they will hold until temperatures warm up enough that we can change the window).

All the best!♥︎

Lots of Weaving

This past week has been about weaving.

I finished my first card weaving piece. This was really easy, and enjoyable to weave.

I ended up with about 1.5m of braid. It is made from 8/2 unmercerized cotton in 4 colours.

The design is created by turning all the cards at a time. The top design is turning the cards 4 times one way and then 4 times the other way while weaving. The bottom design is 8 times each way. I believe this type of design is called a threaded in design. There are many other ways to card weave, and I look forward to trying out some other designs. The braid is quite thick and strong, because it is 4 layers of thread. The reverse side of the braid is a different pattern (it's visible in other the photo).

I also finished weaving the boucle towels (before washing).

Since some of the towels needed a loop, I wove a small band. This is the first time I have woven boucle cotton on the inkle loom - I was surprised it worked, but it was a bit hard to weave.

This is the fabric, and braid after washing. The white line on the fabric is a thicker cotton, where I cut the towels apart.

Nine towels - all hemmed, and ready to use (each one is different).

Nice and bright, spring time towels (although it is very chilly outside, -33ºC this morning).

I also finished spinning another skein of yarn. This one is a merino/tencel blend that I dyed. It is chain plied, so the colours wouldn't be too blended.

Photos from around -

Molly's frosty face from digging her ball in and out of the snow.

The little white house was moved to a new location this week.

All the best!♥︎

Another Type of Weaving

I have been wanting to try out card/tablet weaving for a while, and since there is a New-to-You Make-Along happening on Instagram I thought this was the perfect time.

I watched a workshop on Long Thread Media - Tablet Weaving Made Easy with John Mullarkey (he really did make it look easy). I cut up some old playing cards, punched holes in the corners, labelled them all ready for weaving. I am using the inkle loom.

I think like weaving on a regular loom, getting everything ready takes the longest amount of time. It should be fun.

I am up to towel #5 on the floor loom - this one will be all navy, then I will try out some striped towels.

I am working on the heels on the handspun socks.

I think she was hoping I had put some food on the floor.

I spun up another skein of yarn for socks.

We are still working on basement renovations. We had enough leftover flooring that my craft room storage room was able to get some nice flooring (it was just rough painted cement before).

Much better!

 

All the best!♥︎