Catch 22...

Hi everyone,

I am so glad that Christmas is over....

... now I can post about what I have been doing...lol....

...have a look....

... I made these little wall hangings as a gift...

so of course couldn't post about them earlier  :)

As for the 'catch 22' .....

another six months to get organized would have been nice...lol...!!!

Happy crafting,  Jenny

It's a crewel world out there........

Hi everyone,

for this journey

I thought  I would combine.....

Jenny's Jaunts with My Embroidery Journey 

so buckle up...lol...

Some people just don't seem to get the point how therapeutic

embroidery can be.....

It would be lovely to just sit under a lovely 

shady tree and stitch away.....

.....even the branches could lead to inspiration....

......and the number of 

stitches out there.....

.....the variety almost seems to

grow like rabbits ..lol...

 What ever you do.....

keep those needles away from

the tyres...lol...

Happy crafting,  Jenny

To view more of my Jaunts, click here

Redwork finished......nearly :)

Hi everyone, how is your week going.....did you remember to visit Kaaren yesterday? Her choice of colours are lovely, aren't they :)

I have been promising to give you another post related to My Embroidery Journey......and have finally managed to do it......

…...as you can see, I still haven't stitched the centres of the gum blossoms!! Any suggestions...? A customer did suggest french knots, but I'm not sure about this idea. I have wondered about a 'spider rose ' (I think that's the title), that I have seen in ribbon embroidery, but I'm not sure about the size of stitch to the size of the area to fill.......what do you suggest.......?

I have to admit, I have already been working on another doiley from the tins. This one was already started...........

.........so hopefully I can do the original stitcher justice with my stitching. Unfortunately didn't have all of the blues, so have done the best I can.....as you can see, I have almost finished the blue stitching.....

The stitches I have used here, are stem stitch (black),  buttonhole stitch (blues), AND satin stitch (yellow)

Here is a pic of the original instruction sheet.....

…..and this is the back of the page....

Notice how they also give instructions for crocheting the edging too!! I haven't attempted that yet....I am in the middle of crocheting  silk sets for the shop.

This post has quite a few pics already, so I will do another post for how to do the stitches soon :)

Happy crafting, Jenny     

 P.S:   I  have received a note to say I have to change my background, so I don't know what I will be next time, but.....I'll still be here...lol... :)

Chain Stitch

Hi everyone,

how are you coping with the weather?  Our days have still been dry, but not too cold....yet....lol...!!

As I mentioned in my last  post ,  this post is to show you how I did my chain stitch.   The first three pics here, show a basic chain stitch........

CHAIN  STITCH

                 

......this is where chain stitch can vary......

.............for a flower petal , insert the needle close to the outside of the loop as shown below........  

.....for a continual chain stitch,

..........see where the needle came up through the fabric in the picture above.......pull the stitch tight,  then insert the needle back down through the fabric close to where the thread came up (inside the loop), and use this as the start of your next chain.   

Continue the above step until you are happy with the length of your row of chain stitches  :)

If  the description for the row of chain doesn't make sense, I apologise big time!   Please, write in via comments, or email to let me know,  and I will try to do better on another post  :)  

Happy stitching,  Jenny

Stitches I used for my Redwork Project.....

Hi everyone, I hope your day has been a good one.

In this post, I am continuing  My Embroidery Journey  .  In the first post, I mentioned some of the stitches I used.

Admittedly, we all have to start somewhere...... and I am not trying to say my way is the right way, or the wrong way .....but here are my instructions.......

STRAIGHT/RUNNING  STITCH

........continually threading needle in and out of fabric.

BACK  STITCH

........similar to straight stitch, but bring needle up, and go back.....

.......then bring needle up ahead of last time.

STEM  STITCH

........work similar to straight stitch, but bring needle up so that stitches overlap a bit.

I have also used a version of chain stitch, but it includes a number of photos, so will leave that for another post.

I hope my pics are helpful to someone.....apologies if adding to the confusion  :)

Happy crafting,  Jenny

Tins finale......and.....the start of 'My Embroidery Journey'

Hi everyone,

I hope you have been having a great time crafting lately.  I thought I would share my embroidery journey with you, now I have filled you in on the contents of the tins.

From here on in, I will refer to these posts as 'My Embroidery Journey' .

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been working on this doily with red thread, and stem stitch.......

........I have used a version of chain stitch on the edges of the gumnut blossoms.........all that is left to stitch, is the centre of the blossoms, but as yet, I haven't discovered which stitch would be best to use....!!

I have already commenced on the 2nd half of this duchess set, so will show pics of that soon.  Unfortunately, the centrepiece had some holes, so I making good use of this piece to practice my stitiches....not necessarily the right stitch for where I use it, but we have to start somewhere :)  

I look at craftwork this way.....who can say what is the right way, and what is the wrong way?  As long as you enjoy what you are doing, keep it up!  We all have 'nightmare' pieces lurking in the backs of cupboards of our very first attempt at something...lol...    

Remember, every piece is an original!   :)    

 Happy crafting,  Jenny

Tins part 4

Hi everyone,

I hope your weekend is going well.....

.....'yep'......I'm back to the tins........lol....... :)

This one contained most of the threads...........some were already matched to doilies.........

The bottom of the tin has W. Allen & Co. embossed into the tin.  Given the picture on the lid,  I thought it might have been a 'Quality Street' tin.

The last tin I'm assuming had biscuits, given the size of it...........

                                          







   ............or someone was v....eryyy close to chocolate heaven......lol...!!

You will be glad to know this is the last of the tins...........as for the doilies......that's another post...!!

Enjoy your week, and happy crafting,  Jenny :)

Started stitching......

Hi everyone,

I  hope you have had a lovely weekend.

Remember this doily from my tins post?  It had already been started, but unfortunately it had some holes in it.   I decided to use it as a tester for my stitches.

The doily above was actually a part of a  'duchess set' ......I can't recall the other name for the sets, but the three pieces were traditionally used on a dressing table.  This one was the centre piece.......

.....and the two designs below were for either side of the centre piece.

After some practice on the large piece, I decided to make a start on this one.  I'm using red thread, and stem stitch........

As you can see, not quite there, but nearly finished the first one.  The other word I was trying to think of.....cheval set...!!!

Happy crafting,  Jenny

Back to the tins......

Hi everyone,

I hope your week is off to a good start.  Remember the tins I received recently full of doilies?

I haven't forgotten them, so here are some more pictures for you.

Okay, onto the next tin....

The side of this ship tin also has the compass points around the side of the base.

Even more doilies were in this tin, along with a cardboard thread holder complete with threads.  This was probably handy for leftover threads, or for threads on a particular project.

Don't forget....two tins to go, plus the garage sale finds!  ;)

Happy crafting,  Jenny

Tins part 2

Hi everyone,

how is your weekend going?  The sun is actually shining at the moment, so I am about to wash some calico soon.   Aren't the tins of doilies amazing!!!   (Apologies for the photography....not my strong point !)   Some of the doilies have been started, but many of them are untouched....

....and get the price of some of them.......

$1.79 !!!!  This one is a runner.  At this price, I'm surprised it isn't a small doiley.  I'm still sorting through the tin!

Some pieces are duchess sets (3 piece), again, not started........

  However...............

.........this one has been........but unfortunately it has a couple of holes in it where they shouldn't be.  Instead of letting this one go to waste,  I am using it as my  practice piece,  before I attempt an untouched one and possibly ruin it!

Thanks to everyone for your comments.  I do look forward to them .....I hope you are enjoying these posts as much as I am.   More on the tins soon :)

 Happy crafting,  Jenny

Tins.....

Hi folks,

how is your week going?  Things are starting to quieten down now that school has started again.  Only another month or so until the 'winter locals' arrive.  Winter locals....?  this is what I call  a lot of our winter visitors, as some of them have been coming here for 20 years or more, and stay for three or four months every year....hence the tag.

Okay....okay, what about those tins.....no, no chocolates in any of them!  I'll start with this one, as it will hopefully appeal to Aussies, and overseas Followers.......

The flowers on the front of this tin, are Australian wildflowers.  The large red one is a Waratah, and the white ones are Flannel flowers.  It also includes Wattle (yellow), and Geraldton Wax (tiny pink).    Each of the flowers have their own picture around the outside of the tin........

As to the base of the tin,  it displays what were the original contents.  For the Aussies, this will bring back memories, as Brockhoff are one of the old brands of biscuit makers we used to have.  Like a lot of things, a brand no longer around.

Teased you enough?.....lol   Major drum roll here......remember, there are three tins to go......TA....DA............!!!!!

Amazing isn't it!!!!     The contents of these tins were given to me in preference to them being lost forever!  You won't believe some of the finds in these tins.   It was a coincidence that they were actually given to me on my birthday!  My mother was here at the time, and mentioned that my grandmother used to work for Semco.    As I said, it was an amazing week......and I haven't finished yet!  I have so much to show and tell about these, but I will do it gradually in more posts.....no I am not trying to be mean, just trying to cover everything that happened!

I'll let you catch your breath here, and sign off for now.  I hope you  enjoying the the posts to come.  Joolz , I hope you'll understand if I don't give you my address for quite a while...lol!!  Happy crafting,  Jenny

Keeping you guessing......

Hi everyone,

no, I'm not telling you what are in the tins, and it's no good asking my sister, Robyn, as she doesn't even know about them yet....unless my mother has told her!    I can tell you it's not chocolates.....

As to Robyn, she has got the blog bug!  Not only does she have ONE blog,  but TWO  !!   They are both completely different in content, and she will add to them when time permits (mother of ten children) ,  but I'm sure she would make you feel welcome when you blog by (you know what I mean, I hope! ) .

Happy crafting (and guessing), Jenny