Pin cushions

For some reason lately I have had a "thing" for pincushions. Not any particular style just ones that I think are fun or cute.
I think that hedgehogs are so cute to look at although I have never had any personal experience with one. I found the picture for this one on Pintrest and hunted up the pattern. Years before I had made a special mohair teddy bead for my eldest  daughter and remembered the wonderful fabric. I thought that they made mohair tipped in a second color that would be perfect for the hedgehog so I went hunting on the internet for that specific fabric and finally found it. It was the perfect color but not spikey enough to look like the spines of the hedgehog. So I cut off a piece of the fabric and got it wet and played with the fur so that it stood up like I wanted. The face and ears are linen with black beads for the eyes.
She is perfect - just like I had imagined....

As part of the class for the Needlework Cabinet, we have small projects so that we can practice different techniques. This glove is one of the pieces. I actually followed the directions for the cuff but made the glove out of some thin leather that I had. Turned out to be a bit harder than I thought it was going to be. The leather tears if you are not extremely careful  so the stitching is not quite as even as I wanted it to be. I am pleased with the result.
The scissors are hand made antiques from the mid 1800's. They are so delightful to look at.

Panama Trip

We have just returned from a cruise to the Panama canal. We visited a butterfly farm in Aruba and I found it so interesting. Now I  plan on planning butterfly friendly plants in my yard. They gave us a web site that will tell you the plants that work in your area. Cool idea.

 We were also able to go to Costa Rica and go on a zip line through the rain forest. It was so much fun and the trees were magnificent.

In Cartagena, Columbia we visited a monastery and the flowers and architecture were so beautiful. In the desert where I live, flowers do not grow quite the same way.

 This photo from the internet was a close to the sting rays as we got on our trip. The seas were rough the day that we were to snorkel with the sting rays so we had another day at sea. Not quite the same as visiting the turtles and sting rays in person.

Embroidered Cabinet

I have signed up for a fantastic on line embroidery class. It is The Cabinet of Curiosities by Thistle Threads. I have always wanted to stitch what is called an embroidered casket ever since I first saw one. Here are a couple of pictures of the 17th century originals.

The class will run for 18 months and at the end we will have most of the knowledge that we need to stitch our own box. The first stitched piece of the teaching lessons is a pincushion. Here is mine with a picture of the back also. I love daffodils so I decided to stitch one for the front of my pincushion.

Cauliflower pincushion

I love Inspirations Magazine. It is eye candy for any embroiderer. Several months ago they had a pin cushion contest and the one that won was later published in volume 75. It was designed byJulie Kniedl of Australia.  It is the most wonderful   dimentional cauliflower. If you just glance at it you would think that it was real and not stitched. It is created by stitching 9 leaves and 24 circles of french knots that are then stitched together to create the lifelike head of the cauliflower. Here is one of the leaves.

Here is the whole pincushion.

Strawberry case

Early in the winter season is the time of the year that I take some time to work on some of the things that I  have wanted to stitch.  It is after the national seminar and before I have to submit projects for the next year.  
I started this piece in 2004 and finally got it stitched and finished. It is by a dear friend Diane Clements. Originally I was going to do something else instead of the reticella strawberry but Diane talked me into doing it like the pattern. Reticella is one of my least favorite forms of needlework but I do love the way that it looks when it is finished.

I love the way that it turned out. I did make one little change. The sides of the pin cushion were bargello but I wanted more strawberries so I designed a blackwork design of strawberries in red for the sides.

Blackwork

This has been quite the summer of travel. Some of it for pleasure but most of it for teaching. In the space of 6 weeks I was in San Diego, Orlando, River Valley - Conn and Santa Fe.  I met some wonderful people and had a great time, but now I am home for the winter.


I have been able to stitch some new pieces. I have always wanted to stitch an adaptation of one of James Christensen's paintings and did so for a lecture on Designing for One Color. It is one of the angels of Faith, Hope and Charity. I choose to do Faith in blackwork. It enjoyed doing it and will stitch a multi-color one that is inspired by his work but for now I have this one. She ended up being framed in a wonderful, big gold frame so she looks like an old master.

 

I just finished stitching a challenge piece that the Swan Sampler Guild started. The flower patterns are free and from the Workbasket. I did both of them in lavender-blue on 40 count linen, added a book spine, and then made a sewing book. The closure is one of my antique  bone stilettos. I added old ivory pieces as a measure and thread winder.

Here are two views of the inside and the closure.

Soft Shading

I have been working on a new emboidery for a lecture and work has been going slowly - too many distractions at home. We went to the cabin last week for a few days and I was able to get so much done that I finished it today.
The wildlife also were enjoying the weather there also. It was warm and the rain felt wonderful.
I have never seen as many hummingbirds as there were this time. They swarmed  the feeders. It was so much fun to see.

Later a cow moose wandered through with her twin calves.