Hardanger Pincushion

At long last I finished the test pincushion from our stitchalong.

The sides are done separately as buttonhole-edged strips and whip-stitched onto the top and bottom.

When I first tried  to cut the excess fabric off the sides, I realized I hadn't done the buttonhole stitch but only the varied satin stitch. There was nothing to whip stitch into. So I re-stitched the sides. I had enough spare fabric and thread so I didn't bother picking out the satin stitches.

I backed the open work with medium interfacing that had been ironed onto a piece of scrap fabric so the glue didn't face out.

This sewed up in about an hour.

Now I'm ready to sew up the 'good' one.

Embroiderers who like precision and neatness would really enjoy stitching Hardanger pieces. Once the basic techniques are mastered (Kloster blocks, buttonhole stitch, wrapping bars, dove's eyes) the pieces stitch up very nicely.

Royal Wedding Luncheon Celebration

Marilyn invited Sheila and me to a luncheon at her home yesterday in anticipation of the Royal Wedding.

She prepared a lovely light lunch for us.

Celebratory selfie.

We toasted the bride and groom with Prosecco.

 Sherry was available after luncheon.

We had a lovely time eating, drinking, and chatting. I did some stitching - finishing the wrapped bars and dove's eyes on the pincushion top of the test piece.

All the test pieces are stitched now. Next will be backing the openwork, then stitching the pieces together and stuffing them.

I got up at 6am to watch the wedding this morning, taking my pillow and blanket down to the couch downstairs. Of course, I enjoyed the music, and didn't find the service to be extraordinarily long. It seemed to go without a hitch. It was a lovely event.

Stitching Is Almost Done

I cut the threads and got most of the bars wrapped last night.

The right side shows it finished with the bars wrapped and the dove's eyes done.

Only 6 more bars to wrap, then on to the dove's eyes.

On the bottom is the inside of the needle book with outlines of where the pockets will go. I still need to stitch a spot to attach the felt for the needles above the right pocket.

I'm thinking of backing the openwork with the same grey fabric as white might make the grey fabric look dingy.

I do plan to assemble the test piece (on white fabric) first before tackling the good piece. I have all the required materials.

So far it's been pretty fun. I'm pleased to have a Hardanger project than can be useful as the many doily, table runner, and table cloth patterns aren't really things I'd ever use in my home.

Biscornu - Long Overdue

I unearthed a stitching UFO from years ago in my office/craft room the other day. All the stitching was done but my progress had stopped when I tried to sew the top to the bottom. I just couldn't get it right so I abandoned it.

Since then, I've made several more and learned that the key to successful sewing it together is to make sure you have an even number of running stitches on each side and the same number of stitches on each side. This ensures that the piece can accurately be divided in half - helpful when sewing the last half of stitches on one side to the first half of stitches on the other.

Photo - Nordic Needle

A good explanation is here.

I took a look at my running stitches and noted I had an odd number. The fix was easy - just make more running stitches one thread inside the original border. This creates an even number of stitches. That done, the pieces sewed together really easily.

I don't remember what pattern I used but any square pattern will work for this.

Just make sure your fabric is truly evenweave and square.

If I recall correctly, this was 28 ct. Monaco cloth and DMC 902 floss.

It's about 7cm across (2.75"). A petite little thing.

When I did a search for the Nordic Needle photo above, I found all kinds of intriguing images of biscornu patterns. They bear closer inspection...

Barbados Bag

I've been wanting to make this cross-body bag since I was down in Texas and my cousin did a Facebook post about making one. The #120 Barbados Bag was designed by Pink Sand Beach Designs. And calls for 1/2 yds or fat quarters (depending on where they're used in the bag) of 4 fabrics plus a half yard of a lining fabric.

I have such a problem committing to fabric choices but was able to find everything I needed in my stash and in my favourite colours, too!

The bag took me a long time to make.  I only had written instructions and I do much better being shown or having a video to watch. Cutting and labelling the pieces took over an hour. I used masking tape labels as I knew I'd get confused otherwise. That worked very well for me.

It basically took a whole day, but here it is.

It has a zipper pocket in the front and a zipper closure on the top.

 I made a piece of double fold fabric for the zipper pull

and a little key charm for the front pocket zipper pull.

The back has two deep pockets, perfect for business envelopes.

I lined the bag and the front pocket with lime green fabric that coordinates with the main fabric. There is a deep pocket above the front zipper pocket.

I used a heavier zipper for the top of the bag thinking it would get much more wear and tear than the front pocket would.

There are two small pockets inside.

I probably could have cut half an hour to an hour off the completion time as I made a couple of mistakes that required a lot of picking out of stitches. The next bag won't take nearly as long. The pattern could easily be changed to make a wider bag.

It could also be made with an adjustable strap using D-rings and a swivel clip. I chose not to do that for this first one. The only thing I would have done differently is I would have top-stitched along the top by the zipper. The design also called for two lines of top-stitching on either side of the zipper on the front pocket.

Only one is really needed. I was also supposed to do this double top-stitching along the strap and I only did one.

The finished bag measured 25cm wide (10") and 28cm (11" long). With boxing the corners, the bottom was 20cm (8") wide. My iPad mini in its case fits with room to spare.

Mother's Day Birding and Yellow Warbler Study

Skip and I went birding at Thickson's Woods again yesterday. I got some great pics of a male yellow warbler. Of course the main diagnostic is that it's primarily all yellow with slightly darker wings.

The adult male has reddish streaks on its chest

This wren's identity has eluded me for days. It doesn't lift its tail when it sings. It doesn't have much of an 'eyebrow'. It's bill isn't very curved. Skip thought it was a house wren but it didn't look exactly like the one in the bird guide.

I got a really good picture of it yesterday. Once home, I loaded the image into Google images and immediately got the response that it was indeed a 'house wren'.

This Baltimore oriole found a virtual smorgasbord of midges caught in a spider's web. He feasted there for quite a while.

Back in the woods at the 'corner', a redstart worked the trees for a long time. It was very active so this is the only good shot I got. Sibley defines it as a 'small, long-tailed warbler'. The bright markings make it easy to spot.

Walking down the lane to the lake (Ontario) a couple of flotillas of mergansers were enjoying the sun and the fish.

The white stripe on the neck is the diagnostic for a red-breasted merganser.

Male red-breasted merganser

Back in the woods, the fiddleheads are emerging.

We wondered how someone thought to try and eat one the first time.

In a few weeks, they'll be beautiful ferns.

On the path was this very small butterfly. It was about 1.5cm in diameter and, although washed out in this photo, a beautiful light blue.

Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon)

Back at home, Google images told me it was a Spring Azure butterfly (Celastrina ladon). The inside of the wings is a little darker but it didn't cooperate and open its wings so I could get a good shot.

We only have a couple more weeks of birding opportunities before the leaves are too full to get good sightings.

Embroidery Update

I finished the pockets

Larger pocket

Smaller pocket

and am working on the needle case interior and exterior.

Jeanette showed us a very efficient way of managing our perle cotton skeins.

First, remove the labels and untwist the skein so it is a big loop.

Cut through all the treads of the loop at the place where the knot  is (beginning of the thread).

Slide the longer label that has the colourway and size back onto the threads.

Then dividing the threads into approximately three equal bunches, braid them.

 Simply pull a length of thread out at the 'bend' above the label.

The rest of the threads will stay neatly braided. Thanks, Jeanette, for a great tip.