Friday's child

 Work in Progress

Vintage French linen, coffee-dyed; transferred images.

 Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

I went to town on this canvas as a form of exercise. One giant doodle.  A good thing the canvas wasn't expensive.

And a bit of stitching. My late Mother-in-law used to call me Missy. I was thinking of her while stitching....

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

Necessity is the mother of invention. I ran out of vintage gloves, so...........

Words by Tennyson.

I took a change and drew the glove with a very fine-point pen on some of my precious old linen from France. This is not ink that will disappear or wash out. I do the same with the writing, but that part is easy. I know there's a disappearing pen for this kind of thing, but I was home and it was raining and there was no way I was going to put off making this.

Do not break your shin on a stool that is not in your way.-- Irish proverb

Friday's child

...is staying in until the rain stops, although, by the look of things, it may go on all day. Happily I have no pressing business outside.
I finished this piece which I've been working on for several days. It was a matter of time before this Irish proverb got stitched. I decided to do it in Irish rather than English. Do not break your shin on a stool that is not in your way. You see, I actually did break my shin on a stool that wasn't there, irony of ironies, a few days ago, and when I realized that, I think I laughed for 5 minutes.

And, of course, a little painting with my beloved Caran d'Ache pastels...

And is there honey still for tea? [Winnie the Pooh]

The last couple of pieces I've made would be at home in a nursery. I think I'm making these for the comfort and nostalgia. Whatever the reason, there's a third piece brewing.... (no pun intended).

Ship detail - SOLD

A quick painting and some stitching.

Wishing you cool breezes on a hot weekend.

Ná bris do loigrín ar stól nach bhfuil i do shlí. (Do not break your shin on a stool that is not in your way.)

Outing with my friend Ramona. She took me to Value Village because I'd never been, and I found this wooden gizmo for next to nothing and brought it home.

I came up with an idea for Miss 2-year-old, and made it last night. I kept going and going -- I hate leaving something unfinished, although sometimes I do set something aside and finish it later. Maybe I was enjoying it too much! I especially like now the "cover" turned out, but I don't want to show it until it has left the building ;)

Ná bris do loigrín ar stól nach bhfuil i do shlí. (Do not break your shin on a stool that is not in your way.)

As I said in an earlier post, the words will turn into phrases. And they have (I know myself). As children we ate La vache qui rit cheese. It's now available here as The Laughing Cow.

Which led to... the laughing bird

Available in my Etsy shop

Then there was this word, which I stitched and turned into a little gift for someone special

Ná bris do loigrín ar stól nach bhfuil i do shlí. (Do not break your shin on a stool that is not in your way.)

 This is one of those quilties that take a few days to make because it's my stitching-while-watching-t.v.  It incorporates a transfer of my painting of a birdie that started off as a robin but ended up as not-really (beak is too long, for one thing). Most of my birds come from my imagination anyway... that's the fun of it. They tell me they don't mind; they find it amusing...

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Is it full moon??

Three weather systems happening today, maybe more, I don't know. Snow showers, wind blowing the showers every which way, sun, all clear, and then it repeats itself. So I stayed home and practised; free-style on the sewing machine takes a lot of control, you have to almost be doing the opposite of normal stitching, using your fingers to guide the fabric, and making that switch isn't easy.

My silly machine tells me to use an embroidery hoop to pull the fabric tight, but my embroidery hoop won't slide under the needle (when lifted, of course). Manuals can be so mysterious sometimes. I used a piece of stiffened fabric instead. Marthaaaaaaaaaa! (Martha knows everything; I always go to her!)

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Project completed. Stitching something this big turned me into a contortionist -- the linen background is about 22 inches long. I realized too late that I could have done the embroidery before stitching the collar down on the background... Attaching the cabinet card was a little tricky; as I didn't want to punch holes in it, nor did I want to use glue. Strictly needle and thread.

Everything on this quilt is vintage or antique, and has been part of someone's life. Someone handspun the background linen, someone sewed this piece of clothing and someone wore it, someone posed for the cabinet photo, and someone took the photograph. I hope I've done them justice.

The accidental bird

I was trimming some scraps, saving bits of lace, and when I looked at one of them, I saw that I had accidentally cut out a bird shape.

Here it is, stitched over a velvet heart. I often have "accidents" like this one, while working on my art in different media. Sometimes I'm convinced that they're not accidents at all. It's a reminder to pay attention...

It's been quiet around here. Thanks to the cooler weather I've resumed my long walks, and I've been stitching. People who stitch say it's very calming and soothing, and I find that to be true. In fact, I find it difficult to put down -- "slow" stitch is not my thing evidently.

Growth

Getting there one stitch at a time, letting my imagination go where it will.
The background fabric, which is more of a muted gold colour, doesn't photograph well...

The powers that be took pity on us and turned on the air-conditioning yesterday. Naturally, the weather cooled too. But still, I'm happy they didn't wait for June 1 to turn it on. It's a lifesaver for me because I get nervy and headachy in hot, humid weather. I turn it on to cool the place, then turn it off. Meanwhile, it was snowing in Alberta. There's a climate shift going on for sure.

I was looking for a way to photography this bit of stitchery, when I spied my little salvaged frame hanging emptily on the wall (I like empty frames as decor). So I slid the piece in and voilà!

The quilt is available in my Etsy shop. SOLD.