Mini Patchwork

I set some of my friends the challenge of producing several pieces of postcard sized stitched work, either embroidery or patchwork.  Thought it was time I made a start on my own ones. I have been trying to use up lots of scraps of fabric since Lockdown.  These are 1" half square triangles in cream and white shades.

Now started to add layers and machine stitch.  Hand stitch next I think and perhaps one or two small beads.

Tiny Log Cabin Squares

The deadline for the next piece of work for our Yorkshire Travelling Sketchbook (which currently takes the form of a 'Hussif' with 'Twinchies' as inserts) is looming on the horizon.  I thought I had better get on with something for it so have produced several 2" foundation pieced log cabin squares.  Just got to choose the one to use and then finish it off into an acceptable and embellished piece of work.  Of course, cycling keeps getting in the way of work as I am making the most of being able to get out in the open air and sunshine whilst I can.  Lonely cycling on one's own though!

A Bit of a Bird Theme

I think someone must have been feeling energetic in 2017 when they produced these pages.  She started off with a basic drawing and then stitched these variations ….

Purple Patches

Whilst up in Yorkshire I took the opportunity to catch up with some of the 'Yorkshire Travelling Journals' from previous years. I had tried to photograph the pages as I went along but of course once they have passed on you do not see them again before they return to their owners. Hopefully I have now captured some more of the pages. These were from August 2014.

Going Round in Circles

This Travelling Journal piece ended up covering 4 pages instead of 2!! Fairly typical of me.  I always seems to make things more complicated for myself. It was the end of someone's Journal and there were a couple of blank pages left so I decided to utilise them and fill up the fabric book at the same time.

There are several holes through the pages and I made them so that sections of the page behind could be seen. I also had an old antique button that I wanted to use which fitted one of the holes perfectly.

The prairie points actually go along the central fold of this piece of fabric. All very confusing when you look at the two photographs above.

This is the final page of the piece. I decided to fold the prairie points to give a central line, which I think is a more pleasing view and adds interest.

A bonus of the having holes through is the surprise view you get of other people's work that is behind the opened out pages in the book.

A Bird in the Book

I have my own 2018 Travelling Journal back now and thought I would post some of the highlights of last year.  One person used the same image in a different way in each of the journals ….

Yorkshire Travelling Journal

I have recently received my Travelling Journal back from its trip around Yorkshire between my lovely stitching friends up there.  What a fabulous surprise ….

This was my first two pages followed by these two ….

The drawing was transferred using the Gum Arabic Transfer method I learnt from Sue Brown in Cheltenham.

This was the next two pages added by my friends. Think I will post the rest in the days leading up to Christmas.

Beetle-ing about

I have been sampling lettering and making a beetle this week.  I had forgotten how hard stumpwork can be at times. I modified the instructions and have ended up with my own beetle species. Think it will be okay for my needs so now have to start and make another one.  It will have to be a lonesome beetle as I am certainly not making a family of them.

Yet more old Journal pages

Afraid because I was in a rush the photographs I took of this Journal have not come out too well and this is the only one that is of a standard able to be reproduced. So clever!!

At least I had another one that has better pictures, plus the needlework is by the same person and is a serious of pages that overlap each other to reveal parts of the page underneath.

The lefthand page is the artwork and the right is stitched.

All artwork this time revealing the stitched page through the right hand holes

Last Year's Journal

Stuck for things to put on my blog today so looked through last year's Yorkshire Travelling Journal pages and found this lovely bird .....

and some nice wild trees.

New Journey

Finished a small bag for my new Travelling Journal, which has been put in the post and is now wending it's way to the first participant based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Hoping to receive my first one from Masham next week.  It is soooo exciting starting a new project and anticipating what surprises will arrive in the post over the next year. Hope we all manage to adapt to the new format of one long, narrow piece of cloth.

Journal Playtime

Although I am meant to be getting on with the new Yorkshire Travelling Journal, which has a new format, I have also been playing at making voids in my 'Dummy Run' one.

Sting in the Tale

I have not been stitching anything that I could blog for a while so have looked at last year's Yorkshire Travelling Journal entries to see what I could find.  I messed about with dyeing with nettle leaves in the middle of the year.  An experience I will not be repeating.  It was very smelly and the results were very poor.  I used the Silk Noil fabric I dyed to create this piece ....

I made a plastic stencil and used Markel Oil Sticks to colour the fabric.  The image was then stitched into and a scrap from a dictionary was added.

Yorkshire Journal Returns

This week I received my Yorkshire Travelling Journal back completed with work from all my lovely friends up in Yorkshire.  It is always such a surprise when the package arrives and you get to see all the fantastic pieces of work created by everyone.

This was my 'artwork' page and it has a little hole cut into it which reveals a picture from the previous page.  The shed also unfolds and has seasonal writing inside it.

The finished piece of stitching had to be a work of love.  I stitched together lots of tiny hexagons and then overlayed them with sheer fabric, stitched by hand and machine over the top. I think there might even be a little bit of white paint on there for the smoke from the bonfire.  It is a long time since last February when I made it and I have done several other groups of pages since then for the other YTJ's.

Change of Format

The Yorkshire Travelling Journal participants are currently contemplating a change of format for the A5 Journal we have been doing for several years.  I have cut out 8 long strips of fabric which we are going to work on and then pass on to the next person.

This led me to trying a mock up on a spare piece of fabric to see what it was possible to do with it.  Suggestions to date have been a folded fabric book, a hanging or a scroll.  The logistics of a scroll may rule out the last one, but we shall see.

Anyway, below is work to date on my dummy one. I have used a Gum Arabic transfer of one of my drawings on the front of it and added some buttonholes onto the turned back edge - this was formed from a piece of the fabric that was not quite the right width for a page, but seemed to lend itself to becoming a nice additional feature rather than being trimmed off.  It looks a bit like a shirt front to me!!  The folded edge of each page has been overstitched by hand to hold a nice firm crease and I may add some decorative loops or lace to some of the pages.

I have started to add another piece of fabric from my scrap box onto the end of the fabric (final page).  Not sure where I am going from here .... so watch this space.  The 'real thing' does not have to be completed and passed on until the end of January 2018, so plenty of time to play.

Up The Garden Path

I have been really struggling to finish a piece of stitching for the Yorkshire Travelling Journal this week.  A 'Sewcial' with Kathleen Murphy using voids as inspiration started me on a bit of a journey looking at ways of using these 'voids'.  I had the bright idea they could become a winter path.  Below are a couple of snapshots of what I produced ...

I do not usually post things that have not been seen by the others in the YTJ group, but do not think I have given too much away with this one.

Spuggies

I have been trying to fashion some sparrows this week and this is my first attempt.  Think 'Spuggies' is probably a Northern name for them?

This is my stitched version but first of all I had several attempts at drawing one ....

I think it was easier drawing with the sewing machine than with pencils and pen

A Little Bird Told Me

This is yet another piece from a completed round of the Yorkshire Travelling Journals (last year I think).  I was away quite a few days last week up in my beloved Yorkshire so have not been doing much since - apart from catching up with housework (Yuk!!) so have had to raid my photos for something to blog.

I made this piece for the journal of a friend who loves birds using a little bird brooch I bought in Ludlow and some eco dyed fabric given to me by another friend.

This was the adjacent page ... interestingly I am just about to start the two pages for this person's current journal and it may also involve a bird.

Just One More Hut

I promise this is the last hut photograph for a while.  If you have not guessed I have not got anything recent to put on my Blog as I am working on something for the next Journal entry which I want to keep secret for the time being. Unfortunately it is taking me much longer to stitch than I expected.

More Huts

A second beach hut from one of the Yorkshire Travelling Journals.  See it was a year ago, how time flies.