Monthly Archives: May 2013

Mini Embroideries.

Three little embroideries set in mini embroidery hoops, freshly listed on my Etsy shop. Two butterflies and a bumble bee.

pink butterfly emb hoop picture 1

I really like the soft, muted colours of this vintage linen.

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I deliberately chose this piece of fabric so the bee looks like it`s crawling over daisies.

blue butterfly emb hoop picture 1

This little piece of fabric reminded me of a cottage garden.

I set my daisy embroideries into hoops too and I think they work quite well.  I backed the embroideries with natural calico, with a thin layer of wadding in between. The fabric at the back was carefully snipped away and I decided to brush a thin coat of PVA glue onto the edges to prevent fraying and set the fabric into the frame. I`ll definately do a few more of these, in various sizes, perhaps birds next!

 

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Filed under bees, butterflies, Daisies, embroidery, fabric finds, machine embroidery, online shop, recycled fabrics, vintage fabric

Daisy Embroideries.

I treated myself to some lovely marguerittes for the garden this week and they instantly added a dash of cheerfulness and sunshine. There really is something about daisies that lift the spirits.

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I felt inspired to try some daisy embroideries, taken from the sketches of ox-eye daisies I did last year.

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My friend recently gave me a bolt of vintage white glazed cotton and this is perfect for daisy petals. So crisp, lovely to cut into and gives the daisies a lovely lustre. I chose some bright, fresh, yellowish-green for the background.

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Really pleased with these, I tried to make them as realistic and ‘drawn’ looking as possible. I`ll put these in my Etsy shop, perhaps set in embroidery hoops. I`d like to do a bigger piece, perhaps a large cushion or wall hanging featuring a whole swathe of daisies.

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Filed under Daisies, drawing, embroidery

Sketchbook Birds.

I`ve been filling my sketchbook with drawings of garden birds this week. I really want to include birds in my work, especially the ones that fill my garden every day. I try to encourage as many birds as possible to the garden- my apple tree is like a bird cafe, hung with lots of feeders, and the first thing I do in the morning is go out (in my nightie) to feed the birds. They are quite partial to crushed digestive biscuits.

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There is a beautiful thrush that can be seen hopping about on the grass most of the time. Thrushes are really welcome, hopefully they`ll keep the large numbers of slugs and snails down a bit. I love to listen to their amazing song on summer evenings too.

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Blackbirds are probably my favourite garden birds. The glossy black males are so handsome (they seem to know it too!) and I really love their gorgeous, liquid song. There is a pair of blackbirds that have become quite tame, especially the female, which I have rather unimaginatively called Lady (well she is a ‘lady’ blackbird…). She`s never far away when I`m in the garden and always lets her presence known with a friendly soft clucking noise. She`s quite demanding too and always appears first thing in the morning for her breakfast. They have built their nest in the hedge again this year, as close as possible to the bird table!

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Bluetits are so colourful and cute. There are always lots of them around the feeders on the apple tree.

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sketchbook birds 13

I`m going to continue this week, there are lots more birds I want to try to draw, then hopefully the drawings will inspire some stitched pieces.

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Filed under birds, drawing, my garden, Uncategorized

Forsythia Sampler.

Inspired by my forsythia drawings, I made this little stitched sampler this week.

forsythia sampler 1

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The forsythia twig is ‘drawn’ on some loose woven, vintage linen, framed by scraps of toning cottons, vintage lace, cotton tape and shell buttons, all sewn onto a small piece of pale yellow recycled furnishing fabric. I want to experiment with lots more botanical stitching, based on drawings, I`ll just play around with little samplers till I feel I`m getting it right.

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Filed under drawing, embroidery, inspiration, machine embroidery, my garden, recycled fabric, vintage fabric