December / January Stitchalong

I’ve tried to get in front of myself with this one and not leave it until the last minute.

I picked up Margaret’s which has a garden theme, as does mine. But they look so different, partly with the different starting points, regular squares on a white even-weave fabric for hers and L- shapes on yellow canvas for mine.

This is how Margaret’s looked when I brought it home. She’s asked for colourful and given a whole load of suggestions.

I was struggling to make a decision, then thought of the piece I took to the Seata meeting last week for our first “Show and Tell ” session. It was a piece that I did many years ago, based on a birthday card by Molly Brett. I started it with Pat Phillpot when I was doing a C&G embroidery course, but it wasn’t finished when we moved here 35 years ago. The backgrounds are painted, then free machine embroidery with a thick thread in the bobbin and working upside down: lots of french knots, ribbon embroidery, trapped water lily leaves and gold fish under a plastic bag to give a watery effect over painted silk. It was my first 3D piece, I think.

It was resurrected many years later when I went to a Carol Money class in Scunthorpe, and came out annually for several years when the cherry blossom was out on the trunk road, and the forsythia in the garden. Eventually I realised how much I was influenced by the colours and things I see in nature around me seasonally. The butterflies are from photographs I took myself, printed out on paper and transferred them on to fine silk with Photo Magic. They flutter in the breeze.

I think it finally got finished at Lorna Presly’s Market Rasen group, and ironically Lorna had also gone to Pat Phillpott’s group before they moved up here.

It’s a very different piece of work from how it would have been if it was finished before we moved. Certainly the butterflies couldn’t have been done in the same way, long before domestic computers, and there are other techniques and stitches that I learned along the way.

I thought that I could use it for inspiration, and came across some gauzy yellow snippets from my Grasby sunflower pieces which would make perfect blowsy daffodils. I started with some varying length green perlé stems…..

…… and then anchored down the scrunched up snippets so they look like double daffodils.

Finally I added some leaves and a short stemmed flower.

It’s too early for daffodils yet, but I felt that they complemented the purples and mauves that the others had used being complementary colours.

A happy and healthy 2026 to all my readers, with lots of stitching and creativity.

November / December Stitchalong

This is how Sue’s piece looked when I picked it up last month at Seata. The brief was basically do what you want – stitch, colour, square.

Knowing Sue loves Christmas I decided to do straightish lines of feather stitch to look like trees in dark green perlé.

The rows overlapped and became less straight.

Once I’d finished the square I wanted to add some shiny threads – Madeira rayon, metallic and opal, the greens from my three tubs.

They all catch the light and give a subtle little shimmer.

Then I wrote this in her little notebook, which obviously I didn’t proof-read!!

It was then ready to pass on again.

I remembered to take a photo of mine this time. Elaine did the top one. And Alex has had it for two months. It is so pink, but I love it. I so rarely use pink myself.

The one I picked up today is also using gardens for inspiration, but more of that when I get to stitch on it. That’s probably after Christmas now.

A Happy Christmas, however you spend it, to all my readers.

October / November Stitchalong

When picking up a stitchalong bag last month at Seata, the autumnal coloured French knots drew my attention, particularly when I read Christine’s brief: please use a similar “autumnal” colour scheme, but feel free to stitch whatever you like in the remaining squares.

I love the autumn colours: orange, rusts and golds, the odd splash of reds, burgundies and yellows. I’m still a big kid at heart and enjoy scrunching through the fallen leaves, and can never resist a conker. When I put my hand in a pocket and find one I picked up weeks ago, it still makes me smile.

I started with feather stitch going diagonally across the square…..

…..in varying weights of perlé, then started changing direction…….

……. building up layers. I’d had fallen leaves in my head as I stitched, but by the time I’d got to this stage I thought it looked like flames. A bonfire? An open fire? Or a wood burner?

I added some rusty coloured rayon over the top, and decided that it did make me think of bonfires, the way the front of you is toasty warm and your back is cold, until you turn round to cool your face, going round and round like a spit roast. Happy times and memories.