Finishing touches

My contemporary stitch group has had a little break during February whilst I had other work commitments.  Thankfully they are still keen to keep going.  

The small samples, demonstrating different styles of stitching, have been pieced together to make a Turkish-style cushion.  This is Joanne's. She finished it off with a profusion of French knots.  Fabulous!

Pet hates

If I had to list my pet hates, cross stitch would be up there very close to the top!  I'm not sure what it is that I dislike so much: the counted squares, the discipline, maybe rows of stitches or perhaps it just reminds me of primary school.

This little sample has been stitched into pre-punched card (Rico Design, Paper Poetry®). When it's folded round a glass jar it will make a perfect tea-light holder. I've made it for a taster workshop that will be run by Skipton Embroiderers' Guild on Saturday 2nd April at Christ Church Hall, Skipton.

I think I might just give it to someone else to demonstrate on the day!

Quick fix

There doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to all the things I want to do.  Preparing for last week's business trip took up most of my time but I suddenly realised that I didn't have a case for my lap-top.

I quick rummage through my stash revealed a thickly felted poncho that was perfect for the body. I added some scraps of felted blanket dyed in delicate shades of peach and yellow (not too girlie).  I used thick cotton pearle yarn and some very large stitches to piece the whole thing together.  I think that it has a naive charm without being too clumsy.