Baby Sitting Stitching 💐💚✨

 I was baby sitting the other day . So packed up my basket with a few things to keep my hands busy .

I am still deciding which fabric to use to cover the back of my Angel embroidery .

I think it will be this gorgeous green.....but .....I still need to think about it .

 White , Green or Cloth of Gold  .....not a decision for today ....probably green , green .....   ✨✨✨

So I decided to leave that for another day and play with my scrap basket instead .

                 I save my tiniest scraps to make dolly quilts .

                                                             🌿🦋🌿

                                                            🌿🤪🌿   

                  I'm thinking of doing a full sized quilt for myself . 

 I love piecing patchwork baskets , so I might do a combination of patchwork and applique .

            These tiny scraps will be great for leaves and flower petals .

As I sort through my scraps I found this tiny piece ..... 💚..... memories ....

 My father gave me some money to go and buy a dress for myself in a little fashion boutique in Woolwich High Street . I was about fifteen or sixteen and it was the first time I had ever caught the bus on my own and the first time I had ever bought clothes for myself . 

            It was such a pretty dress !

 ⚓  I also went for a ride on the ferry .....it was free back then  ... across the Thames and back just for fun  !    🚢

 

Anyway ......

 So this is a tiny piece from that dress ! I have stitched pieces of material from that dress into lots of my quilts . 

                                 Precious memories , happy days .

 I already knew Ricardo , my husband . We were both in the Red Cross , different units ...but met up when attending the "Courage Club "in Crayford , where we helped organise a youth club for disabled children .

              Oh ! We had SO much fun !

      Lots of activities , playing games and even the occasional disco !

               Many of my scraps hold precious memories like these .

I sat stitching in a more random way today . Gradually tiny pieces all coming together .  

    

                         A quilt or small comforter maybe .

         Thats all for today folks ! ...... and the babies were good as gold !

                                  Peace and Love 🕊️💚

                                          Debbie  💐 x

 

Angel playing a Rebec Embroidery 🕊️Nearly finished 🌿

 

      So I carefully tightened and tuned up the strings . G D A 🎶🎵🎶

Then started lashing it to the frame . Yes I'm resting up a poorly knee .

 Then we had to go out and I sat waiting in the car .I thought I might get this last bit finished ....

        ...... but I dropped my cotton reel down between the seats . I wriggled my fingers , I could touch it , but couldn't quite reach far enough to retreive it .   

So that was the end of that !  Sigh ....

Anyway .....

 It's nearly finished . I just want to put a nice piece of fabric over the back and some sort of a loop with which to hang it .

Presently waiting for the chimney sweep to come , clean and make safe our chimney ..... all ready for yet another wild and windy Cornish winter .

                                          ☀️🌦️🌧️⛈️ 

Not quite finished this piece and I'm already thinking about my next little project .

                     Peace and Love 🕊️🤍

                                        Debbie 💐x

Angel Playing a Rebec - I'm still here ! 😃

 Apologies ! I am still here !  We have had a very long heatwave and drought . I have been busy trying desperately to keep my vegetable garden alive . 

We are presently on a hosepipe ban , so running back and forth with two watering cans has been quite hard work . Especially as I am still recovering from a serious spine injury . I'm doing really well now but have to be careful .  Husband helping with the carrying though .....sometimes .

                                                   ☀️

......and then .....it would become too hot to do anything at all , but flop on my bed with a fan to cool me down !  

We,ve had a couple of slightly cooler nights and some drizzle  . I have been able to pick up my embroidery again . 

     So ...where was I ?

I bought a little frame and began to stitch on a thin piece of cotton quilting batting/wadding .

                It just makes for a nicer base to take the embroidery .

I finished doing that and then remembered , I still have to embroider the strings of the Rebec instrument .

                                   This gold thread is Heavenly !

                                               Perfect !

                                         O.k So here we go !

So how am I going to do this ? 

 ⭐  Plan A)  use a whopping great needle with a hole large enough to take the gold thread and force it through the embroidery ?  🪡

 Yep ! I could do that , but it would make horrible holes through the embroidery and I have to do six plunges for each string so it really would show and not look nice .

⭐ Plan B)    Lasso method .  🪡

So I'll try and show you how I do this .

  You basically thread your needle with sewing cotton double with a knot. Then thread the gold thread through this loop ...like a lasso ......

 Pull on the lasso and it will carry the gold thread through to the other side .

 Leave a long tail to one side .....you could put a temporary holding stitch to stop it slipping through , but I didn't ..it was fine ..it behaved itself .

Next I had to take the gold thread through the Rebec bow and up the other side .

Then again under the bow handle and up the other side .

                                Oh this was terribly fiddly !

                                          Two strings done !

        I had to plunge and lasso six times for each golden string !

I'll be honest , I was a bit worried at this stage .

     Maybe I'd bitten off more than I can chew !

         🎶🎵     Three wobbly and very out of tune strings !    🎶🎵

    Flip over to the reverse and over and over stitch the three gold tails down to secure them .

I tied the tails at the other end and stitched them down . This enabled me to gently tug the strings nice and taught on the front side .

                                     That was very , very stressful  !

                                     I'll show you some more tomorrow !  

                                               Peace and Love 🕊️🤍

                                                            Debbie 💐x

Angel Playing a Rebec Embroidery ✨Gold✨

 

                            ✨☀️⭐   I pulled out my box of gold !⭐☀️✨

                  I'm looking for some gold thread for the Rebec strings .

                                Too thin ! .......Too thick !

                  Aha ! .......... I think this thread looks just about right !

                                    Decided to widen the border .

              Maybe thicken up the black line from the shoulder down .

  I've pretty much stayed true to the design of the stained glass window , but I don't think anyone would mind me throwing in a very small touch of gold .

                                Just three golden strings ?

                                          🌿    🎶   💛   🎶    🌿                         

Angel Playing a Rebec - rosettes

Flopped on my bed with a fan blowing to cool me . Still too hot for me to be outside gardening . 

           I've done a little bit more today . The two rosettes . 

           Actually I spent a couple of hours just embroidering them .

                                     Tomorrow I will embroider the bow .

                                                         🌿🕊️🌿