Cottage - Finished !

                                                     'Tis done !

                                 Now waiting to be sewn together  .

Still not quite finished " My Cornish Cottage Home Sweet Home " page for my Little Cloth Book

     I thought that I had finished my Cornish Cottage Home Sweet Home page for my Little Cloth  Book  .... but on closer inspection I can still see some areas that need a few stitches more .
    Strange that sometimes , when I have enjoyed working on a piece of embroidery or a water colour painting , it can be so hard to say " it is finished !" .

 

Be love - another page for my little cloth book

                         Saturday stitching - So next I chose " Be love "

 I embroidered over the words with green thread and then wondered for a long time , about what I should do next .
        I felt that I should  keep this very simple and uncluttered .

I lightly sketched on a dove carrying an olive branch , a symbol of peace and love everywhere .

 I used my own design , that I had embroidered before on this felt heart .

I used DMC Pearl cotton thread no 8 to stitch the  outline and then DMC cotton embroidery thread to fill in with satin stitch . I used all six threads , as it pulls off the skein , to make it nice and chunky and to stand out against the cream linen .

I had an relaxing afternoon sitting in the garden in the warm sunshine , slowly stitching my dove .
 Other people on the Facebook group have finished their little books, some are saying they have done three already ! I look at the photos they are sending in and they are so lovely ! I just don't know how they can do them so fast !
  I just couldn't get going on mine , I thought about it and thought about it and had a few false starts , which I felt were rubbish , it was as if I was hitting a brick wall .
  I was reassured that there was no deadline and the idea is to just enjoy the process of stitching from the heart and turn it into a little treasure book for yourself .
 I am going to embroider my  little cloth book and hopefully find some little treasured scraps , beads and buttons to add later on .

                  Anyway , I am loving making my little cloth book now .

                                    I might finish this page  tomorrow .

                                          Love and Peace to you !

Happy to be me :)

Ha ha ha ! Belly Dancing me !

 Scribbled on with pencil and stitched with Perle cotton thread and DMC cotton threads . Mostly back stitch , stem stitch , satin stitch , a few Colonial knots for my ear-rings and flower centres , some of my hair is couching stitch , Lazy daisy stitch flowers  and very raggedy Button-hole stitch around the edges of the page ... especially at the bottom to give the effect of long grass .

                                                I love to dance !

 A very simple and roughly stitched Button-hole stitch around the edge .

And for those who always want to look at the back ! I started and finished with a knot and tail on the back . 
 When I do my crewel work , especially more precious projects , then I usually start and end on the front .
  For my simple little cloth book , its free and easy who cares kind of stitching !

So now the first page that I did , does not look colourful enough !
   I think if I do a more colourful button stitch around the edge , it might help to make it work again .
    I,m making this up as I go along you see . I,m really loving these cheerful colours .
 I was deciding which page to do next  .....

                                             ....... this one maybe  ?

       At that very moment I looked up and saw these two hearts in the sky !
                                                 A sign maybe !

Hippy Stitches

A little bit more of embroidered page two .

Another beautiful sunny day , I found some time to do a little more of the next page of my little cloth book  .
 I drew around my hand with a pencil and filled it in with the Sun and Moon and a rainbow .
                                   

                                             I stitched my rainbow
             
            It made me think of the wonderful psychedelic art of the sixties .

 
       I pulled an interesting book from  my bookshelf 
                Native Funk & Flash by Alexandra Jacopetti  1974 !
A time when it was really cool to have eye popping colourful embroidery on your flared , bell bottom jeans , mini or maxi skirt and denim jacket  .

 Well , mine isn't as good as that , but it I am having so much fun playing with all the brightest coloured threads  from my hoard of cotton perle balls .

                                 
                                                I stitched a bee .....

                                                   ......and a tree .

                              I pencilled in more Flower Power Love !

                        Hope I can find time to do a little more tomorrow .

Another page started

I'm using some Cotton perle embroidery threads  size 8 for this page . Nice bright and cheerful colours !
 Comfort stitching straight from the heart !

Ellen's Legacy -slow stitched books - started mine :)

                            Hello everyone and how are you all doing ?

                           Sorry about the sunshine ! Very bright picture  !

 Here I have gathered a few scraps of cloth , needle and threads .

  It was nice to see the sunshine by the way !

I have been following a lovely group on Facebook called the Ellen's Legacy -slow stitched books  and have joined in with the fun !
 I will give you the link here to go to the website of Paula MacGregor who can tell you all about it far better than me .
 It is a beautiful story and I,m sure that you will enjoy having a go at making your own little slow stitched book .
Come and join the group on Facebook .
This is the link to Paula's website - that tells the beautiful story .
http://www.paulamacgregor.com/ellens-legacy.html

                 Simply drawn onto fabric with a pencil and back stitched.

 I,ve always found embroidery to be very calming and have always enjoyed doing small meditative pieces in-between my bigger projects or whenever I,m feeling anxious  .

       I am putting my medieval needlework basket aside for a little while .

                                             I will come back to it !

  Every now and then the worries of the world try to get to me . I will not let it !

                            Putting up the Runner-bean frame , me ! :)
 So I have immersed myself in my vegetable gardening and jobs do be done .Lots of baking and trying new recipes .
Getting to bed early and making sure , I get as good a night's sleep as I can get .
 I listen to music ,  rather than the never ending stream of miserable news reporting .
     I don't want to talk about it , nor invoke it's name !
                        Keep yourself as cheerful as you can be .
    We are staying in , having our shopping delivered as and when we can find a slot . Doing our bit to lessen the stress on our National Health Service . To whom we are so very ,very grateful .
                I,m trying to stay calm , go carefully one day at a time .
                               And do lots and lots of embroidery ! :)

 

                   Embroidery is calming , helps me forget all my worries .
 So , the idea here , is to use what you have . You know all those bits and  bobs that you have squirreled away over the years .
   Little bits of embroidery , vintage embroidered tea tray cloths , worn out and tatty , treasured scraps of antique lace , little keepsakes , buttons , beads and  ribbons , badges ,photos, brooches , sea shells ,bus tickets , pockets , love tokens , pretty fabric scraps , all manner of embroidery threads , silks and wool . All freely stitched as you so desire .
 .....and stitch the covers and pages and put them all together with ribbon to tie  or a pretty bead or button to fasten .
   A little treasury book of embroidery stitches souvenirs and mementos .... but the real pleasure is in the making of it .

                                      Scruffy stitched butterfly ! 

So I am making a little book of affirmations for myself .
I can't really tell you any more than that . No real plan . No idea how to put it together  yet .  I am just letting it reveal itself as I go along . I will post more pics as I go along .

                      Here are a couple of pages , stitched before bed time .

 Old cotton embroidery threads , but I will change and  mix up threads .

 Not every page will be like this . I want to do some pure meditation stitching, colours and moods , straight from the heart stuff too ...as it flows from my heart and  mind .
 Therapy stitching. Like when I was stitching my sea inspired pieces ( I know you thought that was weird ! ) and medieval stars in earlier posts .

 You can click to enlarge my pictures , but don't look too close at my stitching , be kind ! :)

                      O.k so I'll tidy up that scruffy butterfly just for you ! 
                            Have a beautiful and blessed Sunday .