Sunday 2 February 2014

Frugal??

This week I have been patiently working on my piece of cream linen.   Initially I tacked this out for the Hardanger Sewing Pod and followed the instructions to the letter.   Well!   There were huge areas of unused linen and at such a high price per metre I was not happy, so decided to make small  items to fill in the gaps.
Inspired by the fob watch ornaments that Vonna made I went to my local Spotlight store (thinking it was similar to Joanns and Michaels) and they looked at me as if I were off another planet.   Three attempts and no luck so I searched out an old hardanger book and found the charts for little book mark tags.   These will go in to the sale of work at our Guild later in the year.   I've also managed to fit in one hardanger tassel -  I think this is the 25th one I have made of this pattern.
The threads I ordered in October have finally arrived so I made a start on the Mermaids Chest -  the back stitch outline.  
I will need to keep my wits about me with this one as the instructions are not all that comprehensive and the chart is hand drawn which always makes me feel it is more prone to error.
But the threads look lovely and some of these are new to me so I am looking forward this project.
Yesterday the HD3QBEM and I went for a road trip to Hamilton (about a one hour drive south) to visit Dave's Emporium (cheap buttons) and Browsers Bookshop (cheap secondhand books) and Spotlight (for fob watches - no luck!).   A great day out on a warm day.  

3 comments:

Ann at Beadlework. said...

The mermaid's chest looks really interesting, very much your type of work Margaret. You do like a challenge.

MartyG said...

Margaret, great use of your linen. If you email me your mailing address, I will drop one of the watch fobs Vonna uses in the mail next weekend. I have a few (think 7 or 8) on hand. I pick them up whenever our stores have sales or I have a coupon. I usually get the half price. I have made several designs to go in mine. I swap them out with the seasons. They make great gifts. I will email you so you can reply with your mailing address and will email you pictures of my finished fobs.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Your hardanger is beautiful and I would also want to make the very most of every inch of the fabric! I never leave large margins for that reason.