Sunday 7 September 2014

A finish and a beginning

This week I finished off a Christmas ornament.   These letters are from the Prairie Schooler Christmas Alphabet and I decided on a hanging cube finish.   On the whole I am happy with this one.
Quite some time was spent on patchwork hexagons -  at least until I dug a hole in my finger and cut my hand to shreds pulling the stitching cotton.   At that point in time I decided a break was necessary and silk thread would be kinder to my hands so it was back to The Mermaid's Chest.   The lid is now completed - pearl bead anchors are done but I am not attempting my initial for the centre panel.   A scrolled M in beads??  No thank you!  
Next the 'outer' of the chest -  two D rings were stitched on and button feet.   Next are the buttonhole eyelets for the hooks and the cables.   Despite reading the instructions multiple times I still couldn't follow them and finally opted to do what I thought best.   It seems to be working so far.  
Tonight the plan is to tuft the base of the 'inner', do the necessary interfacing on that piece and cut skirtex panels to stiffen the sides of the chest.   The specified silver hooks and eyes don't look right so I will also dig into Great-Grandma's box and find some black hooks and eyes as they will fit in better.
Now the HD3QBEM and I are off for a short drive to a local park to enjoy the beautiful Spring day and absorb a few suns rays to help with our Vitamin D.
Before I close off though I need help from any readers.   I need ideas for stitched gifts for babies - not samplers!   What other ideas are there?  Can you help?

8 comments:

Pamela said...

Nice orrnament and the chest is looking great! My choice for a baby gift is a bib! I don't know much about babies but they all seem to need bibs.

Anna van Schurman said...

I'm doing a "baby's first Christmas" ornament for my nieces. Lizzie*Kate has a cute heart shaped one.

Ann at Beadlework. said...

You don't believe in simple stitching Margaret, I love the cube ornament, so beautifully put together. I remember the old black hooks and eyes (unfortunately). The European designers often have charts that would look good for a new baby - have a look at the website for Handarbeiten Pusteblume. The designer Christiane Dahlbeck (Fingerhut) has some nice designs but so do quite a few of the others. They might appeal - if they do please let me know as I have a lot of these designs and will happily send you one if I have it. Any problems just let me know Margaret.

cucki said...

Wow it's so beautiful..I love it so much *.*

Blu said...

What a pretty ornie. You're an amazing finisher.

Elizabeth's quarters said...

Lovely finish–and very organised to be making Christmas decorations in September! How about a patchwork ball as a baby gift?

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

The cube ornie is lovely. And I am so excited to see the Mermaid's Chest coming together. I do so love this project.
For a baby, an ornie would be nice or maybe a padded book? You can also buy teddies with an aida insert to stitch on.

Karoline said...

The Ornie is lovely and the Mermaids box is looking gorgeous.

As a baby gift for preference I would stitch an ornament of some kind.