Saturday 20 February 2021

An overdue update

 It has been a while since I updated but in reality not much has been accomplished.   Five of the Christmas ornaments are now fully finished but even that didn’t get my mojo back.   In desperation I trawled through my Gift of Stitching magazines and found this.   

The unusual geometry of the biscornu appealed.  I intend to back stitch all around the sewing line so I can whip stitch it together more easily.

And I have made a start on my 3D pohutukawa flower.   The leaves are done ready to cut out and back with felt.   I now need to get started on the rich red stamens (pistils?) of the actual flower.   Creative 3D work such as this is way outside my comfort zone but I attend a monthly group whose purpose is to show and tell finishes and WIPs from the month.   The others are all wildly artistic and creative so ..... :) One lady who attends is currently stitching a ‘fabric paper’ from which she will fold an origami hummingbird.   Each section is meticulously planned out so that feathers, beak, legs etc come in correct colours and places.   This is to be her entry in an exhibition where the theme is ‘From the Simple to the Complex’.  It is fun seeing what the others do but my pohutukawa will be my first and last foray into this unknown territory.   I shall remain happily in 'counted work' territory.

Next I am going to attempt a small zipper purse made from 1 inch squares stitched together with feather stitch.   If successful I will have another use for my sewing fabric scraps :)

12 comments:

Clare-Aimetu said...

Lovely to see you posting Margaret, that is an unusual layout but a nice design. Your 3D work looks intriguing, I'm looking forward to seeing how it grows.

Olde Dame Holly said...

I have not yet attempted a biscornu, but love them. I like that idea of backstitching the sewing lines.

Margaret said...

Thanks so much. Hopefully the pohutukawa will go well. I blindly going ahead :-)

Margaret said...

Thank you. I like to backstitch around in perle cotton when I need to join two counted pieces. It helps keep me accurate.

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

That's an interesting way to stitch a biscornu, usually it's two separate squares.
Did you know that Kirsten has recently produced an index for every design in every issue of GoS? You can download it from the website. Let me know if you can't find it.

Mary - Lecoeurceltique said...

Your 3D pohutukawa flower sounds interesting but definitely outside my comfort zone. I'm going to try a #12 perle when joining my next biscornu as I often split the thread when joining with two strands of embroidery cotton.

Margaret said...

Thanks. I usually join with #12 perle but with this one I have used matching sewing thread. So much easier:)

Margaret said...

Thank you. It was a little hard on my spatial awareness but I managed to join it all together correctly and am pleased with the result. A button or two tonight and I should be able to show off:)

Sandy said...

Good luck with all your projects, will be fun to see them come along. Hope you're staying well and safe from this Covid and are able to get your shots soon, if you've not already been successful at doing so.
Sandy's Space

Leonore Winterer said...

I'm feeling the stitching slump too right now...hopefully you'll get your bug back soon! These projects both look very interesting though. Looking forward to seeing more of them.

Margaret said...

Hi Sandy, It will be a while yet before I get to have my Covid vaccine but we are really blessed in New Zealand with little exposure and any outbreaks are well contained. Although we are officially at "Level One" alert life seems pretty much normal apart from contact tracing and mask wearing requirements.

Margaret said...

Hello Leonore, my mojo seems to be back now and I'm on a bag making roll. I've stitched one in cross stitch and tonight started another in Japanese Kogin. Big huge projects seem daunting but small A5 size linen bags are quite attainable and will make appropriate Christmas gifts I think. Hope you find your mojo again too.