Chunky Tapestry

**!>~** and *:#>* ..... I keep seeing people and having scans and tests and things and I still can't walk or stand for long ..... I know things could be worse, and are for many, but I do get frustrated!
So, yet again I sit - and cheer up by playing at stitching or www browsing!

I've recently seen several remarks on blogs like "life's so short, start everything".
This idea amuses me and it must be at the back of my mind as I'm forever starting something different in crafting - with lots of things put aside unfinished for another day.
On Friday I decided to make a challenge for the weekend when I picked up a small piece of canvas .....
by Sunday this little 11x10cm. picture was finished (amazing - something finished!)
I enjoyed doing it and it has a chunky look and feel.
I started with the ribbon "stripes" on the right, thinking I'd do something abstract.
Well, I'm really a flower person so the flowers came next ..... and then it developed bit by bit, no pattern or drawing, as a mini picture.
I couldn't find any true blue wool for a summer sky - (that must be tucked away in a safe place!) so used some from a card of marl darning wool that goes back to the 1940's.
It isn't as dark as it shows here, the marl effect gives a hint of shading quite nicely.
It's not really framed yet - probably never will be. I used a picnik mat for display effect.
Once again I sat most of the weekend - I do make myself take a short walk down the garden path at intervals - and enjoyed stitching,

Darning .....
Many years ago I quite enjoyed darning holes in the heels of my socks (in the days of the second World War we had clothing coupons and had to "make do and mend").

Maybe that's why I love this page from Jan Beaney's book, The Art of the Needle.
This book is one of my best ever Charity shop buys and I come back to it many times.
It's still available on Amazon - buy it if you love fabric and thread!



Having a browse there this morning I decided to stitch something - I wish I could stitch like Jan Beaney!!!!! A square of coarse hessian, only 9x9cm., has been in the scrap box far too long so
I made this mini textured piece - an enjoyable morning.
Now it's time for lunch .....

Ribbon Flowers
I was recently invited to post a favourite ribbon embroidery on embroidery-methods.com
so I chose this one.
http://www.embroidery-methods.com/ribbon-flowers.html
It was one of the early ones I did - and one of only a few I have framed.

.... and cross stich ....
As I still need more greetings cards - see previous post - I made a cross stitch background, copied and saved it to print onto textured card and then I can top stitch, so making several cards fairly quickly.
Next I completed the original stitching to make a more special card.
The pattern is from an old CrossStitcher magazine.



This is a print of the background - cross stitch looks good printed on textured card, better than it appears here.
I'll pin prick the top design before stitching with a single thread.

Greetings Cards

As I needed a few greetings cards, and I have bought too many recently, I appliqued flowers from a remnant, did a quickie acrylic painting and stitched on fabric earlier this week.



Yesterday I had to be at the local hospital for hip injections at 7.30am -

if they help I may continue with hip replacements later.
At last some action after months of consultations, x-rays, and scans.
Next week an MRI scan on Aorta and arteries in legs - get them sorted - hopefully have a back injection later - and by then I'll be a new woman (I hope!).
Although I had a lot of pain in my left hip yesterday today that feels better and I'll be walking more this morning to test it out.
Maybe I'll be getting a few weeds out of the garden, I haven't done my share there this year.

Pressed Flowers

I was up in the early hours as I couldn't sleep - I tried catching up on ironing as I haven't done any for ages and the pile grows!
After one thing - no more!!!
So I browsed through an old box of pressed flowers from 1996/7, when I discovered pressing flowers in the microwave soon after I retired.
Amazingly some have preserved and faded gently as in this picture, made at that time ....
...... so I recycled it into a fabric postcard .....













Then I looked out a tiled picture with pressed flowers and played with Flickr Toys to make a "magazine cover" ..... much more interesting than ironing - (that will keep!)

There are lots more flowers, microwave pressed years ago, so I'll play with them in the next few days,
But I must finish making a few greetings cards first .....