Nature Walks.

Sticks n Stones from our latest visit to the sea.

While I await inspiration on using the small driftwood pieces in my mixed-media work. I can still enjoy them til then by making a simple arrangement.Add a couple of feathers and voila.

The small stones are better kept wet to show their lovely colours, so into a jar of water for now.

The shoreline at Birdlings Flat is all stones.The shapes,  the colours, the textures are yummy.

And the bigger stones are ground smooth by the sea and I cant resist bringing a few of those home as well. :)

Perfectly smooth and oval.About the size of my hand.

And a small stack.

Why do I find this so appealing.

Happy gatherings.

Phillipa



Crazy Quilt Gatherings

Hello there my fellow stitchers.

If you didnt know already, the December issue of

 Crazy Quilt Gatherings is out.

Another fabulous read.

I have a small part to play in this issue :)

Happy stitching

Phillipa

Are you Participating?

I've signed up. Have you ?

I see I'm the only one from New Zealand so far.

This is going to be great fun.

Stitching Always

Phillipa



Now THATS A lot of Thread!!

This is an amazing piece of art by Devorah Sperber, and all created with

spools of thread.

Well worth a looksee here

Happy Viewing

Phillipa



A Shot of Colour

Every now and then a colour shot is needed.

And boy! is this a shot.

Its really really orange is real life. :)

Another pre-quake project. Paper pieced Kaffe Fassett pattern,

Gilded Frames

 from his book

Caravan Of Quilts.

Sometimes I cant resist new fabric and Kaffes is a great favourite.

And paper piecing is a very portable project.

Happy Stitching

Phillipa

A Different Style

Again a different style to my shabby work.

These 2 were being worked on just before the February quakes and

its time they reappeared. :)

This first one was worked on a very distressed vintage piece that I rescued.

I used a sketch of some metal flowers .

Sorry no photo of them.

This second piece was made from scratch with layers of

calico, then teabags, tulle and a strip of fabric.

Stitched with perle cotton.

Slightly bigger than an A4 page.

 As per usual, I havn't

decided how to hang/display these.

Not interested in that part.

Its the stitching that rules the roost. :)

I still have the Glory Box that I had as a teen and its

filling up rapidly with my work.Plus a rolled up stack AND a vintage art folder full of embroideries and needlepoints.

My creations dont need a reason to be made. I just have to do it.

Is anyone else like this??

Happy hoarding

Phillipa

Tons of Lace

Good Morning fellow stitchers.

Lookee..Lookee.

At my local charity shop, dropping things off and lookee.

A grocery bag chock full of laces.

A fabulous pile to add to my stash.

These types of finds are becoming rarer and rarer, so I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. :)

We all need the variety for our fabric collages and this is so wonderful.

Please excuse my rave, Im just soooooo chuffed. :)

Happy oohhing and ahhhing!!

Phillipa

Beads Away!!

Starting the beading on the Little Birdie Panel.

Contrasting and co-ordinating the colour, size, and shape of the beads.Also added in a sprinkling of fairly matt sequins.

Its all about contrasts and bouncing colour and light against each other.

The yellow tacking stitches you can see there in the bottom photo

are there because as I started to bead I felt that the panel didnt have enough "body" to it, so Ive tacked on a thin backing layer for more stability, because I want to add quite a bit of beading.:)

Happy Beading

Phillipa



That Pouting Princess

She pouted alot.

Hummed n haa'd over threads and colours to use. :)

So, just because she had been stashed away for a long time

is no excuse to be grumpy.

Still looking a bit forlorn

Is it because her apron wont sit flat.Poor girl ;)

I rescued her years ago, to upcycle.

Someone had spent a great deal of time and effort in stitching, very closely her dress and apron, and no matter how much ironing was done, it just wont sit flat.So we will go with the flow and stitch down so the ripples give a 3D effect.

Again, on a base cloth and a vintage silk piece, I have layered these more brightly coloured stitcheries.

The twirling ladies were just perfect to act as attendants.

It can be tricky at times to work with these brighter colours in a project, But this grouping work together in a summery, gaudy type of way.

They seem to be dancing in a garden.

Lots of stitching and fripperies to come.

Happy Dancing

Phillipa

PS. If you double click on the photos a new window should open with a slideshow which gives great closeups. :) Enjoy.

Shabby-Chic Crazy Panel. Bird n Bunny. Cont.

Stage 2.

After tacking the pieces in place, the fun begins.

Embroidery on all the edges. In this type of

stitching the edges are left raw, which adds tiny detail to the overall "look"

For the embroidery stitches Ive picked up on the colours in the embroideries to give the piece a cohesive look.

The next stage is the beading followed by the final embellishments.

BUT it may be awhile till I get those stages done. So join as a follower so you dont miss out on the continuing saga of the Birdie and Bunny :).

But wait, there's more.

As you know I hardly ever work one piece at a time.

So as the Bunny n bird chatter away there is a

"Pouting Princess"

sorting out her new home.

Looks like a hard lady to please. ;)

Woohoo for Shabby -chic Collage

Phillipa