Wearable Art pre-earthquake by Jenny Gillies

Hello all from Christchurch.

When we went for a walk thru the central city of the Sunday evening before the quake, We found all these outfits on display in the Ballantynes windows.
I dont think they have survived.???
They had been created by Jenny Gillies, a local Fabric artist.And were on display until a fashion show was to be held in early march.
Many many hours of work went into these.

Hope all is well with others here in Christchurch.

Christchurch Earthquake.

Reporting in. We are fine. Our house is fine. Most of our street is fine, even tho we are in the liqufaction area.
We had a mess inside the house but only lost a couple of ornaments and the Tv set.All in all we got off lightly.Just have to learn to live with no water supply for awhile.

The aftershocks are very nerve racking as some are quite large.

Phillipa

Playing with fabric and stitch

Hello to all.

I had a play with fabrics and quilting stitches and I came up with this. This was made before we moved to Christchurch.

The surface is quite ripply as I quilted it with a DMC perle cotton. Using a large piece for the background, I collaged pieces over the top in a random manner. I'm not sure if I like it or not, BUT it did get made into a larger cushion.

Til next time.

Phillipa

Quilt top. Big Diamond

Hello all.

A few more things I have been up to over the past couple of months. Of course. Unfinished.

For Xmas I was given a Kaffe fassett Book. Caravan Of Quilts
And in it was the pattern called Big Diamond.Its a scrappy pattern and for years and years I have had a box of triangles cut out waiting for the inspiration to use them.And here it was. Sorting into light and dark I made the quilt top. Im quite pleased in how it turned out. If we have a very cold winter it might even get quilted.

Til next time.
stitching always.
Phillipa

Crazy Crumb Piecing

Back in October i posted about Crazy Crumb piecing.
So I just had to try it out for myself. As you know I try not to waste anything and recycle as much as possible, so this was a small project just perfect for me.
This is how my block turned out. :)

It was fun to do and  will be added to my pile of "what the heck am I going to do with this" Pile.
lol. Im sure we all have these types of works. Making for the sake of making with no idea of what we will use it for.
As my blog name suggests, its the stitching I'm interested in. When it comes to making my work up into something, a whole lota procrastinating goes on. ;).

Are you a gatherer of finished items or like me, a gatherer of UFO's. (unfinished objects.)

Bye for now.
UFO expert.
Phillipa

Craft Site for Kids

Do you have younger children or grandkids. This site Kaboose .com  has a fabulous array of craft ideas for the young,
but some of the simple designs would also be great for applique or stitching.

 Isnt he the cutest. Part of the Valentines day images to colour.
This site is a "must" for all creative families. :)

Bye for now.

Early Easter Idea.

Good Morning all. What a scorcher yesterday.

It was still 35 degrees after 11 last night. TG it was just for the one day. I was melting.

I know that Eeaster is still miles away but I saw this posting by Cathe and thought that its a delightful idea.

Till next time.

Etsy Find

I get several types of emails from Etsy and today I spotted this.

The seller is Szuszanna . Worth a quick nosy :)

Im getting "Welcomes to Christchurch"

People are alot friendlier in this neck of the woods, From the ladies at my stitching group to fellow bloggers, just like hannah  who has a blog called The Artsy RedIsn"t her dog just the cutest. Hannah I DO love your style so I will be a regular follower

Moved to the Shakey Garden City.Christchurch.NZ

The last couple of months have been hectic to say the least. We have moved Islands.
a new and more exciting job for (my gorgeous one :) ) MGO.
So a hasty pack to beat the Christmas sailings deadlines to get across the ditch.
Found a tenant, rehomed the animals and away we went.
  Finally have settled into our new home in Christchurch and getting into a new routine.
Weve each taken over a bedroom for our hobbies. He's into miniature Rail. Predominantly NZR. Used to do the big stuff but a change of scene and a change of hobby size for him.
Me..Im still stitching.
Stitching and now more blogging.
Ive started another blog  I may have mentioned it before.This will get updates from my life outside stitching.
Back to my stitching news.
A new city and heaps of shops to check out.
My favourite is The Stitch Playroom. Owned by a delightful young lady, Fenella
who has stocked the shop with contemporary fabrics. And since Im going thru a "modern" stage
and she has a super collection of Kaffe Fasset fabrics, needless to say I cant stay away..hehe
Ive joined her Thursday morning stitching group where about a dozen or so ladies meet to stitch and chat. Im thoroughly enjoying it.
She also runs some extra yummy classes
Ive visted quite a few art n craft stores and will comment on others over time.

This is enough of my domestic stuff. :).

Onto the more interesting stitching stuff, which I will start shortly.

Ta Ta for now
Phillipa

Tulips with Amazing colours

Mother nature always comes up with fabulous colour combinations

Op-Shop/Charity Shop Finds

I Just love the thrill of the hunt in the charity shops I as never know what I will find

to add to my stash.

This week is this collection of braided tasseling and some black netting.

Made in heavy cotton and some rayon. In short lengths that might be used as an edging to one of my small purses.Who knows. Sometimes its just having my collection around me is all thats necessary.:)

Do you have any favourite shops or markets you love to browse or hunt ;)

Regards

Phillipa

On Sella I have heaps of sewing patterns and various Art n Craft books and patterns for sale. http://www.sella.co.nz/store/4qsvxx/freeone

Allies in stitches Blog

A wonderfully informative and attractive blog is Allie's in stitches. With some fun tutorials along with great photos.Ive just enjoyed a browse and thoroughly recommend a look.

This photo shows the end product of what Allie calls Crazy Crumb piecing.
I will definately be trying out this technique to use all the little leftover bits that I cant bear to throw away.



Happy Stitching.

Textile Collections Online

For those of you who just love seeing textiles in all forms , here;s a fabulous online collection in Canada.
Well worth a browse. :).

On Sella I have heaps of sewing patterns and various Art n Craft books and patterns for sale. http://www.sella.co.nz/store/4qsvxx/freeone

Crewel Embroidery Site

In todays post from The Unbroken Thread, she gave us a link to a delicious embroidery site by the name of crewelwork.com.


If you are into crewelwork or just love to see delicious embroidery, then this is well worth a looksee.

And what a beautiful house to work from.
Regards
Phillipa


On Sella I have heaps of sewing patterns and various Art n Craft books and patterns for sale. http://www.sella.co.nz/store/4qsvxx/freeone

The Pastel Crazy Quilt.

Ive added a Flickr link to my blog and uploaded all 14 photos of the Pastel crazy quilt. Please have a browse.

Small Hand Embroideries.

I make small embroideries like these from time to time.
Great for using up scraps of linen and all those ends of skeins.
I upcycle old linens that may have a saveable area still on them.
I draw a square or rectangle to fit within that area and then just freehand draw a simple picture.
I use a 5HB pencil to draw with and it stays quite well as I stitch.

I'm still not sure what I will do with them. Ideas include

A pocket on a childs dress, Small pincushion.

A small wall hanging maybe.Add to a country style crazy quilt.

I just love to stitch and dont always worry about what I'm going to use the embroidery for. The stitching is my thing :).

On Sella I have heaps of sewing patterns and various Art n Craft books and patterns for sale. http://www.sella.co.nz/store/4qsvxx/freeone

Free image

On Sella I have heaps of sewing patterns and various Art n Craft books and patterns for sale.

http://www.sella.co.nz/store/4qsvxx/freeone

Free Image

Another from my collection for you use. Enjoy

On Sella I have heaps of sewing patterns and various Art n Craft books and patterns for sale. http://www.sella.co.nz/store/4qsvxx/freeone

Finished Vest

A couple of weeks ago I finally finished the stitching on the felted vest.
In the end I didnt put the big flowers on. I feel they just didnt look right.
I will have to come up with another idea to use them on.
So I just had the twirling vines with large daisy like flowers done in a yummy bobbly wool.
A contrasting coloured bead for each centre.
Then a warm/vibrant lining.

The theme was for an Elizabethan Era item.

The rolled edge with the over stitching is reminiscent of that time and the

the floral embroidery was very popular back then along with formal gardens.

So I've put a contemporary feel to it.

I think it worked..lol.