Ruby's Button Tin

Back on the needlepoint

I'm back on the needlepoint after spending months working through a patchwork craze.  There's definately an autumnal feeling in the air, so I'm trying to do an autumnal kind of design. 

I collected up lots of old Country Living magazines and leafted through, finding these pictures of teazels and seed heads and stylized dandelion clocks.  Well, the colours say 'Autumn' to me!  They're also saying 'fifties' and 'retro' too.  I did the roughest of drawings and then marked out the design with a pale pink highlighter pen on white canvas. 

I've started stitching, and we'll see how it progresses.  I'm hopeful!

It's about time I started a new needlepoint pattern ... what shall I make?

Design idea for needlepoint

I have an idea that one of these days I'll translate this lovely bit of packaging into a needlepoint design.  I think it'd work really well - a chocolate brown backing with multicoloured reindeer prancing across it. 

Oh, and the soap that this box contained has the most delicious scent which was an added bonus!

A nifty gift idea and other odds & ends ...

If you're looking for an original and colourful present for someone, why not take a peek at Felicity Hall's needlepoint kits on www.felicityhall.co.uk.  She's offering a 10% discount if you quote the following code 135638FHCN (just key it in on the order confirmation page of the website). 

      

I love those moody blues and metallics.

These are brilliant too, so vibrant.  

I haven't even given any thought to buying gifts yet, having stubbornly refused to 'do Christmas' until at least December 1st.  I know what I'd love - a subscription to Selvedge, lots of fabric for my stash, lots of gorgeously coloured Rowan wool and endless pieces of Emma Bridgewater china.  Santa, are you listening!!!??? 

Finally, this is an article that appeared in The Times recently, it's about Loop, the North London knitters haven.  How fantastic does that place look?  If that shop was in my neighbourhood I think I'd practically live there!   

 

 

 

Simply pincushions

I've been making more mini needlepoint pin cushions in all the colours of the rainbow. 

I'm also investigating how to get my needlepoint made up into kits that I can sell.  I've come across some fantastic software, and am just working out whether I can justify paying the £80 it costs.  I've tried to find companies that'll print my designs straight on to canvas, but that might be a bit too ambitious at the moment. 

Apart from sewing I continued reading 'Empire' and leafing through all the Saturday newspaper supplements.  There was a good one in The Times called 'The Food Lover's Guide', all about the lovely stuff that's coming into season this autumn.  There was a feature on 'heritage' produce - varieties of fruit & veg that are coming back into fashion after having almost disappeared.  The names of these plants are so evocative - Trail of Tears, Tommy Toe, the Felin Red Comet, Lazy Housewife and District Nurse are some of them.  Wonderful, aren't they? 

Pincushion Friday

I had a day off work today, so I've been pottering about - doing odd chores and finishing off a few pincushions that've been hanging around uncompleted. 

 

 

 

 

 

 They're filled with polyester toy stuffing and backed with felt.  I'd like to make needlepoint cushions to sell, but they're just too time consuming.  So I'm comprising by making pin cushions with my own designs and colourways. 

I'm going to add gift tags to them as I splurged on some lovely Moo cards a while ago and they're just the right size. 

Not a very crafty start to the week ...

I'm trying to get somewhere with this needlepoint pattern, but as yet it doesn't seem to have got enough zing to it.  Sometimes you just have to keep going.  A lot of patterns look uninspiring when you're halfway thought but come right in the end.  This one - with the coloured rectangles on a white background - isn't vibrant enough, and I'm wondering if the white is the problem.  I wanted a neutral background, but white can be deadening. 

I'll carry on till I'm finished, then back it with a lively fabric and see what the cushion's like when completed. 

 

When you make up your own patterns you have to accept that some work better than others, it's trial and error.  Occasionally you make things you adore, sometimes you make things you kinda like, and other times ... hmm, well ... those end up being cat cushions or tucked away out of sight.  Oh well, on to other matters ...

 

 

 

 

 

I've been sorting out some of my works-in-progress too, and there are plenty of those.  I started some knitted bunting a while ago, and need to get that completed.  Does everyone have stacks more ideas than time to complete them? 

More needlepoint ...

After getting stuck into patchwork for a few months I've now fixated on needlepoint again, and this little squares cushion cover has been dragged out of the workbasket. 

I do like these designs where you don't have to stress over following a chart.  Especially as some of those charts in books are shown not only in black and white but also in the teeniest tiny print.  You can strain your eyes trying to decipher how a pattern's put together. 

 

                                                                                           

Fishy cushion how-to

Okay, this is going to be a basic 'how to make a needlepoint cushion with a fishy pattern' post.  At least it'll be the start of one.

 

You'll need an assortment of tapestry wool and a piece of 10-count canvas.  The teeny-tiny mini cushions are approx 21.5cm x 19cm when finished, so you'd need a piece of canvas a good 5cm bigger, making it about 27cm x 24cm. 

A more standard sized cushion, when finished measures 33cm x 35cm, so you'd want a piece of blank canvas approx 38cm x40cm to start with.

 

Start stitching in the bottom right hand corner of what will be your cushion.  You're going to stitch the background of what in this photo would be the bright blue rectangle with the pink fish. 

 

Now, at this point I'm going to have to stop as I've just spent half an hour drawing a diagram of the fish shape but have got to work out how to add it on this blog.  Hmm, I really do need an I.T. man on permanent stand-by.  Will have another crack at this tomorrow evening. 

I-spy a UFO

I can see way too many UFOs.  Not shiny silver saucers winging through the night sky but those dratted unfinished projects that start off in a flurry of excitement then get pushed into a corner and forgotten when a new idea comes to mind.  So I'm trying to finish a few off. 

I've backed and stuffed a few more cushions, and spent yesterday afternoon quilting  a section of an entirely hand stitched patchwork quilt.  Those things are like the Forth Bridge, you never feel you're making much progress but one day - one day! - you'll get there. 

Apart from that, I seemed to spend most of yesterday eating!  The more I think about dieting, the more I seem to stuff my hamster-like face with everything I can find.  I think I need a whole shelf full of those self help books, plus maybe a padlock on the fridge.  Oh well, I'm starting today with good intentions.  Let's see how those work out.