Hello friends. Thank you all for your lovely comments in my last post. Some folks I could not respond to in person...but thank you.
Now I have been very diligent with my Caswell blocks and have completed Block 4.
Block 5 is now underway. My procrastination? Well!
We received the first table prompt of our Still Life for Roxy's Journal of Stitchery Vol 7 which is Vase of Flowers. Now I am a little flummoxed by this....not the prompt itself but how I wanted to proceed. I stitched my background to resemble tongue and groove timber for the wall and I have a piece of an old quilt that I wanted to use for my vase. I was going for a Vintage and faded look.
I then had the dilemma because the other side of the quilt piece was pretty too.....hmmm!
I decided on the patterned side because I liked the edge of pink binding at the top.
OK next was a pretty vintage doiley for under the vase.....
And then came my next dilemma. Yes there's a few! My beautiful friend Gaye who is no longer with us, gifted me from her brother's antique shop in Baltimore, USA a gorgeous piece of fabric that is hand embroidered. I really wanted to use elements from it.
You can see from the reverse side that it is definitely hand embroidered.
I assembled all my elements on my background and now have no clue how to stitch it all down. I am a needleturner and can't quite get my head around it except that I really WANT to use Gayes piece * sigh
So a whole lot of walking past it and sighing is happening at present! Frustrating!
Speaking of frustration....when you lose your person you get to deal with small annoying things that they used to deal with.....recent annoyance.....my old coffee table had the wobbly boot on. I was so sick of it wobbling that I surprised it and me by flinging it on its back to examine it's underneath regions.....turns out the joints on one leg had come out of its hole....actually several holes.
Now I am not handy AT all. But I was determined.
Soooooo I glued and hammered and swore it back into place!
She is now standing back on 4 solid legs...not a wobble in sight and we are both happy!
I have treated myself recently....a lovely new book....Christmas money from the FIL.
And I took myself on a date to the movies to see this one. Set in the early years of Bob Dylan....the cast...simply amazing as all music was filmed live. So many favourites to enjoy.
It was wonderful and so interesting. Music and motorbikes was something Hubby and I loved as gorgeous young things so bought back lots of lovely memories watching Dylan on his lovely bike. He would have loved it and also been so interested. These are the things you miss...talking about things you've enjoyed.
Over the weekend the wind was so strong that it blew one of my tree dwelling orchids on to the ground. So I harvested the flowers to enjoy whilst the plant recovered.....so pretty!
Last but not least, my beautiful young women started high school this week....astonishing!
Both had great days which was lovely.
Well I guess I shall go back to pondering this vase of flowers once more and then get myself to bed. I have the Termite man coming at "stupid o'clock" in the morning for our annual check up.
Take care all.
Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx
Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx 
Hi you, with your Caswell block. That is much more in your comfort zone. Once you’ve pondered for a while, I’m sure you will come up with a good way to stitch down your design elements. I love the design you have come up with and will really enjoy watching the project progress.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that the dreaded plague caught up with you, Michelle....hope you have recovered now. My goodness, high school already! Your Caswell block is looking lovely, as is your Journal block - very interesting. Well done on fixing your coffee table, you are becoming a 'Jill of all trades'!
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle. When you lose your person, so true. I had a friend say to me that you miss them for all the jobs they did. Not true, I miss Robin terribly for not being here. We can sort those jobs out one way or another, like me getting a friend to show me how to put fuel in the car and how to use the discount code
ReplyDeleteSo I have a 'chippy' friend? Well done for tackling that one. I love where you are going with your Journal vase... some lovely treasures to play with and your Caswell is great - the splash of red in those flowers is perfect.... "your person" would have loved the movie..... xx
ReplyDeleteI think your vase of flowers looks absolutely beautiful Michelle. If you are not sure about needleturn with the flowers then maybe a very fine blanket stitch around it? I am so pleased you went with the paisley pattern facing out on the vase - I actually have that very same fabric - mine is from an old eiderdown.
ReplyDeleteI've just babysat while son & DIL went to that movie & I am now hoping to take myself off to it upon their very strong recommendation. Well done on the coffee table repair - its amazing what a good hammer can do!!!
Your Caswell blocks are looking amazing Michelle - sometimes special things take a lot of procrastination - got to get them right! The Vase looks lovely and the flowers stunning. I am sure the way to sew them down will come to you. Well done with the coffee table!! Good you went to the movie, I am sure your person was there with you in spirit.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle. Your vase of flowers is looking lovely - I would probably use bondaweb with them. Trim as much as you dare before fusing down and then stab stitch round the outside of the flowers. The bondaweb will prevent any fraying. Good to get that coffee table mended - amazing what you can do when you get stuck in. Lovely Caswell block and beautiful orchids. xx
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