Another Baseco Bag

I've finished (and used) my second lovely Baseco Bag.  It's such a useful size and all proceeds from the sale of the pattern go towards helping the poor of Baseco, Manila.  You can buy the pattern from Dawn here.

I love the pastel colours of course and it was a fabulous way to use up the last bits and pieces of a Jelly Roll.

Here's a couple more PASSES (Projects at a stand still) that I have finished.  This is a little sewing case made from my free stitchery pattern which you can find here. 

This next one is another of my DH's cross stitches.  Every time I see this one, it reminds me of a lovely Bed and Breakfast place we stayed in while we were in Cardiff, Wales, a few years ago.

It too is a sewing case.  Here's the inside with six pockets and some felt for pins and needles:

Well, that's quite a few PASSES out of the way.  Another one of them has already been posted off to a magazine - photo another day!  And now I couldn't wait any longer to get onto some new designs.  One has my favourite grub roses on it and I'm also working on something with a Christmas theme.  I LOVE stitching!

Regards

Val

More PASSES hit the dust!

I've managed to tick off some more completed PASSES (projects at a stand still) which makes me very happy!

This was originally going to be a bag, almost became a table runner and ended up a Lingerie Sachet:

A little hanging heart:

Then there is this only-just-usable piece of punch needle embroidery.  It is my first and only attempt - and probably the last - of this technique using borrowed equipment that just would not behave properly.  It is one of Lynette Anderson's designs, and I certainly have not done it justice, but at least it's now a little sewing case, rather than just sitting half dead in the cupboard!

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The postman has been and I've been very disciplined working on PASSES even though these are on the shelf. Jelly Rolls always look so lovely that I am content just to look at them at the moment so that I can tackle a few more bits and pieces that have been sitting around for far too long:

And I'll finish this post off with showing you my little birdhouse pincushions appearing in Australian Handmade magazine:

Happy stitching!

Regards
Val

Rose Delight

Roses are definitely right up there for me!  They would have to be the flower I most love to embroider and I've spent years developing my signature style of grub roses, always hoping one day to work a perfect one!  Some of my sweet little buds have been nearly there, but one day I might make it with a full-blown rose!  Thankfully, the imperfections seem to be hidden fairly well when there are a lot of roses and I was quite pleased over all with how my Rose Delight Etui turned out.  You saw some sneak peaks last year, but here's the whole picture now that it has been published.

And the other side:

and here it is open with all its little pockets and a pincushion for your stitching necessities:

If you want to look at some close ups, you can go back here.

The Etui has now been published in Australian Country Craft and Decorating Vol 21/9 if you would like the pattern.

 

For those of you who do not have access to our wonderful Australian magazines and you would like to purchase the pattern, I have put it on the website.

Happy Stitching
Val

Free Pattern - Gifts of Grace Block 3

Another month has whizzed around, so it's time to give you the next block in the free BOM Gifts of Grace.  This lovely gift is "Love".  We are so blessed to be able to receive Love - and to give it!

You may download the free pattern here.  Please e-mail me if you have any problems.

I've attacked some more of my PASSES (Projects at a Stand Still) and have made some more calendars out of cross-stitch pictures.  Here's a lovely flower one:

and some Australian wildflowers:

and this gorgeous little red-capped robin which I photographed on our winter trip last year:

Now, I'll let you into a little secret!  None of these beautiful cross stitches were worked by me.  They were all worked by my DH!  Many years ago, when he needed to do something with his hands for relaxation as a change from his job involving 100% brain power, I taught him to do tapestries, then cross-stitch.  We actually have a number of male friends who do the same, one of them even winning a prize at the Melbourne Royal Easter Show!  It seems that men actually do better tapestries than women as they are able to work more firmly.  Anyway, DH does HEAPS neater work on the back than I ever did and I now leave him to do all the cross stitches in our house.  Not that we keep many - they all seem to end up as gifts.  He takes great pride in his work and I'm glad that what I have done with them here has met with his approval!

Happy Stitching!

Val

Tackling some PASSES

I managed to finish a quilt this week.  I confess it had been cut out and half sewn for quite a long time.  It had virtually become one of my PASSES - Project at a Stand Still!  It is such pretty fabric - I'm not sure why I stalled on it - probably because I hadn't worked out what I was going to do on the feature blocks.  Anyway, it is now a lovely lap quilt, has been quilted and is all finished.  Instead of a binding, it has a rather unique border, but I've submitted it to a magazine, so can only show you a sneak peak for now!

I had enough fabric over for my next Baseco bag which I am making for myself this time.  While I had all the fabric, cutter, rulers, board etc out, I decided I would also cut out some strips for a little fabric scrap basket that I wanted to make.  An hour or so later, and voila:

It's so much prettier sitting on my sewing cabinet than the big rubbish basket on the floor! 

I'm stitching the embroidery for my Baseco bag at night in front of the tele, so today I was ready to tackle some machine sewing during the daylight hours.  I'm rather proud of myself for not starting something new - even though a project was screaming out: "Start me!  Start me!".  I decided I really should tackle some of my PASSES.  There are so many bits and pieces at a "Stand Still".  It took an hour or two to collect them from lots of nooks and crannies into one place.  And I had a brainwave in the early hours of this morning as to what I could do with lots of lovely cross stitches that have been sitting around patiently waiting to be displayed ...

Quite a few of them are going to be turned into Calendars!  This first one is a Rabbit Ears Orchid which I photographed in one of our gorgeous Conservation Parks.  The photo was then put through our cross stitch converter software.  So, another PASS hits the dust and another present goes in the box.

And I've already started work on another PASS.  I wonder how many I will get done before the two Jelly Rolls I have ordered arrive.  I can't imagine me working on PASSES with new Jelly Rolls sitting in the cupboard!!!  That would require just too much discipline!

Happy Stitching!

Val

Baseco Bag

The generous Dawn at Dawn Hay Designs has designed a lovely tote in a fundraising endeavour for the poor of Baseco, Manila.  Here is my first version of this versatile bag.

I had to make a couple of changes because the fabric I wanted to use was in short lengths.  Then I had decided I was going to give this one away - but then couldn't decide who to - so instead of the initial in the top left corner, I stitched a lattice heart.

Of course I really enjoyed doing the flower stitchery:

I plan to make myself one of these lovely bags as soon as I finish the quilt I am working on.  Dawn has raised nearly $800 already from the sale of this pattern.  If you haven't purchased a pattern yet, please consider it. $4 is such a small amount for us, but it will do so much for the people of Baseco.


Purchase your pattern HERE from Dawn's blog.
 
Happy stitching.
Val

The Blessings of Easter

Wishing you the blessings of the Easter season.

Val