Bird hand towels

A couple of years ago I bought a supply of hand towels to embroider. I was looking for usable hand towels - terry towelling for absorbency and big enough to hang on a small towel rail without falling off.

I found a couple of pair about 15"x30" with a panel devoid of loops and printed for embroidery
as well as some that had in Aida panel inserted. The other day I needed a grab-and-go project so grabbed one of the towel pairs printed with a cross-stitched bird. 

It came with thread so all I had to do was follow the chart.

This proved to be less than satisfactory. Cross-stitching on to the cotton panel didn't give good coverage. Accuracy wasn't easy. I didn't much like the result.

So for the second towel in the pair, I used the shape, but not the crosses. Instead, I tried chain stitch for the bird - a much better result.

I completed the bird and greenery in chain stitch and the flower in buttonhole stitch.

This was so much better that I then over stitched the cross-stitched bird with chain stitch - an altogether better result.   I now have a pair of usable hand towels!

Second BATB class: French Birdcage

The second class I took at Beating Around the Bush in early October was a two day class with Christine Bishop, to make her French "Birdcage" Workbox and Accessories.

Christine was kind enough to hold up her finished piece so we could photograph it.

It has six panels - and quite a few accessories!


We spent the first day of the class learning the stitches required for the panels - by working one panel, not to completion, but to the point where the components were clear.

We worked Italian four-sided stitch, satin stitch and double running stitch, before learning Sorbello knots - which give texture to the birds.



On the second day we switched to the Scissor Fob and worked the whole thing in a day - helped along by Christine making all our cords for us!



It was terrific to go home with something completed. I have added a pair of scissors to my fob and will use them in completing the project - as an incentive.


Since the class finished I have worked on a second panel. I took it to one of the Guild's Thursday stitch-in evenings.

I need, however to take a desk light if I am going to continue to do this - counted thread work is hard on my eyes. I found even the double running stitch quite difficult without light. I found it hard to place my needle in the same hole on the return journey - you can see where the needle has glanced off by one thread. This, I learned from another class, is a common problem, addressed by angling the needle under the previous stitch.

Nevertheless, I have one panel finished - minus the bird.

I need to work on some Christmas items - as well as the other classes I am attending - so am not sure how much more I will get done in the next couple of months. This is a medium-to-long term project.

Crewel Bluebird of Happiness

This is a longer post than normal. Normally I'd have broken this post into several stages - but got carried away with the stitching!

I bought a kit for Elsa William's Bluebird of Happiness crewel work cushion a year or so ago. After the petit point work of the Toy Chest Etui, I was looking for a complete change of focus, so got out the Bluebird.


First I set it up in a  roller frame and attached it to my floor stand. to get it to work with the stand I mounted it in a portrait, rather than landscape direction.

It wasn't long before I decided this wasn't comfortable to work with, so I remounted it in my sitting frame and a hoop.

This worked a lot better, even though I could only see about a quarter of the canvas at a time.

It has been a really enjoyable project. The colours are varied and beautiful with harmonious blending as well as some contrast.



There was enough stitch variation to keep me interested. The bulk of the stitching is satin or long and short stitch, but the shapes are quite varied. I found myself frequently switching to split stitch - it gives a better texture, especially in the feathery bits of the bluebird.The wool was great to work with.




Each quadrant had its challenges. I like the inclusion of lattice and buttonhole stitch.


It has taken me a few weeks to work this piece, and I have enjoyed it greatly. I spent yesterday tidying up the little bits I had left undone. When I ran out a colour just before finishing a section, rather than begin a new thread for a small area, I moved on to a new colour, then came back and finished off.

I love the shapes and colours -  the trunk and roots of the tree become an elegant feature of an otherwise colourful piece.








It was only when I took it out of the hoop to do the final finishing that I realised the effect of the black space around the circular component - a really lovely design touch.








The construction was quick - the kit came with backing and cord. I stitched it on three sides, inserted the fill and stitched the fourth side by hand.

I'm very pleased with the result.

Winter Birds Finished

I have been very busy over the last few weeks, painting and reorganising my revamped sewing room ( a post on that soon) doing a bit of consultancy work and scanning and organising photos and documents for family history. I have, however, finished the Winter Birds table topper!

I tried two more stitch variations in finishing the project.  Instead of simply couching down the pine needles as I did in the first quarter of the table topper, I tried coral stitch. This stitch is new to me, but I noticed it in a magazine and tried it out. Essentially, instead of a simple couching stitch, you work what amounts to a buttonhole stitch, taking the thread under the needle before taking it through to the back of the fabric.

 It produces texture, which, for this project, I thought added a bit of interest, so I used coral stitch on two of the four sides (opposites) and couching on the other two sides.






My other variation involved the snow. Having pulled out the satin stitch and replaced it with split back stitch on the first two sides, I decided to try padding the satin stitch on the third side. I worked satin stitch in one direction, then over the top in the other direction. It gave a smooth finish and a bit of dimension. I was happy to leave it on side three ( a talking point) but reverted to the split back stitch on the fourth side.

This has been an uplifting, relaxed project to work on. The finished product will be useful, and a cheerful reminder of northern hemisphere winters.

Winter birds progress

I have now finished one side of the Winter Birds table topper. The pattern is repeated on all four sides.
I settled on satin stitch for the big leaves and couched straight stitch for the pine-needles, but wasn't happy with either the satin stitch or the lattice I had experimented with for the snow.

My next step was to try split back stitch. I was much happier with this than with the satin stitch.

Although I left my earlier experiments with the leaves and with the snow lattice in place, like a sampler, I thought the satin stitch snow so horrible I pulled it out.

I replaced it with split back stitch going horizontally, rather than vertically - and liked that one best of all.

I am going to leave the lattice example and the vertical one in - treat it as a sampler. I might try a double layer of satin stitch in the next quarter - horizontal over vertical perhaps.




I also worked the breasts of the birds in split back stitch, but the wings in satin stitch.


I have a few more variations in mind to try on the other three sides!

Winter Birds Table Topper Start

After the Samurai, I wanted a project that had large components, a bit free-flowing and involved no counting,  preparation or construction. I settled on a kit for a table topper, bought, of course, on sale.

I bought this because it is so cheerful. I like the colours, and the style reminds me a bit of Hungarian embroidery, which I admire. I also like to have some projects on hand that require no finishing once I've finished stitching and I rather liked the edging on this one.










The thread is 5 Perle - solid and fast, and the instructions consist of a large diagram and a sheet of stitches. Basic.

I began on the red berries and really enjoyed the freedom after the cross-stitch effort of the last weeks.

I moved on to the pine needles, and decided to couch them rather than have long loose stitches as in the diagram. That seemed to work well.



I then decided to experiment a little on some of the larger leaves, trying some of the lattice techniques that Mary Corbet has been writing about in her blog.

I needed the filling fairly dense, so used two shades of green with the framework lines fairly close together. It was possible to get the lines intersecting so the colour is all light at the tip and all darker at the base and a mixture in between. It gives a textured effect that I quite like.






It doesn't look so good, however, with the gold veins in place.

Next I played around with the cream-coloured blobs that I take to be snow. Not having a lot of experience of snow, I don't know whether birds actually choose snow rather than exposed branches to sit on, and I would have expected the thread to be white, not cream - but I am out of my knowledge base and may be too literal.

Rather than large blobs of satin stitch, I tried layers of couched lattice - a layer on the straight and couched down overlayed by another set at a 45 degree angle. It would work well for a nest, but probably isn't the best effect for snow.

The photo also shows how the gold veins for the satin-stitched leaves sink into the work, while those on the latticed leaves stay on the surface. Looks like satin stitch wins for the leaves.  I want to try something else for the snow (assuming that's what it is!). It's good to be working on something I can easily play around with.