Chaffinch kit from The Bluebird Company via Create in Stitch.

I had vowed not to buy another kit, but when Create in Stitch advertised this one in their 5 October newsletter I fell in love.  It was so beautiful. I could also see immediately what I would do with it.

I bought one. In order to keep my promise not to add to my stash, I began work on it as soon as I finished the Swedish hand towel.

The instructions were clear and precise, with good illustrations.  Although they suggested working the background first, I only did enough to see how it worked and moved on to the bird.

It was really interesting to stitch - a good variety of stitches, and never enough repetition to be boring.

The colours are so harmonious and calming. After the bird I returned to the background - fine for doing in front of television!

As I got towards the end, I had a class at the Guild, so went on a hunt on the trading table for a bamboo hoop I could use to frame and hang it, without using one of my working hoops. I found one, came home and finished off the stitching. 

This morning, before breakfast, I mounted the finished item in the trading table hoop. It took a bit of manipulating and tugging to get it tight enough. 

I then found another Guild treasure, a piece of cloth dyed by Guild members for an exhibition challenge a couple of years ago. It was the best colour blend in my stash for backing the hoop frame.

It was a little tricky stitching the backing on, but a lot of pins helped.

It is now hanging on my front door, along with the two other pieces that have been there for a year or two. My neighbours are supportive.

It's been an uplifting project to work on - some challenges, but calming and joyful. I recommend it - for learning, for stitching satisfaction and joy.

I have not provided detailed photos of my work on this one in order to preserve copyright.  My photos show no more than the promotional photos of the kit show. 

When I published this blog post, Create in Stitch still had the kit in stock. I'm sure it's available from other retailers, as well as the Bluebird Company itself.

Earring Organiser - no stitching required

I have been stitching. I'm a few days away from finishing the Christine Bishop Pulled Work Mat and will report on it within a week. I did, however, get carried away with another madwoman project on Saturday, and in the end it didn't require stitching.

Before I moved to the apartment where I now live, my earrings were stored on the inside of a cupboard door. The cupboard was an old one, made of boards. The doors were braced on the inside with horizontal wooden strips at the top and bottom. By tacking a piece of cotton fabric to these strips, stretching it between, I had a surface into which I could hook earrings. It was convenient and easy.

The cupboard was too big for my apartment, so I lost the earring hanger.

In the meantime, I bought an earring 'book' from the Innovations Catalogue. It worked OK for stud earrings, but was a messy solution for hooks, especially if the earrings had any length. It makes choosing earrings a chore. These days I don't wear earrings every day, but the effort of finding what I want is a disincentive, so I stick to a few I keep in a box near my bed.

 Early last week, when picking up a newly framed photo, I began to wonder if a frame would work in the same way as my old cupboard door. I got to considering whether I had anything I could adapt and came up with a scroll frame. It was for a particular project and I haven't used it since. I put it aside to think about and to look for fabric.

On Saturday morning, the Create in Stitch email advertised a shipment of stretcher frames (photo right from their email). I had rejected the one I have as being too small for the earring project, but the email indicated the shop now had stretcher bars up to 26". Wow! I headed straight there after my supermarket shopping.

In fact, they had them up to 28"! I came home with a set and got to work.

A hunt through my stash came up with a limited number of fabric pieces big enough. I found an accessible place I could hang it  on my bedroom wall, below a painting Brigid had done around 10 years ago. I rejected bright flowery prints and a dark green linen in favour of a pale, dusty pink double damask that complemented the painting.    

I haven’t used my staple gun for several years, but it was loaded with staples. I managed to staple one side, then pull the fabric tight, one side at a time, stapling the fabric to the inside of the stretcher, all without stapling my fingers. It took a while, and was tiring, but successful. 

I found a long braid I made in a lucet workshop and attached it under Brigid’s painting,  to the same hook. It hung well below the painting. I used a hook to attach the frame to the braid. My original thought was to stitch it, but Create in Stitch suggested a hook, and it worked.

Pretty well, I thought. 

Next was the hunt for my earrings. Many were in the earring book, but others had strayed. When I found them I sorted them. A few singles went into my oddments tin to use as embellishments or cord stoppers. I have a small box of pairs to be mended: a job for Beads on Parade    

 The remainder I added to the hanging frame. I kept back a  few small studs and hoops as too fiddly. I’m not sure yet if I will keep these in the earring book, or in a jewellery box beside my bed.

I probably could have managed with smaller stretchers - 24" maybe - as I'm not planning on buying more earrings. It doesn't, however, look out of place. I like the way it has turned out. It seems fitting: useful and decorative. It remains to be seen if it works.