Thursday 25 April 2013

A new start

After so many finishes recently I have made a new start.   This is supposed to be done in red but I opted for a darker blue/purple variegated silk.   The colours in this photo are not true to life.   I am stitching on antique white linen with Caron Waterlilies silk.  
One side has strawberries and the other acorns.   There is a scissor fob and I will make a needle book and a tape measure cover as well.  The buttonholes at the top are threaded with ribbon and have personalised "fobs" at the ends to make a drawstring closure.
This is a relaxing stitch but I am itching to start another piece of hardanger or a sampler to get more variety of stitches.   But at the moment I am only dreaming as I have three projects on the go and want to get them completed before starting anything else.  
I completed all the cutting out of A Confetti of Hardanger and it is now resting in my drawer of finished-but-not-used doilies.
While on holiday last week saw this bag in an art gallery.   The creator had used the paper from what we call "junk mail" and folded it carefully before weaving into this handbag.  
I also found this necklace made with buttons.   The HD3QBEM dragged me into the knitting wool shop and this was what caught my eye.  Now I want to make one for myself so will be dragging the HD3QBEM around charity shops to rummage through their button collections as I would like to coordinate the colours a little more than this sample.  Great way to use up smaller buttons.

6 comments:

Pamela said...

You are so disciplined to finish things and not start 10 more willy-nilly, only to leave them unfinished when something else comes along! (Is that me I'm talking about?) Your work is beautiful.
I made a similar necklace with buttons last year, using all the same buttons and putting seed beads on the top side of the buttons. (A picture is near the end of the Feb. 8, 2012 post on my blog). I like the look of the different kinds of buttons, although I would also coordinate the colors a little more. I may have another project starting in the near future.

Heather said...

Oh, the doily is so wonderful! How sad that you aren't using it. (Like I don't have a pile of finished things hiding in a drawer too. ;) )

Fiona said...

Your hardanger doilly looks amazing and way too pretty to be relegated to a drawer. Your new start looks lovely and I look forward to watching your progress. There is a jewellery maker in my village that makes necklaces, bracelets and other pretty things using buttons, beads and charms. If you google Button Bothy you can check out her website.

Karen said...

LOVE your hardanger piece! It is absolutely stunning! The weaved junk mail bag is a really unique idea. It's actually kinda pretty with all of the colours. I look forward to seeing your button necklace.

I too have the desire to start something new. I'm normally a one-at-a-time stitcher, but seem to have stitching ADD this year. I now have a few things on the go and won't let myself start anything larger until I finish one of the bigger pieces first. I keep looking at my stash of Victoria Sampler and am aching to start one.

Phyllis said...

My EGA group made button lanyards last year to use for our name tags or scissors. Some ladies used two colors of buttons. It looks different depending on the sequence. One way all of one color is on one side, etc. Years ago I made my mom a necklace using black buttons with black seed beads. I now wear it. People are amazed that it is made of buttons.

Karoline said...

Congratulations on all your recent finishes, the hardanger is stunning & I know feel the need to drag that Just Nan chart out of the depths of my stash.