remember Gwendolyn?

I made her back when....

........when I found Black Eyed Suzie's dolls online; absolutely was smitten and reeelly, reeeellly wanted one.  But, I couldn't afford one  They were way too expensive for me.  So, I decided I could make myself one in her style.  I do that.

She took me awhile.  I was looking back at old photos and see months went by between the start of her and the completion.  Seems I was laid up for a good portion of that season too...with a wonky arm...and it was not the result of accident, but surgery, on my ganglion cluster on the same arm that is now broken.  Good grief !!

She is air dry paper clay over wire and tin foil.

Anyway...here's Gwendolyn ....something for show and tell ...

oops, sorry....perhaps I should have given her some panties for the photo.

Here are some of Suzie's in case you don't know of her dolls.  I still love them and hope to make more some day.

Stitching again...

This little pincushion has been sitting around (everywhere in the house really) for months to over a year ...well, it must be over a year now...

Totally lost any creative mojo during the main basement area reno.. then we had water damage go from upstairs into the basement and ruin all the renovations we had just completed... then, got that repaired and refurbished and then...the stupid stove went on the fritz causing yet another renovation.  WE discovered that "no built in ovens are to be placed within 12 inches of the cooktop or damage can occur to wiring inside the built in oven"..  ...   so had to opt for a complete range, as we call them in this country ...  which meant we then had to have the granite counter top re-cut to accept a total stove instead of just a cooktop...

The granite cutting was a disaster, and the opening is not the size we need, it is slightly larger and still not square, but you can't make a hole smaller once it is cut.  The guy who installed the range finally managed to make it sit as squarely in the opening as he could and it looks okay.  Not perfect, as it could have been if the granite guys had known their stuff ...but, okay.  Oh, and, the first range had Convection fans that were not working, so we had to order a second stove... which has now been installed and is working great.

This is the type of thing that goes on all the time around here.... or so it would seem.  Thirty plus years of renovations have taken their toll methinks.... if I never have to lift a finger to do or even to oversee anybody else "doing" things round here.... it won't be too soon for me.  I'm so done with renovating.

So, there you have it... and, now ...

Got the last embroidery stitches done on it finally ..or thought I had.. stitched it up around almost the whole thing leaving a small opening to turn it through..I am used to small turning openings from doing the little bears...and, got it turned with no difficulty.  However, I don't like how that corner doily bit opens up so deep under it after all...so now I need to do some little stitches to hold it down at almost halfway into it.  That will be a bit tricky as I need to begin and end and, also stitch, on the inside and outside the already turned pillow.  Darn it.  Oh, well, it must be done.

Here it is so far...  this is the part of the little corner of doily that I don't want to lift quite so deep into it if you know what I mean.  Part way will be enough for me.

Here it is next to a completed one from ages ago when I took Karen's class.

A page..

I cut up my fabric that I've been playing with ....and decided to make an opening on my page to display a portion of it.  It will serve to remind me of what I did with this particular piece... how I stitched it ... how I manipulated the bits of lace and silk... the actual stitches I used...

In this particular case..it will also serve as a reminder never to stitch a piece directly onto my page!!  Wow!  What a tricky thing to try.  Why didn't I just use double sided tape like everybody else?  Oh, no..not moi.... I figured it might be just as easy to stitch it onto the paper.  Wrong!   the down stitches were just fine, but the ones coming back up again?  from beneath paper and several layers of fabric? ... arrrgghhh!  I couldn't see the holes even when I held the page up to a bright light... and ended up having to poke a needle through each hole from the topside... guide my sewing needle to the exact spot and withdraw the top needle and carefully poke up with the stitching needle.  As you can guess ... the air was particularly blue at several points during my ordeal.  And, yes, it was a bit of an ordeal.  Next time...play with paper stitching and just enjoy it ... .. tack on fabric later...

Oh, and... I also did the unthinkable.  Stabbed my finger a good one and bled on the paper before I even realized it.  Luckily, I also licked the bloody area immediately...  and then had to lick again because it just smeared... ... and then, luckily ... I was able to blot it off easily with paper towel.  Whew.
Saved the page after I had worked so diligently with my stitching...

I was having some fun with FME also... onto a gauzy square with a few little embroidered flowers on it.  I'm not sure what it is ...perhaps a table protector of some sort... too big for a hanky ...  not really a doily... too small for a scarf...... Maggi found it for me...

I love how the FME looks on it...I'll try a bit more and try for better photos of it...  I cut a bit of it and added it to this smaller piece of the fabric...

Beginnings...

... of my next pincushion... my fourth now... wow!.... not that I'm speeding along or anything.
A few little French knot flowers.  Look like Forget-Me-Nots..

It's so much easier and pretty quick too when I already have the 'master sheet' of fabric ready to go whenever the spirit moves me.  Remember the master sheet of pretty fabrics?  So much easier than putting each one together separately.                                                                     















Pick a nice area, figure out exactly the size and shape the cushion will be and begin embroidering..

Decide on some trims... embroider a bit more and soon, it begins to take shape... I love putting them together.  They are so tiny and dainty and I love working with tiny things.

An amazing thing...

Damp stretching.  Ever heard of it?  I hadn't before I started this EEC class with Karen. (embroidery, embellish, create)

She showed us how to accomplish it... mentioned that she does it often..even for a better photo of her demonstrations etc...but.. I didn't try it right away... sort of thinking more of doing it later I guess.

However, I got tired of looking at "Rumpelstiltskin"...  which was what I had begun to call my first block of work.  Not very complimentary I know... ...but, it was looking pretty bedraggled and it just sort of sprang to mind.

I couldn't find a cork bath mat, which was Karen's first choice for us to use.... so settled for a cork display board from an office supply store.  She had said to check if colour came off ...which, luckily I did...because it sure as heck does!  I sprayed the cork surface..wiped it with paper towels... it was almost orange-y ... and it only got slightly  better with several wipes and then even a good wash.  I thought about taking it back ...hahaha..yeh... "I washed it down and then decided I didn't want it" ...  can you see the look on the clerk's face?

I decided to lay a couple of pieces of Saran Wrap on the board and then pin my fabric to it... spray... wait....fingers crossed... and hope for the best.

I put the board on the bathtub...just above the heat vent...so it dried nicely in about four hours.... 

Perfect!  My fabric was pristine when I removed it .. and ..... big 'AND' here!! .... what a great job damp stretching does to fabric and embroidery stitches.  It looks freshly laundered and ironed.  Not that it was dirty..but, just being all rumpled makes it look somewhat less than clean if you know what I mean...

Look how lovely and smooth!

Not the Easter chicken..

"Listen Missus ..... this is all well and good...but, where's me legs"? ... "Where, eh"?

.... Poor little goosie....

She's been checking out the shiny shell buttons I've added to my embroidery piece... and the thread wrapping for a button loop ...

That is not an elastic piece even though it may look like one.... not.... ...instead, it is many wrappings of embroidery thread around two other strands of thread.  French knots at the base.... there will be more in the vicinity...eventually...and... I have a further idea for those buttons... and now...a second loop is also on the fabric... for the other button... what fun!

Practising my embroidery stitches ...

Learning some new stuff too....

About me actually......... hahahhahh... almost as much as I am learning about embroidery and embellishment.

For instance ... I'm totally anal.

This block...our first.... took me about 3 hours and 7 minutes of agonizing over before I got it pieced together... and was happy with the look of it.

Dare I tell you how long it only takes for Karen to put together an amazing looking block?  7 minutes!  Flat!  .... PLEASE go to see her beautiful work... it's worth it just to gawk at some of her postings.  The photos are enough to blow you away....

I'm consoling myself with a few things..... first, she has a lot more 'stuff' to choose from than I do at the moment ..... and......she has been doing it for several years now..... plus....as she says herself...it is not a race.  It is to make a lovely cloth for ourselves, that honours the traditions of women through the ages that have made, or pieced, or stitched, on any fabric or scrap of fabric they managed to find, buy or somehow secure ....

I'm going to start begging for scraps and, (all of a sudden, while typing),  I just remembered a lady up the block makes quilts........so, now,  I do know three people who sew ...maybe they have some useable pieces hanging around....and my sister says she has found a pretty doily with some cutwork ...  so maybe I will find or make a pretty box or container for all my lovely white stuff which I hope to eventually accumulate.  I've always loved white on white...just never got around to doing anything like this... but, now.......it will probably become an obsession.....

The first stitches I wanted to do were some my Mom taught me ... she used to do bits here and there .... little cloths and some pillow cases and one table cloth are all I really remember her doing... but, she did know how to embroider and so daintily. She always worked so tiny and I find I do the same with a lot of things... how we become our parents in so many ways.... without even realizing it.

The first embroidery stitches I ever learned.... Chain Stitch and French Knot.......how did I do Mom? Personally I realize quite a bit of practice is needed...it's been awhile since I embroidered..... but, I know she would have said how wonderful they are .... she was always our biggest cheerleader in all our endeavours.

My cloth is underway.

Wheeeeeee !!

Yesterday I put on surgical scrubs, got out my various haemostats and surgical threads... laid out the patient's arms and ... er ...wings..... and got bloody...... on the first stitch actually.  Then, had to stop, lick the wool  (to get the blood off ) ..your own spit is the best way ...and almost the only thing that works really well.... but, your tongue gets kinda fuzzy.... plah... pluh.....

No wonder I hold my embroidery threads in a vice like death grip .... that's how I have to hold down a patient every time I attempt to stitch on arms, legs, heads, wings.. you name it.  I have to totally change tactics for embroidery stitches... learned that already.  Gentle pressure is all that is needed to make the various stitches look so much better.

With mohair and animals (and goosies) .... almost every stitch in tight or hard to get to areas takes pulling through with a needle grabbing hemostat.... oh, and a bit of cursing and occasional finger stabbing.

Finally... just as I was about to tie things off .... there was a flurry of wings and somehow she got airborne...

Wooohoooooooo ...........

Look at me! ................ I'm flying ..... and I can even see myself in that spoon.....

Watchout.!!!

Luckily she landed safely.... I tidied up my mess and she went over to talk to the DTBs  (dining table birds) ... they were still at it over an hour later.... I'm not even going to tell her when I paint her feet.  i'll just do it and then poke them in where they belong...I hope...

Housebound birds.....  they get a little stir crazy......

Practice

My first attempts at Karen's web... and some French knots, which of course I used to do, but my fingers don't really seem to remember them too well...yet.  What a disaster with several.  But....one thing I do have... perseverance ... yep....I've got that.  'Stick-to-it-iveness' as some folks used to call it.












I'll get it.  See the difference in the last web?  Pretty good compared to the first little white one and much better than the first yellow one.  My own experience after only trying two showed me something...I was pulling the wrapping thread a bit too taut around each of the legs ..... so, when I loosened my vice like grip on the thread... look... nice webby effect.  Plus...I must remember to work a bit larger for the first few til I get an handle on it.  I tend to work too small with everything it seems...

I love this stitch.  It's beautiful.

... and, my other little gift to me....

.... during the same week... Sylvester.  She named him ...but, I think I will keep it. Ta da...

isn't he cute?  Made by one of the girls that also belongs to the same cloth and clay doll site I joined a few years ago.  Her name is Veronika Lozovaya and she knits these little guys!  I am constantly amazed by knitters.  They make some darned amazing things.  I can't knit... have never tried it... maybe some day.  But, honestly, I already have so much 'stuff' to do.... I better not get caught up in another hobby/pastime....

 Who could resist this sweet little face?

She also makes some creepy cute things...but, as you probably know from my 'stuff'... this is more my style.  I love cute.  It almost reminds me of some of my own faces...maybe that's why I couldn't resist.  It's almost like cooking....I do love my own..... is that unhumble or what?

He has a wire armature inside and so is somewhat pose-able......