Another finish for the end of February

I guess having this extra day in February has been lucky for me I have another finish for this month, well the hand embroidery is done now I have to trim away the excess Stitch and Wash away product, its my first time using it so I don't know what to expect.

Triquetra Moons

I used a varigated embroidery floss in shades of purple from my vintage floss stash, JP Coats brand with the price of 5 cents, it stitched well with nary a tangle which was nice. Stitching through the product wasn't a problem though I did notice I had to push the needle a bit harder near the end of the piece.  

I do like the fact the lines didn't come out wobbly which seems to be the case when I trace a pattern so I will use the Stitch and Wash product again especially when I have a more intricate patten to work or I'm too lazy to trace.

I'm linking this post over at Super Mom No Cape where you can find a sweet vintage hand embroidery pattern, and many other talented bloggers posting what they are working on.

http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/02/29/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-47/ 

Slow Sunday Stitching and a finished block

Well here we are on the last Sunday of the month and the last Slow Sunday Stitching for February and I have a finish to post, well a block finish that is. All the hand embroidery for block number five of the Hocuspocusville quilt is done.

Block five The Black Cauldron

At the start of stitching this block it worked up rather quickly with all those long straight lines of the house but once I hit those signs it was like hitting a wall, then this last week my allergies were acting up causing my eyes to tear up and itch so stitching for a few days was out of the questions. Yesterday afternoon and this morning I put in the finally stitching on the stairway, bats and all those french knots on the roof.  Oh and I added clear beads to the open sign to resemble those large clear light bulbs found on old signs.

All in all I am happy with the out come of block five and I will be posting it over at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. Feel free to drop on over and have a look at what other talented bloggers are slowly stitching this last Sunday in February, here's the link:
 http://www.kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/02/slow-sunday-stitching-life-is-beautiful.html 

I will be starting block six very shortly but this week I have a special project I need to get started on and I can use a break from all the black embroidery floss.

Book groups books are slowly being read I'll post the latest update for what I have read in a few days right now it's back to some slow stitching.

Nearly Done

My Hocuspocusville block number 5 seems to have dominated most of my post for the past few weeks and today is no different, though I am happy to say I'm close to the end of this journey.

almost done

The photo above shows where I ended last night when my eyes were too tired to look at the black embroidery floss any longer.
Here is where I began earlier in the day before the hustle and bustle of Sunday chores, writing a few letters and reading the newspaper.

I am posting this at http://www.kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/02/slow-sunday-stitching_21.html
a day late because I didn't want to lose my stitching momentum, have a look at what other talented people are doing for Slow Sunday Stitching.
And I am also posting here http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/02/22/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-46/
There is lots of lovely and creative hand stitchery going on why don't you drop over and have a look

Stitching along and a vintage piece from the past.

This week I have made quite a bit of progress hand embroidering the Black Cauldron block I imgaine all the straight lines made things progress faster and while stitching the roof yesterday I could feel my stitching slow down some.

Black Cauldron

If you are like me and many other needleworkers you problaby have more than one or two projects going at the same time, perhaps during a giving day set aside for stitching you even switch projects every few hours to make some progress on each or like me sometimes you just need a change when working with one color thread.

For me this week its preparing to embellish some crazy quilt hearts so I am rummaging around in my beads, buttons, ribbons, lace and trims stash for just the right pieces. I don't really have a set plan for embellishing the hearts I'm just going to see what I have and start hand stiching it on.

pink crazy heart

While going through one of my stash bins yesterday I found an earlier piece of hand embroidery,

small pillow cover

a true vintage piece hand embroidered by me years ago before I put floss and needles aside for other pursuits only to rediscover how much I love embroidery decades later.

close up

I'm linking this post over at Super Mom No Cape, a wonderful site where you can find not only vintage hand embroidery patterns but other talented bloggers posting what they are stitching too. click the link and enjoy and maybe you will want to join in too.

http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/02/15/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-45/

Happy Valentine's Day and Some Slow Sunday Stitching

Crazy Heart waiting for embellishment

Once the calendar turns to Valentine's Day I begin to feel the approach of Spring, while many are still in the deep throes of winter little signs are revealing warmer days ahead, the days are lengthening, it's no longer pitch black at 5 p.m. when I take out the trash and I can leave about 15 minutes earlier for my morning walk.  Buds are sprouting in the shrubs and trees, and a few early flowers are in bloom. Yes Spring is in the air.

Today I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching, she posted about how nice and warm it is to be stitching a quilt beneath you and placing her chair in a nice warm sunbeam. Click the link and take a look at what Kathy and many other talented bloggers are stitching this week.
http://www.kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/02/slow-sunday-stitching.html

While it doesn't get to minus 23 here in Florida this week our temps dropped to 28 and 29 in the evenings for me perfect weather to have a large quilt project on my lap, and this week is no exception I added some hand quilting to another block of my log cabin quilt. The perfect project to work on once the sun has gone down and the deep chill sets in.

I have a few more logs to quilt on this block then on to the next, but today I will be working on some hand embroidery on block five, the Black Cauldron, this block is coming along quickly I would guess its all the straight lines on the building. My stitching will slow down today as I stitch the roof and signs which seem to take me hours to complete, but hey that's what slow Sunday stitching is for.

Black Cauldron block five

As you can see by the first photo in the post I have some crazy hearts to embellish so later today or tomorrow I need to poke around in my stash of beads, buttons and colorful flosses to see what I have then plan out what stitches to use and where to put them, or maybe I'll get crazy and work randomly.
What ever you do today I hope you have a wonderful time.

Happy Stitching and Happy Valentine's Day 

My TUSAL Report, February Orts and Tatting

The New Moon was yesterday and I forgot to post a photo of my orts for TUSAL so without further delay here are my orts since the last full moon.

Orts February

Most of the black threads are from the Hocuspocusville embroidery blocks I am working on, there are a few purple and blue floss threads from other projects, and some khaki and black sewing threads. All those white threads are bits of threads fraying from the muslin fabric.

Here is my progress on block number five to date the first part of the house is nearly complete. Yeah!

block five progress

Well that concludes my TUSAL report for the month of February, not sure what a TUSAL is, jump on over to It's Daffy Cats blog and read all about it, I'm so glad I did, its one of those little motivators that helps keep me stitching each month
http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-totally-useless-stitch-long-2016.html

One of these days I still want to learn how to tat, my LYS used to offer a tatting class but it hasn't been on the calendar for quite some time so I entered a give away to for some supplies and hopeful with patience (and a YouTube video) I will teach myself to tat, the give away is hosted over at the Stitching Lotus blog here:
http://stitchinglotus.ca/2016/02/shuttle-tatting-giveaway-2/comment-page-1/#comment-71041

Stitchery Update and More Quilt Show Photos

After a long busy weekend it was nice to sit down for a few hours to get in some hand stitching time

block 5

As you can see a bit more progress has been made on block 5 of the Hocuspocusville Quilt, I love how doing hand embroidery puts me into a state of pure relaxation and bliss.

I finally chose a project to work on when I need a break from the black floss, the little Hamsa Hand will add just enough colors to give my eyes a break.

I made one last year and didn't think to snap a photo of it before I sent it off to my friend I'll try to remember this time.

Once again I am linking my post here for the Monday stitchery link party where other talented bloggers post what they are stitching.
http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/02/08/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-44/

Here are a few more photos from last Friday's quilt show with the show labels below each photo.

Double Wedding Ring

Dresden Plate

Labyrinth Walk

President's Quilt

Quilt Show photos and slow sunday stitching

The quilt show I attended on Friday was somewhat of a disappointment, while there were some lovely quilts to view, and several vintage quilts on display to ooh and ahh over the lack of vendors was a big disappointment.  There were two at this show a scissors vendor and one Quilt shop vendor, in addition to the guild's boutique.

While I can't say enough about the lovely quilts on display it would have been nice to shop a few vendor booths as there is usually something unique offered by each.

Here is a look at a few of the quilts with hand embroidery that were on display

and the show label

and a close up 

and the label

and a close up of a granny

this lovely quilt was labeled as hand appliqued on the label but it was hand embroidery which was fixed a few minutes later.

the show label with mistake

close up

This one was a real stunner once you get a close look at each embroidery stitch you realize just how long it must have taken to stitch this beauty

love the story on the label

and a close up

Well thats a few of the quilts from the quilt show, I'll be posting more throughout the week,

Here is what I am working on today, block five of the Hocuspocusville Quilt, I am linking up to Kathy's Quilts for a little Slow Sunday Stitching  http://www.kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/02/slow-sunday-stitching-february.html 

It's a large block and I'm off to a rather good start I can't think of a better way to recuperate my energy after spending yesterday at the Hoggetown Medieval Faire in Gainesville I intend to stitch the aching muscles away.

I'm off to the local Quilt Show on February 5th.

Tomorrow is the Busy Bee Quilters Quilt Show for 2016  it is one of my favorite local quilt shows it's always well presented with lots of lovely quilts to ooh and ahh over and is held about 10 minutes from my house.  I hope there are more vendors attending this year than  at the show in 2014, but either way you know I will find some fabric or gadget to try.

Stitchery Party and Happy Groundhog Day

Warm Wishes are sent your way, to have a Happy Groundhog Day

Over the last few days glimpses of spring are in the air, buds are more noticeable on the trees and shrubs, the sun feels warmer and the scent of the damp earth calls to me to prepare the garden beds for planting, but I won't be fooled this time, even here in Florida the temps dropped rapidly so I will wait do some reading and lots of stitching until the winter moves on.

I will start stitching the fifth block of the Hocuspocusville Quilt today I really love how these blocks

look once the embroidery is done but working with just black embroidery floss gets a little boring so I always have one or two other things to hand embroider, I have been sensing spring in the air for a few days so I thought why not stitch something springy.

I have this simple little kit from Chickadee Hollow Designs I think would be a cute little project to add some color. www.chickadeehollowdesigns.com

I am linking up to http://www.supermomnocape.com/ a wonderful site full of  great hand embroidery and where other bloggers post their own beautiful hand embroidery.  Why don't you pop on over and have a look.

Hocuspocusville Block four Morgana's Apothercary done!