Olympic Stitching and Appliquéing

In the spirit of Olympic finishes, it was a productive weekend with one finish, and progress on WIPs.

Although I stitched this darling Shepherd’s Bush design several years ago, I ran across the fabric needed to finish it while straightening up my sewing room. So I sewed it up. The design was a freebie from SB that they gave away in their shop, as well as to those who came by their booth at market that year.

That project was stitched on 10-count Tula cloth with 3 strands of floss. It reminded me of the other pieces I’d stitched on 10-count Tula, as well as over 2 on a 18-count fabric. I remember this was a nice change from the tighter weave fabrics I usually stitch on.

I have also previously stitched 3 of the SB Monthly Musing designs, 2 of which are finished as doorknob hangers.

I love the small Lizzie and Kate Snippets and Bent Creek Snapperville designs. And they are darling when stitched as “smalls”. But they can be stitched on larger weave fabric for a completely different effect. For example, this Trilogy small design would have been 3.5 inches by 3.5 inches if I’d stitched it over 2 on the 32-count linen recommended by the designer. But I stitched it on a 18-count lambswool linen over 2 and it finished 7 inches square. Plus that made it the right scale to add some buttons.

Other stitching over the past week included stitching one of the squares from my Family in Stitches design. Although the final project will be on 40-count with needlepoint silk, I did this on a cool hand-dyed 28-count linen with Weeks Dye Works and GA Sampler threads. All that remains is the backstitching details.

The interesting thing is that as I was stitching this I was watching the latest episode of Lark Rise to Candleford (a BBC series being shown on PBS). It dawned on me that I was probably watching what life was  like in England for my ancestor Sophia Butcher in whose memory I was stitching.

And, last but not least, I finished the appliqué embellishments to the Heart to Heart quilt. I ordered black with white pin dots fabric from Fabric.com, only to find out that it is backordered and I won’t have it until mid March. So this project won’t be finished for several weeks.

 

This little bird will get a button eye after it's quilted.

 

 

But, all in all, a productive and enjoyable weekend.