Hoop Hoopla

My latest foray into creating new and exciting items for my Etsy shop is hoopart.  Based on trends in my Instagram feed by other extremely creative embroidery artists and stitchers, it appears to be quite a popular, modern and artistic form of home decor.  So with that in mind I thought it was worth using my own cross stitch designs in wooden hoops on a range of different coloured evenweave fabrics to gauge the effect.  And...I am not disappointed.

I have chronicled the process -

A beautiful grey-swirl evenweave fabric from Sew-it-All was chosen to complement the vivid red colours of the striking Sturt Desert Pea.  The fabric was first machine-edged to prevent fraying whilst stitching and then placed firmly in the hoop before tightening to keep tautly in place.  The relaxing job of stitching the design then began. 

  
Once finished, I used the 'measure twice/three times - cut once' rule (and a good dose of dutch courage!) to cut a 2cm edge around the outside hoop edge which was enough for folding over into the back of the inside of the hoop with a little extra allowed for tucking under.  As I wanted the wrong side of my work to be covered, I devised a method where a piece of wadding was cut to the size of the inside of the hoop as well as a plain black cotton fabric - with an extra 1-1/2cm added all round the circumference.  A tacking stitch was then used around the edge of the black cotton and slightly pulled in to evenly encase the wadding.

It was then just a case of folding the evenweave fabric over the back of the hoop and placing the black encased wadding into the open space, pinning the two fabrics together at close intervals to keep in place (I could've used half a dozen hands here) and then neatly slip-stitching together.  

This is now a stable piece of work and with the addition of complementary narrow black ribbon attached to the screw top, ready for hanging on a wall in an area of the home that needs a little bit of brightening and cheering up.

This is the first hoop in a series yet to be stitched in preparation for the next Hustlin' Womens Markets on April 8 where I will be having another stall.  

Ros 

'Home is the nicest word there is'.  -  Laura Ingalls Wilder

New Design Release - Mountain Devil

Happy New Year to everyone and welcome to the release of my first design for 2016 - the Mountain Devil flower. 

I agree that the name is unusual and dramatic and perhaps conjures images of witchcraft but rest assured it is derived from the horned woody follicles which retain a seed bank in its canopy and released after bushfires.  What I find so absolutely fascinating with some of our wildflower bushes are their ability to regenerate and re-establish after the heat and intensity of our harsh bushfires. 

This showy flower, consisting of seven individual tubular flowers, has a common name of Honey Flower and produces an abundance of sweet nectar which attracts a variety of native birds, eg. honeyeaters, noisy miners, little wattlebirds and eastern spinebills. The multi-stemmed bush spreads to a height of two metres with stiff, narrow leaves and showy pink to red flowerheads.  It is endemic to New South Wales and found on or to the east of the Great Dividing Range growing in sandy or rocky soils of open forests.

My cross stitch design has depicted the colours of this wildflower by using 11 colours to match as closely as possible to its natural counterpart.  The design uses 39 x 48 stitches and when stitched on 14 point Aida or 28 count evenweave fabric measures 71 x 87mm (2.8 x 3.4 inches).  As with all my designs, it is available in kit, chart or PDF.

A Google search of Australian Bush Flower Essences found an interesting fact for the Mountain Devil flower.  It states that the essence from this flower helps to deal with feelings of hatred, anger, jealousy and the major blocks to expressing love and for people who tend to be suspicious of others by helping to develop unconditional love and acceptance.  It also states that it helps to express anger in a healthy way and develop sound boundaries and may open the way to forgiveness.

Whether you believe is up to you but what a magical flower if found to be the case.  We live in a world today where we certainly could use more love and acceptance of others.

Ros

'From a little spark may burst a mighty flame' - Dante

Cardinal Joy

This year I decided to stitch a Christmas ornament for my Mum to display in her retirement unit.  After the passing of my Dad last year she didn't really feel it appropriate to hang bright decorations in her unit last Christmas but has decided to this year.  I came across this delightful little banner earlier in the year and research informed me that male red cardinals are very protective of their territory and everyone within it and that epitomised my father perfectly.  I felt this design 'spoke' to me.  

The design was sold by Dimensions as a kit which included full instructions, fabric, threads, seed beads, wire hanger and bells and was designed by Anita Phillips.  I'll admit that it was an intricate design and one which took much concentration and close study of the graph but the instructions were clear....so I plodded on.

Here are photos of the process - firstly the finished stitched design with border.

Then the edge was trimmed before it was folded and bells attached with red triple-strand thread through the back of the mitred corner and also the same was done with the wire hanger.

A neat slip-stitch hem was then stitched on the reverse to secure the edges and form a tidy finish over the border.  

I gave Cardinal Joy to my Mum last week and she has already found a home for it - one which catches the eye and is a feature of the room.  As a crafter herself, she absolutely loves it and the story behind it.

From my family to yours, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my blog readers a Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year and look forward to showing and sharing more of my projects and new designs with you next year. 

Merry Christmas

Ros

'Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.' - (Norman Vincent Peale)

New Design Release - Gouldian Finch

I have just spent the morning, on what is a typically glorious winter's day in Brisbane, pottering in the garden and raking leaves to use as leaf mulch for the native garden.  The warming sunshine does 'something' to the happiness and agility of the body, mind and soul and it was while I was in this cheery state of mind that I thought it fitting to release a new design which reflected the mood of my day. 

I'm sure no-one would disagree with my choice of the Gouldian Finch.  This little fellow simply takes your breath away not only because of the intensity and vibrancy of colour, but the fact that it is such a dainty and sweet little thing blessed with so many colours.

Although bred in captivity nationwide, the natural habitat of Gouldian finches is in the tropical savannah woodlands across all of northern Australia stretching from the Kimberley region in Western Australia to the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland with the most prevalent area of distribution being in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory.  They live within small areas and only move when their food source of sorghum or grass seeds and/or water is scarce.  Both male and female Gouldian Finches are brightly coloured with black, green, yellow and red markings but the females tend to be a little less brightly coloured and their chest more of a light mauve in comparison to the male's purple chest. With their fully grown size only 130-140mm (approx. 5") they make ideal pets, but in the wild are in continuing decline due to habitat changes, fires and predators and the fact that they are not a particularly hardy bird and susceptible to cold and stress.

It was fun choosing the colours and variations for this cross stitch design but to replicate the Gouldian Finch in its natural beauty and achieve the desired effect it was necessary to use a total of 15 colours.  It's finished sewn size is 74 x 64mm (2.9 x 2.5in) or 41 x 35 stitches.

Perhaps what I love most about this bird is the story behind its name.  John Gould, a British ornithological artist, named this beautiful bird the Lady Gouldian Finch after his wife Elizabeth even though she did not hold the title of 'Lady'.  However in Australia reference to the title has been dropped.

Ros

 'That which is loved is always beautiful' - Norwegian proverb