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Saturday 19 September 2009

Happy Dancing - A Finish!



Another delay between postings - but at least this time I have a finish to show off! This one has taken me absolutely ages; caused mainly by me completely losing my stitching mojo halfway through working on the design. That hasn't happened for such a long time; and never for such a long period of time. It couldn't have come at a worst time too - right in the middle of a round robin! Not to worry though; normal service has finally been resumed and I have got my mojo back with a vengeance - and this is the result!

I am so pleased with the result! The design is by Sandy Orton of The Kooler Studio and I found it in issue 7 of Cross Stitch Gold. Karen's theme is "welcome/home sweet home" and I knew this one would be just perfect for her. Her home is an old Victorian terraced house and she has kept this theme within her decoration - I thought the lettering on this was quite "Victorian" looking and the colours are similar to the ones that Karen used in her "welcome" design at the top. It is stitched using DMC threads and embellished with Kreinik blending filament in copper and Kreinik #8 braid in antique gold. I really hope Karen likes it! Mouse is already making noises about me doing one for her too!!

Last month, Sheila came to stay for the weekend and brought me a present - an antque Frister & Rossman hand crank sewing machine! I am absolutely delighted. We had been talking about sewing machines when I was visiting Abi in July - she and Mouse are trying to persuade me to go down the electric route, but I was taught by my gran on and old treadle Singer sewing machine which unfortunately got left behind when my mum moved several years ago. I wanted to ease myself into machine sewing gently and having mentioned this to Sheila when I was visiting her in July, she found this lovely machine on Freecycle for me. It has been well looked after and I am just building myself up to having a go at it! At the end of the day though, if I do progress onto the electric monsters, this one will look lovely somewhere prominent in the shop - whenever I open up for business that is!

Well I am going to spend the rest of this weekend working on the next round of the round robin - this one is Lynda's and her theme is "Dickens Mittens". My only problem there was deciding which one to stitch because they are all so adorable. I finally decided on "Belle" and plan to get started on it straight after lunch when I have settled down to some Davis Cup tennis (fingers crossed for our boys today). I'm hoping this one will be a quick stitch and I will be back soon to post an update.

Hope everyone had a nice summer and that autumn isn't being too harsh to you. Thanks all for reading!

Hugs,


Ally xxx

14 comments:

Gillie said...

That is gorgeous, Ally and will be perfect for a Victorian home! I love the sewing machine too - my gran always used a treadle Singer and in fact worked for them in Dunfermline when she was young. So glad you are back in the stitch! xx

mouse said...

i want one !!! i want one !!! , its brill babes you done a fantastic job well worth all those cups of tea n biscuits eh???. love the sewing machine too:)
love mouse xx

Sabine R said...

That happens to me as well that I can't be bothered stitching - especially after all that harvesting and ploughing ;-)
But your stitched piece is beautiful and it should be perfect for a Victorian themed house!
I like the sewing machine, too, but I think I'd be scared to use it...

Ruth said...

Beautiful!... on both counts. I love the sewing machine and the Victorian piece-- mind you I can certainly see why it could make you lose your stitching mojo!

Dena L said...

Beautiful! Well done.

Maureen said...

Oh my mum had a sewing machine like that when i was little - I reckon it is still at my dads house somewhere - must have a look for it.. used to love playing about on it.

=Tamar said...

What a beautiful classic machine! You'll have perfect control with the hand crank. I'm glad to read that you will keep it if and when you get an electric machine, because it will be a good back-up.

Jo said...

Just love the sewing machine, although I've one of the new computerised one I remember using my nans old Singer treadle machine. Glad your stitching mojo is back and your piece is beautiful. X

Charlene ♥ NC said...

What a beautiful way to get the mojo back!! So lovely! What a great gift - it will be perfect ANY place to decide to place it.

Anonymous said...

Hello Ally I am Lorraine, thanks for your visit to my blog and for your lovely words. I am glad you liked your stay in our lovely Malta when you visited. I visited your blog and you have a really nice blog with beautiful cross stitch work. I love your work. I have just posted my application to one of your groups too. It is always nice to meet people with the same interests as mine. Hope to have time to get to know each other. Hugs Lorraine.

Yoyo said...

Lovely finish! Funny to read "hope you had a nice summer" as we are deep into winter here.

Just popping in to WELCOME you to the Totally Useless SAL. Looking forward to your Totally Useless Container soon.

Amy said...

Gorgeous finish.

I love your new machine also.

I am new to your blog. I am in the TUSAL also.

Have a blessed day.

Sherry aka Celtic Dream Weaver said...

Hi Ally it is me again. I am just reading about your sewing machine and the fact you use to sew on a old Singer treadle sewing machine. I happen to have my grandmothers which is set up in my livingroom and I don't know how to use it. I did buy a new belt for it..but I don't even know where to start to sew with it. My Grtandmother has passed on so she can't show me. But out of her things she had..this is the item I told my parents I wanted from my Grandmother as a rememberance. I have the needles and the bobbins for it too.Maybe you could help me learn how to use it. It is a Singer also.

MysteryKnitter said...

Awesome machine! Awesome stitching! I could never stitch anything that beautiful.