I'm Bored so I'm Blogging

 Hi Everyone,

My Part 4 of LE is complete,and I am very happy with it.

I think the elements I used from Esther's pattern have combined well with the broderie perse from my inspiration fabrics. I had been planning  vibrant shades of pink and yellow,  my end result amazes me as it is nothing like I thought it would be. Thank you Glenda for the wonderful fabrics you sent me, the two flowers I used in this have such a glow to them.
Thinking ahead I am wondering how much difference I can get in my flowers or are the corners all going to look the same. I hope not,  at least I have plenty of time to experiment with fussy cutting my fabrics before part 5.

Searching through Mum's fabric's as I always do when I go back I have found my border fabric.
Left behind on the last two trips because "I will never use that" Not my style of fabric at all, but once again LE has spoken. Esther what have you and LE done to me!!!!!

This is done with photo editing.

When I found the fabric I took it in to Mum, she says it is another of my late Aunt's fabric's.
Laid out on her bed with the center over it, it looked very stark against my background and it nearly didn't come home but at the last minute I packed it.
I've tried all sorts of colors, this is the only one that doesn't seem to make a wall  around the center with my zigzags, and I have fallen in love with the pattern on it so I am using it. Itching to stitch but I haven't - Yet!!!

Oop's!!!

 It's raining this morning and we lost another America's cup race so I had to do something positive, Lol

Just in case, I still have left  my extra center fabric underneath.

I pencil marked a line quarter inch from my points and positioned my border edge to the line, 

then stitched a quarter inch seam, has worked pretty well.

Have zigzag stitched outer edges of border and have 3/4 inch to trim off later.

Well know for something different.
I know a huge number of people making LE are also embroiderers. If not you couldn't possibly hand stitch so beautifully. These next photo's are for you as Mum asked me to bring home and look after two of my Aunt's afternoon tea cloths from the Mid 1900's. I hope you enjoy.

Just teasing, this is the reverse of her work

A very simple afternoon tea cloth

But wait, there's more

My Aunt was 25 when she made this in 1948

I am blown away by the perfection of her stitching.

1st Prize  for all of New Zealand.

I think in 1948 the prize money would have bought a lot more embroidery thread.

And Embroidery number 2

A very simple stem stitch Embroidery made in 1952

Maybe not so simple after all

I think these very correct letters from the time just add so much.
Both of these were made before I was born so I know why by the time I was about 10
I stopped trying to do embroidery !!!

Oh help, I just about forget to thank all of you who voted for my Table runner at Quilting Gallery last week. Final result Red December was 6th overall. Thanks Esther for a wonderful pattern.

Cheer's everyone, enjoy stitching your incredible LE journey.

Linking this to Esther's WOW Tomorrow.

Jenny

Thursday in NZ

Hi Everyone, Back from Christchurch, had a wonderful time with Mum and it was so good to see her looking so well. Have to admit I felt a bit like a Yo Yo  with the end of the string tied to the rest home by the end of the week as I was visiting Mum everyday and most days twice, but spent nights with girlfriends and the catching up with them was fantastic.

Came home to find I have finally been Neoed. Thanks to it being later rather than early on I have found I can navigate around it, but have tried twice this morning to upload photo's and like Jane and others have found they do not appear even though they say they have posted, hence this quick blog as I want to get back to LE. and I also want to show the start of my corner.

I found a new inspiration fabric in ChCh.

Kashmir a Hoffman fabric

As soon as I saw it I had to have it, unfortunately they only had a meter left but it was reduced!!!

There are so many  shapes in this fabric I think it will work really well and have made a start.

I have decided to let my Heart  and imagination rule and I am loving every second of bringing this corner together. Broderie perse is the main element but I am also using some of Esther's wonderful design elements like the Lilies, in combination with my fussy cut fabric. There will be some unusual leaves to come and I think it will take on more of a Persian feel, but this is where broderie perse originated and I like the idea of that.

This is now my 4th vase in this corner, I started playing in ChCh and was using an unfamiliar iron so once again I melted my vase. I only have enough fabric for 1 more Lol

I stabilised the back and used a machine embroidery stitch for my stems, cutting away the stabiliser afterward's. The last stems I will stitch after my berries are sewn  as far less stopping and starting as I can use the stem line to travel between them, then cover my stitching with my stem thread.

back to my sewing room and hopefully soon we can post photo's again.

Cheer's Everyone, Jenny

LE progress and quilting gallery

Hi everyone, one of the few blogs which I won't be linking to Esther's WOW as I fly out tomorrow to visit Mum for 10 days. I am so looking forward to seeing her and also catching up with old friends.
I am bed hopping so to speak, spending days with Mum and nights with different friends.
Have a dated  list so I don't get my days wrong.

Have been working away on LE,  I didn't know until Bunny's wonderful photo on her blog which corner was going to Part 4 so  I guess I may have also started on part 5 or 6 Lol
Here is where I am up to, just about ready to pack away to take with me to Christchurch as so many people want to see it.

I have made my own version of the vases, think they are very close to what the pattern will be, will be living with them as they are stitched down, apart from the top edges so I can add the stems as per the pattern.
I think the introduction of yellow has worked well and I now have my color palette, apart from a green, which I think is in my curtain samples.

This is my 3rd vase for this corner. have used one of the fabric's from the curtain samples I was given.
First one when I fused it on my iron was too hot and it melted !!! Second one was good - until I studied Bunny's Photo and realised it was a little small, 3rd one I think is just right, sounds a bit like Goldilocks and the 3 bears Lol.
Found a medallion center that I love for the circle on the vase.

Not the fabric I was planning on but I didn't have to drive 150 km's round trip to buy it, it was the only gold overlay fabric at my local fabric shop so bought a fat quarter to try out.
Definitely wanted to carry through the gold overlay in my fabrics and think this oriental pattern works well especially with it's shadings. My second vase, again my first pattern was not quite right. Guess it would have been far easier just to wait for Esther and use the proper pattern, but with going away!!!
The purple circle is my 3rd, there are 2 others underneath that didn't work, but metallic thread and bobbin fill is very difficult to unpick and I don't want to risk putting  holes in my background fabric.
First was a leaf shape from my inspiration fabric, 2nd was the deep teal of my other vase and it was too strong, This I think is easier on the eye. Again top edge is not stitched or fully fused yet.

And a huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to visit this weeks show and tell at quiltinggallery.com and vote for my wall hanging.
Last time I looked I was in 3rd place and to me this is so thrilling. The whole thing is fun but to know people around the world like your work is an amazing feeling. Thank you again everyone who has voted.

Here is my Beyond the Black Stump and a couple of close ups  of the torn background as well.

The sky I made up before I started  from 4 different fabrics, cutting out the blues that were too bright and reverse appliqueing reds into those areas, they do show up, but it was the totally wrong blue for what I wanted. The mountain line was fussy cut to give it the definition as I felt it needed it

I worked over a base of iron on Pellon Batting so I could secure each layer working from the sky downwards.
The top edges of the fabrics are all torn from fabric strips. Try it, it distorts and allows movement and you get a soft edge and  can create gentle curves.

Once a layer was in place, fused and pinned as well, excess underneath fabric was cut away to allow the next layer to be held in place by both fusing and pinning.
Background complete and  top stitched as you can see in the photo's, I  placed and fused the tree and stitched into place.
I used a  black metallic thread and just did heaps of stitching  to create the effect of bark and knots on the tree.
It is on my sewing room wall and I love it but often think how did I do that !!!
See you all in a couple of weeks,
Cheer's Jenny