Friday 4 September 2015

Embroidery - My First Love

Day four of my "no knitting" month and it's not easy.  Usually I knit or crochet everyday, not just in the evenings but anytime I have a few minutes spare.  So not having that occupation is really hard.  I am getting plenty of jobs done around the house, especially de-cluttering, which is much needed.  However it's the evenings that are the hardest.  I can't watch television without having something in my hands to work on.  I have far too much energy to just sit still, so I need to find something to occupy me - I'll have to sort something out soon or I'll be climbing the walls!  At the moment I'm reduced to frogging old knitted cardigans!

One of the activities I want to spend more time on this month is embroidery.  I love embroidery, it was my passion before knitting took over.  Now my older eyes can't cope with sewing for too long, and then only in very good daylight, but if I can manage little and often I shall be happy.

Last month I completed an embroidered tablecloth.






I bought the cloth in a charity shop in Chester, many many years ago.  As you can see, the previous owner had made a start.



Every year I would promise myself that I would finish it, I'd sew a bit then it would be put away again.


This year, thankfully, I have fulfilled my promise.  And I'm very happy with the finished cloth.  Especially as now I can start a new embroidery project.

I'm very excited about this new project.  Inspiration came from Pinterest (as always).  I'm going to embroider little squares and then join them together to make a wall hanging.  I will make 54 squares in total - one for each year of my life - and I've already decided the subject for each square.

To make it more interesting, I making it into a lucky dip, so that a subject is picked at random.




Some of the subjects are open to any interpretation, so it gives me freedom to play around with ideas.

I don't expect to get this project finished in a hurry - embroidery has a very leisurely pace - I will embroider when the mood takes me.  I have completed my first square.  The subject picked out of the jar was "insect".  So I couldn't resist embroidering some bees.



I'm happy I've made a start and looking forward to the next square.

Today I'm going to start planning some sewing projects, I've set up my sewing machine and I'm itching to get started.  I think this is going to be a very productive month.

9 comments:

  1. Have you tried buying one of those craft lamps for evening work, it may help. My Mum uses one and has made a real difference. Love the finished cloth, a real delight.

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    1. Thanks Lorraine. I have a small craft lamp but probably would benefit from investing in something larger.

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  2. You are being so productive. I love the wee little bees.
    Have fun.
    Meredith

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  3. They are both lovely, I've been looking at the tablecloth kits to make something similar myself x

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  4. Your embroidery skills are immaculate x

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  5. Oh - I fancy doing this now. I used to love embroidery as a child. Good job on that tablecloth. x

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  6. What a fabulous idea!!!! I love this! I look forward to seeing more as you progress and hope that you really enjoy it. I am not much good at just sitting either, right now I am watching tv and blogging, and when I finish blogging, if there is time, will perhaps do some tapestry! xx

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  7. OOh love your embroidery - and the fab idea of your random wall hanging!
    Look forward to seeing more of your stitches and squares!
    Ali x

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  8. What a lovely idea, I love embroidery too and it's a long time since I did any, I love your bumble bee square and can't wait to see the others you do. I will be interested to see how you are going to join them all too. :)

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