Early June Gardening and Stitch

Warm, sunny weather means that I've been spending lots of time in the gardens, and little time stitching. There is a bit of progress on the crewel piece.

Over a padding of stem stitch, rows of  bullion knots in alternating  colours took several hours to stitch.

This row is completed, but I still need to add a row of beads, an outside row of padded buttonhole stitch, plus more couching with the metallic thread before this flower is done. Then the two leaves will be stitched.

How it all looks so far:














The rest of the photos are shots of parts of my back gardens.

I hope your week has been sunny.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

End of May Progress

It's already the end of May. I'm late getting my vegies planted, but it was too hot to work in the gardens for very long the last few days. Cooler weather will be arriving, soon.
I did some stitching on my PPP #3, and it's almost finished.

I love this variegated thread

Just a wee bit more to do.

On the Crewel Piece, flower #2 is finished.

Flower #3 is underway.

Here's how it looks






That's my week.

I hope yours has been  a creative one.
Happy June!
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Gardens and Stitches

The weather has been so fine over the last week, that I've spent a good part of each day outside working in the gardens. ;-) 
So, only a wee bit of stitching was accomplished:

I've almost finished the purple project piece ( ppp ) #2. There's just one seam left to embellish. Then it's on to ppp #3.













On a night when sleep was elusive, I sat up for a while and tatted some Mary Konior patterns. Here is Embryo
( top ) and the first part of Jasmine.

In the garden, the trilliums look very happy in the shade.

These celandine poppies are waiting to join others in the shade of the trees. It's supposed to be quite warm today, so I may wait and plant them this evening.

I love creeping phlox.

some shots of different parts of the flower gardens:

This large pot welcomes visitors to our home.
It was just planted this last weekend, and will take a bit before the plants fill out.

 That's all for this week.

I hope your week has been sunny and creative.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Is it Spring Yet?

May has been a cold month so far. We even had snow flurries the other day. Where are the sunny, warm days of spring?

I've made a little progress on crewel flower #2. The dark blue seems to make the other colours pop.

 A couple seam treatments are in progress on the new purple project CQ block. Don't you love the zing of that green rayon thread?

French knots for the flower centers.

The butterfly and daisies are awaiting needle and thread.
I'm pleased with this so far.










I've been playing with Sheila Heneise's  Angel with Paisley Wings.

It's a cute little angel

 I added beads for the halo and to the skirt bottom to add a bit of weight.

On the fourth angel, I changed the starting point to close with a split ring for the head. This way I can incorporate a hanger from the thread ends. The beads on the skirt, though, are too big. I played with the stitch counts here and there. I think I like the shape of the first one best, but I also like the small beads.  I'm in the middle of tatting angel #5. These are so cute, and small enough to include in a card, so I may be making more of these for Christmas.
That's my week. I hope yours has been a fun and creative one.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Spring and Stitch

In the gardens, spring has sprung!

Flowers are bursting through the ground

 The magnolia tree is in bloom, too!

 There are so many flowers this year.

Wow!













I finished this block for my Purple Project, thinking to send it away to The Kindness Quilt Project promoted by Vickie Boster, and then realized it was too large.

Ratz!













 So I trimmed another of the purple blocks to the correct size, and  then had fun embellishing it.

This block will be in the mail tomorrow. If you'd like to know more about The Kindness Quilt Project, click  here








The next block in the Purple Project is awaiting needle and thread.

Although I've been busy in the gardens, there has been a bit more stitching.........

All the padded satin stitching is finished on this flower, and I've begun adding the petal outline in a dark blue. sorry this is a bit blurred

Here's how the 2 flowers look together. I hope to make more progress on the crewel piece this coming week, maybe even finishing flower #2.

More machine stitching has been added to the silk panel, somewhat distorting its shape.  Since this is a garden panel, and since gardens are seldom exact, I think the distortion adds a bit of character and interest.  (which is really good, because I think ripping out all that stitching at the bottom would be a bear)
The next step is to add hand embroidery using a variety of threads.

The wrapping cloth piece also received a little time. The third prairie point is filled with bullions, and the beginning of some french knots is shown.

Some embroidery has been added to the lace portion to help  (I hope)define and enhance the flower shapes. Lots more stitching needed yet.

The tatted piece is sewn to the front of a card that went out in the mail.

I first stitched this flower design on the inside flap then the border was created when the tatting was added to the front.

I liked it so much, I made a second card, but used a different thread in the bobbin to make a second flower on the inside flap. 
These were fun to do.

That's my week. I hope yours was filled with sunshine and creativity.


Hugs from Suz
Thanks for visiting.