Christmas angels

I used a few minutes here and there and finished stitching these little Christmas angels, ready for their new owners. 

There was a hint in my last post here about what I was stitching. I wonder how many of you recognized the Hardanger angel designed by Rita Tubbs. It's such a sweet little pattern.

On the 28 count (i.e. 28 threads per inch) Zweigart linen I used, I found a number 5 DMC Pearl thread a bit too thick for the buttonhole edge and the Kloster blocks. So I used a Pearl number 8 thread instead. A metallic, gold, Madeira thread gives the skirts a little sparkle. The Dove's eye's are done with DMC Pearl number 12. 

When all the stitching was finished, I found my sharp pointed scissors, took a deep breath, and cut, working from the back of the embroidery. That cutting out at the end is always a bit stressful - just in case you snip a thread that shouldn't be cut. But this time all went well.

That's one more thing I can cross off my Christmas to do list. Now I have a few more presents to wrap.

In my next post I'll have an interesting story and an interesting piece of pulled thread work to show you. It was embroidered by my stitching friend Tricia. Until then I will be taking a low-key break over the holidays. 

Wishing you well over Christmas and the festive season. May next year be a better one for all of us.

A little Christmas stitching

Towards the end of November, I came across a charming Christmas To Do/Bucket List on Canadian Needle Nana's blog. Suddenly the penny dropped that Christmas was hurtling towards us and I hadn't given it much thought. It was time for my to do list. And I wanted to make one small embroidered gift, but more about that below.

The grandchildren helped put up the Christmas tree this week. It was well worth waiting for them to come over and do it with us. The lights had to go up first and were switched on straight away. Already there was a Christmassy atmosphere. Then the ornaments were unpacked. There was some disappointment when the ornaments made by the Dubai cousins were unwrapped and we explained that they couldn't come for Christmas this year. That's because Australia's borders are still closed to international travellers due to our Covid restrictions. 

It was a rainy afternoon and sorting out the tree and the decorations kept us all busy: trying on the very long string of gold beads; walking round and round the Christmas tree wrapping it in beads and then fat strands of tinsel; and finally examining the decorations before hanging them up one by one. It was the perfect rainy day activity. It was the first rain in six weeks and very welcome, especially as we were in the middle of a ten day heatwave. 

Christmas presents were next on my to do list and there Google was a boon. I have spent quite some time doing the shopping - all online so far. It's way too easy to click that pay now button! The postie will have a heavy bag when he gets to our house. I hope he arrives with all the parcels before Christmas otherwise I might be handing out IOU's instead of giving presents this year.

That little stitched gift is for kind in-laws who have invited us for Christmas lunch. You may recognize the first steps in the photo below. Yes, it's Hardanger. I have made several over the years and given them all away. This year I had to ask my daughter to lend me hers - off of her Christmas tree! - to remind me how to do it. It's almost half way and should be finished soon. Then I have three family birthdays to think about in the next two weeks!

How ever you will be spending Christmas at the end of this extraordinary year, I hope you are making good progress with your Christmas to do list, and enjoying yourself along the way.

'Till next time, happy stitching!

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P.S. I wonder if other bloggers are also stumbling along with Blogger's changed formatting and the photo quality? I've gotten used to some of the changes but seem to come across another challenge each time I put up a new post. Perhaps there are new changes being applied every couple of weeks?

My Cushion is on my Grandmother's chair

The twenty leaves I set out to stitch for the Leaf Sampler stitch along have been waiting to be made up into a cushion cover. And finally, it's finished! You can read more about the SAL in previous blog posts by clicking on the links below.

Leaf SAL Begins

Leaf SAL- Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch

Leaf SAL - 10 Leaves

Pentas, Embroidery and Caterpillars

Leaf SAL - Sixteen Leaves

Leaf SAL and August Weather

To complete the embroidery, I added my initials and date, as well as "Covid-19" as a record that I stitched it during lockdown of this topsy-turvy year. I disguised the lettering a little by surrounding it with a leaf shape.  It's rather squished in but then the leaves are supposed to be scattered randomly anyway. Aren't they? 

I framed the leaves with a row of stem stitch. Then I carefully washed out the blue disappearing ink I'd used liberally to mark the lines, and the spacing of some of the more tricky stitches. 

I didn't want to iron the stitches flat. Instead, once the embroidery was dry I pinned it onto a cork board, making sure it was square, and sprayed it with water to damp stretch it. 

That pinning and stretching does take a bit of time and patience but it gives the embroidery a lovely finish without the need for any ironing.

The chair the finished cushion stands on is rather special to me. It belonged to my grandmother. She lived in Kimberley, South Africa towards the end of the diamond rush. There she was chairman of the Women's Temperance Union and when the family left to go farming in Potchefstroom, she received a pair of chairs as a farewell gift from the members. This chair was rescued and painstakingly restored by my father very many years later.

I would love to have met my grandmother. She raised seven children, worked with my grandfather on their dairy farm, played the organ in church on Sunday, painted in oils, hand knitted socks, and every now and then would be asked to load her piano on the ox wagon, cross the river into town and provide the entertainment at the local fete!

I wonder what my grandmother would have said about her chair being shipped across the ocean and now standing in my entrance hall in Australia, far from it's original place at the table in the old farm kitchen.

'Till next time, I hope you are well, do keep safe and carry on stitching.