Flower Sampler Book – Ta Da!

Oh yes, it is indeed finished. I am so very happy. The shame of having such a tiny update to post three weeks ago, spurred me on to get it done. And to be honest, it didn’t take that long once I settled down to it.

Stitching the pages to the inside cover was the most fiddly bit. There are seven pages squeezed in there. I started with the middle one and worked my way out and found the first few easy enough. The last two were tricky as it was hard to see where I was stitching into. I got there though and the book is now nice and fat.

A couple more photos, this time showing the book open. In the Hemstitch Square page, you can see that there’s fabric inside the page so it shows through the holes.

I’ve posted photos of each page as I’ve gone along, over the past couple of years, but I thought it’d be good to have them all together. There are quite a lot of them so I’ve made them into a gallery. Click on one to see them all full size.

Front and back outside cover

Front inside cover – Index

Fritillary alphabet

Fritillary alphabet

Little house sampler

Little house sampler

Blackwork pansy

Blackwork pansy

Assisi panel

Assisi panel

Hardanger with violets

Hardanger with violets

Magnolia pattern darning

Magnolia pattern darning

Rosebud hemstitch square

Fritillary hemstitch band

Back inside cover – Pulled thread page

I’m not sure what I’m going to do for the SAL next. I think it’ll probably be another old WIP out of the  box of abandoned projects. I’ve got a few to choose from 😉

For the stitch-a-long I’m linking up to these lovely blogs:

Avis at Sewing beside the sea
Claire at Claire93
Kate at Tall tales from Chiconia
Gun at Rutigt
Alison at Minerva’s meanderings
Jule at From the boudoir
Elizabeth at Garden 4 therapy
Wendy at The crafter’s apprentice
Lucy at Lucyannluna

Do pop over and have a look at their beautiful creations.

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Flower Sampler Book – Assembly #1

This is the scheduled three-weekly post for the SAL that I’m doing with several other crafty blogs.

I hesitate to call this an update as I’ve made hardly any progress. I’m tempted to blame my craft room sort out as that has taken a lot of my time over the past couple of weeks. I could also blame the cat as Sammie was very clingy for a couple of weeks after her operation, and took up residence next to me on the sofa.

I won’t though, as I could have done some stitching if I’d really wanted to. The truth is that I’m a bit intimidated by the assembly of this book, that has taken me so long to stitch. This is the one page that I’ve done so far.

Each double page has to be folded in half and teeny-tiny stitches are done all around the outside edges to close it. I’m stitching in ecru thread, joining ecru stitches that are on ecru fabric. It’s really difficult to see, even with a mag-light. I managed to do the one above in one night, but couldn’t face doing another. I haven’t picked it up since.

Two of the pages need a piece of fabric inserted between them, but there are no instructions on how to secure it, so I’m not quite sure what I’m doing with those. The single pages need to have their edges folded over so they’re the same size as the inside cover, then they get stitched in place. I’m struggling a bit with the folding to size bit. I may do a row of hemstitch around the outside which will be a guide.

I will get this finished, and hopefully in time for the next update, but I’m making no promises.

For the stitch-a-long I’m linking up to these lovely blogs:

Avis at Sewing beside the sea
Claire at Claire93
Kate at Tall tales from Chiconia
Gun at Rutigt
Alison at Minerva’s meanderings
Jule at From the boudoir
Elizabeth at Garden 4 therapy
Wendy at The crafter’s apprentice
Lucy at Lucyannluna

Do pop over and have a look at their beautiful creations.

Flower Sampler Book – Pattern darning

This is the scheduled three-weekly post for the SAL that I’m doing with several other crafty blogs.

I only just got this finished in time for the SAL post. I was doing the last bit of darning and the hemstitch late last night, but I really didn’t want to post an update with it not quite completed.

I rather like the effect of the pattern darning and it was fun to do. The left side has an assortment of things on it. There’s a vine running up the side, with a bit of darning in it. There’s a bit of cross stitch in the corner and for the foliage and some very simple darning in the flower. The centre panel has some blocks of different patterns of darning. The centre of the flower is done in Bullion knots. Not my favourite thing to do, but they didn’t come out too badly.

The right side is all about that large flower with several different patterns in the petals, plus a fair bit of cross stitch in the leaves and the corners. There’s a caterpillar made from another Bullion knot and a French knot. I’m rather pleased with him. I still need to attach a small charm, but needed to get it pressed first.

All the stitching is done on this now. I just need to sew the inside covers in place, do a bit of titivating – beads and charms, and sew the double pages in half. Then they get attached to the cover and it’s done. I’m hoping to get that lot finished for the next update in three weeks.

For the stitch-a-long I’m linking up to these lovely blogs:

Avis at Sewing beside the sea
Claire at Claire93
Kate at Tall tales from Chiconia
Gun at Rutigt
Alison at Minerva’s meanderings
Jule at From the boudoir
Elizabeth at Garden 4 therapy
Wendy at The crafter’s apprentice
Lucy at Lucyannluna

Do pop over and have a look at their beautiful creations.