Thread holder

It just goes to show how good a long weekend is for me - I can actually get something started and finished all in one go instead of having it hanging around for days, weeks, months... Though I have to admit that this is something I have had in mind to do for years!

A long time ago I bought 2 LoRan folders to hold all my embroidery threads and I like the way the threads are held on the cards and ready to use but have never cared for the plastic brown cover so I thought I could make a new one. Well, eventually, here it is, so much smarter than the original shown above:

I used the fabric that I painted and stencilled with Stewart Gill paints (see previous post) and the band sampler that I finished stitching a couple of weeks ago. It holds all my Anchor threads so now I just have to make another one for all my DMC threads. Look out for that post in a few years from now!

Fabric Paint Sample Book

I have finally finished the Stewart Gill sample book that I started over 18 months ago! It's been sat in pieces in a basket looking at me reproachfully all those months, well over half done but somehow I never seemed to find the time to get back to it. But I finally completed the last few pages, punched holes in all the pages and set eyelets and then made a little booklet to fit in the back pocket detailing (as far as I could remember after all this time) the paints and techniques I used on each page. The top picture shows the cover before I put the book together. The machine stitching and basic sewing leave something to be desired and as usual it was beyond me to produce 18 pages all the same size even though I measured them umpteen times, but never mind it's just supposed to be a record of techniques and I'm chuffed that I've finally completed it.

Below is my next project (as I just may be on a roll at the moment!) I want to make a new holder to hold my embroidery threads so I have spent the afternoon painting some fabric with Stewart Gill paints and then stencilling a design on them. Stewart Gill are having a sale at the moment and the stamps and stencils I ordered arrived just in time this afternoon for me to immediately start using the check and flower stencils. Hope to work on this some more tomorrow.

Band Sampler etc.

A couple of months ago I felt the need to stitch something, I was doing a lot of stamping but missed just sitting in front of the telly with a needle in my hand. So I started a random band sampler, using needlepoint canvas sprayed green and a selection of green and blue threads - one of my favourite colour combinations. It was nice to do something completely unplanned, deciding on each row as I got to it by flicking through my stich dictionary for ideas. Not sure what (if anything) I'm going to do with it now. I was thinking maybe it could be on the front of a file folder if I could work out how best to fix it there.


Other than that I've been working on classes for Kraft Crazy at Tidworth. I did a class last Saturday using Tim Holtz masks and I've been making ATCs for my next one. Here are the mask samples.

I've got a week off work this week which is lovely and I've managed to put aside a couple of whole days just to sit and play - bliss. One of the things I've gone back to is a fabric sample book which I started about 18 months ago when I went on a class exploring Stewart Gill paints and we did lots of samples and techniques and were to put them together in a book. I originally blogged about it way back here and posted some of the pages. I have now finally finished all the pages but I still have to punch the holes to add the rings to hold it all together and I'm very nervous that I will ruin the whole thing! I also want to write up a little booklet listing the techniques and paints used so it will still be a while before the thing is finally complete. However, I began to think I'd never get this far so I have a sense of achievement for my week off (and it's more than I ever seem to achieve at work where I also never finish anything!).