Appliqued napkin

Some time ago, I posted a photo of a WIP - a pink napkin appliqued with a teacup in one corner, and a cupcake in the other. I finished it about a month ago, but didn't get around to posting another pic, because I'd put it aside and forgotten about it. But when I had to think of something to give a friend for her birthday today, I remembered that she had admired the first two napkins I did with the teacup and cupcake theme, so I decided to give her the pink one I'd just finished. She loved it! The colour of these photos look as if they are two different napkins, but they are one and the same.

Another fabric postcard finished.

This is for a one-to-one swap with Cindy in the USA. Hope she likes it!

My very first crazy patchwork block is complete!

Yesterday and today I put the finishing touches to this block, which I started - oh, about a year ago? Sharon was my inspiration for this; she'd shown me her first efforts, and we had both been admiring other CQ work on the web, and when I expressed interest in doing something myself, Sharon started me off, and continued to encourage me - thanks Possum!

Autumn FPC from the U.K.

My good friend Jane in the U.K. made this beautiful postcard for me, for the Stitchin Fingers Autumn FPC exchange. This photo does not it justice; there are several layers of fabric, appliqued on to the base, and two buttons to finish it off. Thanks Jane!

Bits and pieces.

An ATC from Germany - Anne sent me this for the Autumn theme Stitchin Fingers ATC exchange. For such a small item (2.5" x 3.5") I think it is quite perfect!
Tansy in the USA made this Xmas ornie for me - isn't it sweet? I'm still working on hers, but hope to have it finished next week.
I was looking for something else in my linen room and re-discovered this lovely crocheted item, buried under a pile of linens. I don't think I've put it on the blog previously, as it was in a pile of stuff waiting to be sorted out.

There were two other crocheted items, but they were peacocks, so I've posted them here.

Vintage stuff from Mother-in-law's house.

Here are the bits and pieces I rescued from MIL's laundry earlier this week. Machine embroidered small cloth.
Two cotton pillowcases with lace ruffles, and one larger item which may be a pillow sham, although it is rather big.
I can't wait to find out what SIL knows about these pillow-slips! I don't think they would have been for her or Ken, as they don't look sixty years old. Perhaps they were for SIL's daughter, who used to sleep over at Nanna's when she was a toddler...30 years ago.
The last of the doilies that have been spread around MIL's house. The sandwich tray doiley has the most gorgeous edge worked in tatting. If SIL doesn't want it, I'll be keeping it!
This is damask, with a crocheted edge on each end. Very nice piece. It was rather badly stained, but after soaking overnight, it has come up well, and would look lovely as a dining table centre.

Three more finished smalls.

I feel like I've been fiddling around with ATCs and FPCs all this month, so I was pleased to finish these off today. I should have been more careful with the sizing when I was scanning these - they all look to be the same size, but they're not. The first one is an ATC measuring 2.5 x 3.5 inches, and the others are postcards, which are 6 x 4 inches. Stitchin Fingers ATC swap, for Catherine in the USA.
Yahoo FPC swap, going to Mary Lou in Canada. The last of the nine Stitchin Fingers Autumn FPCs I had to do - this is for Allyson in South Africa.

Teapot Round Robin table runner finished.

With the help of Jude - my patchwork class teacher, I did the finishing touches to my table runner - the backing and border. Here it is on the coffee table, where it will now stay (covered by glass) for an indefinite period (until I get tired of it and want something else there!). In this closer shot, you can see the pattern of teacups on the surrounding fabric. I used that to complement the theme of teapots in the stitched part.

Christmas ornies started.

I found these patterns ages ago, in an old Better Homes & Gardens magazine, and cut the article out to keep in my cuttings file. All that I need to do now is stitch the ric rac on, add the backing fabric, fill it, and I'll have two cute little cushions to send to my Stitchin Fingers swap mates!

Two more Autumn postcards.

Aren't these lovely? The top one is from Marja in the Netherlands, and the other is from Allyson in South Africa. "Stitchin' Fingers" is truly an international friendship group!
On another subject, I finished stitching the borders around my Teapots round robin today, but it needs pressing before I photograph it for the blog. I also have some more old linens to photograph once they are ironed. I went back to MIL's house today to retrieve a framed picture from the lounge room wall, to take in to hang in her room at the hostel. While I was in the house, I looked in the laundry to see if there was any more cloths tucked away in cupboards, and I found some very old pillowcases and a few other bits and pieces, so I brought them home, soaked them for a while, then hung them out in the sunshine to bleach them (they are all white cotton or linen, no coloured items). I just need to iron them ready to show S.I.L., and will take some pics for the blog then.

Another fabric postcard.

This pretty FPC is from Dakotah in the USA. All the cards I've received so far have been completely different, and this one is no exception - lovely!
BTW, I have an addition to my embroidered peacock collection. You can find it here.

Radical Cross Stitch

I am still chuckling over a website I've just discovered while visiting a blog of a lady who is new to cross stitch. I'm not going to give her details here, but the cause of my amusement is what she wrote after doing her very first cross stitch - a simple kit from a shop. She says that the next projects she wants to do are Radical Cross Stitch patterns. I've seen some of these books at craft fairs, and I almost wet myself laughing standing at the bookshelves! Before you click on the links I should warn you that some people will find the patterns offensive, so if you are not VERY broadminded, don't go there! This is a quote from the website: For those of you who don’t know what cross stitch is the best place to start is the wiki page. You could try places like crossstitch.com but there’s way too many fluffy bunnies and home sweet homes over there you’ll probably start retching like I did..

Autumn/Fall fabric postcards.

Two more textile postcards arrived today - these are from the Stitchin Fingers Group who are exchanging FPCS with an Autumn/Fall theme. This one is from Robbie, here in Melbourne:
And this is from Leslie in the U.K.:
I've been working frantically on mine to get them done this month, and I finally got eight finished last night. The only reason I haven't done the ninth one required is because I ran out of all the fabrics I was using! So the last one will be completely different from these. I'm a bit disappointed in my cards when I see the glorious autumn colours on the cards I've received so far, but I didn't want to have to buy fabrics just for these cards, so I had to use whatever I had on hand, which were mostly in shades of green, brown, red, and orange. I started stitching a leaf on each one, but changed over to an applique leaf when I saw what Barbara had done on the first one I received. I showed mine to a friend today, and she was very impressed, so I just hope the recipients will be happy with them too!

Fabric postcard from Canada.

I have just received the most beautiful fabric postcard from Mary Lou in Canada - this is for the November exchange in the Yahoo Group we belong to. I don't know if this picture can convey the work put into this, but the card is padded, with two autumn leaves stitched on with beads and sequins. Thank you very much, Mary Lou!

Retro Tablecloths

I accompanied Ken and his sister to their family home last weekend, to start cleaning out the house in order to put it on the market. I've written a post about it on my other blog, but decided post these photos here, as they might appeal to the people who read this blog instead of Patra's Other Place. We found all these tablecloths and doilies in the kitchen drawers, badly stained and in some cases torn. SIL was going to throw them out, saying nobody would want them. They aren't embroidered, but they are very 'retro' (I don't use that word as a rule, but apparently it is the 'in' word to describe anything from the forties and fifties), and I have seen them sell well at auctions etc. Printed tablecloths used to be found by the dozen at Savers and other opshops years ago, but they rarely turn up there now. I spent a couple of days soaking, washing and ironing these cloths, and I'm very happy with the way they've come up. I don't know if I'll keep any of them; I'll ask SIL if she wants them, and if she doesn't, I'll probably sell them. If I keep any, this is the one I would choose. Love the cups and saucers design!

Extra! Extra!

Sorry about that silly title - I'm just chuffed about finding I had another little award coming to me from the Whittlesea Show. Thank you very much for your congratulations comments on my previous post; please don't feel obliged to comment again on this one - it's just a commendation! I have deleted the photo of Cat Stretching in the previous post, and replaced it here with one of it in the new frame, alongside the certificate. The other certificate is a "Commended" award for the Assisi Leaf coaster I did for the EGV Challenge last year.

Whittlesea Show

Last year I entered one of my cross stitch projects (Indian Chief) into the Craft Section of the Whittlesea Show. It didn't win anything, but it was fun to see it on display with all the other embroidered pieces. This year, my friend Cheryl asked me again if I was going to enter anything, and at first I said no, I haven't done anything worth while. Then I thought what the heck - I'll just put a few of this year's completed projects in - why not? Nothing to lose. So on the closing day for entries, I submitted paperwork for the Assisi Lyrebird, the Stretching Cat, Assisi Leaf Coaster and two embroidered tea towels. I put the Stretching Cat into another frame so it looked a bit less tizzy.
Last Thursday, Cheryl and I drove up to Whittlesea with our bits and pieces. Cheryl had half a dozen items, as well as four for her Mum and a couple of quilts for her neighbour. I had my recently completed Three Black Cats patchwork with me to show Cheryl; I'd finished that too late to enter into the Show. But when we got there, Cheryl persuaded me to take it inside and ask if the stewards would accept a late entry. The Show schedule states that they will not accept late entries, but the two elderly ladies at the desk scoffed at the rules and said "We'll just add you to the list, dearie!"
I didn't get to the Show yesterday, but Cheryl did, and I phoned her to ask how we all went. She and her mum had won a couple of awards, and I won a third place for my Stretching Cat!! I was amazed to hear that; of all my entries, this was the simplest project which took only a couple of hours to stitch. What a buzz. I'm collecting all our stuff late this afternoon as Cheryl has to work...I haven't told Ken yet that we are collecting half a dozen quilts as well as the framed stuff belonging to Cheryl and I!

Late item!

I should have included this in the previous post, but I was so tired last night, after I'd posted three pictures and comments I just forgot I had another one! Liz in Kansas posted me a Halloween FPC a few weeks ago, and it arrived on Friday. It should have arrived long before now, so I don't know where it got held up, but it was worth waiting for - thanks heaps, Liz! This was a Yahoo group swap.

Oddments.

My Teapots Robin. I have sewn a narrow border, followed by a wider border with teacups fabric. I will then used a an offwhite homespun as the backing and for binding. My darling friend Sharon bought this for me as an RAK, knowing how much I love owls. I asked Jude, my patchwork teacher, what she would do with this, and she said Trapunto. Any guesses about that? I found this at an op shop for $3. I've seen this pattern in books and often thought I'd like to stitch it. Well, I don't have to do it myself now. Done and nicely framed, just for me! LOL, not really..

In my mail box.

On Monday I received in the mail a book which I was waiting for, and a postcard that was VERY early! I'd ordered this book from Amazon.com after borrowing it from my library a few months ago and deciding I had to have my own copy. I'd started listing all the patterns I wanted to copy, then realised it would be far more sensible just to buy the book!
The fabric postcard is from Barbara in the USA, who organised a 'fall/autumn' swap on the Stitchin Fingers FPC group. There are ten of us and we have to make one FPC for everyone else in the group. I think Barbara got a head start on the rest of us! I love the way she has cut the leaves out of felt, and stitched them on to the fabric base using metallic thread for the leaf veins.

Three Black Cats Patchwork finished.

I've been putting off finishing this project for weeks, because I wasn't sure how to do the edge. But I made up my mind that I'd finish the darn thing this weekend, one way or another, and I'm glad I persisted. Mostly because I have had this project for so long, and was ITCHING to have it done and displayed in the house. But as well as that, I badly wanted to get it finished and out of the UFO basket. I've made up my mind to get stuck into the UFOs that are lying around my craft room; I'm sick to death of seeing them. They stare at me, making me feel guilty when I start a new project. Do you feel like that - as if your UFOs have eyes that follow you around the house, and cry piteously when you shove them rudely to the bottom of your WIP basket? I've even made a list of mine, and will take great pleasure in crossing each item off when I've completed it. One down, 200 to go! No, actually about a dozen.