Rhapsody in Blue

Wow, it has been a long time since I last posted. I've been stitching a little bit, just haven't had anything newsworthy to share - no pictures, no finishes.  I have to be honest with you; I've been a little depressed.  It just keeps snowing here in Minnesota and I am tired of it!  Early in the week, Tuesday I think, we got about 6 inches and then on Friday our temperatures were in the 70's. Mother Nature has been really fickle this year.

Last weekend and this weekend I attended Spring luncheons for our two local needlework guilds.  Last Saturday was the Needlework Guild of Minnesota's Annual Meeting.  We had a nice brunch at a local hotel and then listened to a talk about Ethnic Drawn Thread by Pat Donaldson.  She compared and contrasted beautiful embroidered pieces from over 14 different countries.Of course, this was of particular interest to me given my desire to learn more about Hungarian embroidery.  One new type of embroidery that I learned about is the Lefkara Lace that is made in Cyprus.  Google it - it is beautiful!

Yesterday, I attended the Spring Luncheon for our local EGA chapter - St. Paul Needleworkers.  A delicious lunch and an interesting lecture by a local designer/teacher/stitcher.  Carol Pedersen's topic was "Ancestral Angst" and she talked about the importance of labeling our stitched pieces with as much information as possible to ensure that generations to come won't be asking "I wonder who stitched this?" Carol also talked about caring for our needlework pieces.  It was very interesting!

Enough chatter - you want some pictures to look at, right?  I had some "finishing mojo" last evening and so while the rest of the family was either at work or at my daughter's lacrosse game (she's the coach), I set out to finish the remaining pieces for Rhapsody in Blue.  Back on March 24, I shared the finished bag with you.  Since that time, we received the finishing instructions for the smalls.  I just haven't had time to finish them!

This was an online class with the Shining Needle Society.  The project was designed by Jackie du Plessis.  Having taken a class with Jackie last summer, I was excited to work on another one of her projects.  Here are the accompanying smalls which I finished last night:

The round disc on the left is a pinkeep.  The rectangular box is a pincushion; look at those tiny pinheads that I stitched!  and then the strawberry serves as a scissor fob.  These pieces are really tiny.  I had to use magnification to put them together!

Here's the whole kit and caboodle:

I also attached my lid to the bag last night (hadn't done it the first time around).  Jackie had us make a hedebo ring to cover the stitching where the lid was attached.  Perhaps you can see it in this picture:

And one more photo of the entire piece...

I won't lie - the finishing was a bit challenging.  But it really turned out beautiful and was worth the time and effort!

Now on to my next project -- I'm nearly finished with my stitching for Ellen Chester's My Lady's Worke Box.  If I could get the stitching done this week, I could try to get it finished next weekend.  We'll see!

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

A Labor of Love

Very appropriate title for this finish; you see, it took me nearly the entire day yesterday to do the finishing on this project.  Granted, I had others things going on too -- cleaning bathrooms, doing laundry, etc. (the normal things that always have to be done on the weekend ---but much of my time was dedicated to this beautiful little project.

This was a class offered through the Shining Needle Society.  I have only done one or two other classes with them; I really should do more.  It's an economical way to complete projects with great designers without the travel and lodging costs.  And, you can work at your own pace.  I do admit though, it's a lot of fun meeting them in person!

The project is called Rhapsody in Blue and it was designed by Jackie du Plessis.  I met Jackie last summer at the Needlework Guild of Minnesota retreat.  She is a special lady and a very talented needleworker and finisher.  The design ideas she comes up with are amazing.

Without further ado...

It's a sewing pouch or purse made from beautiful midnight blue silk.  The top is stitched.  That little tab on the front helps to keep the lid closed (there's a magnet inside.  There are two handles on either side made from twisted cord.

Here's a better shot of the top; the linen color is a little more accurate in this photo.

Many of Jackie's projects are stitched over one; to my delight, much of this project was stitched over two!

Both sides of the lid flip up to reveal a little needle page made from doctor's flannel.  Can you see it?  I must remember to add a needle to it today!

And here's the inside of the pouch.  Not completely finished though.  I need to tack the lid to the pouch in the back center...I have some questions about how to do that, so will complete that later.  There is a small Hedebo covered ring that also gets attached in this spot.

Tomorrow we will receive the finishing instructions for the smalls that complete this set.  I can hardly wait!

Thank you for stopping by!

Stitching...

Just thought I'd pop in here and show you the project I've been working on.  Last summer, I fell in love with Jackie du Plessis (remember Briar Rose?)  When the Shining Needle Society announced that Jackie would be doing an online class with them, I had to sign up.  The project is called Rhapsody in Blue.  The finished project is a little stitching bag with matching smalls.  My stitching is done.

The finishing instructions will be provided to us on March 18.  I can hardly wait!