I am really excited about the packages I received in yesterday's mail. I know I have a good selection of greys for my Sumptuous Surfaces embroidery, but that didn't stop me buying some extra 'just in case'. I also wanted some wools to knit a few things for babies - they really never go out of fashion do they??? I was told about a 'silken' ribbon, made using milk proteins, so some of that found it's way into my parcel as well. Apparently it is washable and very soft to work with. I must get some other 'brighter' colours in the near future. You can see a little about it here:
http://www.cascadehouse.com.au/catalogue.htm#Silken
I purchased all of these lovely products from a little store in Kyneton, Victoria. I really only became aware of the store after a recommendation from a friend. The proprietor and staff are lovely, patient with dithering customers, and I'm sure I will be a return customer. Thank you to Sharon, and Karyn, for all the help with my requests - http://www.pickupstitches.com.au/ Although there is not a purchasing website as such, I can assure you the store is an Aladdin's Cave.
The fun didn't actually stop with the first parcel. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a card, and hand written note from my sweet English friend Anney, with plenty of news from her part of the world - thank you Anney for making time in your busy life to 'write'. Another little gift was a good length of tiny, tiny satin ribbon from Karyn as she knows I am always looking for this product. And, last, but certainly not least, was another little selection of grey beads and threads from my friend, fellow blogger, and fellow Sumptuous Surfaces classmate Shirley It is really heart warming to know friendship knows no boundaries. Thank you to those lovely ladies who have cared to include me in their lives.
Thank you too to those who have shown a keen interest in my 'grey' project. I have taken far too long to decide on a subject matter, but can now report that I've put some stitches on my piece of fabric. Here is a small sample of an area of pulled thread work, which I hope will give the impression of falling gum leaves. This little section has been worked using DMC Linen thread, which I can assure you is a trial. It fluffs up, catches, breaks, and is certainly not a thread I would use for anything major. I believe it is now discontinued, and perhaps the aforementioned problems may be the cause. I now need to focus on the next area to be stitched, and hope I choose thread and stitch wisely, or there may be some 'unstitching' to be done...........
I have been clearing out some photographs, and found these pulled thread projects I did a few years ago, which were published in our Australian magazine, Embroidery & Cross Stitch. I made a large table centre and two small side table mats using the same design. These were done for my daughter in law. Most of you will recognize the technique as pulled thread, as opposed to 'drawn' thread.
Pulled thread work requires the stitches to be worked firmly in order to pull together the threads in the fabric. It's an extremely sturdy form of counted work I feel, despite it's open appearance.
The large mat design was based on the favourite nine patch setting used by patchwork enthusiasts, as you can see in this shot. This mat was approximately 35cm square, with just about all of it stitched, ie very little background fabric is evident.
The fabric I used was Permin 'Cherub' 28ct linen, with the stitching done using two strands of my favourite DMC pink #225. Unfortunately, I don't have a computer graphing program, and my hand drawn graphs weren't quite as nice 'in print' as I'd hoped. I feel they are quite clear, but one does need very high resolution images to submit to magazines. It's a long time from sending in your work, to having it appear in print, to finally having your work returned. I don't think I'd bother with it again, I'm rather possessive of my projects and don't like them being away with 'strangers' for so long..........
