Wheatear Stitch Week 17

Well yesterday I had all these alternative names for my sample of wheatear stitch. Settled on Marsh Land and the more I look at it the more I think I should have stuck with Mish Mash.  Wheatear stitch does not lend itself to much creativity, although in days to some I will probably see something on SF and wonder why I did not think of that.   I tried to keep to the free style of making the stitch and not the absolutely true method.   Anyway I did get a bit lot of couching practice with tying down the other threads.

Firstly I laid down some coloured pieces of fabric onto the background, and then I used thread that could only be couched to form what I wanted to look like twisted vines and tree trunks.  The blue is supposed to depict some water....8in an abstract way of course.    I also got out the inktense pastels and coloured in an area to give the whole thing a sense of looking into the distance .  

the best part is that I got rid of used up some "stuff" Those long beads have been around for about 15 years and this is the first time I have had a use for them.

Now what do I do....this is the quickest I have been for yonks with getting my stitching out I usually agonise over the design for days......well there are a lot of threads that need to be wound off on to cards....there is vacuuming and mopping....in other words housework....it must be time I found a maid but unfortunately am too old to have any more children :)

Tast 2012 French Knots

I love French knots as anyone who has looked at my wattle tree will agree. So I was pleased to see this was the stitch for last week.  Unfortunately life got in the way a bit, and I am late posting.

I recently found found an old book on embroidered Panels by Coats Sewing Group. I know it was old because the original price was 60c.  The design on the cover was gorgeous, and the shapes inspired my design for the French knots that I have called Amoeba.

Below  is my design for the Sample of French knots.

amoeba

I have completed this weeks wheatear stitch, but want to look at it for a few days before i put it up on my blog.  I originally was going to call it Rainforest, then that turned into Swamp, and now I am thinking it should be Mishmash.  Anyway, watch this space.

To see lots of lovely examples of the Tast Stitches have a look on Pintangle

Thank you Mr. Blogger Geek for giving me the option to return to the old way with Blogger.

Hey I Found It!

In case anyone is having trouble I found how to get to the dashboard ...across the top of the posting page there is an orange button that says Publish.  To the right of that on the end there is a 'close' button...that takes you to the page where you can see the blogs you follow. 

Thanks everyone for your help.   

Doreen, when you are at the post page, you enter the post title in the box then click on the 'labels' to the right and that will give you a drop down box to choose the label

Across the top of the white area you will see a lot of things...F font, etc.  Beside the one that says link you will see an icon of what looks like it could be a photo click on that and a page will come up where you can browse your photos.

I will beat those young buggers fellows yet!   Wow I just learned how to do a strikethrough..always wondered how.... clever old chook aren't I.

Having said all that I have also found how to go back to the old way....yay! It was under the options on the reading page of blogs you follow.
now go away mr blogger geeks and leave us alone.

Go Away Geeks

YIKES! What have you done Blogger!

Here was I sitting here feeling very smug because Blogger was not interfering with my blog, and then I have just turned it on and I have been caught in Bloggers wiley web.  Damn.   Ok I need help now ..I clicked on New Post as usual so I could go to the Dashboard, and this post page has come up and Dashboard is nowhere to be seen......and with my new eyes I can see all....and it isn't there.    Somehow I did get to a page where I could click on Shirley's Blogs, but once I left that it is nowhere to be seen.

Heeeeeeeelllp!  Can anyone tell me where to go next please.

Go away Mr. Blogger, leave us alone....we ladies are quite happy with the old ways we do not need to know how many voyeurs have been looking at our blogs along with all out wonderful cyber friends ....and there is no colour....what is wrong with the geeks dont they like colour.....get your fingers out and prove to us you are as good as you think you are.

Here is a pretty picture to soften the mood I am in

Back to Stitching - Tast 2012 Barred Chain, Satin Stitch, and Stem Stitch

Wow 3 postings in 3 days that is what I call "catching up".   When I went away I had just started on my barred chain stitch, so put that into the box that I had ready together with the threads.  In the box I had all manner of things that I thought I might need....fabric, threads, needles.....you all know the drill.

Well as usual when I go to Serenity I have to take other comforts as well...like dishes to make different meals, and stuff like that.  I also had to take a quilt that could not be washed in my small machine so on the pile it went with my pillow and a smaller quilt.....and of course there were the clothes....at the turn of a season what else does one do but take clothes to cover all emergencies and shoes too.

Well I had gotten everything organised that I was taking in the back room, and the day we were to leave was very funny....As I was bringing out the various things I could see "himself.s" eyes getting more and more terrified at the amount. ...we did have his bag and the esky to fit as well didn't we and only had the sedan ...so when it came to the sewing box I thought I would be good and just take the bare minimum and I was able to walk out with two small boxes. One with pens/pencils for the sketchbook, and the other with a small mix of threads and ribbons I was using for the project , scissors and pin cushion.

At the last minute I did pick up the box of green coloured threads.  So this improved the look on "himself's" face a lot when I said  "that's it" .  

So now we come to the stitching part.   At first I was not keen on the barred chain, and had never seen it before, but as I got used to the stitches I could see all sorts of possibilities.

Then I decided to use the small piece of silk to do the catch up week and included the satin stitch when it came up.

Satin stitch together with long and short stitch have always been my nemesis when it comes to stitches and one day I hope to master them to perfection.  As I said I had only taken a small selection of threads so that was it in the pinks and purples.

Some time ago I had done a geometric sketch, playing around in my sketch book, and when the stem stitch came up I thought it would be a good design to use.  I called it "where's the party" so used bright colours on a bright background.

It needed a couple of tweaks, and here is the final design

"Where's the Party?"

I tried taking the photo in sunlight, but the yellow colour disappeared so had to take it inside.  To view more wonderful samples of the Tast stitching click on the Pintangle link

Magnificent creature and more

After I posted yesterday I realised I had not included a photo of this magnificent creature.  One day the birds were all squawking and carrying on and when we went to see why discovered these two magnificent eagles sitting in the high branches of the Bunya Pine tree in the next paddock.   I could not resist a photo.

If you can click on the picture to bring it up, and then scroll for a close up on the single bird,  you will be able to see that he has very large eyes and a reddish brown spot on the back of its head.   Later on I did see them soaring over the hill and was able to watch them until they went from view. It was wonderful to see their beauty in flight

One evening at dusk I looked out the kitchen window, and saw a wonderful golden moon coming up into the sky.   That is the beauty of living in the country...their may not be shops full of expensive merchandise to tempt, but seeing nature evolving around us is really something to experience.   ......and I suppose there are some daft people who see beauty in spiders and poisonous snakes....:)

This was such a rich golden colour the photo does not do it justic

We cant forget the little birds... they are still around, although some have moved away for the winter so here are some old photos of the birds who frequent serenity

Double Bars waiting for lunch

Red honey eater in the Callistoman

Red Beak finches on the seed Bucket

King Parrots

 

The darling of them all the blue wren if you whistle a tune  to them they whistle back

Easter 2012 at Serenity

When I mentioned wallabies to Luiz (who I am sure by now every knows for his stunning embroideries), he asked me if they were small marsupials so I decided when I was away I would make sure to get photos of them  so I could show them on my blog.

They did not disappoint me and we had quite a few coming in for a feed, and to sample the lush green grass round the house.   While they were there they also pruned the roses and geraniums for me as well.....saved me getting pricked all the time with the rose thorns.

So Luiz here are the small marsupials...

This is "shorty" who used to be short having a sleep in the shade near the back door waiting for next feed

This baby looks like a giant rat but it is a baby wallaby "at foot" which means out of the pouch but still with the mother.

Mum and baby

Almost ready to come out of the pouch permanently

The garden was quite overgrown, and with all the rain everything has been producing...not only the wallabies.

A pumpkin plant came up while I was there at Xmas, and this is what it has produced.  There are 3 this size, plus others at various stages and sizes....lots of pumpkin soup there.

This is not the largest. The one I bought home is 32cm across the top

The Monsterea has also decided to produce for the first time, as well as the custard apple tree.   I have bought back lovely big limes and lemons for my friends as well.

The unusual flower with the fruit forming.  The other ripening fruit are in the background.

There were flowers on the Azalea bush, with the warm weather it must have thought spring had arrived and the dahlias are putting on a great show.  The proteas are almost done, but have been flowering for some time

The dahlias look wonderful grouped in a vase they add sunshine to a room

Pretty protea they are such regal flowers

The Azaleas are getting autumn mixed up with spring

Of course with all this lush growth brings the weeds so there was a lot of cleaning up of the gardens to do.  I think the thought of it has been too daunting for "himself" on his own, but with the two of us we were able to make short work of a lot of it.

Just one l pile  of rubbish that we cleared from one area of garden.  Himself has some fun ahead of him burning off the great pile of garden refuse once it dries.  Thankfully he has a big incinerator and a safe area to burn

I could not resist taking the next two photos one of fungi growing on the trunk of the palm tree, and the other a twig of seed pods from the same tree They were so interesting.

Barred chain could be used to depict this

Apart from a small amount of stitching I occupied myself with reading and resting, and also  with extra cleaning in the house, and getting most of it ship shape again...the windows are clean, the patios are not covered in little bird messages, the furniture is polished and the cobwebs are gone.  There are so many little jobs that men don't realise have to be done aren't there no matter how hard they try.

So there was my trip away...interspersed with doing eye drops, blood testing for warfarin and blood sugars, and of course cooking meals to keep us sustained.  I also managed to watch some tv, although in an out of ratings period good programmes were pretty sparse.

Now I have to get used to being on my own again... the worst part is turning to speak to another person and finding they are not there

Sorry this is so long, had to strike while the iron was hot...have more catching up with stitching to do today.    My eyes continue to improve each day.  It is hard to believe that it will be 4 weeks on Tuesday since I had my second eye done.  I am so pleased with the results.  No more looking through vaseline.