Monday 28 March 2016

And all of a Sudden There are Twelve


Twelve Crumbs from the Cutting Room Floor
Time marches on relentlessly.


Week eleven was a red letter week
because the black ducks arrived back at the pond.
When they appeared I regretted having stopped
stitching the Daily Scratchings!
But why not record this Springtime event?
So can you see him?


He's hiding there in the black.
They must be in shock
It's been snowing and freezing since their arrival.


Perhaps the red sky is a morning sky
warning us of the snows that followed.


For week twelve I decided on a multitude of cross shapes
with no embroidery at all at all


Perhaps later on in the year
another multitude of crosses might appear
covered in embroidery.

And Finally Thank you Judy
for your lovely post about the Daily Scratchings.


Friday 18 March 2016

Happy Birthday Mark!


The youngest of my boys
came into our lives
39 years ago today.
Such a precious little being.
He was a quiet calm little thing
who loved watching every move
and hearing every noisy sound his older brothers made.


He soon caught up with his brothers
and loved hockey from that first wobbly time on ice.
Loved soccer
Loved fishing and still does


He wanted to be an artist from very early on.


Thank you Mark for bringing so much love into our lives.
You fill our hearts with pride.
The dimples never left!


And then he found his beautiful and talented Donna


Then Ashley came along
to fill all our hearts with even more love!


 So now there are three!

Sorry about the love-fest!
Just ignore it if you are not family!

Tuesday 15 March 2016

A Wander Through the Woods


Wandering through my woods
my mind is often on stitches
I look at things and wonder
what stitches are hidden in the textures and shapes.
Perhaps this one has very delicate sword stitches in it.
I like the fineness and irregularity of those little cracks in the bark.


Not so sure stitches would do here
What I see is burnt bits and pieces of silk
loosely attached to a foundation.


French knots
Sorbello knots
both individual and continuous Palestrina knot stitch.


Perhaps Bullion knots
or
another wrapped thread type stitch
or 
the simple running stitch


Definitely Sorbello stitch.


Couched lumpy bumpy threads
and as for those eyebrows....
I made a piece many years ago using a kind 
of stitch used in carpet-making.
Can't recall the name any more!


Heaven only knows!
Distressed and ruched cotton fabric perhaps.


And then sometimes you spy 
a wild and rusty animal wandering through the woods
in the distance!


I like this delicate graffitti
Just stabbing stitches here and there.


How about Raised Cup stitch
or some other
Catherine Wheel type stitch


Tall and narrow Cretan stitch
might work.


Stem stitch
or some might call it Outline stitch


More knots
or padded Satin stitch would do too.


Haven't a clue
but like that this really doesn't look like tree bark
more like water I think!

That was a fun walk!

Monday 14 March 2016

Week Ten of Crumbs from the Cutting Room Floor


I Like this one
It seems to be about crossing paths
There are many people
that I am so grateful to have crossed paths with in my life.


This lovely little nobly knot stitch is a new one for me.
Very nearly the Sorbello stitch but not quite.


This one is called the Palestrina stitch.
I found it on a set of very old notes
so old I think they were reproduced on a Gestetner!
Given to me by an embroidery teacher
with whom I crossed paths many, many years ago.
Funny that here the knot is described 
as being of Danish origin....
researching on the internet today
it is described as Italian
and
it always seems to be in a continuous line
not these individual knots.

Have a great day.

Monday 7 March 2016

Nine Crumbs....Nine Weeks


A small collection of nine crumbs
Just the beginning


Blue skies
Cloudy smoke-rings
Rising from the horizon
Bringing a message of hope that
warmer days are coming


Pebbles
or to some
French knots
sprinkled among grassy stubbles
or to some
Wonky Blanket stitch


A sky filled with a hundred little crosses
Wonder how many there actually are!
The cross is the most ancient of symbols
dating back to the Stone Age.


Wednesday 2 March 2016

Crumbs from the Cutting Room Floor.....


....sometimes don't come out as beautiful
as one imagined!


I thought I would challenge myself to solid stitching....
....Obviously not my thing!
Even as I stitched I felt it becoming heavier and heavier.
That is why the right 'arm' didn't get filled in completely.
It was done during week seven of this year.
Perhaps something was weighing on my mind!


A little house with a red door
is bound to need protection
under a weathervane cross.


So this week the pendulum swung the other way.
I wanted a light cross
and so simply drew it on.
Feeling less oppressed!

Yesterday March 'blew' in like a lamb
a beautiful sunshiny, windy day.
The snow has all disappeared
but people say a storm is on it's way
for the weekend.