Updates and new finishes

Finally finished the backstitching and French knots on Maggie the Messmaker last night, and am now left with 'only' a daunting amount of cording to go. I've never done cording before and it looks fiddly, as you have to lay the cord (after making it) on the picture and then tack it down in swirls and squiggles. I'll start with the smaller areas first and work up to the big bits! Here she is in all her backstitched glory...I really like the lacy detail on the tablecloth. The cording will show the detail on the sewing machine, scissors and tablecloth, and will also form trails of yarn from the sewing box in the top right hand corner.


I've also been at the bead box again, which is growing ever larger in the corner - there are so many gorgeous ones out there, and so many lovely books for inspiration....below is a necklace and bracelet set with pink freshwater pearls, a lampwork focal bead and seed beads for a friend; a bracelet made from lampwork rose pillow beads inspired by a picture in a magazine; a more deliacte bracelet with tanzanite/pink bluebells and glass leaves from the current Beads & Beyond magazine; chunky charm bracelet with red crackle glass rounds, Tibetan silver leaves and flower charms and a Czech glass ladybird; and a turquoise ribbon & thong necklace with dangle made from a lampwork tube bead, a random round and some glass cube seeds.

Getting organised!

No more progress on Maggie but I have taken advantage of the long weekend to have a really good sort out of my stash of magazines and charts that I've been saving. I Freecycled* a HUGE pile of magazines and have been scanning all my loose charts into the computer, which has got rid of 5 huge files. The plan now is to scan anything I may want to do from future magazines as soon as I get them...let's see how long that lasts!

One plus of all this activity is that I've been really harsh with my stash of charts - scanning page by page is quite time consuming so I've forced myself to be realistic about what I'll actually do. I still have 6Gb of files though...

* anyone else having a clearout of stash may like to do the same! All crafty stuff seems to go within minutes, and mine was collected within the hour. Lots of charities also keep an eye on the Freecycle network so you could donate your unwanted stash to a worthy cause. See http://uk.freecycle.org/ for details of groups in your area.

Progress report!

In the last couple of weeks I've managed to get down to some work on Maggie at last. I've almost finished the basic black backstitching, then there are some details to add in three or four different colours, and then finally the cording which I've never done before. It can't be that difficult, surely! I'm looking forward to posting completed pics, as the end is surely in sight now...

I've also completed the design for my parent's Ruby Wedding sampler, and I'm being stern with myself - I can't start it till I've finished Maggie. I'm also working on the Fumitory Fairy from DMC, as my 'portable' project.

I have so many projects on the go, I really ought to organise myself....but then it wouldn't be so much fun!