Weekend Retreat and Stitching

Well the holiday break has come and gone and some stitching has happened. I spent one weekend in Auckland with Stephanie which was a nice break away. This weekend just gone was our annual embroidery retreat held in Opunake. For the first time the weather was shocking and it meant that we could not go for a walk.
Our project this year was another one from the Stitch Magazine (England). It is a number of years old and one that has been on the wishlist for a while. It involves spray paint, leaves, blackwork and being creative which was difficult for a couple of our members. Only six of us were staying and we had no visitors from the Opunake Guild (either the weather or project put them off)


My 15 sided biscornu nearly there.

 

latvian work has nearly all the flowers stitched - outlines and boxes to come



inventive spray paint with leaves.

 I decided to do mine on a piece of linen that I had with me - I was intending to spend the weekend finishing projects. I will turn it either into a notebook holder or a pocket for my clamps. You can see it in the centre of the photo above.
It was a good weekend and I loved all the stitching so hopefully next weekend as a holiday weekend will provide some more opportunity to stitch.

Creative Stitchers Challenge

Our creative stitchers challenge for the next two years is a round robin challenge with a shape of your choice. The first swap has taken place and I have had Mary's piece which is a tree with an oak leaf shape. Here are a few of the thoughts about this leaf.

Mary Garlick – oak leaf shape, September 2012

I decided to use some silk paper I had made as it reminded me of the new spring leaves. I couched the edge but when I cut out the shape it was too flimsy for a detached leaf so I have quilted the leaf onto the background fabric. A small ladybird reminds me of them during the spring growth in the garden. This picture is upside down so it hangs on Mary's tree at the bottom. For a change I have not used any beads on this piece of work.