Friday, May 26, 2023

Sewing, A Birthday, Painting & Slow Stitching ...........................

Greetings lovely friends & readers

It has been another busy week with lots happening each & every day.

A friend gifted me this gorgeous Cyclamen for pet feeding duties so I planted it in my vintage wrought iron chair 💗 ... a splash of colour for the colder months hopefully.


Last week I drove to Tirau to meet up with a dear friend who was travelling North.  No trip to Tirau is complete without a visit to my favourite store My Style  I knew I wanted to purchase some of their Cath Kidston fabric to make a new ironing board cover.

  
I simply remove my old cover, pull the elastic out, lay it on my new fabric (60 cms) & cut around it, allowing enough to sew a casing.  The "helper" was unfortunately non-negotiable but she made a good weight to stop the fabric moving around 😉


If I could give you one little hint then it would be to NOT have a "helper" if possible, as they get tired, lie down on the job & sometimes even GO TO SLEEP!!! This makes removing your new piece of fabric from underneath 
VeRy TricKy!



When your helper wakes up again you have sewn your casing, simply thread your elastic through & pop it on your ironing board.  



It is amazing how much pleasure that 60 cms of fabric brings & makes me want to actually DO the ironing!! 

That very same evening we had a Birthday Party to attend as Alec was turning 8!!

The far right photo is just Alec pretending he has fallen to the ground

This year (for a change) his parents decided to hold his party at this venue in Hamilton Extreme Edge Rockclimbing Gym & it was the most perfect place for 10 rowdy, energetic boys to run around & use up energy!


Even Sid enjoyed it after his initial hesitation.  There are just so many wonderful themed climbing boards for children & they are harnessed in so it is very safe.  

If you have more than 8 children they give you a room to hold your party in ... which worked out so well.  We had pizzas followed by Chocolate Mud Birthday Cake ... then back to the climbing.  


Some readers may remember back in early March when I won this Anthurium Plant in a Competition.  I loved it & it seemed to really thrive sitting on my table.  However I read online that the flowers are very toxic to cats & as mine are frequently on the table 😕 I thought I should move it & not risk anything.  I didn't think they'd eat the flowers but simply brushing against them could cause a nasty reaction.  


This pink stool above was in my woodshed (!!) - an old thrifted find. I sanded the marks on the top, washed it down well & then painted it with two coats of chalk paint "antique white".  I kept the wood showing on the legs & gave these a generous coat of wax ... I was delighted with how it turned out & now its well out of any furry friends reach.



When I was down packing up Mum's house in early March, my dear friend Claire invited me to her home for a Stitching Evening.  There were 6 of us there - just a nice number. 
 One of the girls, Joy, had bought along a box full of these vintage fabric packs.  Joy had purchased these from French Pear Vintage & as she had so many we were each able to buy a bundle if we wished.  They are called "lucky dip bundles" - you don't know what you are getting but they are antique french fabrics & linens that the lady imports.  The girls issued a challenge that we had "to do something with our packs of fabrics".

Mine came home with me & when I looked at them all I decided I wanted to make a project using ALL of them in one hit.

I laid them out in a pleasing design, changing my mind over a couple of days regarding placement.  I decided to attach them to a piece of pre-washed calico which I cut to shape.  I machine stitched around some to fasten them & also dabbed a fabric glue pen under some.  Then I began to hand stitch across them, changing my direction as I worked my way across the rectangle - some horizontal, some vertical.

I drew some of my lines with a Frixion Pen as I am inclined to be wonky

I think it would be fair to say I enjoyed this mindless slow stitching so very much that I found myself driving to pick Sid up from school half an hour earlier so I could sit & stitch some lines in the car while waiting.  


I just used a roll of thickish embroidery thread that I had thrifted once-upon-a-time & really liked the effect of this thread.  I had 3 pieces left over from my bundle, 2 green & one white ... so I stitched these to a square of calico that I planned to use as my backing.


My original plan had been to make this piece into a table runner but somewhere along the way it became a cushion.  A sort of French Country looking cushion.  I finished putting it together at the weekend & made a large inner for it from an old pillow I had bought home from Mum's.  I like my cushions stuffed nice & tightly.  


I am really thrilled with my new cushion & I think I might be rather addicted to this slow stitching as I'd now like to make a table runner.  I wasn't sure about leaving my raw edges but now I really like this effect on my cushion.

Thank you all so very much for your visits here today dear friends,

It feels like its going to be a cold night here at Threadbear HQ so I am off to fill the wood basket,

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend - remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x



19 comments:

  1. Lovely post Julie, the new ironing board cover looks wonderful and you did well, despite the helper!! Love the cyclamen plant in the chair and your cushion cover looks amazing, so good to use all the pieces in one project. That looks like a great venue for a boys party.

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  2. I love the cushion cover Julie, clever use of your lucky dip bits. You cant beat a new ironing board cover (haha) - I always leave mine far too long before adding a new one and then wonder why! Great birthday party idea. xx

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  3. I love your posts , always very interesting .Love how you make simple things so beautiful .
    You are a true arts person , the pillows are wonderful.
    Enjoy your week, hugs June.

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  4. Ah! Bless! Miss Pippi...Well if yer gonna have a helper,
    that's the one to have....A little 'paws' half way through
    is just the thing...!
    And..Oh! Look! I have an identical iron, though mine's
    a little more pink...! :).
    I replaced my ironing board cover a year ago, and l
    always leave 2~3 old covers on the board..and cover
    them up with the new one, it makes the top softer and
    easier to iron on...!

    I've had a busy week to, after six days, and three Sims
    later, my new mobile is up and running, traveled down
    to my next big town..Poole..on the bus, may l add, on
    three separate occasions, bit of a problem, but all sorted
    now...!

    And Sid turning eight, goodness, and he's certainly shot up,
    enjoying the climbing frame, me, three rungs up a ladder
    and that's my lot..
    And the cake..Wow! :).

    HaHa! Had to laugh Julie...I see your still waxing your legs..
    Oh! No! Sorry! It's the legs on the pink stool...Bless! :O).

    Must get on, off up to the supermarket, wrestle with the increase
    in prices, then back home, the privet at the top of the garden needs
    seeing to...the suns out in all it's glory, last few days, and days to
    come, much the same....But first a lemon tea, with honey and lemon..!
    🎈 🎁 🎉 🎁 🎈 🎁 🎉 🎁 🎈 🎁 🎉 🎁 🎈 🎁 🎉 🎁 🎈 🎁 🎉 🎁 🎈

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  5. I so enjoy reading your posts. There's so much of interest in them. The climbing walls look wonderful, and great for a children's party. It makes me want to try - but I don't think I will ;-)

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  6. Beautiful result on your cushion Julie. Keep cosy. xxx

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  7. Those French fabrics are so lovely! Timothy likes to do the same thing when I cut out fabric! I wonder why it's so attractive to our kitties! I worry about house plants, too. Cats DO get into things! I hope you are staying warm, sweet friend!

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  8. Precioso cojín de retales y tu mesa de plancha luce muy elegante. BESICOS.

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    Replies
    1. Beautiful patchwork cushion and your ironing table looks very elegant. KISSES.

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  9. Nothing like a furry helper. :) Especially when trying to get backing & wadding cut for quilts & they think you've laid it out on the floor for them. lol. All your projects look wonderful. Love the pillow.

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  10. A lovely post and lots happening... great birthday venue and Happy Day to him. What a helper you have! I really love how you used those fabrics.... looks gorgeous....

    Hugz

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  11. Hi Julie wow your new cushion looks awesome ,I love it ,what wonderful use you have put those linens too.
    And how cute is your pretty pink stool and that new ironing cover looks fantastic,well done my friend on all your beautiful and very clever work 🌹🤍🌹

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  12. Wow, that is a very easy way to make a new cover for an ironing board. Must remember. I do miss my helper something terrible when I am working on the floor. Shania would always be by my side or laying on my fabric.

    God bless.

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  13. Your slow stitch vintage pear fabrics cushion is beautiful, I love it.slow stitch projects are quite the "thing" at the moment. Your ironing board cover is beautiful, I am in desperate need of a new cover , I would like to leave the old one on as it was a Kath Kidston one and has good padding in it.One day. Can't use the excuse of having a "furry helper" though.

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  14. I think being inside of the rock climbing place would be a visual pleasure. All that color and it all covered by happy
    children. I'll leave them to do the climbing though. And to have a built in weight for holding down the cloth, well you
    could not ask for better than Miss Pippi. And her longstockings of white. We are about finished with eating hot soup
    for supper at the cool morns are warming up by late afternoon. And after being assaulted by on going months of
    rain, it has come to an abrupt end. Now it is dry but the farmers are finally making hay fast and getting in late
    crops of corn and soy. I enjoyed seeing your new pillow and you have such a creative mind. I'd look at the box of
    square bits and say "what the heck is this for?". Lynn and Precious

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    1. Thanks so much Lynn & Precious. Yes indeed, the rock climbing venue was wonderful! The perfect place for noisy young boys to work off their energy! I am pleased you are getting some nicer weather at long last. The girls at the stitchery evening were all thinking of making patchy hearts with their fabric bundles but I wanted to use all mine up in one project. So it kind of evolved .................... xx

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  15. I never knew cats could be so helpful Julie hehehe, your new cover is lovely, as is your painted stool. Wow Alec is eight already, hope he had a great birthday. Love your use of the fabric pack, your pillow is beautiful.

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  16. Julie, I thought your new ironing board cover turned out simply amazing and then reading on down Wow!! the pillow you made from the vintage fabric packs is even more amazing! You do such beautiful work. What is it with kitty cats and a sewing room? How cute that your helper found your work a comfortable place to rest. Happy birthday to Alec.

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  17. Beautiful new ironing board cover! I love how you are able to transform your thrifted items so well (including the large oval mirror previously!). Your boro styled cushion is gorgoeus. What a fun birthday venue, how can he be 8 already?!

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