Matilda's Shed

Hi beautiful

Well the day has finally arrived! Matilda is so excited - her studio (affectionately known as The Shed) is now ready to move into. 

It's been a long wait - since November 2017, when Matilda first fell in love with the old shed on a back road outside town. She had longed for her own studio in the countryside for a long time. 

While the old building was being slowly restored, on the weekends, Matilda worked in the yard, pruning the trees, erecting a lovely wrought iron fence and lastly planting flowers in the front garden. The trellis is up and waiting for string beans and sweet peas to be planted. 

On this bright sunny day, Matilda and her furry friend, Cuddles are so happy to be in their new home. 

Flowers bloom along the fence

Matilda at the front door

Cuddles the cat being curious

 For those interested in the construction of Matilda's shed, here are a few notes. 
Inspiration: photo from a magazine - an old farm shed in country Victoria in autumn. 
Foundations laid: begun in a Ro Bruhn workshop in November 2017
Layers: Top of fabric pieces; muslin stabilised; wadding; calico backing.
Techniques: all hand stitched with the exception of securing the backing to the top. The wadding was added to give the stitched piece more substance. Transparent thread and small stitches secured the wadding. 
Size: 13" x 13.5" including binding.
Thanks to: friend Margaret gifting me the flowers (the tiniest yo-yos!); encouragement of embroidery friends. 

Happy stitching!
Cara

It's a Wrap!!!

Hi beautiful!

It's been a while since my last post. That's not to say there hasn't been a lot going on in my crafting world. There has!

The one creation I want to share today is what I affectionately call "The Hoop". It has been my daily companion this year. 

My hoop journey began at the prompting of a Wild Woman. “A great challenge” Leona said, “for a year, stitch each day on a hoop.” Four Wild Women, me included, set forth with courage and a glint of determination in our eyes.

I had a 14” hoop sitting in my cupboard, picked up at a local op shop. A year is a long time so I figured a big hoop was just the ticket. An unfinished, or more truthfully, almost unstarted, cross stitch linen piece was asking to be used after 4 decades! On the first day of the challenge, I made a last minute decision and chose a green linen damask napkin loitering in the linen cupboard. And the rest they say is history!

The Completed Hoop

Over time, the hoop became known as "The Magic Kingdom" with a mix of scenes and characters. Each day saw me stitching, posting on Instagram and weekly on Facebook. As I progressed, a few kind folk began to like and then to engage with the posts. They were also participating in #1yearofstitches challenge. The year-long journey was so much fun as we shared and encouraged each other. Thank you to my Instagram friends. 

I've made 2 video clips - one of the weekly hoop progress and the other of the places.

I hope you enjoy the journey!  

The Places

The Weekly Progress

With love

Cara