Just back from a family holiday in Cornwall on the English coast. Golden beaches, crystal blue water, wonderful scenery, ancient history, good, hearty food, in short, something for everyone. I’m feeling pretty chilled. And pretty chuffed too.
While getting ready for our holiday, the first thing I packed was a cross stitch project I had been stitching on and off for a few weeks now. It’s the ‘Greek Island Bookmark’ by Michael Powell that I purchased back in November 2009 at the ICHF. It was just the thing to relax me after a long, hard day of family togetherness.
I usually do large, complicated cross stitch designs which are difficult to carry around. I keep a stash of smaller projects, card kits mostly, that are a lot more mobile. This was my first time creating a bookmark, however.
I may have mentioned previously that I was looking for new ways of displaying my finished work. They invariably end up as wall hangings. While it does give my house a more home-like quality, my husband quite rightly pointed out that our house just doesn’t have enough wall space for all my designs. ‘Buckingham Palace doesn’t have enough wall space for all your designs,’ commented Awesome Dude. Something of an exaggeration but he did have a point. Also, framing is an expensive option and , like everyone else, I needed to watch the pennies.
I finished all the stitching while on holiday. All that was left to do was attach the tassel and felt to the aida.
After returning from my holiday with my completed bookmark, I decided that instead of hand-sewing the felt, I would christen the new mini sewing machine I got for my birthday. Up until now, it had been sitting idle. I had read the instructions, but I learn better by doing. Now I finally had something to practice on so I got right to it.
After a few false starts, I finally got the machine to do what I wanted and here is the finished result:
And here’s a peek at the back:
I just love those little, baby stitches. They’re so cute.
OK, it’s still a bit offish, but this was my first attempt and I’m rather proud of it. I think sewing is about to become my newest thing.
