I'm dreaming of a stitchy Christmas...

Wouldn't you be thrilled if you found these beauties under your tree on Christmas day? Sadly as far as I know the man in red doesn't read my blog so I'll just have to make do with smellies and chocolate!! 

Beautiful embroidery scissors

 I'm not sure I need a 'needle minder'  but that doesn't stop me coveting this

how cool is this?

these embroidery kits are so beautiful

and how about some sashiko needles as a stocking filler?

What are you hoping for this year- any crafty goodies on your Christmas list?

My first quilt!

I recently became an auntie (yippee!) and wanted to make something for the new arrival. I've also been wanting to try quilting for a while now so I decided to make a pram quilt. With hindsight an entirely handstitched paper-pieced quilt might not have been the easiest choice for a novice quilter but I'm glad that's what I chose because I really enjoyed the process. Like hand embroidery it is a craft you can do whilst sat in a comfy chair, with the tv on in the background and a glass of wine  cup of tea

I won't lie it took ages- there are many hours of work here but it wasn't difficult and I felt a real sense of achievement when I finished. In fact I can't wait to get started on another and plan on tackling a throw sized quilt next time- I have a pattern in one of my books for a folded japanese quilt using this technique that I think would be really attractive in my favourite colour combination of grey and mustard yellow.

Honeycomb 5 by Olisa

This is the piece Olisa created for me in the Phat Quarter swap- Honeycomb 5.

Isn't it beautiful?

 Olisa has stitched over a watercolour background. Different colours of floss spring to the foreground depending which colour they are lying on. The yellow floss demands attention against the purple but recedes against the green.  I like the contrast between the repetitive grid and the watercolours blending into each other.

It's one of a series of stitched grids that Olisa has made;

http://cocoaeyesthestitcher.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/scenes-demaking-marks-with-paint-and.html

http://cocoaeyesthestitcher.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/so-many-colors-so-many-grids.html

I love Olisa's abstract stitch experiments- each one is so different. The stitched grids would be amazing on their own but with the addition of the painted backgrounds they come alive.  I was so pleased that she made one for me!! 

To see all the swap pieces have a look HERE!