Hardanger MP3 Cosy - Mary Hickmott

Design: Hardanger Motif

Designer: Mary Hickmott

Threads: Anchor Perle 5 1349 Stormy Seas

Fabric 22 count hardanger, pale blue

The Hermit got a new MP3 player for his birthday, but it didn't have an anchor point for clipping on a lanyard. So, I thought I would make a little case for it. I was going to use felt, but then I saw this little piece in my finishes box, and thought it would do. I don't know why I stitched something blue, it's really not a colour I like, but as it's The Hermit's, he was happy...

A little bit of folding and pressing, a tad of stitching, sticking with a bodger and finally a wallop with a hammer to set in the eyelet and ...

It can safely hang from a lanyard, and there's enough room in there for the earphones to be stored neatly.

Hardanger Square - Mary Hickmott

Design: Hardanger Square

Designer: Mary Hickmott (from First Steps in Hardanger)

Threads: Caron Watercolours, Burnt Toast

Fabric: 22 count hardanger, antique white

Backing fabric: Silkweavers quilting cotton

Another old finished piece - this was a practice piece, but I decided to 'finish' it because I wanted to practice backing hardanger. I'm happy with the backing, but I think I should have used more pins to hold the trim, or possibly used a different trim - what do you think?

Thank you everyone who comments - I do appreciate it, and I will do a gathering up of comments that need a reply to very soon!

Valentine's Day Exchange

I emailed Cathy to say I'd received her wonderful exchange, but I forgot to post here! Blame it on the disrupted week I've had because of the snow, I don't know whether I'm coming or going ...

Here you can see the whole exchange:



Wasn't I spoiled rotten?!

Not one, but two beautiful hardanger stitched pieces - and a pair of matching scissors, some flavoured coffee, two almond crunch bars (yummy!), some Sweethearts candy (which I gave to my sweetie LOL), some soap flakes, a sweet Heart in Hand chart, and a great selection of GAST colours in pinks and mulberries. It was like Christmas all over again :o) (and sets the bar for my sweetie for Valentines LOL!)



This is a close up of the gorgeous sun catcher. Of course, we've had snow ever since, but I'm sure the sun will return when it hears about this :o)



And this is the fob. It is so delicate ... I wondered how Cathy stitched it together, the joining stitches are almost invisible...

Thank you once again, Cathy, for such a wonderful gift!

Hardanger Motifs

Design: Hardanger Motifs
Threads: DMC Perle Cotton, Six Strand Sweets Perle Cotton
Fabric: 25 count linen

And here are some more floss tags, made up from some experimental hardanger stuff I did, playing with colour. These have been backed with some print fabric, and I did use interfacing this time! I played around with shapes too, but I think that would have been more successful with a back stitch outline and linen reverse.

Tin Topper Finish

Design: Needles and Scissors (adapted)
Designer: The Victoria Sampler - a freebie available here
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 count linen, R&R Reproductions, Light Cocoa

This is not my usual style, I have to say. And not my usual finish- I did it as this month's challenge over on the Monthly Finishing Challenge Blog. There is rather too much glue involved for one of my finishing methods ;o) but it worked out okay. I adapted the lettering on the original design as I thought about giving this to my sister - I know for a fact she doesn't own a needle ... but with a mother and a sister who have hundreds, why should she? LOL. The other modification I made was to the hardanger section - instead of cutting and weaving in dove's eyes, I just stitched eyelets. Cheating? yes, but it looks good!

I think there's a bit too much 'bling' and fussiness for my taste but for what it is, I'm pleased with how it turned out, and the braid does hide the raw edges and such. The fabric is some I've had in my stash for years, I think it goes very well.

The base has a small padded 'cushion' so the stamps don't stick to the bottom. I think if I was making another one, I'd make the base a bit bigger.

I'm glad I did it, just not sure I'd do another!

Crazy Exchange - To Judith

This is the exchange I stitched for Judith - it's another one of my hardanger fobs, and to this package I added a needleroll chart, some threads and a little notebook with a stitched cover.

Crazy Exchange - To Virpi

This is the scissor fob/ornament I sent to Virpi. It was stitched using Anchor Multicolours Perle in a hardanger style design, although there wasn't any cutting involved! I finished it using the "Drawn Thread" method, and hid the seams with ricrac braid. The tassel is made from threads pulled from the leftover fabric. I added some DMC threads, a couple of buttons and a couple of heart charms - I never really know how much to add, but I try not to go over the top due to postal charges!

Amethyst - Classic Embroidery/Adele Welsby Designs

What I like about hardanger is the speed with which it grows - if you get the counting of the Kloster blocks right!

It really is an impressive looking technique for not a huge amount of effort - just a steady nerve when it comes to cutting!

The kit instructions were very good, and there was sufficient (just, in a couple of cases!) thread to complete the design.

I stitched this almost as charted - the only modification I made was omitting the picots on the woven bars, as 1. I think they look too fussy and 2. I can never get them even!

I'm not sure what I will finish this as!

Design Details

Fabric: 22 count hardanger, white
Threads: unknown perle cotton in 5 (four colours) and 8 (white)
Designer: Sandra Pim
Chart Details: Amethyst (Hardanger Tile Collection) - HC409 - Classic Embroidery/Adele Welsby Designs (c) 1996
Stitch Count: 108H x 108V
Stitches Used: Satin Stitch, Algerian Eye Stitch, Four-sided Stitch, Woven Bars.
Threads Used: Perle 5 in white, green, dark pink, pink, Perle 8 in white.
Embellishments: None
Modifications Made: Omitted the picots on the woven bars