A Finish To Celebrate (not mine!)

You may recall that my mother was embroidering details and edgings on an appliqu bedcover for herself.

It’s finished!

The slightly more marked colours and edgings make sense of it as a response to the curtains, rather than a random slice of curtain material, and the crisp green ribbon frame confines and sets it off rather nicely.

She occasionally asked for my advice, but I can’t say she needed it. This is the only point, I think, at which I made a material contribution to the finished piece. The fabric was lamentably keen to fray, so all raw edges needed covering, and this large flower would have looked very clunky with dark blanket stitch.

White blanket stitch, whipped along the outside edge, however – that worked!

The stitching for the birds was inspired by something Grandmama did, and does look quite feathery, somehow.

It’s always satisfying when a plan comes together, even when it isn’t one of mine!

Returning to my projects, however, Episode 46 of Slow TV Stitchery is now live, in which are discussed the Delights of Stash and the Perils of OverEngineering.

11 Comments

  1. Sue Jones says:

    Wow! Steve must be delighted with that! Quite charming without being overdone. And the whipped buttonhole is a great choice (I shall file the idea safely in the back of my mind, in case I find myself needing it.) Very well done indeed!

  2. Lady Fi says:

    It’s lovely!

  3. Elizabeth Braun says:

    Well done, Mam!

  4. How lovely that it is finished and looking so fine, those little birds are a delight, and I see the crinoline lady has given it her nod of approval as well. I hope your mum is happy with it too.

    The couching on your angel looks grand, but of course you can’t do that thing of running the point of your needle across the back to see where you are, so a more fiddly task than Amarna I would guess. Do you recommend Thread Heaven over and above the usual yellow wax disc in its plastic cover (it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise the cover came apart so you could turn the wax when it got too deep a groove to be useful!)

    Stash sales are very dangerous things aren’t they? I have all sorts tucked away from Guild sales at our branch, and of course, Aunt Cecil’s stash which proved large and varied, and Mum’s wool stash. Plenty to keep me occupied, but I do worry sometimes that I am drowning in fabric, thread and yarn!! And let’s not mention books ……

  5. Lin says:

    Beautiful. xx

  6. Lin Tarrant says:

    Beautiful. xx

  7. Carolyn Foley says:

    A lovely piece.

  8. Jen Mullen says:

    Congratulations to your mother–she must be entirely satisfied with the beauty of her results. The birds are adorable and a cheerful addition. 🙂

  9. Sheryl says:

    A very pretty bedspread. I especially like the little birds.

  10. Meredithe says:

    Wow! That’s very impressive. Congrats to your Mum.

  11. karen says:

    this is exquisite, such beautiful needlework. How luxurious to be able to adorn your sleeeping spoace with this!