Oval Poppy Brooch

Steph, my sewing partner-in-crime, is a prolific dressmaker and blogs about the her wardrobe themes, which gives me great clues for colour choices when I make a birthday present for her. Last year her them was black, white and red.

Hazel Blomkamp's flower brooch design in Inspirations magazine issue 101 had caught my eye and I thought it might work for a poppy brooch. I simplified the design which gave a more formal effect than the original and I was quite pleased with the result. Best of all, apart from the brooch back, all the materials came from my stash.

Ruby Dahlia Satin Box

Two years ago, my friend Hazel asked me to help her try some bead embroidery for the first time. She wanted make a satin box for her mother's 80th birthday and had a month to complete it. I decided the easiest approach would be to use the Magenta Star design from Margaret Lee's bead embroidery book and to work through the design myself  at the same time. 

I already had a navy blue satin box and some matching  cotton fabric. It was an easy choice to pick out ruby tri-cut and seed beads. Hazel chose to use anemone colours for her flower. They worked really well and she finished the box in good time for her mother's birthday. On the other hand, I  put the project to one side and only finished it 1 year later. Although I can tell it was early in the year because of the snow on the ground.

Holly and Mistletoe Pin Cushion

I had intended to post pictures of the Holly and Mistletoe Pincushion at Christmas but as the world is turned upside down at the moment, I thought I might as well post it now. The kit was from Lorna Bateman.  It was a fun, small kit to do and I enjoyed the combination of techniques.  I did have a couple of attempts at the fly stitch holly leaves. I found it difficult to get the angle of the stitches right and my stitches seem crowded.

It was a Christmas project and was finished in January 2019. As you can tell, I am working my way through my backlog of finished projects. You never know, I might it through to this year's completions by the time things start to get back on track.