Familiar favourites for the Easter sideboard

 Easter is very early this year & falls on my birthday weekend. However, the sideboard had to change for Easter & I gladly got out my favourites again. 

Some previous Easters at home - I love looking over previous settings - 

2012  Cakes on the stand & an Easter tree 

2013  Easter shaped bread & chocolate treats 

2014   The bunny bowl is gifted 

2015  Easter fairies 

2016  Easter teapots & fun things 

2017  The Riga art bunnnies & bunting appear 

2018 Bunny bowl & jug 

2019  Some new South African bunny bowls

2020 Easter in challenging Covid times 

2021

2022

2023  

This year, the favourites appear again - it is a joy to use things you really love & Easter is so short. 

I hope to make some little Easter cakes in the moulds again. The cutters remind me of that … 

I’m sure it will change & be added to, but at least it is a good start.  How do you prepare for Easter? Are there any family traditions you keep? Tell all please … 

Thank you for your company, comments & shares - it is greatly appreciated 

Dee 🐣🥚

Up to date with circular stitching ...

I have really enjoyed the challenges associated with the Circular Stiching challenge.  The monthly project comes with advice & it is something new which I am enjoying. 

I have completed the first three now. 

Snow blanket 

Conceal & Reveal 

Renewal 

The third one, Renewal, started as a circle with the open blanket stitch & I was minded to leave an open spot, off centre to distract from the circle but then it just came out  & I was tempted to redo it. However, we can over think these things & sometimes, the first thoughts are worth going with or nothing would ever be completed.  The Spring colours are almost citrus - definitely a reminder of the bright hues that appear in Spring. 

The next part was to add the backing fabric, the edging & the stiffening between the two layers. 

The stiffening was ordered in as it is the stuff used on pelmets etc. 

The brief said to use a strong thread for the blanket stitch edging as the final assembly of all 13 parts needed a robust edge. 

I cut all 13 front, back & stiffening pieces & put them in a folder - so much easier than faffing with it each month & it means they will all be uniform in the end. 

I decided to use a machine edging stitch first to hold it in place, did 3 sides, then trimmed & inserted the stiffening fabric before finishing the stitching. 

I had fortunately found a really large reel of thick sewing cotton that will do for all the edges so set about doing each of the three projects. I always seem to have a moment when starting the blanket stich that leaves a less than tidy join - I must practice that bit - any hints please? 

Once they were done, I thought it would be nice to have a label on the back of each with the project prompt so I decided on dark fabric & the cream thread already on the machine. 

I bought this machine last year from a friend who was upgrading, & the lettering stitches are useful but not amazing. However, they do the job & after having used them just once previously, I had to use the machine manual to remind myself of the technique. 

I trimmed them to size then used fabric glue to attach them to the top of the reverse side of each one. I rather like that ... 

It will soon be the next one & I can't wait to be challenged again. This is sewing / creating purely for enjoyment & advancement & that is surely a good thing. 

Thank you for stopping by & taking the time to visit with me. All comments, shares are much appreciated. 

Dee 📍🧵🪡

Long Meg and her daughters stone circle

Come & visit a fascinating stone circle in Cumbria with me ... 

Stonehenge is our most famous stone circle but there are many other fascinating ones dotted around hillsides all over our Isle. 

 I always find ancient stone circles fascinating. I wonder why they are where they are & ponder on their significance to the local area. 

Long Meg and her daughters was one I did not know about so an unexpected pleasure as I love new places. I love visiting new places & finding out things I did not know. 

The 350 foot stone circle stands proud of the landscape, it is on a gentle slope with water springs & a river nearby. It has a fascinating connection to the Druid ceremonies associated with the solstices etc and was most certainly a place where people gathered at certain times, for whatever reason. 

The circle of Long Meg & her daughters are fascinating and I am really glad to have visited these. 

I admire those who were so in tune with nature & celebrated events they probably didn’t understand. It cannot be a coincidence that the stones line up with the rising sun at certain times of the year. The ancestors were more in tune with nature than we give them credit for. 

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you have found this interesting. 

Dee📖

#3 Early Spring renewal circular sewing ...

 Hi all, 

I have had a little break away at the seaside, revisiting some places I have not been to in ages. I love visiting places again because you enjoy them all again  ... 

However, I am back now & am on to the third of eleven monthly stitch projects for the Circular stitching project. 

The first was - 

Mid winter - snow blanket

Late winter - conceal & reveal 

Early spring - renewal. 

The brief remains a 6x6  inch square with a circle in the centre. The squares will stiffened, backed, edged then sewn together right at the end.

My colour choices for early spring ... 

It has been such a fun brief each month & the pressure is off when  you have a whole month to stitch. 

I confess that I still need to do the stiffening layer for the first two months then back  & edge them but I am thinking of doing the first three at the same time ... 

This months brief was the emerging spring life / blooms. Each project has to have the circular element. This one advised the circular blanket stitch I had tried out in various projects previously so I was confident in using it. 

I used a circular piece of lace as the guide size on my square & I find that stitches look better on a double layer of fabric. These stitches look better in varigated thread so I decided on the yellow / orange threads for the circular stitching which gave it an interesting tone. 

It is easy to do identical stitching but I think a variety of lengths & sizes works better. I off centred the stitching too to break away from the rigid circular shape. 

I filled in the centre with green, orange & yellow french knots. I am tempted to add a few beads in between the knots but that is best done in day light as it is a fiddly job. 

I am rather pleased with the start of it .... 

What projects are you busy with at the moment? Are they a group led or something you are doing by yourself? Tell all ... 

Thank you for stopping by, your company & comments are always appreciated. 

Dee 📍🧵🪡