Mabel's WIPs -- thread now retired

[Mabel Figworthy]

Not had a lot of stitching time, but I managed to finish a few small things

Here's the Russian Hippo:



And my experimental Hardanger ornament:



I also experimented with the two different methods of four-sided edging, but I'll put that in the general section.

Sorry to post and run -- combination of end-of-year accounts (accountant is coming on Thursday *aaaargh*) and mother visiting

[Rose]

The hippo is so cute!!!!!

your hardanger is very nice also!!!!!!

[annkor26]

The hippo is adorable!

[pamelam]

Great work on the hippo!

[Serinde]

Love the Russian hippo and camel. Must check out the site.

Hardanger is good. I get too frustrated to work white on red, but this looks very good. How did whip stitching the buttonhole stitch go? Very finicky or ok?

[XandraS]

Love the Hippo

[Mabel Figworthy]

Love the Russian hippo and camel. Must check out the site.

Whale next

Hardanger is good. I get too frustrated to work white on red, but this looks very good. How did whip stitching the buttonhole stitch go? Very finicky or ok?

I do get frustrated with the red cut ends poking out, but have decided to ignore what I couldn't poke back in.

Whipstitching the buttonhole stitch was quite easy, apart from those few places where I had either done a stitch too many or one too few , and had to do some creative rearranging to make the two sides line up properly. Otherwise it's quite a good method of sewing two bits together, except that I found on the corners the cut ends of the fabric tried to poke through.

[maggs]

Lovely hippo Mabel

[Mabel Figworthy]

I am fickle, that's what I am -- working on five things at once again, or wanting to anyway . I couldn't resist kitting up that quirky redhead of Dare To Be Different. I put her into my cross stitch program to make a few small changes, and so I've now got a slightly better pic of what she will look like -- Rose, I don't think it's detailed enough to see the individual stitches, but let me know if it is and I'll take it down.



I've decided to do her on denim-coloured aida, to make the colours pop , and then sew it onto a bag as a patch. Here is the fabric and the cottons:



But I'm not quite sure what colour bag to sew it onto. I want to use one of Clever Baggers' long-handled shoppers-with-gusset -- you can see all the colours here (scroll down a bit). What do you all think would be the best colour to patch this onto?
I've also considered this jute bag. Better? Worse? Just different?

[Vani]

You have done so much, it all looks so great. And I must say those are the most neatest bobbins I have ever seen!

[Cecilia]

I was just thinking how neat your bobbs are!

Mabel I've just caught up with this thread again and I love all your stitched pieces.

[Rose]

This is very cute design and the bags are really super. I like the turquoise and the natural colors and I also like the greens and the blues any of them would look great. I need to find a company like this in the states. I want to do some shopping bags as gifts.

[mags]

I thought the orange but it might be a bit too bright to go with the hair ?

Have you bought any of these bags before ? Are the cotton ones flimsy, are the canvas ones a bit sturdier ?

I personally would avoid jute just in case of allergies as I have heard of people reacting to hessian bags.

[Mabel Figworthy]

I thought the orange but it might be a bit too bright to go with the hair ?

Have you bought any of these bags before ? Are the cotton ones flimsy, are the canvas ones a bit sturdier ?

I personally would avoid jute just in case of allergies as I have heard of people reacting to hessian bags.

Good point -- I'll leave the jute!

I bought one of the cotton ones for my Stash bag, and it's an ordinary cotton bag, sturdy enough for every-day use. I was thinking of the canvas but wasn't sure whether I would be able to sew my patch onto it if it was very thick or tough.

I did consider the orange one -- might be fun though very bright!

The trouble is the bag colour has to go with the denim colour of the fabric as well as the colours in the design, so I may just go for neutral.

[RosemaryH]

Thanks for the link for the bags, just what I need.

I think that I would go for the natural so that the patch stands out rather than it being drowned by the background colour of the bag.

Rosemary

[charmagne_capalad]

Lovely projects, Mabel! Love your new one...Dare to Different! Looking forward to your progress pics!

[dollystitcher]

Love the dare to be Different one, and I think the neutral bag would work better

[Mabel Figworthy]

In spite of all that's been going on I have managed two finishes !

Here is the third and last of my Russian Folk Animals, the whale, on 28ct opalescent Lugana:



And I finally finished the stitching on the first Time For God bookmark -- now all i need to do is finish it and stitch two more !



I've also got a plan for finishing the folk sampler I did some time ago -- watch this space . But for now I think I'll be doing some hardanger minis for Christmas cards for my stitching group, and possibly make a start on Dare To Be Different!

[Serinde]

Well done, Mabel. Looks great. Love the whale...

which hardanger minis are you doing (just being nosy)

[Mabel Figworthy]

I found a few in an old issue of New Stitches, some about 28 threads square and some about 40 square -- they look quite quick and were meant for use with multicoloured thread, I think. I want to make Christmas cards for all the ladies in my stitching group, but stitching a Madonna for each of them (there are 10) is a bit too much , even though they admired the ones I've already done. I thought a small colourful bit of hardanger would show that I'd made something individual for each of them without taking as much time as the Madonnas.