Throwback Tuesday: Embroidery Threads

Presencia Finca Perle Cotton no.8 made in Spain

Cosmo no.25 Embroidery Thread made in Japan

DMC no.25 Embroidery Thread made in France

Sulky Petites no.12 made in Italy

I was finally able to pick up my needle and add very few stitches to my Garden Sampler, but since the progress was not very noticeable will wait to post about it. 

So left you with a throwback of some pictures of bright cheery embroidery eye candy ;-) , until next time! Be well!

PS: Any hand embroidery threads made in the USA?

Organization: Useful Bags

For awhile now I've been keeping some of my most needed hand embroidery / cross stitch tools, supplies, materials, and patterns easily accessible by putting them in these see through purse organizers. At this point in my life, see thru crafts bags are very helpful. I really like how these are made, and the various pockets. The middle pocket do not have a zipper which works perfect for me.

Started with the smallest one, but then decided that I needed to have the hand embroidery items separate from my cross stitch items. Most of my current work-in-progress projects are hand embroidery projects, so I thought a slightly larger bag will be very handy to accommodate the necessary things for the ongoing embroidery projects. Glad to have found the same color in a larger size -although the red colored one was calling my name... which I still may get ;-) for taking with me inside purse when traveling. They sit at plain sight on my needlework chair which is in the master bedroom, so I wanted them to blend in a bit. 

Found them on Amazon, if you search for 'clear purse handbag tote organizer' you should be able to find a few,  but only some offer 2 sizes: medium (about 11"L x 6" H by 3" W) and 

large (about 13"L x 7.9" H x 5.5" W). As mentioned at the beginning, the largest middle compartment which is the main compartment on both bag sizes do not have zipper. Neither does the outer pockets. The only two pockets with zippers are the long pockets sandwiched in between the smaller outer pockets and the largest middle compartment. On the first picture you can see better the structure of both. I'm sure if you have basic sewing knowledge you could easily make them. For my personal situation it was just easier, cost effective, and more convenient to buy them already made.

How do you like to keep craft items that you need to have handy?

Would you mind sharing?

Thanks in advance! 

Until next time!

New and Vintage Embroidery Transfer / Patterns Haul

Things didn't turn out as I was expecting these past few days... kids appointments were put on hold do to myself having to do an unexpected medical visit. A couple test pending. With all that anxiety, besides prayers, I did some retail therapy. One of my purchases was from Wings of the Morning on Etsy. Nothing better than super cute vintage embroidery transfers that evoke nostalgia and sweet memories of long ago. I had great customer service from Amy! Perhaps you may want to go check her shop out, there are still a few treasures to be found!

She even included this lovely gift! I tell you, around here it is so hard to find vintage embroidery transfers. So I'm grateful to have these on my stash now! My mom was the one who introduced me to embroidery (as I posted on a previous blog entry), vintage transfers remind me of her. Hand embroidery is therapeutic in so many ways for me!

So I will go thru the box little by little to distract myself while awaiting my upcoming tests, and of course take care of my kids appointments. Maybe I can find a few vintage designs I could share here. 

Kathy Schmitz released this pattern today! It is a PDF available in her Etsy shop, and her website. It'll be used for a stitch-along starting March 16th, not sure if I'm going to be able to wait to start mine, LOL. I'll be transferring it soon and have it ready... will try to wait.

Also added this book to my stash, a new book from Annela Hoey. Solely iron on transfers from designs on her previous books and a few new ones as well, there are a couple of design elements that are repeated a few times (for example a design of a small pair of embroidery scissors, the same pair of scissors appears in 3 designs). Not a biggie.
This cute birdie was a pattern Aneela use to sell in her shop (not sure now). I always liked it and wanted to stitch it, but I do not use PayPal... 3 times my info was compromised, very bitter experiences. Since canceling my account I've never gone back, not even use the feature of not needing an account to buy. Thereby, so glad to have found that this cutie was part of the patterns in this book purchased from Amazon. Didn't waste time and stitched it right away! Will post a close up later detailing the stitches used.

Here is a 'just for fun shot', organizing work-in-progress projects and getting ready to start new ones... like the cutie birdie that is now all done ;-). I'll expound a bit more on this on a future post.
So, tell me... do you sometimes do retail therapy? ;-)
Have a nice weekend! Until next time!

Needlework Corner

Awhile back I mentioned that my crafty area set up in the basement wasn't quite done. Thankfully in our master bedroom we have a very large armoire that was only half full with bed linens. Re-arranged the linens closet, moved some of the bedsheets and blankets in the armoire to the linens closet, only leaving a few that couldn't fit. 
I was able to fit some of my projects and stash (e.g. supplies, materials, books, notions) in the armoire, mainly of hand embroidery, english paper piecing, and cross stitch. 
There is still room in the armoire for more crafty stuff if the need be ;-).
As you can see, when sitting, my needlework Daylight lamp is on my right side, on my left side I have a sewing machine portable caddy filled with some of my current hand embroidery work-in-progress projects, and extra skeins of embroidery thread. 
I'm pretty happy with this makeshift set up, it is working great! Plus  my knees thank me for not having to be up and down the basement's stairs every time I may need something.
Have a great weekend! Until next time! 

Setting Up a Crafting Space

Since we moved, I haven't been able or motivated to set up my new craft space. I've been missing my old space and how enjoyable the natural sunlight of that room used to be.

I'm adding a few pictures of my old craft space here. We had a very large home, beautiful custom home.... but it was challenging for me to keep up with (even with the help of my husband)... living with chronic illnesses makes things a bit challenging. We refocus and decided to downsize a bit.

 My new craft space will be craft room/guest room, so I'm lost as to how I'm going to set it up. The old one used to be in the kids playroom. So I had it set up to simply look like a craft space.

 New projects, books, work in progress projects, supplies, etc., used to sleep right on top of my desk. Waiting for me whenever I had free time to keep working on them, without having to dig them out.... or even worst, being forgotten. (By the way, I'm having to use see thru project bags lately to help me remember what things are in progress or new starts.) 

 Sometimes it was tidy just like the picture below, but that wasn't the norm. Every little crafty mess, was a happy mess ;-).

 Do you have to share your crafting space? If so, how do you make it work? I'm hoping to start setting up that craft/guest room this winter, if not sooner. Perhaps a sofa bed? Make it look like a lounging space? Really don't know.

We even thought of getting a bit of help from an interior designer, just to point us in the right direction and help us make the room multifunctional for a craft/guest room that looks put together and harmonizes with the rest of the house. If it can't be done in a satisfactory way, I may have to arrange a corner of the master bedroom for my hand embroidery, EPP, and cross stitch. In a way I'm already doing that, but may have to set it up in a more aesthetically functional way. 
Anyhow, today was a bit cloudy so didn't take pictures of some finished embroideries I wanted to blog about. Hopefully tomorrow we have some nice sunlight to take a few shots and post them here soon! Be well! Until next time!