Noel en broderie "campagne"

Another year is passing. The last days of the year are dripping through my fingers, but I don't want to look back. I know what has happened. I was there, I witnessed all of it. And isn't that a blessing?!

Finally, this year, I found time to stitch this amazing set of necessities, and thought they would be better off gifted. 

The French cross-stitch designs have become my week spot years ago. I started collecting them and store them in my craft room, never having the time to finish any. This year was blessed with inspiration, I discovered new things and techniques. The Japanese style of embroidery, stitching and quilting is still my priority, but I have always been sad that my passion for French embroidery has been put aside. At last, I was determined to finish one of my many projects and to gift it to a beautiful creator and designer, who has become a close friend, sharing her sewing illustrations that say a lot about her life, loved ones and creative personality. 

Materials used:

"Zweigart" Belfast linen 32 count - for the cross-stitched design

"HAORI" yarn dyed fabric - as main fabric for the bag and bias tape

"Henry Glass" quilting cotton - for the 'collar' of the bag

DMC embroidery floss

fusible light weight batting

velvet ribbon

wooden spool for the pull

Techniques used:

"Les Brodeuses Parisiennes" - the cross-stitched design (*slightly adapted)

Cross-stitch

French knot

Back stitch

Machine sewing

Tassel making

Bias binding making

Hand-sewing (for the reverse side of the bias binding)

* I  changed the last word in the message, that applies better for my friend, who doesn't work with cross stitches. Also, I gave the colour scheme a different look, so it matches better my idea of vintage look and the quilting cotton I have been using here.

These three elements are really important when we sew. 

I interfaced the bag with light fusible batting for more structure and cosiness when in use and fully lined it with the spool quilt cotton, used for the 'collar'.

The pincushion, is filled with ground walnut shells, mixed with lavender from my summer garden. I made the tiny tassels (oh, what a challenge was to tie them well - my fingers felt so clumsy :)) using the same shade DMC floss, used for the cross-stitched design. 

The scissors case was underlined with batting as well.

I find these tiny thimbles so festive! What a celebration of sewing!

I hope you are almost ready with your Christmas preparation and gifts. Canada Post is overwhelmed with packages and I am happy I sent mine early and everyone received them already. It is the anticipation of Christmas that is up for celebration - the impatient awaiting of the blessed event.

I truly hope you all have the creation of the season this year, that will always remind you of the good days you have had in the year of 2017.

Have a blessed Christmas, dear friends and happy holidays!

♥ Ivelina

Advent in Winterwald

Advent is about to start - the most exciting countdown ever experienced! It is the best time of the whole season - the anticipation of Christmas... the busy preparation, the desperate attempt to calm emotions down and the beauty in all that. 

I am feeling partially unnaturally calm, partially terrified. For the first time I won't be home for Christmas - the whole family won't be home for Christmas. We are going on a vacation! ... but that is a story for another day. Today is all about "Advent in Winterwald". I chose to keep the original name, just because English language doesn't have a matching word for Winterwald. It is a story about little creatures in a snowy forest, who are getting ready for Christmas in the most beautiful way. So, Welcome to the "Advent in the Snowy Forest".

These beautiful creatures, little children of the woods, are in a perfect co-habitat with the animals of the forest. And the Acufactum book "Advent in Winterwald" tells an original story about this joyful relationship with amazing projects and images. I only managed to make these two and they will turn into a nice decorative pillows.

The fabric that is designed, inspired by the colours of Nature and that doesn't hoot for attention but speaks for its greatness through its complicated weaving, surely is HAORI. If you look at the whole Fall/Winter collection, you will be able to find the two different brown colours I picked for this project:

When the designer Ms Lina Yang created this collection, it was inspired by the colours of the Earth in its preparation for the winter season. The faded greens of the forest in its yearly preparation for the long rest and the deepened blue of the rivers, wholeheartedly missing the playful pure white summer clouds on their vigorous run to the ocean. The blue is a reflection of the gloomy, sad, foggy blanket that the sky is sleeping under. The forest is completely naked in the late fall. The bark of the trees and the branches are looking almost grey. 

It all changes with the first snow. In a 'Winterwald', the trees look alive again, and so vividly brown. The rivers' eyes are dark blue and few sunny beams get caught under the magnifying glass of the painfully white snow. The strength of the white and the magic of reflection bring the forest and the creatures, that call it their home to the most festive stage of the year - the preparation for Christmas.

Materials used:

HAORI double sided 1/2 yard light brown 

HAORI double sided 1/2 yard dark brown 

HAORI Christmas cotton strips for binding and zipper cover

Warm Company 100% cotton batting

Ticking stripe 27 count 100% linen

DMC embroidery thread

Techniques used:

* Cross-stitched embroidery

* Hand-quilting for the front of the pillows

* Machine-quilting for the back of the pillows

* Zipper sewing

* Bias-binding

HAORI is one of a kind heart-felt fabric for me. It started with the image fabric love a year ago , went through the ecstatic wave of joy, that almost left me without breath when I first touched it, and now continuing with an exploding culmination of friendship, that makes this season even more merry. 

I admire Lina for her creative way of perceiving the weaves so they become strictly candid, and at the same time present an incredible texture. It is a pleasure to quilt with her fabric - there are many directions to be followed and one to be chosen. I simply love the choices she is given me with her designs - an incredible person she truly is!

Home is the best place to count down the days till Christmas. Every day is a treasure and give me new hope for being better in what I do. Sometimes, I am not sure of the end result, but I know, it would be from the heart, so it must be good, it must be pleasing and heart-warming. My daughter says, that these pillows are for hugging, and is doing so every night on the sofa with her cup of tea. Well, than they must be considered a 'goal-achieved' project. From this Christmas on, these pillows will immerse all the good memories of many many seasons, and their hugs will become warmer, more soothing and cordial. 

Sending warm hugs to your home for Christmas,

♥ Ivelina