Sunday 25 September 2016

Mellerstain Parrots #1

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.  It's time for the 3-weekly update on my latest WIP.  I finished the Princess Bride for the last check in, and now it's time to present my next project.  I am cheating slightly for this update, I haven't actually stitched on it at all, but thought I'd show you where I'm starting from.  I've had a busy three weeks, including a weekend down near Bath at my brother's wedding.

I am stitching on Mellerstain Parrots by the Crewel Work Company.  My kit is actually the fireguard, which I couldn't find on the website, but is the same design.  I must have started this 4 years ago.  I was stitching it as a sample for the Crewel Work Company as she was developing the kit.  I got about half way through and was waiting for the rest of the stitching instructions.  I emailed her several times but never got any response and have never heard from her since.  I wasn't supposed to show it on my blog until it was finished, but as I've lost contact, I'm going to show it.  It got put to one side as I don't have the stitching instructions for the rest of the design.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to wing it!


All the leaves are done, so all (!) that's left is the acorns and the parrots themselves.


Also the little berries.  I'm worried about those as I'm pretty sure they are in satin stitch and satin stitch circles have got to be hard!


The linen was pre-printed, which is great.  You can just get on and stitch instead of faffing around trying to transfer the pattern.  This design also includes so stitch directions marked on the fabric, so that's useful.


I'm quite looking forward to starting this, I hope I get a chance this evening.  The problem I'm wrestling with at the moment isn't time, I have time, but motivation and energy.  My new meds make me tired all the time, often too tired to even stitch.

I'll be back in 3 weeks to show you my progress.... if there is some!


I'm sewing along as part of a SAL, you can go and see what the other participants have been up to here:


AvisClaireGunCarole, LucyAnnKateJessSueConstanzeDebbieroseChristinaSusan
Kathy


Feel free to come and join us, just contact Avis.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those parrots are really fun, and I hope you work out how to finish the piece without too much trouble. I'd say you were well within your rights to show the work if she isn't bothering to stay in touch despite your efforts. I hope you find a balance with your meds and life; nothing worse than having the cure being worse than the problem.

Pamela said...

Very pretty. Crewel always seems kind of scary to me, so I've not done much of it. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Anonymous said...

oooh what a lovely design! looking forward to seeing those parrots come to life

Anonymous said...

Oh, this is gonna be lovely!

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

Beautiful crewelwork stitching!

Anonymous said...

I've never tried crewel embroidery. I don't have any artistic flair whatsoever so I would make a complete mess. You've made a beautiful start. I hope your meds allow you to feel much better soon.

Rachel said...

It will be lovely. Don't rush the satin stitch, and you will do fine!

Christina said...

Simply gorgeous! I love the texture and color. Look forward to seeing more.

Anonymous said...

What a lovely design. Hope you find some stitchy time and motivation for it.

Jane said...

It's such a lovely project, it's such a shame she disappeared part way through. I'm sure you'll make a good job of it.

margaret said...

What a wonderful piece this is, I am surprised that Phillippa has not ben in touch, she produces the most amazing kits but eay out of my price bracket

Susan said...

Those satin stitch leaves are beautifully done!!! Wow!

Jessie's Needle said...

Looking forward to seeing this progress. I've not tried Crewel work before. I picked up a kit from a charity shop that someone else had started, something else that's in my pile of things to get round to.

D1-D2 said...

I love this piece from the Crewel Company. It's too bad you never got the rest of the instructions :( I've had this one on my wishlist for a while now. Maybe one day... For the berries, Mary Corbet has excellent instructions on stitching satin stitch circles.

Sarah in Stitches said...

Wow, this is going to be an adventure! I love the colors so far. Can't wait to see what you do with it! :D

Moira said...

Beautiful work!

Magpie Sue said...

Your leaves look gorgeous so I can't believe you'll have trouble with berries. I'm looking forward to seeing how the parrots come along. Hope you can find the energy to work on them.

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

I love all things crewel and this is too pretty not to finish. Your work looks lovely and I can't wait to see how the parrots are done.