Some friends just bring light into your life and CL aka Claire Louise The Thrifty Stitcher is one of the best. Separated by distance we still try to chat via messenger and she does wonderful things like send me video messages on the morning of my surgery last year or listened to me cry about losing most of my stash to the fire we suffered in December. Being the ace person she is, she organised for a gift voucher to BeBeBold so I could get myself some Japanese embroidery supplies.
It was such a touching and thoughtful gift and I wanted to make sure I remembered not only her kindness but the kindness and support of the entire sewing community by making something we could use everyday and be thankful for those who helped.
I ordered some pre printed panels and sashiko thread. I got them delivered to Pitt Trading as we have no postal address to send anything to and have been in almost 10 different locations while awaiting our apartment to be ready to move back in. These panels have been stitched in all of those locations with the aim of turning them into placemats, pot holders and useful everyday pieces that are beautiful and sentimental.
Once stitched I’ve cut the panels out, added a heat proof wadding and Japanese print backing (both picked up at HobbySew Top Ryde while purchasing replacement machines). Placed right sides together with the wadding onto of the embroidered panel I stitched around, clipped the corners and turned them right way round through a small hole I’d left on one side. Once the corners were nicely pointed I stitched the width of a machine foot in around the entire rectangle, topstitched the opening closed and then practiced quilting by drawing different lines using my Prym chalk tool across the backs and stitching through all layers.
They turned out even better than expected and when showing a friend she exclaimed they were too beautiful to be put to practical use and should be displayed. But I love the idea of being surround by beautiful meaningful things and these are special to me on so many levels. a gift from a wonderful friend, hours of meditative stitching in what has been an incredibly stressful time and now we have something to add to our home.
These are the first 5 finished and I still have some more panels in varying sizes to go so am keen to find more practical and beautiful ways to use them, the red teapot was at one of the places we have staid this year and matched in so well it made the perfect photo prop.
Pattern: pre printed panels from BeBeBold
Fabric: from BeBeBold and Hobbysew Top Ryde
Alterations: none that I can think of right now
