Friday, November 30, 2018

How I create a design and the N pincushion...



Elegance. 
Some of us love a touch of elegance in design once in a while, and others would prefer it all the time.




This week my elegant pincushion uses a gentle palette of grey and mustard in the low volume feature fabric, and as is my custom I chose the threads accordingly.

The beautiful vintage lace is sewn either side of the N, overlapping the seams to hide them. 



This is my favourite pinnie so far and I may even stitch it again with a J...mmm.

Just out of interest, what is your favourite style of design? Vintage, shabby chic, 30's, civil war, country, brights, modern? I'd love to know!

The N pattern is free to download until December 6th here or here.

The patterns for J, K, L and M are also still free downloads until December 6th. Scroll through my blog (or check the popular posts in my blog sidebar) for those posts and their relevant links.

The A-E and F-I pattern sets are a $2 purchase here in my shop.

Many of the members in our Gentle Domesticity Facebook group share their pincushion stitch-a-long photos each week and I thought you may like to see how one member is using the alphabet letters in a different setting. Jeanette Inger has bordered each one so far and will sew them all together into a small quilt once the last letter is shared. Isn't that lovely!?



I've mentioned a couple of times recently that there will be changes afoot in Elefantz next year but I've not elaborated on that because there's still much prayer, planning and work to do...but I have also needed time to let all the ideas 'settle' in order to sift the over-exuberance away and focus in on the ideas which truly inspire me, the ones I am confident will be achievable and bring joy.

Next week I'll be able to tell you more but in the meantime if you're of a praying heart, would you mind holding me in prayer please?
Specifically prayers for clarity of purpose (God's purpose), creativity, wisdom, skill, peace and JOY.
((thank you))





Over the weekend Mr E will continue to dig up and remove the compacted road base from our front yard and I will be giving my sewing room a good clean up. It's not messy or anything, but a family of geckos live somewhere in there and each morning I find evidence of their toilet habits on the window sill, behind the two chests of drawers and under my cutting table behind the tubs of lace and other pretty things. 
My sewing/cutting table also needs a wash and tidy (amazing the amount of fluff and thread which hides under the cutting mat) and I'm going to pack up much of the 2018 design work and prepare an area for next year's supplies and sketches.

This vintage inspired framed stitchery is one of my new December patterns for the Stitchery Club and will be on display in my sewing room through 2019 as a reminder to put my heart into everything I make...




Can you tell that I've used real glass head pins and seed beads in the pincushion?
Little pops of reality in a design like this are beautiful...




Like with this week's N pincushion I kept the thread palette simple with only four colours and it was the small scrap of applique fabric I used for the flower/pincushion which directed those choices.
I found the frame at one of those cheap shops most towns have and paid just $4 for it. Actually that's where the idea for this stitchery started! 

I loved the weathered look of the frame and found some solid fabric in my stash which blended perfectly with it. Then I traced a rectangle on paper using the aperture of the frame, and from there I began to sketch ideas until this one came to life. 

Final step was the fabric choice for the applique and that's a very important step, you know, because the applique fabric dictates the colours I stitch with and in this framed design I needed everything to come together as though it were meant to be - the frame, the background fabric, the applique fabric, the buttons and the threads. 




You may be wondering why I chose pins and seed beads that don't blend with the colour palette of my design?
Because my rather pin-full pincushions, which are used every day in the sewing room, do not contain pin heads which are coordinated with the pincushion fabrics. They have pinheads of all colours because that's real life.

So the blue, green and red pins/beads represent real life. Simply.


I'm always on the lookout for lovely or unusual frames and have a good supply stored away in my bedroom closet (seriously, storage barely exists in our new home). I often go through them when it's time for a new design to see if inspiration strikes. 
Perhaps you've just bought a pattern and are wondering how to display it, or what colours to stitch with? Why not shop for a frame first and see where that leads? Could be the start of something fun.



Now I know tomorrow is December 1st and that's the day I am supposed to share the final block and quilt finishing pattern for this year's BOM, but as its the weekend I'm going to hold it over to a blog post on Monday 3rd so I can do the year long project justice, okay?

This will also give you an extra two days to download the November block while it's still free.
If you haven't got it yet, run, don't walk, over here to my shop and download the pattern as a gift from me to you and get stitching or save to your computer for another day. 

If you're new here, you can see all eleven "A Year in the Garden" monthly patterns we've stitched so far here on the BOM page.

Righto, I'm off to water the plants at their roots. It's a scorcher outside again and I can see through the back glass sliding door that many in the garden are wilting from the extreme temperatures our town and state are experiencing. The weather bureau predicts this weather event will continue for at least another week before we in the tropics return to our everyday heat and get relief from the extreme scorch.

Please pray for all those towns and families in our state (Queensland) who are being evacuated due to the 140 fires currently blazing. You can read about it here. Unprecedented for late spring, and does not bode well with summer about to arrive. 

Wherever you are, may the good Lord's blessing and favour be upon you, keep you safe, and bring you peace.

hugs


13 comments:

Angie in SoCal said...

It is easy to hold you in prayer, Jenny, as these are things I pray for also: "prayers for clarity of purpose (God's purpose), creativity, wisdom, skill, peace and JOY.

Joanne said...

Hi Jenny,
Thanks for all you share here on your blog! I really enjoy it!
Enjoy the creative process!
take care,
Joanne

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Thank you, Joanne. xx

Jenny of Elefantz said...

All the good stuff, yeh? And God answers. :-)

diana said...

Prayers for you but hoping you don't stop your blog!!! What type of white fabric do you use for your embroidery please? I still haven't found one that can really take the piercing of the fabric and maintain its body.

Jenny of Elefantz said...

My blog will stay...writing is breath to me. :-) I'm just freshening things up, removing some, changing others, adding new.
I use an Australian cotton/linen blend fabric.

Sherry said...

Thank you Jenny Dear for another sweet alphabet stitchery and pincushion. I love so many looks like elegant, shabby, prim, simple and so on...I just am easy to please. Prayers for you and for Queensland and its horrific fires. May you be Blessed with all Creative Bliss...XO

Farm Quilter said...

I really like the "N"! I like modern fabrics/piecing/quilting, with bright, saturated colors, but I also like the low volume - so peaceful. Praying for clarity and peace for you, with any and all decisions you need to make.

Ondrea said...

Thankyou for your latest pin cushion pattern. I love the variety. The lace really makes it something extra special. You have such beautiful ideas. I, too, collect picture frames from Op shops and have a couple from the reject shops when they are cheap. I love the weathered look too. I had planned to paint a couple but that never eventuated LOL. Your new little stitchery is gorgeous and I love how you have used the pins. Such a creative gal! I am thinking of the those in Qld experiencing the terrible bushfires. I hope the CFA up there hasn't been destroyed like it has down here in Vic. I really worry about what will happen if we have awful fires here again without a lot of the volunteers who had all that experience and have now quit ( including my son in law). May clarity and peace of mind find you soon.

Nanna Chel said...

Jenny, I think my favourite styles are shabby chic and vintage. I have lace just like you have used for the latest pincushion. We are due for a heatwave in the next couple of days. I believe it is heading south from up your way :-) The fires are dreadful and must be absolutely terrifying to be around. I will be praying for your plans for next year as well as for those in the firezones that they will remain safe.

Susan said...

Oh, Jenny, having just watched the terrible devastation in California from wildfires, I really do pray for those in Queensland who are dealing with the same thing. Fire can be our best friend or our worst enemy. I do like civil war fabrics very much, and batiks. Because of the soldier quilts, I wind up with a lot of red/white/blue fabrics, too. I stopped right where I was and said a prayer for you. I know that you and the Lord will work together, wherever you are going. Thanks for this beautiful pinnie. Elegant is the perfect word, and then your photographs always show your artistry even more. Have a wonderful weekend, try to stay cool, and don't get sunburned!

Robin in New Jersey said...

Praying for on this Saturday morning the US. You are such a blessing. 😘

KingsailK said...

Thanks Jenny ,I so lovee your blog!!from N Ireland!I have a dear friend Virginia who lives in Sydney,I must tell her about you!!I am so excited to hear about your plans,I love your photos!!Blessings xx