An..

invitation to enjoy a sweet cup of tea ..

“Tea ... is a religion of the art of life.” 
― Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea

**

“If you are cold, tea will warm you;
if you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you;
If you are excited, it will calm you.” 
― William Ewart Gladstone

I still have not added the backing for the piece, and I also do not know how best I can display it.  The design is from one of my past work that I did on jute (you can see a picture of it on the bottom of the blog page).

I' m also contemplating, if I should fill in rest of the background with the running stitch as well. I took photos as I was too excited to show it.

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Up-cycled...( i think)

a fun crafty project of turning this empty jute tea package into a colourful a little bag.

where are you spring ....... 

Thank you for stopping by,

till next time,

Gaia

Completed wall hanging..

for my aunt.

I did not use any wadding, instead I stitched the design on two layers (for the middle I used another thin cotton fabric) and used same mustard fabric for the backing. Then using the running stitch, sewed around the design to hold all three layers together.

The finished piece measures roughly 36x23 inches. I do like the combination of mustard, purple and blues. I hope my aunt likes it too. She only saw the initial sketch.

here is my third attempt on punch needle;

working side                                                                                                              completed side

                                                                           

I added  a backing with some woolen fabric using the blanket stitch.

this piece measures roughly around 7x5 inches. There is lot to improve, as you can see some of the loops are way to long; they are not on a equal length.

I found this design on google images.

Hope you have a wonderful Easter/Passover weekend,

Thank you for stopping by,

till next time,

xox,
Gaia

Learning to Punch !

On a recent trip to Germany my brother got above Punch Needle kit for my mum but she was not that interested try; to begin all the instructions are in German.  So it was passed on to me, since I like to learn all sorts of crafts.
The kit include a frame, three needles, a threader, piece of fabric,  some yarn, and few transferable patterns.

Thanks to youtube and google, here is my punching ...


first attempt

 I used several types of fabric to find the most suitable one. Still not sure what type would be the best.

second attempt

working side

finished side

I drew my own pattern free hand on the fabric.

I am yet to learn how to best hold the needle and, to apply right amount of tension when pulling the thread. Well...there is always a third attempt :)

I wonder this is going to be as addictive as crochet !

some progress on the wall quilt..

Thank you for stopping by,

Hope you are having a wonderful day,

till next time,
xox
Gaia

Another wall hanging..

moving forward slowly..

For about 3 weeks now, I have been working on a wall hanging for my aunt. She saw the one I had done recently you can see it here.. and, asked if I can do something for her.

She gave me some material that she had collected, and I chose the mustard coloured one for the background. I had remnants of blues  to start with. I m not using any templates, these motifs are all cut free hand, as my approach is often is rustic.

(the photos were taken at nightlight, so they are not clear as I would have liked)

rain, rain  ....  melting away the all that beautiful snow.

Thank you for stopping by,

hope you are having a wonderful day,

till next time,
xox
Gaia

Blue, Blue ..

crochet scarf....

 was a birthday gift for my blue loving cousin and, she loved it.

this simple pattern is from Vogue crochet stitches book. Once again it is a thrift-ed yarn creation.

more blue stitching....

let's enjoy a sweet cup of tea !!

Thank you for stopping by,

till next time,

xox

Gaia

Chasing winter blues...

keeping busy with some craft work.

While back at the thrift store I came upon this set labelled "Japanese Tenugui" and, I bought it because I liked the cotton material.  Once home, I googled to find out what "Tenugui" meant, and found out that they are a type of  Japanese hand towels.
You can read more about http://japan-magazine.jnto.go.jp/en/1310_tenugui.html here.

side one

The set contained, three printed cotton pieces in different sizes. I used the material to sew this bag.

I added a lining, hand sewed the details around the patterns to add texture, then used the machine to sew the two panels together.

side two

learning some embroidery....

winter light is not too favourable for fine needlework..

a bit of weaving .. ..

Thank you for stopping by,

till next time,
Gaia

Day one ..of ..January...

Watering can pincushion...

A small craft project done during the holidays;

What you think of this watering can make-over? I got the tin can for 0.99 cents from the thrift store.
I filled it almost to the top with rice first, so it will be sturdy and, then added polyfil stuffed body.

It is sitting next to the wheelbarrow, I made few months ago.  May be I will find other garden tools to make a whole collection :)


Thank you for stopping over ...hope you are having a wonderful day,

everything stops for a sweet cup of tea !!

till next time,

xox
Gaia