Purple Roses

the flash was on when I took this hence the difference in colour to the following pics

I went for a dark grey thread and appliqued in a scrappy style.

I would have chosen a stronger contrast to the background had the colours been available in the scrap bag. This was not working for me.

I outlined the flowers in black.

Then decided that it all the stitching needed to be black to stand out. (Just seen that stray thread. LOL!)

I have edged it in green but may go over it in black. Can't decide on that at the moment.

And because I have just discovered the Super Macro on my camera, here is a close up.

There's more...

Green grass... part two...

I decided to go with this old sketch as inspiration.

So using the colours left in the scrap bag, time to add the applique elements...no wait...background first :)

Time is of the essence and I want this to be done quickly, so I have managed to stop myself from getting drawn into intensive stitching.

A comment left on a post from last week from Frances at frantastic-stich witchery led me to this post where I saw this stitch. I decided this project would be ideal to try it out. 

A wavy line one way...

...and back the other way.
I think I will be adding this one to my repetoire. I quilted this in about 3/4's of an hour!
Thanks Frances!
If you don't already know her blog then it is worth taking a look as it has great free motion stitching tips.

Which way is up?

Decisions, decisions!

If you have noticed any gloopy bits then blame this old lady. Rosie has found that the best place to cool off after a bit of sunbathing, is in my shed, by my feet, under the sewing machine table!
(Now you know that this was done a week or so ago when there was a bit of sun around here. Not so at the moment. Nothing but rain, rain and more rain!!)

Now I can add the appliqué!

Green, green grass of home...

I seem to have a lot of green in this bag. There were a few long strips so I started piecing and cutting and have ended up with this.

At this point I have not decided whether to add lots of straight line stitching and do something like this or this, or whether to try and use up those scraps a bit quicker by throwing a load of applique at it :)

There were lots of smaller bits left over and so I have pulled out the embellisher again and added them to a scrap of wadding.

This will be kept, cut up and added to some future pieces.
Both remind me of a patchwork of fields, hence the title, which might give me some direction in what I do next.
Stay tuned!

Looking at these photos I see the difference in the greens. The first were taken in rare sunshine.

The last in the ever present rain!

a heart revealed

Yes, the scrim was in the bag. How lucky was that!
Have a good weekend.

a heart's progress

Any project like this is going to need a lot of stitching to keep all those pieces in place.

Beads help to cover any spots not covered up properly.

The beads were not in the scrap bag admittedly, but they were part of a bracelet that broke a few years ago. I knew they would come in useful someday:)

A Repeat.

The red squares this piece were cut from a an old silk shirt for a different project. Lots of those silk bits ended up in the bag.

Using the silk scraps, along with some other scraps of red I decided to put together another one of these.

Fiddly to do....Uh Yeah! ...but it will hopefully be worthwhile :)

Ta Dah!

Finished (sort of) journal.

The pages have not been stitched in yet because I am still working on them.

Tied up with the strip made earlier here.
(There are still scraps in that bag, so stay tuned!)