Little house

First a quick thank you for all the kind get well wishes after my last post - you really are a lovely lot :) I'm feeling much better now. The last germs are still hanging on in there but I finally feel more like my usual active, restless self. Hurrah!

And now to my first ta-dah of the new year! Yes, it's only halfway through January and I already have a finished project to show you! I started my little house embroidery in November and it would have been completed a lot sooner if it hadn't fallen by the wayside in my enthusiasm for the crochet blanket.

The pattern is 'A Winter House' by Belinda Downes and is from an old (2002) issue of Stitch magazine. I'd completely forgotten I even had any copies of the magazine until I came across it while rummaging in the attic for something else.

As soon as I saw the pattern though, I had to make it. It has a lovely naive country style which I really love.

The picture is built up in layers. For the base, I used the same navy blue fabric, using the right side to create a frame and the reverse of it for the background.

The rest of the background is made up of small squares of transparent fabrics. Luckily these came on small rolls which meant I didn't need to buy large quantities - I think I paid less than £2 for several pieces.

As it was going to be a winter scene, I chose all those which had any kind of sparkle or glitter. The squares are held down with just a few stitches to anchor them for the other layers.

Next I embroidered waves and swirls to suggest falling, windswept snow. This was all from pure imagination (and the pattern) as we are still to see more than a few flakes here :(

The third part was to attach the pieces of fabric for the house and garden. All the fabrics are from my stash which never seems to go down no matter how much I take out of it! I swear it's breeding!

Anyway, this is where the picture lost some of its sparkle. The fabrics are attached with bondaweb and have to be ironed in place. Unfortunately I was a bit heavy-handed with the iron and some of the silvery bits melted. Be that a lesson to you all - cover delicate fabrics with a cloth before ironing them!

The final part was to add all the little details with more stitching. Apart from the French knot for the door knob, it's all done with just running or stab stitch so couldn't be simpler. And, because it's meant to be naive, you don't have to be particularly neat either!

With the stitching completed, it's time for the final reveal...

Ta-dah!

I'm sooo happy with it! Embroidery is not something I've done much of but I really enjoyed making this picture. The pattern suggested doing different versions for each season and I'm very tempted, particularly after seeing Gillian's lovely four seasons embroideries. However, I still have lots of the transparent fabrics so another winter embroidery seems more appropriate. For now though, I just need to get this one framed.

By coincidence it felt quite wintry this morning. We did have a light sprinkling of flakes and it was very cold and foggy until lunchtime but the white was more frost than snow. The seagulls seemed less than impressed. They cheered up this afternoon though when the day brightened to sunshine and blue skies.

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. x