Swaps and Storybooks

I belong to a cozy little swap group and for a fun challenge, we decided to do a "Try a New Craft" swap. It was certainly tough to narrow down all the crafts that I wanted to try, but as soon as I had a glimpse of The New Crewel by Katherine Shaughnessy, I knew I wanted to do a crewel project. I absolutely fell in love with the ruby shoots design, so I ordered the kit and got right to work the day it arrived in my mailbox.

The needlework was a relaxing way to spend a few afternoons on the couch, and the entire design uses only the split stitch, something you are probably familiar with if you have done some embroidery before. But what to make it into? So many possibilities! I eventually decided to do a patchwork bag, which, if you're anything like me, involved making piles and piles of fabric to determine what prints to use. I'm pretty sure that about half of my stash ended up on the ironing board at some point (that's where I play around with fabric combinations) and finally settled on a pretty strict red and white theme. At one point I threw a little more green in there than you'll see on the end product, and decided it looked a bit too Christmassy--not that there's anything wrong with that--but I hoped to make the bag a little more versatile than for one week in December. It may still be a bit on the Christmassy side, what do you think?

I normally plan out the patchwork and things are pretty symmetrical, but I did a bit of improvising this time, switching out prints as I went along. There was a lovely moment when I happened to place the gingham print next to Little Red Riding Hood and realized how perfectly they worked together.

I don't know why, but Miss Riding Hood has always captured my imagination. When I was a young lass, I would lug an enormous volume of fairytales to bed each night and read until the wee hours of the morning. Mom and Dad never seemed to mind, so thanks to you two for never making me hide under the covers with a flashlight and a book! In any case, I'm a sucker for Japanese fairytale fabrics, especially this adorable one--check out the wolf peeking out from behind the tree. Love it!

the back...

The curly red shoots evoke a kind of fairytale forest feeling, and the wool embroidery thread creates such a lovely barky texture, so perfect for the "trees".

Learning about a new craft was incredibly fun and I sure hope my swap buddy likes it! I can't wait to see what everyone else made for their partners. Now off to dream of future embroidery projects...

Hope everyone had an inspiring weekend!
Kim