Cow Parsley in stitches

 

'Neath billowing skies that scatter and amass. Where the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn-hedge. 'Tis visible silence, still as the hour-glass. So this wing'd hour is dropt to us from above.

 DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

It has been a few weeks again and I am sorry again lots has been going on and I am really doing so much designing and stitching right now that I get lost within my rambling world.  The weather has been really atrocious as well and so hunkering down with candles going around me and still fires at night that suddenly it is supper time, having on lots of days forgetting to eat before then ..

I am also in Cheshire at the moment and so I brought with me some of my designing and stitching with me as well as going off out and exploring and truffling for treasure on different turf as it were.

So I am loving these wonky log cabins and the one above is the first in a series that I am designing and

stitching, this one as you probably guessed is cow parsley and I love it.  When cow parsley starts to line the countryside road and pathways ( can you believe it is classed as a weed!!) I love gathering some and popping it in a antique bucket and having some on my doorstep and in the garden in general, often adding sprigs of fresh mint with it for greenery and the beautiful smell of Summer. As you can see I have used little bits of ribbons as well and scrunched them up a little to give texture.  I need to do a little more embroidery on this one to call it complete but not too much.

Dreaming of the better weather to come and also eagerly awaiting my foxgloves coming up and that is going to be my next wonky log cabin square as it happens.

In addition to this project above I have made a fabric moon and it will be stitched onto another one of my designs that I am in the middle of creating.  I have made the moon  to stitch on as I wanted it to stand out and place it on the finished picture I am creating.

Its been so much fun as well trying to make a moon made of fabric and to look like it has craters and crevices but extremely whimsical as well.  Can you imagine a fabric moon? well why not there is a harvest moon and in my head of course that is in fabric with all kinds of Autumnal colours...

At weekends here I am, as I mentioned above, going out looking for treasure and one of the things I picked up is a very old tin.  It just appealed to me for some reason and to my astonishment it was only £2. I just loved the size and the colours and the really honest aging to it.

When I got it back I had a really good look at it and decided to do a little research of my own.   I really could not believe it.

I found that I had indeed got a bargain as on Etsy and Ebay they are going for £26 upwards ... There is an address on the tin which I eagerly looked up.  To my surprise the contents of the tin were things called travellers and were made in Manchester.  Then as I was doing my research it said there was one of these tins in the collection of Quarry mill, as you may remember I did a little blog about that on here.  So now I thought ah ok they must be something to do with mill work and weaving and I was right and so very happy that I found some stitchery history on my travels here in Cheshire.

A traveller sits on every one of the 1200 rings on each frame and it's crucial to the cotton spinning process.  Yarn is hooked through the traveller which runs around the ring and winds it on to the cop which sits inside.  It is important to consider the shape of travellers for maintaining  optimum yarn quality . Yarn count, fiber type, twist and traveller speed are important factors to be considered. Traveller with a higher bow height give excellent clearance for coarse yarns.

I am so pleased with my little find and had no idea at all what it was I thought it was just beautiful and loved the colours and the size of this little tin was so unusual, and it turned out to be a little gem of a find in a little charity shop of all places. On my truffling days I have found some beautiful mother of pearl button and for £3 I have a wonderful bag full of two different sizes as well.  There must be 30
buttons and I was thrilled at that. 

This coming weekend I am off on a little treasure hunt as well on Saturday and out on Sunday for a roast dinner so lots to look forwards to.  I have been back to Quarry Mill for a few hours as well and picked up some more antique bobbins that they have for sale there.  As I belong to the National Trust I might as well keep popping in.  The landscape there has changed and Spring is very much on show there with the flowers
that are changing since February since my last visit.

Also I have purchased some more silk embroidery threads that are hand dyed from Sherry Iris they are beautiful to work with and beautiful to feel and look at.

And those of you with a keen eye will notice that the silks are hand tied up with beautiful silk ribbon and I used some in my wonky log cabin piece that is the first photo at the top of this ramble ..

Enjoying be here in Cheshire and making new friends and stitching away with the rain that does not seem to stop.  Roads are a little flooded here at the moment but it is not stopping us from exploring and treasure hunting.

Well I must away now and I do hope you have enjoyed your vintage read today. As always take great care and of course HAPPY STITCHING!

Sarah XX