tambani embroidery project

In the latest Quiltmania magazine there is an interesting article about Tambani Embroidery Project.

This is not so different from the Afghanistan Inspiration Project I wrote about before and you can find details by clicking on "Afghanistan Inspirations" under "Interesting Link" on the left hand side of my blog or on their new website here .

Or you have possibly seen their stand at shows.

Tambani Project is based in north east corner of South Africa, where women are very often left destituted, after the men left to find work in the cities and sometimes don't return.

The intention of the Project is to preserve the folklore of the Venda-speaking people, who live in the area. The embroideries, stitched by the women, illustrate scenes from Venda folk tales, and so preserving them. At the same time it gives the women some income, as they get paid on completion of the embroidery. It is then up to Tambani to market and sell the work.

You can read more about this project on their website here , or if you are going to NEC next month, you might find their stand there.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2014

mystery afghan knit-a-long/weeks 4 & 5

Believe me, knitting is the last thing to do at the moment, with the night time temperatures hitting nearly 20°C,

so it is quite surprising that I have managed to finish another 2 weeks of the Mystery Knit-A-Long.

There are 6 blocks to knit each week, in two different colours. 

Although not a mystery any longer, as the instructions for the last week have been already published. But it will have to wait until the weather changes.

week 4

week 5

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2014

slow blogging and Mrs Beasley

Our beautiful summer just goes on and on, and getting hotter, as if the nature was making up for the horrid wet winter we had.

I am spending little time in the house, well as little as I can get away with and there definitely is no housework (what housework?) happening in our house. 

The replacement lavenders have arrived, all 20 of them and they are the right kind this time.

Our new garden is full of colour now and the seating are is large enough for family get together.

I waited for issue 11 of Vignette magazine, with part 2 of Mrs Beasley's Sampler Quilt, to make a start, and I am now working on both blocks at the same time.

I come in just to machine stitch what I need and get my hand stitching ready, and out I go again. It is a wonderful "stitching in the garden" time.

The Chicken quilt is all ready for hand quilting, but that will have to wait for cooler weather.

I hope you too are having a wonderful time.

Thank you for stopping by.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2014

pretty bunny

Birthday present for a very special little girl.

Pattern by Lenna Green for Kindred Stitches collection.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2014

four seasons have come together

It has been a while since I posted last. 

I "blame" our lovely summer for that; now is time to be outside and simply enjoy it.

My stitching is also on a slow burner. There has been some more boring sewing, like taking trousers up. 

I definitely have shorter legs than average, because every time I buy trousers, I have to take them up..boring.

I have managed however to bring my four chicken blocks together. 

You know how after you have worked on separate blocks for a long time and then you join them together, it suddenly all makes sense? Well here we are, my four seasons chickens. It is only the outer border which is missing; it will be just plain and quite narrow. I am very pleased with the flying geese, I think they work well here.

It will be some time yet before I'll completely finish it. I think this calls for hand quilting and that will take time...

I have really enjoyed stitching applique blocks; I think I will use applique more often in the future.

The chicken tails were little more time consuming, choosing and stitching all those narrow strips of fabrics together, not really knowing how they will look until they are done.

Now the weather has cooled down, I will be back knitting squares for Mystery Knit-Along.

The plants in our new garden have suffered little with the heat of last few weeks, but nothing serious.

We have however lost our new plum tree; not due to shortage of water, but possibly due to some virus. 

The garden centre has agreed to honour the guarantee and replace it in the autumn.

Some disappointment with the new lavender hedge. In the autumn I ordered lots of lavender, Hidcote for the hedge, and a low variety, Little Lady (picture on the left), for underplanting roses.

Now all lavender is in flower, it turns out that all of the lavender the nursery sent me was Little Lady, which looks great in the rose bed, but of course is making very miserable hedge.

But they were great about it, admitted fault, and are sending new Hidcote for the hedge.

Hidcote, by the way, is in the picture at the top of this post.

I will leave you with some great hydrangea blooms from our new garden.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2014