The Wall...

...two floors’ worth of white. A blank canvas if ever I saw one.

We have lived in this house for nine years. Nothing has ever hung on that wall. Not back when we moved in, when it was a bright yellow wall above a royal blue sponge-effect wallpaper below the dado rail (complete with royal blue border with bright yellow fleur-de-lis, very early ‘90s), not since we painted it the creamy white neutral shade (oh-so-calming new-century style). See the edge of a big framed print sitting on the landing? That has sat there for at least one year, if not longer. I lose track.

So, since no one can get around to hanging the print on The Wall, then I claim The Wall as my own creative space. I declare a Gallery of Craft & Creativity! Hoorah!

I have decided that The Wall would be the perfect place to display my progress with various crafts. Perhaps even an ever-changing or seasonal display...mini quilts, needlework, freestyle machine embroidery...hmmm, the possibilities...

But do I wait until I have enough to fill the wall? That might take a long while. Maybe piece by piece, so it grows with my experience (and hopefully gets better with experience, too!). I think I will start with this

This jaunty little number is called Tree of Joy, a lovely pattern I purchased here, from Carina of Carina’s Craftblog. Carina has designed so many bright and beautiful patterns! This is one of my first pieces of intricate embroidery, and I’m sure some of you are thinking, ‘yes, I can see that’! But I really loved doing this piece – working on it made me realise that I truly enjoy needlework and that I want to commit to learning more (have you ever felt that, with a new craft? It’s a make-or-break moment.).

The colours and design make me happy. I used it to practice a range of stitches, colour combinations, stitch lengths, etc. I find that as a newbie to embroidery, one of the basic challenges is consistent stitch length. This is more difficult than I thought it would be, and it only seems to improve with practice, practice, practice. With every craft you can find so many tips and hints, a YouTube video to demonstrate practically anything, but I think that for most, the basic, beginning techniques can only be mastered with repetition.

I worked this piece with my embroidery seat frame. I first used one at a ribbon embroidery class (I can’t wait to tell you about that one, sooo pretty!) This handy gadget allows me to have both hands free while I stitch – helpful when learning certain stitches where I need to hold a thread in place, or when I’m tired of holding a hoop. The flat wooden bit at the bottom goes under my leg when I sit down, and the stand is adjustable so I can raise or lower it. You can find one here.

So the Tree of Joy will bring happiness and colour to that empty white wall, soon to be joined by other creations. I will take a photo of it when it’s up. And perhaps a photo of dear hubby’s puzzled face when he sees a small hoop of pretty needlework hanging on the big wall, eh?

Happy crafting!

Chrissie x