Time Ticking Away...

In my last post I mentioned about buying a kantha embroidery clock kit from Angela of Fenland Textile Studio who appeared on Create and Craft.  Just under 3 weeks from ordering I've finished it last week.

Here it is

Ta da! It sits just about well beside the wardrobe in my room, so I now have a clock, no excuses for getting carried away with my sewing!

True to Angela's word everything was included in the kit right down to the sewing needle, except for the battery, so work could start on this straight away.  The design had to be traced onto the white fabric which I did with a water erasable pen, and found a permanent marker to mark the middle of this (I didn't want that to be washed away!).

For those not familiar with kantha stitching it is a form of quilting with a top layer of fabric with two layers of muslim (cheesecloth) underneath.  The fabrics are held together with running stitches through all the layers of fabric and some of the threads used are of different thicknesses, so the hare is of a thicker perle thread than the green squares or grey numerals which defines it more.

After working the design and removing the markings it was then time to mount in the frame and put on the clock mechanism.  I was quite worried about this as the small hole had to get increasingly bigger to accommodate the spindle of the clock coming through the fabric, but with David's help it did get through and the hands mounted.

This was a brilliant kit and a really easy embroidery to do.  There may be some more kantha designs I might do in the future.

Meanwhile I went out today with my Mum to Sammy Miller's Motorcycle Museum in Bashley, New Milton, where there is a craft shop called Nicola's Craft and Gift Shop.  Mum needed to buy some fabric and found everything she was looking for. I resisted temptation as I will be going to the National Quilt Championships at Sandown on Saturday.  However I could not resist this…

Who could? I've made a start on one of these little owls already!