Project 2: Hedgehog square

This is another square for the curtain. It is based on a cross stitched hedgehog I made several years ago. I still understand why I HAD to stitch him. I'm crazy about hedgehogs anyway, and this was a particularly nice pattern.

Speaking of hedgehogs: Living near the Lobau, we do see a certain amount of wildlife. last summer I was driving home from the local supermarket when I had to stop and wait for traffic - a hedgehog was crossing the street, and as the roads in this part of town aren't really wide enough for two cars, I thought I'd better just let him cross. A woman coming the other way with a baby carriage probably could have gotten past. Instead she also stopped and we had a lovely conversation. Eventually the hedgehog finished crossing and another car was coming up behind me, so we said 'Auf Wiedersehen!' and went our separate ways.

Working this square was not quite that simple. The cloth the hedgehog is stitched on has a very loose weave. Just stitching around the outside was not going to be enough to keep it from sagging. I decided to use two layers of batting behind just the hedgehog to make it soemwhat 3-D. I cut the batting into two shapes, stitched the smaller onto the background material, then the larger one over it, and fastened the hedgehog down invisibly around it. That really worked well! Unfortunately it still wasn't enough to keept the unstitched parts of the cloth from sagging. In the end I had to quilt the whole area down, using white thread,a nd being careful not to let the thread show on the right side. What a bore! But the result is quite acceptable.

Around the hedgehog I used Autumn prints. I also ran into a group of very small patterns that included a hedgehog. I stitched him onto band, and also the matching acorns, which also seemed Autumny. I used them and a few large leaf shaped sequins to further decorate the square.

WIPs

So what am I working on now?

I started making cafe curtains for the kitchen. These are crocheted in 12 weight cotton, and have an undersea theme. The first one is done, and I haven't started the second one yet, but should start that again soon.

The stairwell needs a nice curtain to keep the hot air downstairs. At present there is just a provisional curtain there. UGLY! but it's material I had on hand. My plan is to use 45cm diamonds in a lattice. So far I have two done. One is the practice piece from a hand quilting class. The other is crazy quilting with a vegetable theme. One thing about moving - I found a LOT more stash than I knew I had. I figure that these diamonds give me a chance to use up a lot of it, and get it down to a level that the new workroom can hold. (Yeah, right! We all know that one. But hope springs eternal.) Some of the diamonds will be single pieces of work. Others will be crazy, built around odd bits of stitching that I found.

The current block I'm working on has a Fall theme, built around a lovely hedgehog. Problem. The material the hedgehog was stitched on is very loose, and it sags. I have padded out the hedgehog - goldwork techniques, but using batting instead of felt. And now I am invisibly quilting the background to the base material. Boring, but it does work. Except that I ran into some lovely small motifs and decided that I needed the hedgehog and the acorns for this square, so I interrupted that to make those.

The other thing I'm working on right now is sewing backing onto the bath mats. The rubber had all come off, and they were not very safe. One is done, and works very well, so no excuses on getting the other one done, too. I also need to replace the belt on Steven's black shorts. PE class is hard on clothing. We were in Salzkammergut in November, and I bought some lovely material for a blouse. But not enough, so I need to get something else for the sleeves, and sew that.

Yesterday I took Christmas down. The wall where the Advent calendar was looks really empty, so I ought to finish the sunflower sampler I started for the same problem in the old apartment. BTW, I knew that I hadn't known what I was doing when I made that calendar. It was the piece that got me started on needlework again. I had done a fair amount of cross stitch in India, but hadn't done any since until I saw this project in a shop window when the boys were tiny. Apparently I also didn't wash the material before starting. It's dark green. It was so dirty when I took it down that I didn't want to store it without cleaning it. It ran and ran and ran and ran. But I remembered not to panic, but to keep rinsing, and finally the water got down to just a touch of green, and I finished (with distilled water). Now it's laid out on a towel in Steven's room.

I guess I'd better get either hard at work finishing the hedgehog diamond or else come up with a quick project that counts, or I'll be behind before the year has even gotten going.

Of course, if the snow gets away from the roses (which it should do today or tomorrow) I also need to get the pruning started...