Last stop before Japan

Just a quick post to show off my latest finish - the hardanger doily! I completed the edging whilst enjoying a TV mini series and it was all quick work from there. Well, all except the weaving, which I always find long winded and which I regret not dumping in favour of plain old wrapped bars, as I usually do. Here it is anyway and I hope you like it!

I'll be taking the narrowboat cross stitch to Japan with me even though I really should get the goldwork done out of the way before working more on this one. It's not a project I feel will travel well, so the cross stitch is better. I rarely get much stitching done when travelling, so I don't expect to make great strides with this one either.

The field mice has been about half finished up into a cushion/pillow cover. I've done the front (which was 4 sections) and now just need to get another piece of fabric for the back and put it all together. I've decided against the piece I bought a few weeks ago and just need a nice cream piece now. See what I can find in Japan??

A finish - gasp!

Yup, I finally got something finished up - the hardanger needlecase. A couple of weeks ago I got some green fabric to use as a backing for the actual stitching and also found the cotton doctor's flannel that I'd cut and brought with me specially. Here's the finished results.

Front:

Back:

Centre with the green backing showing and the cotton doctor's flannel 'pages':

I've also done a few more lengths of thread on the current hardanger piece and got about half way through the buttonhole edging. I think I'm more getting the hang of it now, but it's still a bit uneven in parts. I'll get there and no-one but me will notice anyway. Sigh! The curse of perfectionism!!!

Next up is to get the 'field mice' finished up into a nice cushion/pillow cover. I've got the first few pieces of fabric cut and pressed and should have that started over the rest of the weekend.