WIP Wednesday [nursery hoops]

We are moving house. Just five minutes round the corner. It seems like there is tonnes to do, so of course I'm focussing on the important stuff... in the new house, Mia will have a much (much) larger nursery and a bigger room means more wall space. I've decided I'd like to fill it with embroidery hoops, much like this pin. And Michael is happy to go along with it.

http://www.purlbee.com/2007/03/02/liberty-of-london-swatch-portraits/

I've spent far too long on Pinterest gathering ideas - you can find my inspiration board here, and this week I've finally started. The plan is that a lot of the hoops will have embroidery, or applique or even small piecing, but I'm also on the look out for some pretty fabrics which would be a focal in themselves, unadulterated by me. This isn't the type of fabric I tend to stash, so I'm keeping my eyes peeled as I go fabric shopping - any excuse!

This was the first hoop I completed: no particular reason or special meaning. It's a 10" hoop, the text print is a Timeless Treasures fabric which I picked up a while back from Sew Me A Song and the birds are a black batik. I used a lightweight fusible to attach them raw edge, and then did a small running stitch all round the edges by hand in black silk thread.

This hoop is more significant: it's just 4", the background is a dark purple Oakshott, and the white feather is for my father-in-law, John - Mia's Granddad, who passed away nearly 6 years ago. The white is Anchor #16 perle thread.

My baby girl already has quite the head-strong personality. It was inevitable really. And this hoop summed it up: "let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will move mountains". The background fabric is Painters Canvas and the embroidery is done using #16 Finca Perle. This one is an 8" hoop.

And I've made a start on a fourth hoop, though this one will definitely keep me busy for a while. I see a lot of French knots in my future. The thread is #16 Finca perle again, and the background fabric is from the Durham range (I think).

I have loads of ideas waiting in the wings (and on my Pinterest board), and generally these little hoops are nice quick projects to work on in the evenings. Moving date is still 7 weeks (agh!) away, so I hope to have quite a little pile ready for the new nursery.

I would love to make something like 20 hoops to start, then longer term, when Mia moves out of the nursery and the next baby comes along, some of the hoops will move with her, and over time I will make her more hoops for her new bedroom - maybe to note birthdays or firsts (the first tooth she loses or her first day at school for example). I would then make some new hoops to fill the gaps in the nursery for the new baby.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday!