My ORTS project.

Some people put the bits of left over embroidery thread in a jar.  Some put them inside clear plastic ornaments and use then as Christmas decorations.  Some, throw them out!

I have had a different approach, for many, many and I do mean many years.  Much longer than the Thread bag even before the Thread Ball there was 

 THE BAG

Also on occasion known as the everlasting project (wrong as it is finished but I am getting ahead of myself) there is of course a story behind the existence of

THE BAG

A brochure popped through the letter box, landed on the mat.  A brochure from a charity selling things to raise funds to save endangered species and their habitats. So I looked through the W.W.F brochure and I bought a stationary set and a 100 % cotton bag with a design on each side in green.  A picture of the world surrounded by  some of the creatures the charity aimed to support.  I rather liked the bag and I had been using it just as it was.

Then it went to London with me on a trip, and I put some fruit in it (in its own bag, but that split and I ended up with squashed fruit on my bag.

That's OK it would wash and it did and it did again but this time I noticed a bit of fading in the green.  That was this projects moment of birth, I wanted to keep the design, so I would sew over it.  If you have visited my blog before you will know it could not be just that simple, and it wasn't, I would just use bits too small to use for anything else. 

And so it began , about twenty five years ago, it began.  

For the first side I just wanted to use earth tones, the greens and browns and subtle yellows.  They did tend to be the colours I was working with the most.  My brighter toned threads went on the other side.

That is not to say it stopped being used as a bag whilst its pattern preservation commenced. It became the project bag for holidays, the stuff a jumper in it and it becomes a pillow bag for camping trips and it was still getting washed and still fading.   

The green side was finished first.

W.W.F Caring for our world.

I did bend my rules for the blue lettering and the leaves, but only in so far as these leftovers could  have been used for other small projects

(The dark green in the body of the whale, elephant and the continents is the original print, I settled on outlines for those rather than trying to fill them in.

The second side took longer, it felt longer, for there to be the thread to fill in all the little dashes of the pattern.  I guess there were less bright colours in the other projects I was doing to produce bright ORTS.

The coloured side

Having finally finished the sewing I felt the bag needed a lining to give it a bit of extra strength.

Here it is finished

WWF shopping bag

WWF shopping bag

oh and a few close up shots just for fun and to mark all those years.  With my sewing thread (thread bag) and my embroidery thread scrap projects completed, I wonder what I will do with them next.

W.W.F Panda

The classic black and Gold Panda on the green side.

W.W.F Panda

And one in a green that is very close to the original stamped pattern colour.

Tree with French Knot fruit.

Penguin and Polar Bear

Brights penguin and Polar bear

Elephant and Kangaroo

Trees

Bird and giraffe

close up of the dashes on the tones side

and on the bright side

And its first job as a fully finished lined bag, to carry my parents large print scriptures to Church for the 2018 Carol Service as we all had readings to do.

Nearly almost started

the watch this space project.

What!

Well back in 2013 I shared my Christmas Embroideries inspired by Christmas cards and showed a picture of the frame for the next planned for the set, with the note to watch this space.

Well I have finally moved the design from the many a piece of tracing paper (with the aid of an iron on transfer pencil) to the material.

This will, when I get started with the sewing that is, which may take some time as I am now contemplating what and how to sew it, be a full coverage piece, so the haze of pink caused by particles of iron on pencil dust is not an issue.

Now I was thinking of using DMC light effects, and I am still inclined to use some metallic here and there however, there is their new thread range which I am told is softer and easier to use whilst still having some sparkle.

Sooo I might order some and see before committing thread to needle and needle to project.

Anyway here it is in transfer stage. I have no idea of timescale for getting the next step started and certainly not for it being finished.  Years is more likely than months, it has taken me years of pull it out put it away move it about just to get this far.

Mini monogrammed selection box

Another Christmas gift with letters as a focus. This time a gift for a couple, of a little wooden box with some sweets in it.

So how to decorate it, well the title of this post rather gives it away.  A monogram made up of  their initials (first name and surname) which is quite suitable as they have a hyphenated user name for their Facebook account.

So out comes the pyrography tool once more to create something personal.

As noted in my last decorated box post little-box  I feel that a nice outside needs to have a nice inside when it comes to boxes.  So this box needed a lining to give a bit of internal style.  This time I used felt.  I found putting this lining in rather satisfying and it went quite smoothly.

Once the outside and the inside were decorated it was time to fill, with a bit of gentle arranging and asking them nicely to breath in, I managed to fit two each of four chocolates into the box. (six in the main part of the box and the last two sweets in the lid).

  Making it a mini selection box.

Do they do selection boxes in the USA? I will have to ask the recipients of this one.

Cross Stitch Crazy

mini photo album.

Personalised for the missionary sister who loves to take photographs.

Found the perfect rose to pop in the aperture and a little stitched initial and good to gift.

Fingers crossed it made her smile.

23 December 2018 Advent Calendar blog hop.

Here we are the penultimate day of the Advent Calendar 2018 and once again Jo our host has set a question that has had me thinking hard.  My favourite piece of Christmas music.

So is that my favourite popular Christmas song or carol, is it my favourite to listen to or to sing myself. Please note the links to songs will take you to a u Tube video.

Well my Christmas stitch for this years hop would suggest the title of a song and I do like it quite a bit, is it my favourite?

I made this cross stitch into a card for my pen pal, the original called for the stitching to be blue on white aida, I swapped it around and like the change.

I have even made a cushion 

With the same words and it is nice and fun to sing along , but no not my favourite

To listen to, I like Handel's Messiah and I guess the chorus For unto us a Child is born as per my  embroidery  (although the U -Tube video of silent monks doing the hallelujah chorus is very funny) .

My brother feels it is not Christmas until he has heard  Greg Lakes I believe in Father Christmas                                          on the radio or in a shop (it does not count if he has to play it himself). My BFF feels that it is not Christmas til she has sung Hark the Herald Angels Sing at a carol service. 

For me it is the utterly wonderful song from...the best version of Charles Dickens a Christmas Carol.

Yes The Muppet's and  It feels like Christmas  I just love it.

Now if you did not come here from Jo's blog then do consider heading on over to see the earlier days and for the link to the next page tomorrow.

And if you aren't visiting my blog before then, or even if you are I wish you all a very merry 25th of December and I do hope that for you it Feels Like Christmas.

Spoons, that touch of pyrography

that I said needed doing so paused the much tweeding project and then I forgot to share.

So we were having a social evening at Church to celebrate 50 years since it was built, the evening which included a baking competition for the brethren.  The categories,  Large cake, small cake and sweet pie.

I made spoons as prizes.  The winners names were added on the night.

I had to nab my selection of cake before heading off to a separate room to add the names (health and safety, those tools get HOT!

Anyway here they are , the spoons.

Yes they are backwards...well spotted, that's what happens if the only picture you have is the one sent by Facebook Messenger to let the organiser see the little chef design.  It it backwards...that was a bit of a surprise.

This is the picture the winners of the sweet shared after they won.  It is the right way around.  The entry was an apple pie made by a father and son.

Secret Santa 2018

the trouble with making my Secret Santa gift for work is that who it is from does not stay all that secret.

This year I turned to material for my crafting and made a satin book cover with the recipients initials on the front.

A few sequins of various styles to decorate.

Happily it was well received.

Sampler Quilt Grandmas fan

The next block is something of a next step from the drunkards path.  The book gave the template for the middle quarter circle and the blades of the fan.  The outer shape I had to make flowing instructions.

A square ruler was a big help.

I had issues with the seams on the blades  but that was trimable to a size. Added the outer edge and at first glance it looked OK , this picture makes it look rather twisted..I think that is my poor picture skills. 

If I ever get my new phone (which has too many functions bells and whistles for my brain) to be friends with me, I may update with something better.