If you go down to the woods today

 the bluebell woods that is you will find a lot more green meets the eyes.

So much so there are only a few stitches of green yet to go.

That means I just have path and big trees to go, they happen to both be in the same shades, the same symbols on the pattern and so far they have not been friendly to my eyes, not quite sure why.

Of course there is backstitching at which point hopefully the big bluebells in the fore ground will sharpen up.

My BFF is also making progress, this is the link to her blog, but I am not sure if she has posted her update yet. LINK

Back to the BFF stitchalong

 of bluebell wood.

It has been awhile has it not, what with Christmas stuff and one thing and another.

This week my friend and I got back to our shared project, it was rather soothing and I feel that I made good progress.  I am all finished with the clap clap song shade now and have put it away.

Still have those big trees to get done. Click HERE  to go to my friend's blog for her update

Gifted Gorgeousness January 2021 January Link-up Post

this is the first link up of the year with basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

please use the link at the end of this post to visit Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching for links to the other participants.

So Christmas gifts starts previously shared are now gifts given I can share a finish from one of those teasing starts.

Well guessed Jo it was indeed a bear...for a birth sampler.

This is not the Alphabet I had intended to use, I had one in mind but the T on that alphabet did not look quite right and I could not get the T modified to work.  I joked to my BFF that is always appears that way that it is the least clear letter in any chosen alphabet that is the one you need.

I further mused that perhaps if I called the parents and asked nicely they might see their way to changing the baby's name  to something that started with a friendlier letter from my chosen alphabet.  Not much to ask? Well perhaps not, the mother had already had some raised eyebrows at her choice of name (not from me I hasten to add) so I thought perhaps not and just designed my ownT and an alphabet to go with it.

Then I moved on to the date and struggled with getting the N for November to look right, as I moaned about that to my friend I wondered if perhaps in this instance I could persuade the government to change the name of the month to Ovember  as I thought I could manage a reasonable capital o.

As that also seamed unlikely to succeed  I struggled on and got it finished.  I quite like doing this patchwork edge it is colourful, feels reflective of me and my interests as well as being good to use up bits of thread.

I have obscured some of the lettering for the privacy of the child concerned.

I did , for Christmas get a crafting themed gift.  A book, Meg Evans Hand-Stitched Boxes.

Who knows maybe some day I will do something from it. I am fond of boxes.

click HERE for the link to Jo 

A new Year..2021

Looking back at my post this time last year, well 2020 certainly was not what any of us expected was it.  As for the projects I expected to be focused on and was hoping for lots of progress..well

If you have been visiting then you will know that the project with two angels..Teresa Wentzler's Millennium did not progress to the over one sections, I am currently stuck up Mount Everest!

So the hopes for this year..to get out of the mountains and onto the angels hands (yes the night sky is more tempting with colour which is not shades of beige however I feel that the hands and the faces too might be a better starting point. I may change my mind, there is time to change your mind about things when you are wondering in the mountains.

Ah yes and the project with the three angels?

I must admit I am just sharing little snaps shots of that as I go, I have not done an "as it is being sewn" for one of the embroideries before and they feel more personal than the cross stitches and indeed as I make choices about how to stitch each section, what colours to use and fret about if something is working or not , well I would rather wait I guess till a section is all done.

So I will note that the wings are completed, the instruments are mostly done (strings and straps will have to wait until robes are completed). Hands and forearms are done and I am busy with sleeves. 

There was a bit of a sleeve in the last update.  I am hoping to get the sleeves done in my current pick up of this project (I only have one set left to go but the bigger more flowing of them) and there is a chance that may happen as whilst my BFF is using out weekly craft sessions to  work on her time bound project rather than our joint one, I am using the same time for my Three Angels.

So here is a little snap shot of wing feathers and sleeve.

Now I had originally thought to use more of the DMC light effects than I have and I had intended to limit myself to Anchor thread. I have a random collection of it from years of  buying it here and there from market stalls and charity shops.  However, as the sleeves came along I felt that was maybe going to be a bit too limiting. 

My BFF gave me the thread left from her rare favour sewing of Madonna and Child which was a kit and the threads were Anchor. She gave me the whole kit, I had not used any of it when a post on Facebook in December 2020 caught my eye, someone was looking for just that pattern. I offered to post the pattern out, then realised the kit had no key, just the symbols next to the thread on the pre wound thread card.  Ah well, I had not taken the thread off yet and as it had cost me nothing and given the time of year and the subject matter passing on the whole thing felt right, and the added bonus well although the Facebook sight the post was on was a national one the lady wanting the pattern lived in the next town to me and worked in a village even closer so change of plan from posting to a meeting.

We met at the gates of the Catholic Church in my town (it is quite large and a good landmark for making meet arrangements) mask on I waited, my friends who do am dram were walking Dolly the dog and stood chatting with me whilst I waited.  Up pulled a car, a quick wave a socially distanced pass over of a plastic bag and the kit was on its way (to be sewn as a gift), my friends said it looked amusingly suspicious.

So I do hope we have a better year ahead than the one behind, in general and in the completion of projects.