BFF SAL 12 becoming

 more, even if it is a bit Cheshire cat in reverse, as there is no grin.

This has thus far been a puuurfect pick for the BFF, we are both enjoying it as we sew, yet not to the point we find it hard to stop and put it away till the next week (unlike the tree) whilst still looking forward to getting it out again.

It was a very companionable evening.

Pop over to my BFF's blog by clicking HERE

Ballerina and Bear

 a design by Coats Craft UK.

This was in June 2004 Cross Stitcher, It caught my eye as something a bit different and I saved the pattern and added to my mental to do list (as apposed to my actual to do list). It has waited in a plastic wallet and then moved a bit closer to getting done on several occasions, then been relegated  again to a one day soon. Although I had not realised I had been thinking about it since 2014)

I bought some random pieces of material from a Facebook group and there happened to be a piece of 16 count of a suitable size.  As suggested by the designer name this pattern is intended to be sewn in Anchor thread and my go to is DMC although I have some anchor threads (bought here and there for no particular reason and currently living with my Hark the Herald Angels Project) but not these colours so I turned to the delights of the on line conversion chart. Only to find that I did not have all the colours in DMC either, they are all shades of grey which have taken quilt a hit for Millennium so I thought it would have to wait till I had enough threads required to bother with buying new.

Oh then I remembered Mrs Jackson, the mother-in-law of a friend of mine, I was gifted her crafting bits and pieces some years ago when she was having to downsize and relocate. Most of the items were quilting related but there were also three boxes of bobinated thread stored by colour group not numerical order (that's the way I do it) and I had just put them away with the thought they were spare.  So I pulled them out thinking there might be a DMC 415 in there.

There was not, the reason being that it is a set of Anchor! and all four of the Anchor greys I needed were in there.

The day after sorting out the threads I made a start. All the cross stitches before starting the backstitch of course.

I can already see the characters, but that is probably because I know what I am looking at.

On to the backstitching, there were three shades used in the cross stitch, all four will make an appearance in the backstitching.

The instructions for the pattern recommend that  the needle used for the backstitching has a sharp point as there is a lot of coming up (or down) in the muddle of the stitches already done and not just in the holes set in the aida for sewing.

This makes the characters much clearer and took me less time than I had anticipated given the fiddley nature of the backstitch placement.

The next shade was restricted to the ballerina's hair.

Surprising how much difference defining the hair made.

Day one working on this came to an end with the hair, although I wanted to keep going. Even thought this is not my preferred style of  backstitching I have enjoyed the result.

And now for the penultimate shade.

Hello Mr Bear. Only one more shade to go, and not a lot of that.

Here it is with all the stitching finished, well it is for me so far, it should have "Take your partners Please" at the bottom but I am leaving that off. This is going to sit now in my finished pile till I have any inspiration to do so, and maybe it would make a nice birth sampler for a little girl sometime in the future. The space at the bottom would be fine for adding a name ect. I will see what happens

You could almost play spot the difference looking for the last bits added here.

So after years of waiting, it took just one evening (well make that an episode of Midsomer Murders) and one day (two WWII films watched with my dad) for it to be all sewn up.

It may be years before it is final finished, regardless I am rather delighted to have something move from the to do to the done portion of my mental list.

Sunday Stitching's a finish

 and a start.

A double post because I for got all about it. Now the two hedgehog designs were started as a Sunday Stitchings and then became something to sew in a BFF whilst waiting on the muse for a new start to hit. Plus I had something in mind for my next Sunday stitchings and was very eager to get it started.

Finished them and that backstitch makes all the difference even if it was the fiddly goes in the middle of stitches sort of backstitching.

SO now you will be expecting that planned for new Sunday start, well no I put it somewhere safe, could not recall where that was in time for Sunday, so it was dip into the cover kits, only to realise it was a charity shop purchase and the  type of cover kit with the pattern in the mag and not the kit.

Still it is a simple pattern and it would not be the first time I have sewn from the picture this is two Sundays worth.

I shall be quite firm with myself this time and stick to finishing this off on Sundays even thought I have now remembered  where the planned one was, and is and just to be on the safe side have told my BFF where it is. So once the current one is done it should be fair sailing for the next.

BFF an even dozen?

 Yes its the twelfth BFF, that sounds so surreal.

Now we picked this pattern with the intent to K.I.S.S it. Follow the pattern, stick to the set colours and take a rest from , well what we did in spades on the last one.

That has not even lasted until we started. Although admittedly our initial plans for changes were simply omissions, there would be no French Knots. We might leave off the edge design?.

We started in the same place, but not exactly the same colour, this was of necessity as to my surprise I was out of the required grey, so I went with a close to shade.

this is the end of the evenings stitching for me. There was much counting and not so much chatting this evening, and what chatting there was focues on well we could, deviation from the pattern thoughts which made us chortle.

We may change our minds several times, we may not.

We will all wait and see.

CLICK HERE to pop over to my BFF's blog and see her evenings stitch. 

BFF no Sal

 My BFF and I did get together for a chat but we are still not in place for a new SAL.

We missed last week due to social commitments and I don't think that I would have been able to sew then as I tripped up and hurt my hand.

So this week I did as much work on my hedgehogs as my hand would allow 

Just a little bit of backstitching to go.

I did pick (probably but I might change my mind) the fabric for the next SAL which might be next week.

Pop over to My BFF's blog to see all of the things facilitated by her comfy new chair.

Gifted gorgeousness and

 accidental re-gifting.

Pop on over to serendipitous stitching to see what it is all about and find the other participants.

This was originally an item that came as a cover gift. Its for  holding threads for a project. I don't care for them, I much prefer a bit of card with holes punched in it for sorting the threads that come in kits. And if not a kit I prefer to just used the thread from the bobbins in my storage bag.

My BFF mentioned how much she liked hers so I thought that I would personalise it with a bit of pyrography. Then it would make the equivalent of a stocking filler.

When I was wrapping stuff  I suddenly remembered I had a still in the wrapper DMS floral one of these. I thought that it had come as one of the "your letter was printed" gifts,  my BFF would appreciate and use it so it got wrapped as well.

Came to gift giving time and she was pleased with the initialled wooden one , but the other put a funny look on her face..then an even funnier one on mine when she noted she had given it to me in the first place ! Oh dear I had so forgotten. 

I don't have a picture of that one, or of the looks on our faces, before we both laughed and laughed.

Clip frame

 I finished a Tom with Sunflower some time ago and it went off into the waiting for a purpose / final finish pile. I then was working on and Ed with Dandelion clock it did not have any intended purpose. 

Then I  had a thought that a little Tom in a clip frame I made for and gifted to my mother some years ago might like some company.

And all together

My pictures have washed out the colours a little , maybe I will take better ones at some point and update the blog.

Sunday Stitchings plus a bit

 Cross stitching on the second hedgehog is complete, just a few stitches of yellow and green stand between me and the backstitch.

I may have this finished before next Sunday so I can get started on the new Sunday Stitching project I have rather been looking forward to.

I am quite looking forward to seeing the difference the backstitch will make.

Just stitching..

 No new SAL as yet as I did not feel like sorting the fabric for a new start. so a bit of progress on the two little cover kit stitches

The cross stitch on the right is done and ready for the back stitch, there is still a way to go with the one on the left.

Click here to see what my BFF did for the evening.

Strips of material equals bags

 once again. Strips of gifted material combined with some bits from my scraps and oddments become random bags.

I call them random as there is no pattern, very little measuring and a whole lot of make it up as you go along.

The light blue at the bottom and the dark blue for the sides and handles are from my scrap stash.

The cream for these two is from the stash and yes the colours on one bag are off sett to the side.

All of the bags are lined but they are not too heavy and fold to a reasonable size.

They fill a need to do a bit of sewing on the machine without having to make a decision or start on anything complicated or large.

I can't quite make my mind up which quilting project to start next.