BFF SAL no where near

 finished yet.

Its that moment when you get all of the cross stitching done, the split second between the satisfaction of that and the dawning of the knowledge there is still the backstitching to do. Yes the back stitching , I was feeling indecisive about the colour of the blackwork, to backstitch first.

And you make a start, thinking well it is just around the edges of things.......well perhaps not.

It took a little while to get into a rhythm with the backstitch, although I tend to use the Holbein method as much as possible. 

It takes a bit less thread and I find it more interesting to stitch that way.

I was just getting properly into it when it was time to stop.

Which it typical.

I did find a couple of ninja stitches as I went, sometimes it feels like the real purpose of backstitch is to find all the missing stitches and mistakes.

Pop over to my BFF's  blog Click HERE blog to see how her version is progressing.

Conference stitching

 not general conference, stake conference however we were still watching it streamed via the internet so it felt like time to get out Millennium once more as see if I could progress either the Earth or the comet?

To be honest although I managed a couple of dark blue edge stitches  on the comment and quite a few on the Earth it is very hard to tell what progress has been made.

Hunting ninjas on the over one, and the lighter shades is being somewhat challenging. especially as the other projects that I am working on at the moment are smaller counts so of course bigger stitches. This over one feels incredible small..

At times it does feel like the title of the design refers to how long it is going to take me to get it completed rather than a reference to the design.

BFF SAL 14 nearly almost

 but not quite there.

More filling in on the vase tonight, but not all done yet. It will be next week then it is onto the wide border which is blackwork in style. It is not however on the pattern black, but a beige / gold shade.

I am not sure if I will go with that in this instance or not. Next week will tell. You can pop on over to my BFF blog by clicking here she was working on the flowers and filling in sections. When she said she had missed a full section of the white? Section of white I asked? There are only three stitches of white in the flower!

This prompted her discovery as noted in her blog. And I like it, it looks good and I am a little sorry I did not make the same ohps, but then we are working on different fabric so it might not have worked out quite as well on mine as it has on her pink.

Another little experiment

 in dyeing aida. This attempt  again came from a desire to use something up. Chestnuts to be precise, I got them at Christmas, I don't know why because getting the vacuum packed ones is much more convenient. Perhaps it is nostalgia for roasting them at my grandparents , whatever the reason I bought some, didn't use them up in time and was left with them.

So I roasted them off for the birds and then put the shells in hot water.

I popped a random scrap of white in first for a little bit. Then as that had an interesting soft shade put in a bigger bit of natural aida (the one from HB) and left it for three days in the hopes of something darker.

This is the result, with the thin strip of  dyed white against  white, and the dyed beige with the little cake stand stitched on the original beige for comparison.

I quite like how they turned out, and at this point I have no idea what I am going to stitch on them but they add another option next time I am looking for something different.

Sunday Stitching's half stitches

 these require a but of brain rewiring for me as I tend to stitch the bottom half of the cross for a section then go back with the top. So where I am stitching is worked out on the basis of there an back again for the best reach to the next section.

With half stitch and there is no back again, I have to look at the section and work out the best way to reach the most stitches with the least carry over on the back.

It keeps things interesting.

Next Sunday is Stake conference, we won't be able to attend in person so I am hoping the link will work so we can view it over the internet, in which case I will need to do a little pre planning so I can work on my usual conference stitch.

BFF SAL 14 filling time

 as I have finished the symbol / word (so hopefully it now says something correctly) and it is time to make the case solid.

The odd thing about this process is the vase somehow looks less finished with  this third shade started than it did with just the two teal shades previously completed.

I have sort of been saving the fill till a time when filling was all I had the energy for. This was that time. I did get a lot done but there is more space to fill than done. I an also contemplating if a change to the next section is merited.

For an update on my BFF's progress pop over to her blog by clicking HERE  

Secret Stitching Sweetheart blog hop 2024

 Welcome to the Valentine Day blog hop hosted by serendipitous stitching there is a slight difference to this hop. The image shared is something on the title theme stitched by another hop participant. 

My stitch is making its appearance on someone else's blog, but where I do not know. I will be hopping around looking for it.

Links to all of the hop participants can be found on the host blog by clicking on the link above.

The image sent to me certainly fits the theme and looks like it was both fun to stitch and finish.

I wonder who made it...off to find out....

Have fun hopping and I hope you have a love filled day.

And a little update, as you can see from the comments the origin of this delightful stitch has been identified and you can pop over to see more at Le Coeur Celtique by clicking here or using the link from my Blog list to the right.

BFF SAL 14 a soothing stitch

 an evening of black, sadly not all of the black. And as I stopped part way through the Chinees character the forms part of the design I do hope that the fragment does not in itself equal a character and have therefore an inauspicious meaning.  I have seen enough picture of people who have tattooed oriental characters which look beautiful but would make someone with an understanding of the words wince or laugh to be a teensy bit paranoid about it.

So if does in its current form manage to say something, I don't mean it whatever it is.

 my expectation for next week is to finish of the character and then make a start on the vase.

The conversation of the evening, and I will own to it being my new reality avoidance obsessions was Chinees Costume dramas and a certain Korean singing group .. no not so much that one, although I have become more aware of them, nope it is Forestella that I have discovered  recently, a cross over group which basically means they cover the whole range of my eclectic music tastes in the most wonderful harmonies. 

Anyway my very late toe dipping into the ocean of fangirl world aside pop over to  to my BFF's blog by clicking  HERE and you can see the full character on hers as she has completed that bit.

A Wave from the Edge

 That is what I am going to name this quilt, just as soon as I get the label on to it that it.  You may have seen the top for this before at this blog entry about how the material happened to be in my home all unintentionally..

It waited a little bit to be sandwiched, and then a little longer to get tacked and more waiting for the quilting design to be marked on as I have put my tailors chalk in a safe place. Not even buying some more coaxed it out of hiding.

I had a plan for the quilting got it marked on with chalk, in different colours due to the differing shades of the squares sat down at the sewing machine and changed my mind. I had planned on doing something similar to the one  used on Catherine's Flowers  but in the end I just went with wavy lines there and back again.

It went reasonably quickly and I managed to get the quilting done in one evening.

The binding was a front over back with the back edge sewn down with invisible stitching. That took an hour or so each evening for the next week. 

Then back to the machine for a nice wave stitch all around the edge for added strength.

The paler shades don't show as well in this picture, I might try again later in natural light.

My BFF likes the backs, and the way the quilting shows there. So I am adding a picture of that however, I don't thing that it shows well in the picture, even at the biggest size, She will need to see it in person I guess.

I had not realise just what a backseat to the other crafts quilting has taken till I noticed the gap in things posted. I guess there are more things to get out which take up the available crafting time and other crafts are easier to access like the cross stitch. It would be nice if I could get on with some more this year. Perhaps at the beginning of the year and into the summer I might focus on doing tops, and leave the quilting till the back end of the year. That might equal more progress.

And why the name, well it fits in many ways, or many waves and I shall leave it at that.

Sunday Stitching.

 A different shade of blue today.

started and finished. I don't think there is any to do in the shade in half stitches, there is quite a lot of it left however, that may just be generous supplies in the kit.

BFF SAL 14 more green?

 well unless there are some ninja stitches waiting to be discovered during the back stitch process all the green would be more accurate.

All the green and all the pink.

and some black, just because there was not enough time left after finishing the green to make a good start filling in the vase, but it was too early for stopping. So a bit of black. 

It looks a bit unbalanced in this picture, that's my camera angle rather then the way it is stitching up.

Click HERE to see my BFF's progress. Between the two you get a good idea of the central image here.