before our evening session I had finished all of the thread on my bobbin but not all of the backstitch in that colour.
So that would be a loss for me at thread chicken. Maybe not, I checked my duplicate or spare threads and hooray for the win, I had more.
So I started the evening with the last quarter partially completed and with the flow of the stitching set in my mind.
And as noted at the start, I have a finish.
Crown Cross
I did have some time left and that was used to put the threads from this project away and I thought to get out threads for my next project. However unless they are sitting in other projects (I will have to check) looks like I have quite a few to order first. So no start just yet!
appears to be a separate thing. I plan on stitching a particular section or colour that feels the logical next step, get out the project and do something completely different.
Intention sew crown finials, action sew blackwork. Oh that was fun so next time intention sew blackwork. Action?
work on all three of the remaining finials!
I am two shades away from finishing the curved section and five from the full crown. This has been a very different project for me and I have and still am enjoying it. However, I have a next project in mind to start once this is completed so I won't miss this too much.
after finishing SAL 20 (wow but then we have been doing the BFF SAL's since 2020) we realised that we were not sure what we wanted to do next. Another cover kit? Perhaps not, something from a shared pattern book, looking felt like hard work. So we decided to work on whatever random project we each wanted to do until we find "the one"
For me the RAL was the project I have been working on recently. I had thought I would work on the next crown, following on from my last post. Got the project out and decided to do the blackwork for the quarter.
I had only managed the inner line and the horizontal knotwork to the corner by the time our online session had ended. However, as this is RAL and not SAL I could keep going when I was in the flow and finished the rest of it the same evening. It has made me realise I am going to need more of the backstitch thread, or perhaps I will play thread chicken!
There was some interruption to the evenings sewing session as we looked online to see if there was anything that both of us liked and could see ourselves stitching. We have a maybe, maybe we will or maybe it is too big. More contemplation required.
Wow in the second half of the year already how did that happen?
It has been some time for the official Sunday Stitching project. A new colour this time to start with, a dark burgundy next to the black. Then back to adding brown.
I was trying my very best just to follow the pattern. But at the last, at the rope I could not resist adding a little bit of gold blending filament. I have a little bit of that as you may recall.
I think it went quite well.
Although not sure it is showing up well in the picture.
Whilst we had discussed continuing with the kit theme, we were not settled on what we might do next week, and as there will be a gap week after that we have thus far (unless we come across something amazingly captivating) decided to have a week of random along.
I had my concerns about the folding, and I did wonder about the amount of dye. I was more right than I would like to be on the dye.
Once unfolded there should have been stars from the triangle added colour to the spiral folds.
Nope.
On the front only the top quarter had much colour, that and what had been the edge and was now the middle.
The back was a tad lighter but had a half area with some colour.
Still disappointing and I mulled over a fix perhaps.
I did have some yellow and red left but not much.
I added a little extra water, laid the T-shirt out on the ground and
on the front went from this
to this
and with the dye that seeped through the back became
That is upside down on the line. I expect that
there will be some fading as it dries.
I also expect there might be more fix contemplations when this is dry.
Although quite what that might be I am not sure.
Oh and there was one little extra from this that I had not considered
Coloured thread, from the tying. It is rather pretty. I an not sure what I will do with it, perhaps I will use it to quilt more circles on the original bits-a-quilt.
And if you have not seen it already CLICK HERE to see the start of the journey for my BFF.
If you came here from Serendipitous Stitching then you will know about the link up and the rules on the item or items being shared having to be in some way a gift and sewing or craft related. if not then this link will take you to the main page of the Link up for more details and to find other participants.
You may recall this from BFF 18 and BFF 18 + I always intended it to be for my BFF as she uses them and for some reason I don't. When I want to have my thread, from a kit usually, on a drop rather than bobbins then I prefer just punching holes in card. Odd but then that is me.
That intent to gift it was also the reason I did the opposite colour way to the one my BFF completed so they would make a pair of sorts.
As it was wood I also always intended to add to it with pyrography.
Doing the little mini scissor Keeper was an unexpected addition due to the fun of the pattern. I did also make a little purple scissor keeper but I don't appear to have taken a picture of that.
It has waited till now to be posted here as it had to wait till it was gifted.
Once again we have been very late getting together for our official Christmas 2024 and indeed for our joint birthdays 2025.
At least we managed it before another Christmas came and went.
There have been times when we did not.
I have some hopes of managing Christmas 2025 in 2025 !
Oh and a gift to me a suitably themed jigsaw puzzle
Some time ago, and I have a feeling it was years now, I bought a little tie-dye kit. Well I bought two, one for me and one for my BFF. The original thought was we would give it a go together at some point.
But getting togethers that have the time and scope for doing something like this proved difficult. There was also the thought of what to dye. The kit came with a piece of material to make a bandana style scarf alongside the dye, gloves rubber bands, and an instruction booklet.
We thought perhaps T shirts white T shirts. All the stuff says cotton is best, the more cotton content the better the dye will take.
Ah but finding something nice enough that if it worked it would be worth it but cheap enough that if it went horribly wrong it would be no great loss.
I mentioned that we were having a get together, and we met in a city centre and there was a Primark, and 100% white cotton T shirts that were only £2.50 (in the men's department, the ladies were 50p more) and so three came home with me. Only one was destined to be for this new craft experiment. The other two, some point in the I hope near future are for the dye pastels and the T-shirt dye pens. It will make a change to use them for the function stated on the packaging and not for anything else.
Anyway back to the project, I have based the tie part on a you tube video rather than anything from the book. Although loosely based might be a better description.
First step soak in warm water, and let it dry a little. Then fold as per the video, which is harder then it looks.
Then pleat, also much harder than it looks. I could have taken more time to try and get the pleats even, I could but I didn't. Sometimes I just feel like doing and am more relaxed about how it might turn out.
Then tie it in place.
I did that with thread, it looked fine but I did not get it knotted enough and it did go a bit loose. I added the rubber bands. That may well have a detrimental impact on the intended result. Mind there are lots of things that will be doing that.
Then on with the generously sized gloves to add the colour.
I had red, yellow and blue to work with and this was the result.
I used all of the blue, there is a little of the other two left, not sure if I will used them later or not.
The book said to wrap in tin foil and leave it at least overnight to dry.
Will post the result later. When it is dry and I can as the chorus says "free your colours"
My BFF also obtained a T-shirt, she may look at more tutorials than me, I have been after all this time a tad impatient to get something done.
well perhaps that many topic covered in that part of our evening which is as much a part of our joy as the sewing and there was some conversational weavings tonight.
Some included wondering if the pink and the orange went together, the orange looking more red on the cover kit picture.
Indeed they two shades look more compatible in this picture as the tones have dulled down a bit.
We covered out plans for an in person get together and what chance the possibly expensive Hotel Chocolate hot chocolate we intend to try has of equalling the one I had many years ago in Bruges.
My fan girl persona has had a busy week with the first back together as a quartet performance of Forestella and then the release of their new song. The forma was a performance of Abracadabra. Now I will ask you the question I asked Roni, which song pops into your head with that title?
The one by the Steve Millar band (mine and Roni's hands go up) or the one by Lady Gaga?
They did their take on the Lady Gaga one (which I had to look up as I could not recall it at all)
And the new song, well it reinforces they are a cross over group as it is quite a contrast. It at least has lyrics that go with the SAL.
I have a preference so far.
oh and don't forget to pop over to Roni by clicking here to see how she is progressing and what of the evenings chat she feels like sharing....and I wonder if she listened to the version of the Muffin Man I suggested.
I did manage to take some of the stitches out so I had the length of thread that would be reusable. However for the sections that were more interlocked on the back, snipping the stitches to remove them was quicker. I call that fluffy unpicking, as you end up with just that, a pile of fluff. And thread fluff on the Aida, that will come off with a lint roller or Sellotape later.
on projects is probably not inclusive of looking things up on Google that arise out of the rolling randomness of our conversations.
That being said my desire for solid structure was well met with this evenings progress. The picture has a bit of a yellow haze to it. I will try for something better next time.
Click Here to pop over to my BFF's blog to see what she was feeling the need of this week.
