Sunday stitching into the green

and it looks much more shockingly "colour" in person than on the picture.  I am sure it is going to work out fine however, just now it looks too bright and jars my eye after all the subtle shades of weeks gone by.

Sunday Stitching more colour

All the shades of brown / terracotta are done.  Feels so fast moving from one to the next, although as you can see there is not a lot of each to be done.

There are still another four colours, a metallic and the backstitching to go however, I am starting to think what to do next for my Sunday Stitch.  Perhaps a cover kit or two from my stash unless another charity shop find presents itself.

A small finish

that makes me think of a big friendship and makes me contemplate the changing use of symbols.  The beginning of the film the Da Vinci Code (see my Da Vinci here) covers the changing meanings of symbols and how one that has meant one thing for centuries can become something else.

It is an issue that comes up with the quilting quite often, as certain arrangements of triangles in spirals can look like a symbol that was once considered lucky and  following WWII became an emblem for something utterly different and generally abhorrent.

OK musing over, here is the picture that makes me think of the colour my friend brings to my life and including one of her favorite things (when it was either just a weather phenomenon, something that lead to a pot of gold or a promise from God).

I used this as my entry in the Secret Sweetheart stitching blog, however as it is mine I thought I would share it here directly as well.

Thank you best friend for being my best friend.

Sunday stitchings a double delight

Two sessions of Conference and added to the delight of that I both finished the grey.....

Sunday Stitchings last of the grey

And finished the first of the colours

Sunday Stitchings the colour begins

Well brown may not be the most exciting of all the colours but after black and shades of grey if feels amazing! 

Jugs of Roses

In a previous post flat santa coned ,a Christmas item I had made was being displayed at work, sitting on some roses in a jug, you can see another behind it on the windowsill.  Our office was slowly and steadily inundated with these white enamel jugs, some decorated with green birds, some with red, all filled with artificial red roses.

They arrived, first the red, then the green, in twos and threes, where did they come from, why were they there?

We had a new senior manager, and he was bringing them in a few at a time on the bus to cheer up the office. As a few became many it cheered us up in more ways than one as jokes about jugs and roses abounded.

The proliferation of jugs has taken many months, the manager has been with us years, now sadly he is leaving us for pastures new.  A first question after the announcement "will you be taking the jugs with you?".  The answer, "no" so we have a permanent reminder but he moves on jugless and we hear that he will not have free reign to start a new jug collection in his new location.

So what else could I make him as a small leaving gift.......

Jug of Roses 

I expect that you guessed right.  The design is a modified version of one found in this book, although the original flowers were yellow and pink tulips.

So I guess this gift meets the unique criteria of this blogs theme.

Happily he liked it. 

And just had to add this Forestella link as there were times the title of this piece was how we thought the numbers of roses might reach.

Sunday stitching, Easter Sunday

Getting near the end of this last shade of grey, and wondering which colour to use next.  

Sunday stitchings

Sunday stitching, second Sunday in March

There will be no Sunday stitchings next week as I will be giving a talk.  This week's progress was slowed as the talk for the last portion of the meeting was both inspirational and emotional.  It is a tad difficult to sew when your eyes get misty.

So here it is.  

Graduation portrait two

So on to the second graduation portrait, I had set myself a high standard with the first which made this one daunting, it had to reach the same level.  I found my first bit of procrastination in trying to find the shield/motto for her university.  A more modern institution to her husband's, I never did find one, I guess it did not have one.

Then it took a little while to sort the material for her dress (I went with satin) and the colour of the hood, they were so close in tone.

Sort out the order for assembling tack it down and start the detailing.

The eyes on the first portrait went too well, I was nervous it would not work out this time.  I worried without cause, I feel that the eyes here turned out exceptionally well.  Therein I had a problem, I worked on the eyes early on, a mistake, those eyes were full of mute accusation. Why because she had no mouth.  Not for a short time for a long time. Everything else was getting stitched.  Hair, tassels, hands, rings (more metallic thread) collar bone everything and anything not to do the mouth.  Teeth, that is what scared me, and open smile with teeth.  First attempt was carefully unpicked, as was the second and third.  I just could not get teeth to work, there would be months between working myself up to another attempt, or was it years.  

It was easy to let other projects elbow their way it, take priority be started and finished and still those eyes watching... 

At last I reached the only logical conclusion, don't do the teeth, let the eye and brain of the viewer fill it in.

I think it worked. I think it became an equal companion to the first portrait.  A fitting reflection of the  equal partnership in this marriage. 

So now I had five blocks, what was I going to do with them. That required some thinking and staring at the blocks,the engagement,the wedding,graduation lion,and graduation portrait  and some more thinking and staring.  I will leave you thinking about what you would do with them and tell and show what I did in another post later.

(addition 2024 as I have discovered a Korean group and become very fond of their music both as a group and their sols endeavours so here is a link to a song with a title relevant to the hardest part of this  block for me, the song lyrics however have nothing to do with the post at all!)

Sunday Stitching update.

Missed last week, still filling in with the light grey, making progress towards the next stage and the prospect of colour. 

Always in pairs

how could I offer to make something for one Missionary and not his companion, they come in pairs.  The answer is of course that I couldn't.  The American half of the pair also surprised me with his choice. A racoon.  I had in my head that I had a couple of racoon designs I could choose from in my pattern books , so I said yes.

This is the design I chose.

I made it into a card, as I had with the earlier dragon although sorting out a message to go inside did not require an online translator this time.

Oh, I almost forgot again to provide design details. It is from this book.