In its Frame

 this is the cross stitch my BFF gifted to me and which I started in 2023 as a Sunday Stitching project.

I finished most of it that way, then had the backstitching to do in around July 2024.

Can't recall if it was posted after that and I can't be bothered just now to see if it was.

And then it waited to be framed. It needed a square frame.

Of course none of the ones I had already were suitable.

Then another project was started, The Dragons I have been calling it, Dragon Heart I think is the correct name and it also needed a square frame.

I bought a pack of two that looked promising but when the time came they were not suitable for the dragons and another more recent frame purchase was.

However as I had the frames out, the thought struck me that the Leaf Lighthouse as I think of it might fit,

And it did, I think it looks well here.

I will post the framed dragons a bit later. Had I used this style of frame for them I think I would have painted the frame.

Oh I forgot

 about this.

Came across the picture whilst clearing out some files.  Can't recall if this was for her current garden or one at a previous residence? 

BFF SAL 24 we begin

 on different material but I think the same count this time. (or perhaps not , see her comment below)

I have gone with 14 count white.

Started in the middle and this is my work for the evening.

There was a point it looked a bit like an elephant, then a cat, then maybe a kiwi. Roni thought it had a moment of being a bear cub but now I think it looks like what it is.

There is a phrase from my childhood that my brain offers up in an Australian accent, that the actions of the person to whom the phrase is associated makes its use feel uncomfortable. Yet still when referring to guessing what something might become from scanty visual information that is what my brain offers up as being the thing to say.

as usual we are not saying at the moment what we are working on as some visitors like to guess as we go. Using both my and my BFF's images as a clue as we tend, totally without discussion to stich different bits even when we start at the same point.

CLICK HERE to visit her blog or use the link under my blog list on the right to see her evenings progress.

It was nice to have some thing that was normal routine in this week.

BFF SAL 23 finished and gifted

 My BFF and I both started with the needlebook. I did a bit of drawn thread at top and bottom then started stitching it to the blue felt. I was halfway across the top when I realised I was stitching it on the wrong part of the felt for it to close as a book,

I was mid sentence when it dawned on me and the exclamation of "I am sewing it on the wrong way up" flowed out into the conversation...I will let Roni tell you her reaction to that Click HERE. 

So I unpicked it and started again. However, it was perhaps fortuitous as it gave me pause to consider how to attach the ribbon.

I used crossed stitches with sewing thread and found it very therapeutic, if somewhat slow.

Roni and I agreed that we would finish both the needle case and scissor keeper off screen. I had intended this as a gift and all of a sudden instead of posting it the opportunity for an in person hand over if I finished faster occurred. Plus we have a solid plan for BFF 24

So here they are, with added beads, and initials. Changed the ribbon to go with the little silver L

Snowdrops

 

I rather enjoyed this one. It has the possibility of being a repeat project. I have felt in the stash, and ribbon and well everything I need I guess. 

Ah ah..Halfway there!

 and wow its like putting on glasses in the morning and the world comes into focus.

The blue on the blue worked and I only found four edge ninjas on the way around.

On to the teal and fingers crossed, tempted to use the blue as it is now a known quantity but going to stick to the plan and teal it is. Now the blue was Moon thread, the Teal is Gutermann so might be just a little bit different.

The Backstitch Dilemma: A Tale of Threads, Dragons, and Mild Exasperation

Backstitching. That tiny detail that somehow manages to be both essential and utterly maddening.

I’d been looking at the special threads people on Facebook kindly recommended, but the only way for me to get them was online. That meant no chance to see them in person, no way to judge how fine they really were. And of course, the postage for one skein cost as much as the thread itself, and without knowing if it would meet my need I was not inclined to order multiples to make the postage feel worth it.

A lot of people suggested using ordinary sewing thread instead. At first glance it looked too thick, but then I started wondering if the problem wasn’t the thickness at all — maybe it was just too black. A few encouraging souls even said the piece looked good enough without any backstitching at all.

I’d never seriously considered leaving it off. But it did make me pause.

So I laid out the options: from left to right, a dark blue, a very dark teal, and the original black. I stared at them, put them away, got them out again and dithered a bit. Eventually I decided to embrace the colours — blue for the blue dragon, teal for the teal one. It felt right, enough contrast without overwhelming the cross stitch.

I started with the blue, and honestly, the difference on the dragon’s face was instantly encouraging. It’s amazing how a few lines can bring a creature to life.

My mother asked why I was studying the pattern so intently when I was “just backstitching”. She had somehow forgotten that backstitching does not mean simply outlining the edges. If only it were that simple

 

Sunday Stitchings 22.03.2026

yes this is getting posted a bit late. The when of times has become somewhat fluid recently.

Some colour and shade this week.

Black and white kitten has blue eyes, a bit more blanket by its ear and some shading.

A small stitching finish

 the little kit Started last Sunday

and one of those that the backstitch makes all the difference.

I did have a frame and a mount in mind but nope the mount was just that bit too small. So a full finish is delayed by the framing. As can oft be the case for me.

I finished it on the Monday, which had also included a home visit by what in my childhood I called a vampire lady. In my defence the nurse of my childhood tasked with extracting the red fluid had a very Hammer House of Horror vampire updo. In this case it was my Dad providing the destination for the needle. By the look on his face it did not feel like a "short, sharp scratch", and the nice nurse would have looked out of place next to Vincent Price. 

A Sunday Stitching change of pace

 oddly as I had been stitching on my designated Sunday project during the week, and pretty much swooshing along at pace filling in easy to see sections  come Sunday and nope.

It was as if I had come to a stop sign and needed to start something new, something small and give the kittens/cats a rest.

Not much to see so far, it is a start, it may have arrived with some seasonal items but this is not so further progress will be shared.

Not A sunday stitch

 but a distraction from thinking stitch whilst the filling in was easy as not much else feels that way at the moment.

So things have moved on quite a bit with the black and white cat.

a few ninjas and I think it will be time to go back to the tabby.