BFF 10 Ohps

 I finished off the backstitching in gold for the hair and the star, I don't know what type of metallic came with the kit but oh it was nice, and it was not fraying in the least. Impressive.

Then it was on to the cutting. And of course, I made a mistake cutting the wings. I got myself turned around and cut both sides the same. That is a problem, they are not meant to be cut the same.

The blue line is the correct cutting line, as you can see the notch should be at the bottom on one and the top on the other.  If this had been ordinary Aida I would have had quite a puzzle to fix it without it totally unravelling.  

Thank goodness it is Vinyl so fraying not a thing. So, I just stitched up the cut bit and then re cut it in the right place.

I should have stopped, but I had to give the construction a try to be sure the fix worked, at which point I noticed that there would be missing stitches at the back from the edge of the angel in a place that would show. So I added them. It would nag at me otherwise after I worked hard to make the back of the wings look reasonable.  You can see both the extra stitches and the repair on the picture above.

And then I pinned it ready for our Skype session.

I must admit being me I was thinking about other Deborazations I might do, but I put it down.

And in our Skype session stitched her up with white sewing thread, it was a little awkward but doable.

And her she is finished.

well probably, she might acquire some lace at the bottom of her gown and possibly a halo of some sort or another at some point in the future should the bits to add such things turn up. Maybe.

She will do for now and we can call BFF 10 done. 

Click here to pop over to my BFF's blog to see her finish

And what for BFF 11? Well, that is indeed the question, one to which we currently do not have an answer however we have time to reach the answer as we won't be stitching a SAL again until at least the new year. We anticipate seasonal stitches or pressure would be getting in the way until then anyway.

So going forward we will be back to the RAL..random along, whatever ether of us most need to stitch either to get it done or to relax. And perhaps with some searching for the next BFF at the same time.

BFF10 Farewell to the Ood

 and hello to the angel.

The black backstitching banished the Ood with no lingering trace. Happily, the angel that replaced it is not the blinking kind.

I had dispensation to finsh off the wings and make a start on the backstitch, so fliping it over time for backstitching the wings whilst Skyping.

The face has a Picasso feel on the reverse!

Although backstitch is not completely accurate, in the hopes of making the "back" of the wings as neat as possible I did Holbein Stitch. It takes a bit more time and thought on the way out but is a lot of fun on the way back.

I think it went OK.

I still have some backstitch to go on the main part of the angel in gold thread, that too will be in dispensation time.

Cutting and assembling will be for the next get together and we will be at approximately the same stage on our differing projects.

CLICK HERE to see my BFF's progress.

Sunday Stitching..stalled

 I got out my big booklet, full of hope that the same symbols would be used, and I would be able to figure out what the different shades are.

And....nope, totally different key.

Did not want to start yet another one, so going to wait till there is sufficient daylight and make a best guess and hope it works out OK.

Oh or maybe I will ask the Country Companions Facebook page, someone may have the magazine that this would have originally come with, as if I recall correctly the patterns were repeated in the mag and the key there had the DMC (because they could do that in the mag without inferring the thread in the kit was DMC) I received mine as a gift for a published letter.

I will let you know how it goes.

As it was, I would not have been stitching today anyway as I had a reading at the Remembrance Service.

So I will just pop on a picture of my quilting progress.

This is the Flying Geese block.

BFF 10 still winging it

 I finished off the colour in the wing and then started on the white, first I used up the thread that came with the kit, then I needed more, I have a full cone of DMC but I have put it somewhere safe.

I thought I could get away with some thread from a cheap set just to keep sewing and finish off the edge of the wing.

It is very different and rather flat. I have used it to finish the wing edge and will use it for the edge of the other wing for symmetry, but I will need to make that effort to recall where my DMC white is to fill in the middle of the wing.

I have special dispensation to stitch out of Skype time to catch up to my BFF a bit on her companion project. I am not sure how much time I will have for that as I am still trying to progress the hand quilting on my sampler quilt.

This is grandmother's fan block on the reverse, and I also have some spoons that need a bit of pyrography for a baking competition being held at another branch (inspired by the ones we have had) the organiser intends to drop them off tomorrow. 

I might get the cross stitch done and be ready for the backstitch for next week with a bit of luck.

CLICK HERE to pop over and see my BFF's progress.

Sunday Stitching..a start

 Another cover kit, another card but a different level of complexity. This is a Country Companions Design which is just as well, I am going to need a little cross pattern assistance here.

Why? Well recently I note that the cover kits rather than providing DMC thread with the relevant numbers listed in the key are now stating the design is made up with "thread from your kit". Whilst I appreciate that the current financial issues are impacting on the thread provided and I assume to reduce costs not having a list number can become a bit tricky if there are "shades" of colours.

That is the case here, so I started at the bottom rather than in the middle because I could at least easily identify the green and dark green.

That being done I will need to prepare before next week by checking the symbols provided here against the other Country Companions Charts I have, they tend to use the same ones for the same colours, then I can figure out what is what.

The cream, peach, light brown, dark cream, beige, light beige are all very much of a muchness. Wishe me luck.

Sunday Stitching..a finish

 finished the stitching part. With a small unintentional change to the placement of the bottom right robin, ohps and an intentional change to the beaks to make them pointy.

Add on the little wooden charm that came with the kit, and a bit of drawn thread work to the edges

The kit came with a card, so that is how I have finished it. The little bit of drawn thread letting the red on the card show through. Getting the double-sided stick tape in the right places was tricky but I think worth it.

And at least one piece of Christmas stitching is finished in time and with some to spare. Well, I say finished but I feel the card needs a little inside embellishment but that won't be sewn.

RSN Stitchbank project

 I came across this on my Facebook feed and thought it was an amazing resource, so I thought I would share it here as well.

They are collecting stitches and making them available. They have 250 so far, you can access an image of the stitch from this link

Click here for link

and then if you click on the stitch, it will let you see it sewn, show you the method and have a little video of how to do it.

Hope you find it useful.

Dyeing Aida

 an experiment.

a step further from using dye pens 

This experiment started with the purchase of a different vegetable to see what it was like. Probably watched too many cooking programs.

Purple heritage carrots bought and cooked I ended up with a pan of purple water.

I tried a little bit dipped, and it looked promising, popped the water in a jar and forgot about it.

Today doing a bit of a sort I came across a little collection of stuff from the charity shop. Some random little patterns, thread bits and one piece of Aida someone had started stitching on. It did not go with any of the patterns in the bag. So, I unpicked it 

It did have a small stain of some sort on it, very faint, possibly needle rust? At that point I remembered the jam jar of carrot water.

and in it went.

I did contemplate putting it in something flat however, I was not bothered if it came out flat or mottled as just playing around.

It came out with a lot more colour than I had expected, but then it is wet, colours are always more vivid wet.

Dry and ironed it has become much more subtle

Oddly the colour fixed just that bit darker in the spot the mark had been and where it had been folded. Wetting and ironing it has tightened up the holes in the Aida where I did the unpicking. 

All in all an interesting experiment and I am reasonably pleased with the result. 

I have no idea what I am going to stitch on it (it is about A5 size).

But that does not answer the burning question..just how did those heritage purple carrots taste?

Well, like carrots, I obviously do not have a sophisticated pallet. 

BFF SAL Winging it!

 Back to the cross stitch this week, the previous frustrations all forgotten .

Back to the wings and stitching with one strand  (as per the pattern) the lighter colours  on the white were proving difficult to see, so I decided to do the the darkest shade first.

Moving onto the second wing it is just a mirror image of the first, so I stopped looking at the pattern and just reflected the one already completed.

If I get into a rhythm next week, I might get the cross stitching finished but I don't thing I will get all the back stitching sorted. But we shall see.

Pop on over to see my BFF's update, it makes me think of the grinch. CLICK HERE

Quilting the Dresden Plate

 An update,

The plate itself is done and I have made a start on a filling design for the corners.

My BFF and I were discussing the feel of quilting. The joy of thread gliding through the single layer sections, the satisfaction of the more solid feel of multiple layers and seams. Oh! the frustration of multi seamed areas and needing plyers to pull the needle through. 

As I worked tonight, I was thinking about the way each section of thread as it is pulled through, my arm registers its length, decreasing slightly stitch by stitch so that a pull shorter than expected signals the dreaded knot at the back. So good to catch them as they occur, nightmare if missed and you turn to see a knot that occurred inches or more before it was spotted!

The back, I took a quick picture of the back, it is a bit easier I think to see where the plate was quilted on the reverse rather than the front.

Still a good way to go, keeping my knees warm at least.

An update NCFT Level 1

 Passed and have the certificate to prove it.

There has been no sign of a level two course happening. I am in two minds about that. It was nice meeting new people with crafty thoughts and trying a new craft that would have been expensive for a try otherwise.  But going out to the class in dark nights not all that appealing and I do have plenty of projects to keep me going.

I note that the beginners sewing class that had been the other option has not made any sort of reappearance either.