BFF 16 white and pink

 

you can't really see the white in this picture but my BFF commented that the boat was looking a little bit fuller.

I think there might be green next.

And no I still have not got around to getting the missing threads.

click HERE to pop over to my BFF's blog for this weeks post.

Sunday Stitchings meets Gifted Gorgeousness

 so as the 15th of the month falls on a Sunday and the item that I am currently working on on Sundays happens to be a kit gifted to me this post happily is both.

Still working in brown although I think I might have finished all of the stitches in this shade, there may of course be ninjas lurking about waiting to catch me unaware!

Ah and talking of ninja stitches today was also Stake Conference, its too long a combined time of sitting for my mother so we watched from home via you tube and I thought I might get out my normal conference stitch and work on that. On the World and THAT comet.

I did get it out, and each celestial body got a few stitches however, I am still struggling with "seeing" just where I am and what stitches need to be in what shade where! So I took the few as a win and turned back to something nice and friendly on 14 count.

CLICK HERE to go to the host blog and find other participating blogs (oh and for the rules on the GG posts click HERE as it is a much better explanation than can provide.

BFF SAL 16 my turn

 to be in the pink..

and making a start on little houses.

Felt like good progress.

Click here to see how my BFF is progressing.

Sunday Stitching

 a less obvious amount of progress but still there were stitches added and none needed to be taken away.

BFF SAL 16 and light golden brown

 was still the go to shade set for me. Some area defining work and then just before we were done for the evening some satisfying filling it.

I think the rest of the filling in for this section will be something I can do whilst listening to a nice Forestella mix, perhaps even the ones for singing along to, although goodness knows what my mispronounced Korean, Spanish or indeed Italian is actually saying but I will have fun with it.

Click here to see my BFF's progress on her chosen section of the pattern.

You can almost see what the whole thing might look like.

Her square and my rectangle.

Sunday Stitchings a new month

but still working on the same shade.  The left side is sorted but there is still more of this shade to go on the right side.

 At the moment a particular breed of the animal emerging springs to mind. However, that is not the case at all.

Things went quite smoothly  this week, I spotted a small miscount in the last four stitches from last time before it could grow into a bigger issue. That felt like a win.

BFF SAL 16 complementing

 missing bits. We don't plan it this way, honest we don't. We just stitch in whatever colour or direction we want.

And in this case also how much of the original pattern we want. That it ends up with my part being bits that are not as yet stitched by my BFF and visa versa just happens.

Although this time I am particularly amused that I stitched in the black bollards as jumping off points for the houses and steps and then looking at my friends update to get the link to add below realised that is the only bit of the houses and steps she still has left to do!

My picture is likewise a little less posed than usual, and you can no doubt see I don't leave a lot of room at the edges. It is rare that I do.

You will also note I now have five part boats, I really must get that missing thread.

To compare and contrast Click Here to see my BFF's current position.

Now it may not look like it but she is still closer to completion than I am so I still have additional allowance for off joint session stitching time.

Sunday Stitchings a new shade

 of beige/brown and the project grows a little.

It was the usual length of time and probably the usual amount of stitches completed but for some reason it did not feel like as much progress.

Sometimes it just feels like that.

No Sunday Stitching and no BFF Sal 16

 Why, well Sunday I was not well and so no stitching occurred and as for the SAL it was one of those rare evenings when we just did not have the emotional or physical energy to do it. 

It happens, and quite often when it does we are each feeling the same way, which ever one of us mentions it first.

I do however had that non camera allowance on this BFF SAL so I do have an update to share before next weeks get together.

Quite a lot of blue, some of it single strand but still a full cross stitch.  And yet another "not all there yet" mode of transport.

You are right I keep forgetting I need threads for this.

At some point I wont be able to keep working around their absence and will have to get that sorted out.

I would note that the ohps has been successfully "fudged" inside that swathe of blue.

BFF SAL 16 more blue

 blue in a little off screen time and blue this evening with a touch of red.

A thought about one of those reds and the number of  that shade.

The colours that come numerically before it are shades of greyish ness and those that come after it are green.

So the choice of this red shade to its colour number shows a biblical themed touch of humour.

It is of course 666.

I still have not got around to buying the threads I am short of  so what gets stitched next is still influenced by what I can stitch next.

Click here to see how my BFF is getting on.

Sunday Stitchings update

 Still just the two shades, still avoiding the frog and still finding this a very pleasant stitch.

oh and I found something nice at the charity shop on Saturday.

Two Fiskars templates, I am sure they are going to be very useful and ay only 50p each a bargain.

BFF Sal 16 feeling blue

 but quite happy about it.

I have not quite worked around the ""ohps to the point it feels fixed but some off camera time and a productive night of mostly blue and I feel I am making progress.

Funnily although I have not stitched anything on the three boats in this image the blue around them has made them more there this week than they previously were.

I am still far enough behind in the area left to stitch before a finish that I retain stitch anytime dispensation on this project.

So of course I don't feel all that much like working on it. However I have stopped in such a place that there are good starting points for next time.

There is still the issue of threads that need to be bought as well, but at the moment I will just keep going with the shades I have.

Pop on over to my BFF's blog by Clicking HERE to see how she is getting on with hers.

Sunday stitchings

 Some more of that second brown and Frog had a well deserved rest today.

It felt like I got quite a bit done.

I still have backstitch to finish on the last Sunday Stitchings project.

That will not be a problem with this one, it is all full stitches.

A long time waiting (Sampler Quilt)

I started this sampler quilt in 2017 Tumbling Blocks  being the first of several new blocks I learned along the way. I finished it in 2022 and gifted it to my mother for Christmas that year.

But I never did get around to taking a good picture of the finished quilt.

The ladies organisation at Church (Relief Society) are having craft evenings, with either bring something you are working on, or try something that has been brought by someone else. 

This week I decided to avail myself of all that floor space (and also a holding helper) to take some pictures of the sampler quilt in full. Oh and also to make use of the large table to get my blue Flimsy sandwiched. I did get it pinned and made a start at taking it together. I am using very thin wadding as an experiment.

Anyway that will get a post all of its own back to the Sampler Quilt.

And a side view, you can see the four "extra drunkards path blocks made their way into the corners of the edge sashing.

and of course a view of the back, 

still hard to make out the quilting lines.

but a bit better, fingers and feet of my volunteer helper. I don't think he will become an internet star from this picture.

Oh and my mother said her favourite block is that first one, tumbling blocks so I made a little duvet cover to co-ordinate. However, stitching in secret I got a little turned around and made a mistake of sorts, I wonder if you can see what that was.

Pleased to finally have a proper finished post for this project even if it is rather late in arriving.

BFF Sal 16 Ps

 lots and lots pf Ps, which is the symbol for the blue I started on last time.

I did a little bit of off camera time as was allowed and then kept on with the blue.

much blue, I was feeling quite good about the much blue until I realised I was a stitch out somewhere in the blue 

Hmmm, in this instance Mr Frog can take a rest, there was enough of that on the Sunday Stitchings.

At this point the blue being exactly correct is not pivotal .

Therefore my choice is to work up the left hand side in towards the blue and "fudge the join, then over the top of where the blue would go and get back on track that way.

To see how my friend is doing Click here

I still have a long ways to go and still have dispensation for extra time, I just have not been making the most of it yet.

Sunday Stitching, a new start plus frog time

 I started the Sunday before last and did not get around to posting it, then missed a Sunday due to ill health and here I am back again.

So what did I choose, well a kit, with pre-carded thread, material to size, a needle and best of all no backstitch.

Its on 14 count so nice and east to see and the pattern is printed quite large.

So week one, colour one

week two ? Well I did some more in this shade and then moved onto the next colour at which point realised I had made an error, you know the kind, one stitch out which not spotted until later equals many a stitch out of place by one. Actually looking at the picture above I made that one stitch mistake the first week and almost everything I did this Sunday had to come back out.

So as to be able to sew again next Sunday I needed to get some help from The Frog and then take the project back to the point it would have been without the mistake.

The frogging and resewing took less time, than figuring out where the mistake was!

I have not cropped this picture so it is possible to get an idea of  the finished size. I can see what it is going to be, but then I already know that. Any guesses?

A bit of bag decorating

 There was a chat at my mother's group meeting about recycling and she came away with a free bag. One side with a pink decal covering the specific recycling it was promoting, the other side was blank.

Oh the possibilities of a blank space.

I happened to have a stencil I'd not used yet, you will be unsurprised by the focus of that design.

Used T-shirt pens and chose the colours to echo the printed side.

The added bits in Korean are via Google translate and hopefully I got it right. It has no particular significance it is just a space filler that felt right.

It was quick, it was fun and unlike on my mug the lines for the lettering stayed in their own lanes and did not merge. It will be useful and it filled in a moment of "want to do something crafty, don't know what and have very little time" so all good.

Oh and the "official side" just in case it is of use to anyone.

There is no Frog for ceramics

 in my previous post a-relief-society-crafting-trip about painting underglaze on a mug I noted I would not know how well it went until it was fired.

Unlike my stitching projects where mistakes can often be corrected by unpicking or Frogging, what you get after firing is it.

So, I worried that the blue background might be too dark for the black lettering to show up. That was not an issue, it came out much lighter. I wondered if the little stars would show up, they didn't but that was not too disappointing. However a related issue is, the thin line of silver that made the F for the FS logo went the way of the stars and so the F , which was already a stylised letter is no longer an F.

Other issue is that two fine black lines in the lettering on the handle have merged to one thicker line. I have not as yet braved checking what that may have changed the word to!

On the positive side the motley effect of the blue, although not intended is rather pleasant, and the silver pale lilac on the moons are also effective and perhaps most importantly the mug is usable.

It does give me a reason to add another link to another performance of the song, just the three group members here, the fourth is serving in the Korean Army till May 2025.

Mind the title of the concert is a reminder there are no stars on my mug, sigh !

BFF 16 a return

 it has been three weeks since last my BFF and I managed our virtual sewing session, well we have missed three, this is week four. One week went to my being too tired after a trip to the office, week two to a holiday absence and week three to an important coming of age birthday. Not either of ours, sadly we passed those sort of landmark birthdays more than a little while ago, and the milestone age we are currently experiencing sort of together, as no two women meet this the same, is not feeling like something to celebrate just now.

We were both finding the sewing bug a little absent, but we did sew a little something. It was also a quiet week for things to chat about, I filled empty spaces with my fangirl observations and a laugh about  my managing to mention Forestella at work in a group meeting with the big boss!

So this weeks progress, a tiny bit of  a different shade of green, some white, some yellow and ok look a biggish bit of blue.

I needed that bit of blue,  I'm not feeling this one yet, which might explain why I have used none of my allowed off screen time to try and catch up, that and I need to go thread shopping, which will help resolve that big empty space in the middle. It does look better in the picture than it does to me when I am working on it, so that's something I guess. 

Click HERE to see how my BFF is doing.

Hand quilting a panel

 This is the second pre-printed bought  panel I have hand quilted. It is a different mindset to quilting a patchwork top. In some ways it is freeing as it is just following lines and in others , well you have to decide which lines to sew or not.

In addition, when it is a pictorial image and the quilting will show on the back extra care is needed.

 

My BFF likes the back for hand quilting, and I would note that when gifting this the recipient saw the back first and was delighted with that before turning it over to the coloured side.

It was nice to gift this, I do have another panel the same but I am sure that the hand quilting placement will be different as I expect my choices of which bits to quilt and which to leave will change.

A Relief Society crafting trip

 I may have mentioned before that I did ceramics in my school days and at times I miss it. However, making things with clay once upon a time and painting glazes onto premade items is not the same thing.

So this activity was new to me. Some of the sisters had done this before and of the experience one said "I'm not into crafts or crafty but this was a lot of fun".

Unlike other craft things with Relief Society which are held at the Church and led by a sister who "does" that craft, this was a commercial venture.

Premises in the next town over, we car shared to all get there, minimum of ten people for a booking.

Once there met by the friendly owner operator and shelves of premade pottery items we could then decorate. Prices depended on what you wanted to decorate and there was quite a range to choose from.

I chose a mid sized mug. I wanted something that I could use and which would not just be ornamental.

The process was simple, use the brushes provided and paint the various colours glazes on your chosen piece. You might know this already, the colour the glazes are pre firing does not match how they will look after firing. To help us with that each table had a tile with all of the colours and their names on it to help us pick.

Now I have issues with over complicating things, you may have noticed if you have visited before. So when it comes to something like this I find it hard to strike a balance between something that meets my need for that but can be completed in the time frame. The same thing makes me bad at Pictionary as I want to be all artistically complicated when I should just keep it simple.

I made some small preparations (given I did not know what shape I might have to work on as that varies) and via You Tube Videos made note of  the Korean lettering for Forestella , Soopbyeol, and hijo de la luna and courtesy of google translates, for my name. I was not sure what I would do with them, I also sketched out the Forestella FS logo, the version without leaves. Oh and I took along a set of very thin brushes, I did not know how fine the ones provided might be. I heartily dislike blunt pencils and trying to paint with too thick a brush and if I did end up trying to do lettering well a fine brush would be useful.

So little mug chosen I sat with a Disney style princess and a squirrel, well those were the choices of my table companions. Also chosen by the group were sloths, popular I think three of them, a snail, a unicorn, a campervan.

I am quite proud of myself as I did manage not to overly fuss. I decided on a silver/lavender moon on a dark blue background, with the FS logo in the middle in the same glaze and then the name of the group and of the song in black. How well that will show up on the dark blue should be interesting. Added my name and soopbyeol onto the handle. And I was done without having to rush at all, I resisted the inclination to try and add a figure sitting on the moon, just as well my crescent moons were challenge enough on the night.

This is my mug standing on the tile showing the anticipated finished shade. That very dark blue at the bottom is how my light blue should look.

The FS turned out quite well considering I was working freehand and from a sketch.

It takes a couple of weeks before they are collectable, I would guess depending on how long it takes for the shop to have enough pieces to make a firing financially viable. So we wait to see how things turn out. Will my lettering vanish, or be there if you look but not quite as prominent? Will my silvery stars show, how will the mixed silver and lavender come together on the moon and the FS? Guess I have to wait and see.

So whilst we wait, a version of the song, there are several by the group on You Tube as it is unsurprisingly a popular inclusion in their concerts.

Sunday Stitchings many returns

 firstly a return to blogging this project. It has been a couple of weeks since the last update. I have sewn, but not blogged. Not sure why sometimes my focus goes elsewhere.

All for the cross stitching is finished as is all of the first shade of the backstitching.

The thing is, I am not that fond of backstitching (except when it could more readily be classified as blackwork, weird but true) and this has bitty backstitching and French knots left.

I don't think that lends itself to Sunday Stitching, so this will get finished off separately at some point.

I will do a finally finished post when that is the case.

I will have to decide what the next project will be by next Saturday so it is all set. Not sure if that will be something small like a cover kit, a return to the Country Companions book I was working my way through or another big project, maybe even bigger than this one ?

Oh the other returns, well they were people, the son of Mr and Mrs Family Friends who grew up here but lives far off theses days. Some people who have been a little unwell and missing for the time I have not been posting. Others away and now happily spending time with us again it was a nice way to start July at Church.

I just came across this Song today so adding the link but with no particular connection to the image above or the day.

BFF 16 A falling out

 not between me and my BFF, but between my phone and my laptop. It appears to happen periodically, some update on one puts the others nose out of joint and they just won't talk to each other nicely. 

The result, delays in getting the photo for the blog where it needs to be.

So here it is , my off camera work and this weeks session. Neither of which felt at speed, just feeling a bit tired and my thread was also not cooperating, as I did not have a number required to hand. Not sure I may not have it at all and need to order it, or it may be visiting with another project. 

It is nice to have something other than shades of yellow in place.

No SAL next week so click HERE for my BFF's update which is appropriately entitled for both this weeks experience and next weeks appearance.

Sunday Stitchings

 all of the cross stitching is done. I will be making a start on the backstitch next week. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, our church building is at the top of a hill and looks out to the sea at the back.

There is a view of the sea from the Relief Society room, sometimes I can see ships. Today I could see rain, British summer time in full swing. That and the overall theme of the song has influenced the attached sone today. (you have to wait a little for the song to get started as there is an explanation of it first, but there are subtitles for all of it)

There are no lighthouses in sight form this position but we do have a few in the local area.

This is looking nice just as it is, however I am sure that the backstitch will bring it into focus.

Oh and the Forestella song.

Soop Byeol is literally forest star in Korean and is the "fan" name for the group. 

BFF SAL 16 a new agreement

 My BFF and I set the rules for our SAL by mutual agreement, we add to them or change them as circumstances require.

This week we agreed that even if I do stitch faster, and I am not sure that is the case anymore, but even so my slice of same but different is going to be bigger than hers.

This weeks progress confirmed it.

So going forward I get as much off SAL sewing time as I like to get levelled up. Not done any extra yet but there is time.

Perhaps to the accompaniment of  my #Forestella  you tube mix. This is a current delight to my ears.

Oh almost forgot, CLICK HERE to see my BFF's progress  and how you can see things in that. And yes I have become a watcher of you tube "nonsense" on the principal that " a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men".

Sunday Stitching...a late update

 from Sunday, I am having difficulty getting my pictures from my phone to my lap top. Something somewhere has updated, new and improved and messed everything up. No doubt just as I stumble across what it is something else will get "added" that will make new issues.

Anyways back to the stitching, Sunday was our Branch Conference, so I ended up with a little more stitching time due to talk overruns. I didn't mind I was enjoying both the talks and the stitching.

All of the blended thread is done,  there is a little bit of sky yet to do and some white done the left side but still the backstitching comes ever closer.

My friend gave me this and it has indeed been very pleasant to sew so far at least, hopefully that will still be the case when I get to the backstitching.. 

BFF SAL 16 farewell whale

 addition of more stitches and the whale has gone, it was temporarily replaced by Nessie but that did not  last till the end of the sewing session.

The darker shade was living in with Millennium so at first I thought I had run out of that shade.

Click HERE to see my BFF's progress.

Sunday Stitchings the blended bit

 There is one lot of blending in this pattern, white and pale blue in the half stitch sky.

I have waited to do any of it until I could reach and do all of it.

Today I could and made a start.

Still a week or so before the backstitch I think.

BFF SAL 16 A page finish

 well the bottom ten or so rows on this pattern are on a separate page so I wanted to get all of that bit done I figured it would be less annoying that way.

Once that was done I could start stitching more in my usual style of cross country and go where the mood takes me. It might look like a something a bit quicker that way.

Click HERE to see how very something my BFF's  SAL 16 is looking already.

Sunday Stitchings

 More half stitches in the sky, and then as my eyes decided they could not see half stitches to count I di a few full stitches.

there are at least a few more Sundays left in this project I think, even so it is time to start contemplating the next project and pondering if I want something small again or something more substantial.

BFF Sal 16 only this wide

 for the section I have chosen to sew, there is of course always the option or possibility

for change but so far this is the plan.

It looked a bit more like a whale part way through than it does now. That is fine as it isn't a whale.

Click Here  to see my BFF's progress, I am sure the difference will not come as a surprise!

Sunday Stitching more sky

 Once I get into the swing of half stitches they fill up that white space delightfully quickly.

Still more sky to go. 

BFF SAL 16 Fish and Chips and feet.

 It has been a long week at work so far already and I was already feeling tired, so was my BFF but rather than a joint declaration of "lets give it a miss tonight" we both wanted to get started on our next project.

We have been looking forward to this one, perhaps a little too much and the anticipation let to a little bit of trepidation this might become like the last project started with joint enthusiasm to become a chore then cut down to size and a happy finish. Only time will tell.

Not much to show for a start but here it is BFF 16 (wow so many)

and the fish and chips, well tired ruled out cooking and the alternative repast of fish and chips arrived a bit late and had to be eaten during stitching time. Oh the horror of it, so I have dispensation for a little off camera time before next week.

And the socks, grey stripy socks? Well that was my view of the world when Roni put her laptop on the floor as she hunted for an elusive thread.

Shame they were not purple stripes as that would have matched the Quiet Roni design.

Click HERE to see how Roni's BFF 16 has begun.

Sunday Stitching a catch up

 if you have visited before you might think I have made a lot of progress on this today.

That is not the case, this is three Sundays worth as I just did not get around to posting the last two weeks.

Still with the half stitches but not the pale blue, still not seeing that at the moment.

Still a few weeks before it is time for backstitch I think.

BFF SAL 15 all done

 bar the wording in the middle and that will wait till I have something I want to put in there.

the sketch style backstitching my not be my favourite to stitch but I like the way it looks once it is done. It would have gone quicker if I had bothered to get a pointy needle to work the backstitches on the roses. However I was not in a rush and was feeling too lazy to move once I had myself seated to sew.

We have a pattern in mind to start next week, but material type, colour or size that is yet to be decided.

Click here or use the link at the side to see how My BFFs is doing over at Life outside the Washing Basket..

BFF SAL 15 Fighting the greens

 just not getting my eyes to settle here on those greens. But they are all done, indeed all the full cross stitches are sorted and on to the backstitch.

The difference the backstitch makes can clearly be seen when looking at the leaves with and without it. 

I anticipate the roses will be equally improved  I think there is possibly just one weeks work left in this project. 

Other than knowing I don't want to used the lettering from the original pattern for the middle I don't know what I want to put in there so it may well go into my sort of finished pile and get something added once it has an intended purpose.

CLICK HERE to see how my friend's is progressing.

BFF SAL15 The hokey cokey

 I put some green stitches in and then I took them out, in out in out...

 I kept getting my symbols and shades mixed up. At this point all the stitches are in all the right places in the right colours.

Although the camera is telling a slight fib as the roses look more purple and less red in reality.

Click Here  to see what is making my BFF feel like James Dean.