Same shades

but still making progress, even with a little pop over to the quilting side of my crafting persona.

A new blended thread colour is required to get the main part of the robe and the top of the torches finished.

Well that and hunting down the fractional Ninja stitches hiding in all those folds of material.

Not sure if it is my picture taking or if I will need to do some blocking when it is finished as the right side looks to have pulled across a little on this picture.

As I have worked there have been some joyful moments when I have run out of thread in my bobbinated box.

The top three layers are on bobbins and sorted by number. The next three have the skeins sorted into groups, so all 200, then the 300 and so on. They are strung on a bit of string. 

and the joy in running out, going to the skein  spares box and finding what I needed.

It feels strangely satisfying using up thread from the stash and at the same time the used thread is going on a list to reorder as soon as I require enough to make the postage worth it.  The local shop is more expensive and therefore for emergency's only. Mind given I bought a lot of this thread at the same time as this pattern and in the same place (Utah, and on sale) any replacement purchase is a big increase in the price. 

Sampler quilt

getting back to this project.  I stalled after the last block grandmas-fan, mainly because the next block in the book was not a new block, not even a used once before block but my patchwork starting place.

Log cabin

If you have visited with me before then you will be aware that it is a go to pattern for me and therefore I wondered if I wanted to have it in my Sampler Quilt learning journey.  The next one along, as a variation of log cabin is also one I have used before, Church ( Court House) Steps.  so I stopped to make up my mind.

And I have, I am sticking with the plan of doing the blocks in order, from the book.  Well almost, the strip size on these blocks was so small (1 and a quarter inches including seam allowance) that I had a feeling if I worked one in full I might baulk  and the other. 

Yes I have done the Church steps small before, even smaller than this  as pin cushions but still!

So I have been working them together, the log cabin progresses slower then Church Steps as once you are past the first squares with that pattern you can add two strips at a time. Logcabin you are restricted to one.

So after an evenings sewing the log cabin looks like this. 

With another set of pale and pink to go before it is ready to join together.

And the Church Steps

Ready to join up, maybe I might sash it as the colours are looking quite pale. I have time to think about that.

Waiting for the colour

at least that is what my mother says about this project.

Whilst there will be some shades other than the ecru ext shortly, there are no big bold colours ahead.

Still, making progress that is quite satisfying.

The pattern says to leave the over one sections till last (well the back-stitch and beads after the over one but last of the cross stitching at least)

I wonder if that is to help get it finished, if everything else is done then the over one will be less daunting.

I am not too sure about that, I might need to do faces or hands once the robes are complete.

Still battling with quarter stitch ninjas, they appear only after I have cut off the thread in that particular shade.  Threading up again, especially with blended thread just for one quarter stitch can be very frustrating.

Slowing down...not a bit

this is going well, still.  Thought that I was hitting the slowing to stop point with this project, which would be quite normal but instead have got my second wind and am making progress.

Do a few ninja stitches, some blending preparation then sew some of the bigger blocks and repeat.

 am hoping to get the figures robes finished whilst on this roll of stitching and before some other project requires doing or catches my interest.

Still making progress

enjoying the flow..

Into 2019

now my previous into posts have been sharing of the thread ball and the thread bag, this year it would have been the bag but I got ahead of myself and shared it already on 28th.

It has been nice to finish some long term projects and to make a start on some long planned things.

It has also been a good year for progress on this project

Making progress

I do hope that  2019 will continue that progress.

My ORTS project.

Some people put the bits of left over embroidery thread in a jar.  Some put them inside clear plastic ornaments and use then as Christmas decorations.  Some, throw them out!

I have had a different approach, for many, many and I do mean many years.  Much longer than the Thread bag even before the Thread Ball there was 

 THE BAG

Also on occasion known as the everlasting project (wrong as it is finished but I am getting ahead of myself) there is of course a story behind the existence of

THE BAG

A brochure popped through the letter box, landed on the mat.  A brochure from a charity selling things to raise funds to save endangered species and their habitats. So I looked through the W.W.F brochure and I bought a stationary set and a 100 % cotton bag with a design on each side in green.  A picture of the world surrounded by  some of the creatures the charity aimed to support.  I rather liked the bag and I had been using it just as it was.

Then it went to London with me on a trip, and I put some fruit in it (in its own bag, but that split and I ended up with squashed fruit on my bag.

That's OK it would wash and it did and it did again but this time I noticed a bit of fading in the green.  That was this projects moment of birth, I wanted to keep the design, so I would sew over it.  If you have visited my blog before you will know it could not be just that simple, and it wasn't, I would just use bits too small to use for anything else. 

And so it began , about twenty five years ago, it began.  

For the first side I just wanted to use earth tones, the greens and browns and subtle yellows.  They did tend to be the colours I was working with the most.  My brighter toned threads went on the other side.

That is not to say it stopped being used as a bag whilst its pattern preservation commenced. It became the project bag for holidays, the stuff a jumper in it and it becomes a pillow bag for camping trips and it was still getting washed and still fading.   

The green side was finished first.

W.W.F Caring for our world.

I did bend my rules for the blue lettering and the leaves, but only in so far as these leftovers could  have been used for other small projects

(The dark green in the body of the whale, elephant and the continents is the original print, I settled on outlines for those rather than trying to fill them in.

The second side took longer, it felt longer, for there to be the thread to fill in all the little dashes of the pattern.  I guess there were less bright colours in the other projects I was doing to produce bright ORTS.

The coloured side

Having finally finished the sewing I felt the bag needed a lining to give it a bit of extra strength.

Here it is finished

WWF shopping bag

WWF shopping bag

oh and a few close up shots just for fun and to mark all those years.  With my sewing thread (thread bag) and my embroidery thread scrap projects completed, I wonder what I will do with them next.

W.W.F Panda

The classic black and Gold Panda on the green side.

W.W.F Panda

And one in a green that is very close to the original stamped pattern colour.

Tree with French Knot fruit.

Penguin and Polar Bear

Brights penguin and Polar bear

Elephant and Kangaroo

Trees

Bird and giraffe

close up of the dashes on the tones side

and on the bright side

And its first job as a fully finished lined bag, to carry my parents large print scriptures to Church for the 2018 Carol Service as we all had readings to do.

Nearly almost started

the watch this space project.

What!

Well back in 2013 I shared my Christmas Embroideries inspired by Christmas cards and showed a picture of the frame for the next planned for the set, with the note to watch this space.

Well I have finally moved the design from the many a piece of tracing paper (with the aid of an iron on transfer pencil) to the material.

This will, when I get started with the sewing that is, which may take some time as I am now contemplating what and how to sew it, be a full coverage piece, so the haze of pink caused by particles of iron on pencil dust is not an issue.

Now I was thinking of using DMC light effects, and I am still inclined to use some metallic here and there however, there is their new thread range which I am told is softer and easier to use whilst still having some sparkle.

Sooo I might order some and see before committing thread to needle and needle to project.

Anyway here it is in transfer stage. I have no idea of timescale for getting the next step started and certainly not for it being finished.  Years is more likely than months, it has taken me years of pull it out put it away move it about just to get this far.

Mini monogrammed selection box

Another Christmas gift with letters as a focus. This time a gift for a couple, of a little wooden box with some sweets in it.

So how to decorate it, well the title of this post rather gives it away.  A monogram made up of  their initials (first name and surname) which is quite suitable as they have a hyphenated user name for their Facebook account.

So out comes the pyrography tool once more to create something personal.

As noted in my last decorated box post little-box  I feel that a nice outside needs to have a nice inside when it comes to boxes.  So this box needed a lining to give a bit of internal style.  This time I used felt.  I found putting this lining in rather satisfying and it went quite smoothly.

Once the outside and the inside were decorated it was time to fill, with a bit of gentle arranging and asking them nicely to breath in, I managed to fit two each of four chocolates into the box. (six in the main part of the box and the last two sweets in the lid).

  Making it a mini selection box.

Do they do selection boxes in the USA? I will have to ask the recipients of this one.

Cross Stitch Crazy

mini photo album.

Personalised for the missionary sister who loves to take photographs.

Found the perfect rose to pop in the aperture and a little stitched initial and good to gift.

Fingers crossed it made her smile.