a different kind of sewing

Today I'm trying to complete a task that I set myself a couple of months ago. I agreed to make 50 fabric gift bags, size approx 11x8 inch for a Pride event at my workplace. They will be filled with info re LGBT groups locally, sweets etc and given out at a special event next month.

I've already made 40 or so and just need to do the last few over the next couple of days. I have just cut out a further 10 ready for sewing. This should give me one or two extra which I will keep as they make good little bags for knitting projects like socks.

The bags are french seamed and hopefully people will find a use for them. The big plus is that this has used up quite a bit of my fabric stash :-)

Post Number 965!!!

When I started this blog back in June 2007 we were still using dial up internet connection and I had no idea whether anyone would even read it!! So I'm a little surprised that I'm still here in 2016.

One day I will settle down and read the early posts especially as I don't keep a day to day diary although we tend to do a holiday journal when away on the bike.

So, here is the progress on the doodle band, I have now covered the first 4 stitches on the challenge, all familiar stitches so far.

I managed to throw out a few books yesterday, some are heading towards a friend of mine who runs dressmaking courses in case her students are interested in them, some will go to the charity shop.

xx

Finally....snow

This may be the only snow of the winter!! last year we only had a day or so of snow so I'm made sure that I took a photo.

Yesterday there was a knock at the door and a nice man handed me a bunch of flowers from my work place. I haven't been at work since mid December and will be off at least until mid Feb so maybe they are missing me? Beautiful flowers x

Back to today's task, I have challenged myself to throw out (charity shop) 10 books from my huge collection...I will report back in a few hours.

2015 revisited

By October last year I was well enough to go back to work although it turned out to be just for a few weeks. I also managed to get down to the Goose Fair in Nottingham.

This is a large funfair that visits the city every year on the 1st weekend of October, many of the rides are fairly modern but I like to wander round just incase there are any vintage gems hiding amongst the stalls. One thing was obvious this year, many of the smaller hoopla stalls had be repainted or had vinyl banners attached advertising recent childrens films such as Frozen and it was a bit sad to see the traditional fairground art is disappearing.

So you can imagine how excited I was to see this beauty... 1930's Super Skid

Of course, there were a few more rides there but I just wanted to watch this one with a silly grin on my face!!

They said it would snow...

...they lied, just rain and cloud :-( I'm like a little kid when it snows, constantly checking to see how deep it is, watching it from behind the window but today we are disappointed. Such a mild winter so far.
I slept on until nearly 9 today, probably making up for all the days when I'm wide awake from any time between 3 and 6 am but its left me feeling sluggish so the bathroom is only half cleaned at the moment and I'm not resisting the lure of the threads.

I've been spending time catching up with old detective and crime programmes that I have missed over the years due to not having a TV and listening to the radio together with the Harry Potter audio books.

I'm just coming up to do the third stitch on my doodle band, feather stitch although I still have to choose the colour...more on this later.

Earlier today my Mum popped round for dinner and we spent quite some time talking about the family history, a few surprises came to light, quite a few early childhood memories of Auntie this and Uncle that where I really didn't know the family connection.

Much of this should be written down but I know I'll never have the patience to follow it up.

quietly stitching

although I did venture out this morning, a necessary dash to the shops for some essentials and spent most of the day recovering!!
So, I've been doing a little stitching, moving on to the second stitch....buttonhole stitch.

I bought these threads at least 15 years ago from the Natural Dye Studio, its about time I used them!!

I feel quite settled stitching this at the moment :-)

Meanwhile, back in 2015.......a very hazy view from Hadrians Wall, we had been chasing round all the tourist stops along the wall as we had run out of Heritage Mead, a favourite tipple of ours. Finally tracked some down at a National Trust site....special offer price for three bottles :-)

the blank canvas

Ok, I think I'm sorted apart from the creases and I'm working on them!

I've set up a scribble band on one of my frames, this is for embroidery of any kind. I can add fabric, paint the background, do what ever even if it doesn't work out.

If, for example I fancy doing some drawn thread work then I just do it, no worries about what I will make with it etc.

The stitching area is 6 inch wide, I've left 3 inch borders which I've temporarily hemmed just in case I want to back the band with something. When winding on to the stretcher bars I've added an extra folded length of fabric just to help with the tension issue caused by the thickness of the sides.

So far I've just stitched a start line, I need to add the date somewhere as well.

then I did some thinking, over the years I have taken part in Take a Stitch Tuesday and Take it Further challenges set by Sharon of Pintangle. The challenge is running again so I've signed up and I'm now playing catch up!! you can see my previous attempts by clicking the Link for TAST and take it further under the list of labels on this blog.

So after some basic darning stitch. I started on Fly Stitch, (week one)

It's very much a case of deja vu but also a bit of fun :-)

itching to stitch

Hi

I'm still trying to get the creases out of the fabric, if this doesn't work then I may have to buy some fresh, after all the creases have been there for 20+years !

In the meantime, rather than do something daft to the fabric I have and get all upset with so I'm having having a play with the large bolt of fine evenweave that I have. I'm not sure of the count though. Its definately finer than the 27 thats in the kit and more irregular but hey, its free so I can afford to play with it. Also I can use it for normal embroidery as well which is something that keeps nudging at me.

I know that part of the problem is that I can't settle, I'm pretty much confioned to the house and I'm looking for a comfort blanket. My mind is usually fully engaged at work with figures etc and being at home it hasnt got a lot to work on. The cross stitch kit seems to be frustrating me before I even start it!!!

Aaarggh!!!!! time to put the kettle on, have a coffee and maybe get the colouring book out for a bit.

Later.... the plan is.... the kit as a long term project and I've given myself permission to sample the blackwork, drawn thread work etc inbetween to save myself getting frustrated at the cross stitch. The cross stitch can really only be done in daylight until I can get a good lamp so this should work well.

Warning...this may all change by tomorrow!!!

Incase you are missing the motorcycles.

Its quite some time since I've been on a bike mainly due to muscle problems in my left leg which has made getting on and off somewhat difficult!! Family circumstances have meant that even Ian hasn't been out of the bikes much but we did get over to the coast late last year to watch the first race of the sand racing season over at Mablethorpe towards the end of last year.

We took a chair for me, my camera and a lot of warm clothing as the wind was blowing straight down the prom. I took a lot of photos but only a few worth sharing, the first one is seriously cropped but made me smile. When practise laps started, the tide was still going out and this rider got a little too bit close to the water and fell off. When I had a look at the set of photos later I realised that he had spun the bike round before coming off . I hasten to add that he wasn't hurt!

Nothing quite so dramatic followed !

ooops I hadn't thought about that!!

Haha, just about to put the fabric on the frame, looked at it and thought oops 27 count, better try my stitching glasses ! I've tried them and may have to get some stronger ones for this project, we will see how we go.

I have also discovered that I can't iron out the creases in the fabric, looks like I will have to wash it gently first..... whose idea was this anyway????

I've also unearthed what I thought was a roll of cloth which has turned out to be several yards of what looks like 27 count fabric! I vaguely remember someone asking if I wanted some years ago but I think I now have a lifetime supply!!

Since I'm spending quite a bit of time on the computer or tablet, I find that I'm starting to look back at more traditional embroidery again. Its been years since I'm done any (more than 10 years since completing my C&Gs) so I'm collecting ideas on my Pintrest site for future reference.

Today, blackwork has caught my eye, I used to do this before C&G and I've loving some of the work that's out there. This is a very small sample from my C&G History of Embroidery file.

I think thats about it for today, speak soon xx

setting a routine

Hi, Its been a quiet day today but all the threads are sorted  and I just need to enlarge the chart, attach the fabric to the frame and find the centre of the fabric to guide me. I have treated myself to some erasable highlighters (who ever dreamt that one up?) to track my progress.

Please excuse the quality of the photos, I had to use my tablet as the batteries are flat in my camera.

Once that was done. I got to thinking about the next few weeks. At the moment I am due to be off work for another 4 1/2 weeks, possibly more and after three weeks away I'm beginning to realise that I need some sort of routine or plan to the day. Just minor tasks that can be accomplished without too much strenuous effort.

I've been having a wander around the Internet looking for a day planner where I can record food, jobs, mood and notes for the doctor if necessary on my progress or lack of it.

and I came upon this on Team Confetti site which I think will do the trick, I can simply change the headers if I need to and I like the drinks bit to track water intake. I will see how I get on with this and will also set my alarm for getting up at a regular time.

In the meantime, its soup for lunch then off out to return a bag of unused/out of date medicine to the chemist after having cleared out the medicine cabinet.

I hope you all had a good weekend, speak soon xx

Random 2015 pic,

My good mate Pete popped round round near the end of the year with a prezzie for me, my first Russian spindle. It had since been joined by another one that came all the way from Russia with a lucky coin, I have some silk ready to spin once I'm up and running again:-)

more magazines!!

Cold, frosty and clear this morning, makes a change from the mild weather that we have been having. The forecast is for it to get colder, more rain and maybe snow next week which I will only believe when I see it!

Last year I passed several boxes of magazines to the local charity shop, mainly Embroidery and Patchwork and Quilting ones so I was surprised when I found these in one of the cupboards. Unless there is anything really exciting in them they will be heading off to the charity shop as well.

Todays task is to start on sorting out the embroidery threads, a little light housework if I'm able and a late visit to Morrisons as there is not much food in the house and I've not been able to get out to shop!

Back to 2015

the ceiling of the entrance to the arcade on Weston Super Mare Pier.

goodbye fibre

I thought I had packed away all my knitting and spinning fibres yesterday, the room looks better, just need to clear the surfaces and dust down but sitting here I have just spotted a ball of wool hiding under the computer shelf!

sneaky!!

Anyway back to what I was saying, the room looks better and Ian has chosen the cross stitch picture of the castle for me to do. I've just had a look at the instructions and the chart and I think it will take me several days to sort the threads out!! really nee to do it in daylight. I may enlarge parts of the chart to make it easier on the eye.

I also need to find a frame to work it on, I have several but its more than 20 years since I have done anything like this they are hidden away somewhere....possible the back of the wardrobe.

The reason for wanting a long term project like this is that when I saw my consultant on Tuesday he told me not to go back to work for the time being and we will reassess where we are in a few weeks time once I've had some more tests. This should help keep my brain working :-)

I've also decided this this is a great opportunity to try and eat healthier so I've been looking up soup recipes etc It will be nice to have the chance to cook more rather than the hurried quick meal after work, hopefully it will also save some money as well.

My spindles and knitting needles are looking quite forlorn now, other are in there containers on the shelves but downstairs the winter flowers are adding a spot of brightness to the kitchen

in spite of the winter rain.