WIPocolypse (3) - April 2019

Hello Dear Reader,

This is a fun SAL (Stitch-A-Long) to help us finish some of those neglected projects that may be lurking in some forgotten corner! You can read all about the SAL over at Measi's.

But before you disappear off to visit Measi, and maybe even join in?! let me show you what I've been up to since my last update: HERE

By the way, Measi, if you are looking in, I haven't been able to link up on your blog previously, but I will try again today, and hope I am successful this time.

See who is joining in this month : HERE (on Measi’s blog)

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These are two projects I started last year and finally finished last month, which I can now cross off my WIPocolyspse list.

Camper Van:

Pattern: CrossStitcher Issue No: 332

On a previous post I said I would make some buttons for this bag from Fimo, unfortunately that never happened, but I will make them one day! ..... I had to finish the bag without the buttons so that I could show it at my handicraft group's recent exhibition (sorry no photos).

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Name Badge

I was really pleased to finish my name badge ..... not bad, but maybe the name itself should have been slightly larger! It was a test piece really, and I was trying out reverse applique which I had never attempted before, after seeing Queenie's Mola reverse applique.

The binding was tricky! The first 3 sides were fine, then I had to think of a way to finsh the top ..... which was difficult because I had added a pocket on the back and the binding at the sides were in the way for binding the top. Still with a bit of tweaking it was done! Yay!

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Each month Measi asks us to answer a question and this time the question was:

“ Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO.” 

This has to be my Cocoa Sampler, started: 5.4.2004, at a time when I really wanted to start blogging!

Hard to take a really good photo as it is quite large!

I found some nice photos here on my blog which show the sampler very clearly.

This is a project I never intended to finish quickly. I always thought I'd add a few stitches ..... as and when I felt like it. I have to admit it's taken longer than I imagined!

The next photo shows where I picked up again this week. Every time I look at this sampler I'm encouraged to add a few more stitches, but the frame it is in makes it so awkward to hold and makes my hands hurt after a while! So I start off each time with lots of enthusiasm but then my hands start hurting and back it goes into one of the "Dreaded Cupboards" (my husband says I'm taking over the whole house ..... well, yes, of course!)

The stitches on the left of the heading were stitched previously ..... and I'm working on the right side, err, right where the needle is sticking out!

Oops, sorry the photo is a bit dark

I 've also written about my Cocoa Sampler over at Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics: HERE.

I think its high time I finished this one so I'm determined now to try to finish this year. We'll see!


I don't suppose any of you have this pattern by any chance? I only have a photocopy ..... my sister had the original and I think it went out in one of her "clear outs" ..... trouble is the back stitch is in more than one colour but there is no way of telling from the photocopy where each colour should go!

I'm sure I can work something out but it would be interesting if I could use the right colours.

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Thank you for visiting today ..... it's always nice to hear from you! I'm off to visit a few blogs via Measi to see what everyone else is finishing off! Oh, and my old friends at The Endeavourers have just posted their interpretations of their latest project "Rain", so if you have a few minutes why not come and visit with me.

But, before you go I've got a little story on the subject of buttons! I have finally gotten round to making a jacket of DH's wearable again! Some years ago (and that must be at least five years)  I stole brass buttons from a jacket of his because I needed them on my own jacket to play bowls for the county and comply with their strict dress code! From time to time over the years DH said how nice it would be if his jacket had buttons and he could wear it again. This month, after further pleadings and finally threats to withdraw all labour in the kitchen, and shopping duties (not to mention cat poo duties ..... which he is very good at!) I finally succumbed to putting the buttons back on. Unfortunately the weather has now changed and he can't wear it until next year!

Hey ho, never mind eh, another job done!

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Look forward to seeing you again in a month ..... for another WIPocolypse, let's see if I can tick some more projects off the list then.

Polka Dot Lady has had a couple of visits, perhaps I can think of a few ideas how to finish her! Tee hee!

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But I do have another post almost ready to go, about a few new things I'm working on. So that should be here before the next WIPocolypse!

Have a great weekend!


See you soon!




Hugs,
Barbara xxx

WIPocolypse - progress and a date for the diary

This is a SAL for the projects we want to finish before the end of the world:

Hosted by Measi's Musings

Unfortunately my list is growing as I remember things I really would like to finish, like "NOW"!

But progress has been slow because its generally the case that when something is put away it has been because the next step is not so easy and needs a little consideration and planning!

Updated list

(Progress is in blue ink)
(Other projects rediscovered)

Cross Stitch:

1. Camper Van - started last year -  needs handles and picture attaching to front of bag.
2. Bee needle case - started last year - still needs FFO.
3. Etoilé thread sampler - framing.
4. Easter cross stitch piece - framing.
5. Polka Dot Lady quilt - finishing.
6. "Stitches" - unfinished.
7. Night time - finishing.
8. Tatty Teddy - back stitching and framing.

Quilting:

1. Polka Dot lady
2. Dormouse
3. Laundry day
4. Name badge (nah, not a lot! Got it out, played with the binding, no inspiration, so it's back on its shelf!!!!
5. Plus two others - block painting

Assorted Embroidery:

1. Goldwork picture
2. Stitch sampler bag
3. Crewel Work (found in the Dreaded Cupboard)

Knitting

1. Luna (another one in the DC)

Some of you might remember the "Camper Van" I stitched in the summer of 2018:

This January I used my new sewing machine to make handles, but as the binding has already been stitched around the top of the pouch I found I needed a different method for adding the handles.

Oops, I'm sure its not really wonky!

After seeing a demonstration of how to use Fimo for Millefiore I decided to drag some out from one of my deepest stash cupboards to make buttons:

But my Fimo is old and needs plenty of working to make it pliable enough to make buttons, so this may take a while!

Our host, Measi, asked what other SALs we are participating in:

• I mentioned previously that I am joining in with a Pin cushion swap over at Beaquilter - and you may have seen the pincushion I sent in January to Bethan, and I received mine from Meloney. February's pin cushion is still a WIP. And this is the second pincushion I've received in the swap from my super quilting friend Turid of Den syende himmel (visit Turid's blog for lots of wonderful stitching - quilting and pin cushions).

• there is a hand stitching QAL at Elm Street Quilts but unfortunately I haven't had time to join in after all, but if you are interested it looks a lot of fun!
• and I am stitching a little something for Jo's (Serendipitous Stitching) Secret Stitching Sweethearts blog hop in a couple of weeks time that I hope I will be able to finish in time!

And even more urgently I need some finishes as the handicraft group I attend has an exhibition of work in March (hopefully before the end of the world, tee hee) and I'd really like to have something to display!


Anyway, here are the deets for anyone who lives nearby:

If any of you are coming do let me know.

Happy Stitching everyone!

Hugs,

Barbara xxx

A DrEAmi Finish! Coffee Koozie

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for the lovely comments on my last post, I really appreciate them!

Today is all about my Coffee Koozie! This is my DrEAmi (Drop Everything and Make It) project which I will be linking to Sandra's DrEAMi party! And as it is a finish I will also be linking to Crazy Mom Quilts on Friday for Finish it up Friday.

But first of all, just to let you know, I'm still working on my CV bag (Camper Van)

..... oooh! I nearly forgot to say, I am making this from a tutorial “Just a little Purse” which I found on Pinterest from SewMamaSew, but, like you do, I am changing a few things slightly as I'm making it.

One of those changes being the lining. "Don't do this at home!" as they used to say on some programme on TV ..... was it Blue Peter? well, maybe not! But anyway, I put my front and back together, stitched them, bound the edges and then decided I had to quilt the inside as well as the back of the bag .....

it wasn't easy! I had to have one hand inside the bag to make sure the stitches didn't go through to the back (front actually!).

I decided to quilt the inside because the lining sagged
once the bag was turned through.

I only quilted the middle, it didn't really
need quilting all over.

..... but I got totally distracted when I visited Patty's blog and saw her Coffee Koozie! Patty has a link to the tutorial! (Mind, if you go to visit her right now, don't forget to come back!) 

Anyway, I couldn't resist making one, could I?! 

Well it all started with the idea that the squares could be "leaders and enders" while I stitched my CV bag .....

Edited 31.08.18:  Adding the binding: 

I was really happy with the finish of the binding,
bit hard to see maybe, but it's gone really well.

but, once I got as far as stitching the blocks together this was where my Coffee Koozie  became my DrEAmi project which I just had to carry on and finish!

Made using the "Quilt as you go" method (see it on the tutorial).

Everything went swimmingly ..... until I started "top stitching" .....

Disaster struck big time!

I machine stitched all the way round but wasn't happy with the way the stitching looked and had to pull all the stitches out, which was tricky because when my machine had hit the joining seams they had gone from size 4 to 0 .... it was almost impossible to get that lovely pink thread undone.

Anyway, I eventually finished the Coffee Koozie, replacing the machine top stitching with hand stitching.

Don't you just love that apple green lining ..... ?

Soooo ...... this does mean my poor CV bag is still waiting to be FFO (Fully finished off)!

Oh, and this is my latest little cross stitch kit ..... just started. More about the details next time. 

and no doubt you can tell ..... I can't decide which method to use to keep my place!



 Anyway, you can see I still have plenty of stitching to amuse me!


Hope you are all keeping well! I'm off to try to catch up on visiting all you guys now!

See you soon!!!





Hugs,
Barbara xxx

Linking to: Sandra's DrEAMi party

and            Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday

P.S. Sorry guys, that header is a bit big, I'll try to find something smaller next time!

Gifted Gorgeousness and TUSAL - August 2018

Hello Dear Blogging Friends,


I'm linking to Daffycat's blog for this month's TUSAL report. 
TUSAL is where we show pictures of our ORTs (leftover threads), for no particular reason (other than that they look kind of pretty)!

Both of the items I'm making also come under the category of "Gifted Gorgeousness" which, in case you don't know, is where we write about stitchy gifts given and received. Both of the following are gifts from magazines so I am shoehorning them in!

Jo! Don't faint ...... I've done it! I worked out how to add the Gifted Gorgeousness photo at last! 

To discover who else is joining in visit Jo at Serendipitous Stitching by clicking ..... HERE!

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No new projects just yet as I'm trying to make sure I finish these two before I start working on my next project for Art Quilt group I'm a member of ..... The Endeavourers.

Our next challenge is an Improve Quilt!! I haven't done Improv before so it'll be a crash course in learning "how to"! It's funny though, last quarter the challenge was "Spiral" and I just couldn't think what to make ..... it was hard to think of something original, most things have been done before after all! I was really nervous, but, after a false start ..... eventually, I thoroughly enjoyed making my piece.


But, anyhow, I digress! Back to the subject .....

My ORTs are mainly from my Bee needle case which is finished except for stitching the case itself together, and some were from finishing the Camper Van, and, before you say it, I know they don't look much, but I do use each thread as close to the end as possible, so there isn't much left to gather!

Almost finished!

If only I didn't hate back stitch so!

But, of course, it actually didn't take long, once I made myself sit down and stitch!

These fabric ORTs are from my Spiral quilt and also from the little Summer pouch I'm making for Camper Van. 

(If you haven't read about either the Camper Van or the Bee needle case you can read more about them here!)

A little irksome cutting up a zip for the pocket, but at least I've used something that has been in the "Dreaded Cupboard" for forever (it seems).

Of course I got this far and then decided the back would look better quilted (that's the pink fabric). Took a while before I decided how to quilt it, but I made my mind up eventually. 

I'm going to "box" the corners, it's so much easier to find things when you've got a flat bottom, don't you think? Then, I'll attach the Camper Van to the front, oh, and I need to make and add a strap.

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I couldn't finish today without a picture from the garden .....

DH and I were watching "Gardeners' World" on TV last week when Monty Don showed a phenomenon we hadn't seen before!

..... these amazing little chaps will grow up to be Ostrich Ferns!!!! 

At least, that's what I think that's what they're called .... and they will grow up to look like this:

Ostrich Fern which just happens to be growing in our
garden, and we never knew how it propagated itself before!

Strangely enough the little guys don't grow under the main plant, and the little chaps had suddenly sprung up in a plant pot quite a distance from any other ferns.

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Well, what have you been stitching?

Hugs,

Barbara xxx

And if you want to know what TUSAL is, why not pop over to Daffycat's blog to find out more!

Gifted Georgousness and TUSAL - JULY 2018

Awwwwh!

I was going to post so early this month! I was almost ready a day early! Unfortunately I rushed taking my photos and then wasn't sure whether to go ahead writing a post with those photos ...... then every day since we seem to have been so busy! It's been sooo hot! I know, our hot is nothing compared to other parts of the world, but we just aren't ever prepared for the vast changes in temperature here in the UK!

Oh, and then last week we made the mistake of going shopping on Oxford Street on the very day of the Trump protests! It was quite scary. We went for lunch in a lovely little restaurant just off Regent Street and when we came back out onto Regent Street masses of protesters were making their way towards Oxford Circus.  I really detest the underground, and because the buses were all redirected we ended up walking from Regent Street to Victoria on one of the hottest days of the year. Phew!