Re-assessed & Progress.

Last night I had a change of thought & decided to unpick the entire stitching on the present piece of Floba. After all, I can get started faster with most of the gridding already done, with a few repairs.
In the meantime the photo promised from last week.

The light is not good on the second hexagon row, although this photo is better than the one I took earlier, which had too much colour reflection from the walls and curtains. It is getting harder to capture a full shot as more is stitched. Perhaps now would be a good time to install my Flannel board in the sewing room, for future photos.

Hiatus in Stocking Stitching.

Do you ever find yourself in a similar situation?

After finding my miscalculation, and doing the reverse stitching required to remedy the problem, I was looking at where so much progress had once appeared, when I had a sudden realisation. :(:(
I had carefully gridded the Floba, as usual and somewhere in my enthusiasm to get on with the project, I had turned the fabric upside down/inside out to start stitching. Unfortunately, for me, I noticed there would not be enough fabric for the toe of the stocking. I seemed to loose my mojo for this piece immediately. With twenty four hours hindsight, I have decided to start on another piece of fabric and undo the original at another time, for future use. Luckily I have a spare piece of Floba or two.
Considering I was all the way down to the completion of the wee sheep's head, the removal of that, along with half the shepherd's robe and head gear, took over an hour. There is much frogging still to do, as you can see. So far today all I have managed, is to remove some of the gridding threads.

Stitching Progress.

The top right hand corner of the quilt went together last week and I am rather pleased with the result. Because I use manila folders as templates, = 220gsm thickness, my fingers were a tad tender. I have taken a short break from covering & stitching the hexagons together in sections.
I need to take a better photo of this stage of the quilt, until then, stitching related objects. Above, a small selection of some of my thimble collection.

Although not stitching related this is a favourite, pretty, small dish. It was an engagement present, many moons ago, from a dear friend.

As mentioned before, I resumed work on a WIP, a SB Christmas stocking. I plan on moving at a steady pace this week and next, so photo updates will appear as progress happens.:):)

Wheels Again.

Does n't look too bad...........However when the bumper bar was removed

it was more serious. The insurance assessor estimated the car behind was doing 45-50klms when she ploughed into our stationery vehicle. I'm glad it is a strong wee beast. We were lucky the spare wheel & tyre absorbed the impact, with two little chaps in the back seat.

Early this afternoon we received the call we have been waiting on, for 6 weeks. My little chariot is restored to look like new. Wow! never thought I would appreciate the convenience of my wee car, so much. We insisted on new spare parts, so guess that is why it took so long.

Yesterday, I had reached the plimsoll line. Bussing & returning to the supermarket, climbing the hill from the bus stop, the fifty stair climb up the mountainside loaded to the eyeballs with shopping & collapsing in the front door in a heap, had lost its' appeal. The whole rigmarole was never really appealing to start with. LOL. If the car had not been ready this afternoon, we had resolved to look at buying a second vehicle over the weekend. It is the first time we have not had an alternative vehicle, in nearly 100 years. LOL.
Not that another rear ender is required, however collective opinion thinks it is time for DH to acquire his own vehicle, in the not too distant future.

Another Work in Progress.

Progress on Shepherd's Bush, 'Reed' stocking, my eighth one so far. It is an easy stitch, using perle thread on Floba, a pleasant medium to use, as a change from patchwork fabric & template paper. I planned to have this completed for last Christmas however, now seems a good time to have it on the 2010 completions list.
I love the style of SB charts, especially the stockings. Last year I purchased another 2 stocking charts, to stitch for DH & myself.

174 and counting..

Here is a photo of the latest 174 hexagons, although not all attached in one piece.
Others have been covered and await placement at a later date.





I thought the underside was also interesting enough to share a photo.


Cross stitching has been neglected since pursuing the hexagon quilt. I'm feeling the need to stitch something more manageable, in hand, at the moment.

I 've joined a regular, wonderful, Christmas Ornament Exchange, once again this year. Something I 've done & enjoyed for several years. Being part of that exchange has made it possible to meet with other wonderful stitchers from many different locations. I also joined, a Halloween Ornament Exchange, last week. These two very pleasant commitments, will provide a welcome distraction from the hexagons for a very short period. If I am still feeling the need for a smaller stitching project, one of my WIP's will suffice.

No start has been made on the planned coat, although I did buy a selection of interesting buttons,. Which one to use, is a further choice, when the coat is completed. Hopefully this project can be under way soon. I still have lining and specific interfacing to locate. When the car is returned there are several fabric places yet to investigate. The last weeks, without the convenience of my car, has made me truly grateful for my own wheels.

Hexagon by Hexagon.

The top right hand corner of the quilt background is almost stitched together. Not in the time frame I had planned, although closer than this time last week. I have covered & stitched into rows the 150 templates, so more need to be prepared for the third section. Photos tomorrow.

My DH shared this with me, from where he found it, somewhere on the web.

In this 2010 month of August, we get to experience 5 Sundays, Mondays & Tuesdays. It will not happen again for another 823 years, so enjoy it this time around.

Commemorating A Rite of Passage.

"It is the sweet things of life which are the real ones, after all."
Laura Ingalls Wilder.

August 9th, 2010.

Louise, Happy Birthday Darling.

Who'd have thought from this, much earlier "rite of Passage for us,

to four years & three weeks later, came one of our life's many blessings.

The beautiful woman you are today.

Back to the Quilt.

I am happy to say, as many others can attest, one can always be uplifted when immersed in stitching, Whether it be patchwork, quilting, crossstitch, embroidery or, one of the other many choices available with needle & thread. No doubt, artists would say the same about having colour and paint brush to hand. For that matter, I know it is the same for whatever pastime brings you joy and banishes all other thoughts. I am truly grateful to be able to play with colour, which happens to be fabrics, in this instance. As promised earlier this week, the hexagon progress photo. I hope you enjoy seeing how it is coming along. It is a much more demanding task, timewise, than I first envisaged, although there is nothing quite like a challenge. :) As it comes together I am inspired to achieve more, towards the completion.

Yesterday a friend came for lunch & some shared stitching & chat time. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day, such a treat, after all the wet weather since May. I managed to cut out 150 hexagon templates, ready for covering, only managing to cover thirty last night. A tad more than that, needed before the next section goes together.

Amidst Life's Encounters.

It's interesting now & then, the way life throws a curve ball, as one is merrily sauntering along, minding ones' own affairs. The best part for me, is the ability of the human spirit to triumph & rise above the swill, trying to assault the equilibrium. One can chose to suffer the onslaught of such swill, or recognise the lessons it may be masking. The latter seems to be the intelligent option to chose, thereby, rendering much wisdom and exposing wolves in sheep's clothing.