#309 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 36.31 completed

 Lines 100 to 110 completed too.

Hugs

Kay xx

#308 - I've been away for a bit

I have not been around for a week, because I have had a stroke and have been in hospital.  

Things are going great, but because of a surgical procedure, and the effects of the stroke I have not been able to do very much at all.  Today, however, has been a fairly good day and I even managed to go out for a little walk.

I had to log on today to download my Mother's Day gifts from my darling Husband and Kiddos, as I would have run out of time, but given the circumstances I know that HAED would have been understanding about it if had missed doing it.

These are the designs that I had chosen: 

Patron Saint of Green Chilie by Jeff Haynie

The cat looks like my grandparents cat when I was little, who was called Mandy, even though he was a boy!  I simply adore the mice at the bottom.

Day Night by John Shannon

This design is so peaceful and serene, and I think will give me the happy medium I relish of confetti and bigger blocks to get my teeth into.

Mini Moonstone by John Shannon

A similar colour scheme, not surprising as it is the same designer as the last one.  The sky and standing stones called to my soul though.

I am a lucky, lucky girl as I have had so many lovely wishes, and flowers from family and friends, for which I am eternally grateful.  I have to say that apart from one slight wobble in the middle of the night in the emergency room, when I was all alone in what appeared to be a empty strange part of the hospital waiting on a CT Scan that I never felt frightened, and to Father Creator I thank you for that you held my feet.

Hugs

Kay xx

#307 - Busting out the electronic die cutter and machine appliqué

 

When I gift vouchers or gift cards I like to do something than shove them in a plain envelope.  So, with a birthday this week, I decided to do a bit of free-style appliqué.

It’s the usual DMC storage bag, but a bit longer than normal, with a steam binding stem, tiny hosts leaves and a set of flower dies from way back when things like dies were new to the market.

I didn’t even bother switching out to a free motion foot  (although it would have been easier.

The top flower has some messy stamens added, but I am not sure I’d I will add to the other flowers, maybe just little larks head knots in the blue cotton or some little beads.

PS: In the end I just used some Distress Ink, and love the little circle detail on the smaller flowers.

Enough messing around now,  there is a quick cuppa in my immediate future and I will toddle off to the garden.

Hugs

Kayxx

#306 - HAED Mini Bouquet - HAED Mini Bouquet - 32.02% completed

 

I have completed lines 81 to 90 just now.  Although, I am amazed I have got that far as there has been general lollygagging in the form of Rolag making whilst watching the Pride and Prejudice film with Keira Knightly.

Hugs

Kay xx

#305 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 31.75% completed

 

 

…  and Mission 33 completed too (Challenge Page has been updated).

I’ve been spinning, or at least trying to, this morning, which was mildly more successful than m6 previous attempts, but have put my wheel away and I’m going to start stitching.  Another set of lines should be completed tonight, and I am not too far away from Page 2 completion.

To keep on track with beating 2021 I need to clear the deficit, which is 1,314 after yesterday, and have a >279 to stitch before I can step on my crampons and head up the side of the deficit ditch.  Wish me luck!

Mission 34 is a big one with 8,753 required, so i am going to stick to this WIP, but there are three new HAED designs sitting in my inbox for Mother’s Day.

Laters peeps.

Hugs

Kay xx

#304 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 30.20% completed

 

Part of my spinning learning was to try using commercially spun yarn and practice getting it pulled on to the bobbin with minimal twist, which went fairly well.  Then as part of plying practice implied that with commercially spun mohair yarn in the opposite direction … one way is S twist and the other Z twist,  it I wouldn’t lie to you and pretend I know which is which.

Then I used my new LAMXD ball winder to take it off the bobbin.  There was a nasty tangling incident, and I had to break the yarn and start all over again, but I think this was a tension issue as I was using my onboard Lazy Kate and did not pay proper attention to the fact that you can have no tension whilst doing that.

Usually, a Niddy Noddy is used to take the yarn off the bobbin (there is no excuse here as I have on) which creates a skein, and then that is placed on a Swift (I don’t have one because I thought I had ordered the ball yarn winder and swift combo and it turns out I did not).  The yarn then spins round like a whirling dervish whilst the handle on the ball winder is turning and creates these fun yarn cakes … anything utilising the word cake is good!

I still have another bobbin of this stuff to ply with mohair and then wind.  I think a Swift is going to be ordered today.  Another slight issue I had was that the winder kept coming loose, but I am sure this is down to the table.  So the Darling One will be asked nicely to make me a platform to mount it on, or I will have to do it in the new shed when 5he work bench goes in.  Although, I am not sure when that will be as the paining hasn’t begun in there.

Last night I finished another set of lines (71 to 80) and also reached 30% complete with the design,  I’m still going on the current mission.

I would have done more, but was playing wit( my other new tool the Blending Board from Wingham Wool.  It was fun, but took me a time or two to be able to realise that I was winding it of on to the dowels way too tightly, but more to follow in that shortly,

Have a great day.

Hugs

Kay xx

#304 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 29.26% completed

 

… and I’m currently stitching in the deficit ditch after completing the >190 to match this day a year ago.

I’ve also managed to make another 9 DMC storage bags, and decided to use some of my own dyed fabric, the turquoise (Rock Pool) is a batik from over 5 years ago and I also had a small piece of mottled blue gray (Stormy Sea) from about 4 years ago dyed with Denim and Tan Rit Liquid dye.

There is time for a bit more hanging in the deficit ditch stitching tonight, and I am close to a set of line finishes.

Nothing much else to report other than I still have an ear infection.

Have a great evening.

Hugs

Kay xx

#303 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 28.20%

Whoop whoop, Page one has left the building.

Page two should not be that far behind it!

I’m currently 161 stitches into my target of >219 stitches, after which I will be chipping away at the deficit to meet/better the 2021 total.  So my behind will be staying in this chair until 219 is reached, and my tummy will just have to rumble until then.

Stay in love and light.

Hugs

Kay xx

#302 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 27.29% completed

 

… and Mission 32 completed.  I am starting the next one, but it is of medium length at 3,205 so it will take a day or two to do.

To keep chipping away at my deficit to exceed 2021 I need to do >215 stitches, obviously I’ve done 147 already, and am hoping that I can at least match it, or get to 300 as it is already late and I want to practice some spinning.

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Hugs

Kay xx

#301 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 27.09% completed

 

Mission 31 also completed (challenge page updated).

Need to do 147 tomorrow for Mission 32 and ensure I do >215 stitches to reduce the deficit from this time last year (3,285).

Hugs

Kay xx

#300 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 26.96% completed

 

Mission 30 completed … I’ve updated the challenge page on top bar.

I’ve also reached the target for this day last year of >163, and as Mission 31 is only 73 stitches, I will get that completed tonight after supper with what will be bonus stitches.  I was really surprised how quickly I completed the previous Mission, so it bodes well for finishing this journey across the Galaxy.

Page 1 finish should be within the next few days, which will be another milestone.  I know that it would seem from my “obsession” with targets that I am competitive, but actually it is generally only with myself,  and not others, so is fairly harmless and keeps me off the streets.

Have a great evening.

Hugs

Kay xx

#299 - DMC Storage Bags

 

I made nine of the DMC storage bags today, the blue one was from a scrap, and the pink and orange from fat quarters.  I can usually get four bags from one fat quarter.

I love the orange and pink colour combination, but it hardly matters as they will just slot in upholding he scrappy nature of the curation of the storage.

There are still many more bags to make, and I would ideally like a few spares for new colours,but slow and steady will win the race with batches made up here and there.

I’m not sure if I have said before, but I have an interfacing and bag template, and then pink plain cotton tags from 2 inch strips.

So I usually cut out a pile of interfacing, then do the same for the bag bodies and pile them up. Then I can spend a little time ironing in the interfacing to the body, and then ironing the top seams with my heat ruler and clipping them in place with wonder clips.  

Once that is done I head pop them on the sewing machine table, where I have a little pile of the plain labels so that I can them hem the top seams, and sew on the labels.  Then when I have time I do a pile of side seams, clip the corners and turn through.  They then get a press and the number is written on with an Eddings Laundry Marker and heat set

Hugs

Kay xx

#298 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 26.03% completed

 … and roll up, roll up, roll up.  It was time last night to roll the frame on up peeps - it makes it much easier to stitch if I am not overextended.

The house is oh so quiet this morning, the darling one is using up annual leave and Lu went to bed really late so is also still asleep.  My baked oats re in the oven and I have out-stitched 3 March last year [>149] with 157 under my belt, which means I have tippy towed over into bonus stitches for the day.  Although, I will take a break after breakfast and do chores. Hopefully, I can fit some spinning practice in too.

I also need some more fabric floss bags, the interlining has been cu out for a small batch, I just need to grab a fat quarter and my ironing board to prep them for sewing.

Have a good day.

Hugs

Kay xx

#297 - HAED Mini Bouquet - 24.36% completed

 

… and another set of lines, 61 to 70 to be precise.  8 am also closing in on 25% and less than 2,000 ish on the current Mission, which has been a long one.

I am not sure if I have discussed on here that I want to exceed my stitch count for 2021, which was 158,482 stitches.  I will freely admit that I am a few thousand short on the total I had accumulated this time in 2021, but the go is closing.  I think the reason I am behind, strangely, is that I don’t work any more and I have plenty of time.  I know, it makes no sense, other than I was stressed and unhappy before and packed in stitching to ease my creative soul.  Now I have more or less unlimited time to stitch in theory, I my soul is trying out other things like spinning and knitting, and I only seem to stitch in the evenings.  On the upside of that though, is the fact that I am well practiced in stitching, and am much, much quicker.

I am a complete sad sack and keep a cumulative record of my stitching, so I can see at a glance how many stitches I did the same time last year, month, etc.  So I am going to use this as a guide to working out is I am on track with the target to stitch more stitches last year than this - even 1 stitch more is more, right?

That having been said on 1 March 2021 I stitched 357, and today I have made a concerted effort to stitch, achieving 488 (there will for sure be more stitching tonight), so I am up on the deal and have narrowed the deficit considerably already.  Obviously, if there were days when I achieved 1,000 plus it will be difficult, it on the flip side of that no stitch days, although there are few, provide me with opportunity to catch up.

Sorry, I am sad ....but it makes me tick!

I am hoping that I can find some time to spin later this afternoon, but do have to return to the real world and accomplish tasks first.

Hugs and blessings all.

Kay xx