BFF SAL 9 - I want to be a...

... Lady of leisure? Dolphin? Dragon? Tree? Knot that meets up? 

Had a lovely week and a half off work, with lots of stitching.  So definitely the first one appeals.

A deep sense of relief when finishing the majority of the first side of the design, and knowing that the knots meet each other where I'd started top and bottom. 

Right now the incomplete knots at the bottom right make this look not quite symmetrical, but I'm fairly confident it's just an illusion.  Nevertheless, I have started filling them in to be certain! 

Thankfully no impending decisions required regarding what's next to stitch, as (certainly for me at least) there is a long way still to go. I'm informed by the software that it is only 24.79% complete.   My BFF may end up with it more than once in that time!! 

And then we have a plan of sorts for the next one, and even maybe a maybe for after that... Who knows? 

Check out my BFF's update on http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com

BFF SAL 9 - Side swipes

Having to progressively zoom out to capture more of the design. This week I'm starting to work on the left side close to the first border. Not sure whether I will do that to completion, or match up a little more of the other side yet. 

To answer a couple of questions from previous comments - no, we will keep you in suspense for a while yet as to designer and pattern name.  I can reveal that it's a Ukrainian seller on Etsy, I'd like to say that was a deliberately chosen thing to support the country, but as I only just realised that yesterday I would not be telling the truth!!

I get the feeling I will be stitching more from this designer, as I'm really enjoying it.

We talked also about how the time limit we've imposed has been encouraging us to work on our other stitching too.

Check out my BFF's update on http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com

Cutting through the noise - my friendly neighbourhood Pattern Keeper

Sometimes you go to pick up a piece of stitching and wonder why you don't do it very often. 

This is one such for me. 

So, it sits.. The amount of detail and teeny half stitch work here on Bucilla's "Mother and Child" is astronomical! 

But lately I've taken to working with excerpts of the pattern in my Pattern Keeper app.  This allows me to zoom in and view the details much more than I can on the paper pattern. 

I'm also finding that very useful on the Big SAL. 

I also like the stitch count and progress indicators, however it's a teeny bit daunting to see the total stitches yet to go, along with how small the amount of progress is so far!! 

Definitely worth a download if you're an android user though, there's a small charge but I feel like it's worth every penny I spent on it. 

BFF SAL 9 - changing the guidelines

Not breaking the rules, cos they're our rules to interpret as we go along.

Now I know we said no work on this one this week while we were finishing BFF SAL 8... But err.. Well.

Firstly we decided that we were too drawn to the pattern to just be stitching once a week.  So we allowed ourselves a 3 hour slot to be broken up however we like over the weekend.

Reaching the end of the 3 hours without reaching the end of the desire to stitch on it, so we needed a new rule. So we are now allowing up to an hour a day on non-Skype, non weekend days. No anticipation permitted against tomorrow's allocation, but rollovers allowed from days where we have not had our time. So today I have an hour and twenty minutes to add to the allocated hour.

So that being said, slightly more progress (6.98% complete according to my Pattern Keeper app) than anticipated to show you all this week.

Am finding stitching in a single colour very soothing. 

Check out my BFF's update on http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com when she's posted. 

BFF SAL 8 - love is in the air?

The love of being finished that is.

Those hearts are supposed to be balloons on the pattern.. No that is just too twee for words!

So the first one became just a heart. The second one was trying to style a smaller heart like the first one, but I think it looks more like lips pursed for a kiss!  Ah well it fits the theme and I like it enough to keep it!

Right now it is resting on the felt provided but I'm not certain it will stay there. 

Onwards towards the Big Project once again.

Check out my BFF's update on http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com

A small jump to a big project - BFF SAL 9

Oopsie... We did plan to finish BFF SAL 8 this week first.

But we were getting itchy fingers and the desire to start BFF SAL 9 was just too great! 

You'll soon see that although our approach to where we're stitching is similar (centre out), our approach to the fabric choice and subsequent size is very different!!

This is the biggest piece of material I've stitched with, not that I'm expected to fill it all.  But it's also the smallest count. This is my first piece on 18 count, I've bought some in the past for a particular project but never got round to using it as I changed my mind.

Bobbin and rug for scale... My material is 19 x 21 inches! 

We're both really enjoying this one.  The pattern calls for a single colour, but we may change our minds when we get to the next stage. 

We've also discussed some alternative rules for stitching on this, as I feel like neither of us really wanted to keep it purely for a once weekly session.  But likewise we are keen to maintain a balance, as the single colour lends itself very well to overdoing things and stitching long into the night! So I think a set permitted limit for outside stitching will be quite nice. 

For this week though, no extracurricular action allowed, as we both have to finish BFF SAL 8 offline and then share our finishes. 

Now check out my BFF's update on http://apatchworkofcrafts.blogspot.com

A Season for Everything

I worked on this mini blackwork piece over a few months, and finished only in February. The shapes suggested seasons of the year to me, so I chose colours representative of those seasons.

I think I need to spend some time framing pieces again, the Washing Line of Smalls is full and these pieces are a little too big to display in that way. It's about 4 inches wide on the design. 

I'd quite like to find another novel way to display some of the pieces, any ideas?