2025 Quick Daily Posts

[richardandtracy]

Yes, it would be nice to be kept in the loop a bit, but he does live at some distance: He lives in Madrid.
Physically.

Mentally: Your guess is as good as mine.

Regards,

Richard

[Serinde]

Golly. That calls for making head space, I guess. Sorry to learn about his ongoing tendon issues. That's no joke in his job.

[richardandtracy]

No, it isn't fun. He's going to have a medical review on 2 September, and if that doesn't say he can do the job, he'll be shunted sideways into a desk job. He loathes the idea of being restricted to a desk for his job. I suspect he'll try to take medical retirement rather than have that happen.

Regards,

Richard

[Steam.Jo]

As I mount up a piece of Aida from a Dimensions kit I started to feel a bit of frustration (again) about the cheap and nasty material in their kits I thought I should share my joys

Dimension kits are now made in China This means they have Polyester Aida in the kit which has been folded. The only way I found to get rid of the fold marks was to starch it in my Quilting Iron Press (A standard Iron was not getting rid of the folds). The Aida is tough as old boots and you could hear how hard it was as I trimmed it square using a pair of very sharp dressmaker's scissors. I then needed a serious darning needle to get through it when attaching it to my spare frame.

And of course it has cheap Chinese Thread. Yes it feels rough so it is going to fray


What is wrong with Dimensions? They used to provide lovely DMC thread and cotton Aida.

Jo

[Mabel Figworthy]

That sounds awful - and it won't do their reputation any good!

[Nicola Main]

Hello everyone! I can't remember the last time I was on here but I will need to have a massive catch up! Life has been tough the last year or so, we lost my Dad to cancer last August the same week my nephew, Harry, started primary school. My panic disorder/agoraphobia has been real bad and sometimes it's a struggle to get to work or even want to get out of bed. One constant in life is my stitching. I currently have two on rotation at the moment that I'll post in the Stitch-A-Long after I've written this. I hope you're all doing well and I'm going to try and post in here a lot more! Take care xxx

[richardandtracy]

It's lovely to hear from you again.

I can sympathise having had a few similar events in the last year and it feels like life has a habit of dumping unpleasant events close together. You are very welcome to use us as a shoulder to rest on or cry on or rail against as & when you need. I'm glad you've been able to keep up the stitching - it's both good and calming when the rest of life gets out of control.

All the best, & I hope we'll see you again soon.

Richard.

[Serinde]

NICOLA!! How wonderful to hear from you -- although I'm sorry for all your troubles. So glad you have found your way back to the forum. I'm glad that stitching has been a solace during this time.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Good to hear from you Nicola! I'm glad stitching has been a support throughout all the things that life has been throwing at you. Going to have a look at what you're up to, stitch-wise!

[fccs]

Nice to be kept in the loop...

That’s a very big loop.

[richardandtracy]

Hmm. Yes it is. Before last September I'd not actually seen my brother in person for 32 years, so we're not that close, it has to be said.

Regards,

Richard

[richardandtracy]

The weekend was warm. Or possibly a tad on the HOT side. We spent most of Saturday in a completely shut up house, windows, curtains and doors closed. Kept the temperature vaguely bearable.
On Sunday we'd got to the point with Tracy's stole of sewing each side together and then turning right side outside. This evening's job is to sew the left and right halves togther

We sat in the garden yesterday stitching the backing, interfacing and the front to each other inside out. It took the two of us about 4 hours each. The pattern is Tracy's cross stitching and, as if you can't guess, her favourite flower is a daffodil and her favourite bird is a sparrow. I'll try to get a better photo once done.
I do hope the interfacing (stiffener inside) hasn't shrunk in the wash.

Regards,

Richard

[Mabel Figworthy]

That is beautiful, and all the better for having symbols on it that are meaningful to her. Does she like sparrows ornithologically, theologically (Matthew 10:29-31 springs to mind), or both?

[richardandtracy]

Ornithologically. (please forgive any tripe writing errors).

We have a set of Sparrow flats (six hole box) immediately outside our bedroom window and they shout at us every dawn and any other time of day they choose to visit the nest boxes from the telephone wire outside the nestboxes. We once had one of the cheeky things fly into our bedroom at its bed time, and roost on top of our bedroom door with its head under its left wing. I woke the poor thing up as I grabbed it and let it go through the bedroom window.

Regards,

Richard

[Mabel Figworthy]

It's really good to see more sparrows again - when I grew up they were everywhere, but then numbers seemed to go down rather, and now there seem to be more again. But perhaps that's just where I happened to be, you may have had loads of them all the time.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Impromptu Minion (holding a teddybear) to go with the fairy house grandson made at craft club:

[Nicola Main]

That's a beautiful stole Richard and the sparrows on it are very cute! They are one of my favourite birds too as we have a whole colony live in our garden and I love watching their goings on! Lots of little babies on the go now!

I love the fairy house and the little minion with the teddy bear Mabel!

[richardandtracy]

We finished the stole very late last night - too late for a photo, will have to take a photo after Tracy's ordination as she's off on retreat this evening.
It appears the internal interfacing shrank when we washed it, by about 2" on one side and 1.5" on the other. It meant ironing the stole was a bit of a trial. I steamed it, and as it cooled & dried tried to stretch it, holding the stretched fabric to set in the new position. It partly worked, but it looks a little more ruched than most.

Love the Minion, Mable, and especially the teddy bear.

Regards,

Richard

[Serinde]

Lovely stole, even if sparrows aren't my personal favourites this time of year, when they snip off and eat my pea shoots... And ours shout at us whenever we have the temerity to be in our garden, sorry "their" garden (probably spuggy alarm language for "monsters! Eek!").

[Mabel Figworthy]

Glad you managed to stretch the stole - can you make the remaining ruching look deliberate?
Do pass on my best wishes and congratulations for Tracy's ordination.