Back Stitching

Whenever I sat down to do the back stitching on the owl, someone would come, or would phone.  By the time they'd gone, Daniel would be back home.  It seemed to take ages before I could get this section finished.

It's now done and a start has been made on the foliage that goes at the top right.  Just a little bit of that to cross stitch and outline, and I can turn over to the last page.  It's only about a third of a page, so I'm hoping it won't take too much longer to do.

Before he went out, I did get two more crumb blocks done to add to the bag.  It won't be too long and I'll decide on sashing fabric and make up a quilt.  There's just a couple more projects to finish up first.

Remember Us?

Daniel has been at college doing a couple of transition days, so I've been able to work on these little fellows.

The one on the right is the latest one to be finished.  He's been cross stitched and had the back stitch detailing done.  That means one more owl to do.

Owl Update

It's not been a bad week for working on the owls.  It's just as well, as I thought I was going to be boyless for ten days this month, but their holiday has been put back due to the bad weather.  I'll get a weekend free, but have lots of paperwork to catch up with.

I managed to get all the cross stitch done on the owl,

and then after several hours, the back stitch detail was done.  You can't see the full extent of it on this photo, but believe me, it went on forever.

I had a good laugh when I too the photo, the camera came up with a warning-"blink detected"!  I don't think I could ask for a better compliment to my stitching.

I am now working on the foliage to the left which will complete another page of instructions.

The Details

Things are back to normal here this week, and Daniel is back out to Spanish and piano.  This means the owls can come back out of hiding.

The middle owl now has the back stitched detail added and it's now back to the cross stitch.  I am doing the next page to the left, so the next milestone will be the owl on the left being finished.

Summer Days

Yesterday was the day for sorting and packing up swaps ready for posting.  The needle case is finished and packed, photos once it reaches it's new home.

Next were the blocks for the Barn Door Swaps.  Unfortunately. the other blocks got packed before I remembered the photos.

This was all done in time for the start of the grand prix.  Then it was time to sit and finish the back stitching and french knots on the cross stitch.

That's both the stitched pieces done, now is the time to choose the fabric to make them into a wall hanging.  I have some ideas, but it may be a little time before it gets finished.  I am determined to shrink the pile next to my sewing table first.

Stage One Complete

I have been plugging away at the Warm/Dry cross stitch, and now it is all done.

Now comes the fun part, all the back stitch detail.

At the same time, there is some piecing going on, but it is taking a little while to get anything put together.  Maybe if I could stay home a bit more, it would get done quicker.

Friday Night Sew In

Finally, I'm beginning to get some projects completed, and it feels good.   There's nothing like knowing that lots of people will be joining in on the FNSI to get you motivated.

This is the first of the purple table toppers to get completed.  I used simple quilting on this one.  I went around the ditch of the inner square and then diagonally across from the inner corners.  The binding was machine stitched on, and a quick finish was the result. 

The rest of the evening was spent adding more back stitch detailing to the the cross stitch.  Hopefully,  a couple more evenings will see this done.  In the meantime, the garden is calling out for some attention.

When you think you're finished

Over the last week or so, my quiet moments have been spent cross stitching, and it always feels like a finish when all the cross stitching is complete.

However, with this design, there is lots of backstich, long stitch and french knots to do before I can say goodbye to this one.

Eventually, there will be a set of two pictures made into a wall hanging, but it will take a little while to do.