Jo's stitching 2021

[Mabel Figworthy]

Lovely to see that little bird turn up!

[Steam.Jo]

I have finished off all those little holes that were in the grass on my Peacock and have started work going up the tail and the tree trunk:



As the temperature is still warm my Butterflies is back in the Conservatory and the first of the flowers is emerging on the background.



I am enjoying both of these but I must be careful because sitting around doing cross stitch is not counted as exercise and I need to do more of that

Jo

[rcperryls]

for the progress on both pieces! They are both beautiful and I can certainly understand enjoying stitching them.

but I must be careful because sitting around doing cross stitch is not counted as exercise and I need to do more of that

Truer words have never been spoken. My doctor said it's okay to exercise my fingers, but there is a whole lot of me that needs more .

Carole
(dancing emojis count only as virtual exercise which doesn't help much either )

[wendywombat]

Just come back from a " there and back again" walk.
Up as far as...then stop by the oak tree...then back.

I think that I shall call that oak tree As!

[Squirrel]

I beg to differ - it is exercise of the mind, eyes fingers and occasionally bodies & legs as one goes to get a cold/hot drink.

[Mabel Figworthy]

They are both looking wonderful!

[Steam.Jo]

Thank you Ladies,

This evening I had another set back with my Peacock - a second thread colour has run out. There was only one length of this to start with and looking across the chart I reckon there should have been at least 3 lengths (of 6 strands), if not more. Another skein has been ordered but will not be here before the weekend.

This is the second colour that has been short so far on this piece. It is not helped where I need to mix different colour threads and the colours have not been cut the same length so that is also wasting thread .

To make this even worse I thought I had some spare thread this colour on one of my bobbins but thankfully I always check bobbin colours against the chart and who ever wound it (not my writing on it ) got it wrong.

Jo

[Serinde]

How frustrating!

[wendywombat]

Don't you just hate it when you run out of threads!

[rcperryls]

and why I don't love kits. I rarely choose a kit because of similar issues I've had in the past, but sometimes there isn't an option. I am assuming the threads are from a kit (I looked back and saw that the cover said "kit"). Did it give you the DMC or Acorn number for the threads. When I was stitching the birth samplers for my grand nephew I asked for the numbers but because of the problems with copyright violators they won't give them out which is understandable, but annoying. Hope you get your threads soon.

Carole

[fccs]

Frustrating! Hopefully you’ll get what you need and not run out of more.

[Steam.Jo]

I have never had any other kits that were short of thread, just this one by Leisure Arts.

Thankfully the other two TW "kits" I purchased someone had put them together themselves so there are full skeins of each colour in the quantities listed on TW's website. And I have just realised both of them have a skein of the missing thread in them so I won't have to wait for the replacement to arrive

The Lanarte/Thea Governeur kits don't give any thread colour numbers but that is where my thread colour charts come in handy. Other kits like the Bothy Threads give you enough to do the pattern twice and I see that Fleabay has an active market for the kit remains .

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

Slightly earlier than I would normally post my weekly update but the forum has gone quiet so here goes:

There is a bit of a tail developing on my Peacock tapestry:



I keep worrying that the Kreink Metallic Peacock thread might run out (based on previous experience ) so I have found someone who sell them at £1.50 a reel (plus as much for postage )

The Sun came out on Thursday so I got a bit more done on my Butterflies:



As you can see I have been working on the Magnolia flower and giving it a bit more structure by working on the frame.

As we wait for Wendy to post picture of her new house, I saw this lovely picture of two Puffins:



Which reminded me of her and what she must be going through trying to move into her new house. So this is to say we are all thinking about you Wendy and looking forward to the photo's of your house

Jo

[Nicola Main]

Lovely work Jo! And yes hoping everything is going smoothly for Wendy's house move!

[Serinde]

Stitching looking good as always, Jo.

[rcperryls]

Beautiful updates. The soft, subtle background is especially lovely on the butterfly piece. And the Peacock gets more lovely with every update!

Carole

[Squirrel]

That butterfly is almost ready to take off into the wide blue yonder. Fabulous update on this lovely one. The Puffins are cute too

[Mabel Figworthy]

That tail is beautiful, and someone should stitch those puffins! (not me... I'll just watch from the magic bench )

[Steam.Jo]

I started the week doing a little more on my Peacock:



There is a couple more eyes on the tail but not a lot to show as I have been working on my Butterflies:



You may recall I brought myself four Thea G Butterfly Cross Stitch kits to be my Christmas present from my parents.. Well yesterday my father asked me "What have you been doing this week" so I told him working on my Butterflies. Having been told off and informed that they were for Christmas I pointed at the picture of this piece that was sat across the table from where we were sat. I did not mention I had been showing it to him for months now


My excuse for lack of progress on these pieces is because my copy of "Needlepainted Plants and Pollinators" arrived through the post. I am blaming Mabel as she showed hers to us and next thing I knew I had ordered a copy It is rather nice. I wonder now that the clocks have changed if I can get any more stitching time


The next thing to side track me will be trying out my new oversewer foot for my FR sewing machine. I did look at buying an overlocker but the prices Then I found out that I could achieve something nearly the same using one of these feet.

Jo

[rcperryls]

The tapestry is beautiful and only gets more so with every update. The butterflies are stunning. Love both and looking forward to more of these updates.

Carole