Boos Mummy

This weeks TAST stitch is Detached Chain stitch, or otherwise known as Lazy Daisy. Now for those of you who know me or have followed my blog for a while you'll know that this is definitely not one of my favourite stitches. It's not hard to do but I really don't like it 😣 it does make lovely flower petals and leaves though. So for Sunbonnet Sue this week she's holding a flower made of the detached chain, the centres are french knots (that I absolutely love doing!).

This weeks TAST is Fly Stitch. This is a fun stitch and is amazing to use for leaves or just decorative. Once again I've stitched up a Sunbonnet Sue but this time have given her a little flower, the stem is fly stitch but also around the centre french knots and then the edges in a different shade using fly stitch.  She's also got a little bit of it on her bonnet. I'm trying not to put too many different stitches into these Sunbonnet Sue's as each week the focus will be on the TAST stitch so that eventually they'll look like a stitch sampler. I've not used the stitch on my quilt square yet as Lukie was off school ill on Wednesday so I'm a day behind all my chores. Thankfully he felt a lot better on Thursday morning so went back to school (he hates being off) but then that evening I was back at school but for Boo's Mentoring meeting. I can't believe my baby Boo is choosing his options for his final 2 years in secondary, doesn't seem two...

This weeks TAST stitch is the Buttonhole. Sharon has a great page on how to work this wonderful stitch just click here .  I'm sure a lot of us have used buttonhole for many things over the years. It was one of the first stitches I learnt as a child making a table runner on 11ct Binca fabric aged 7 using wool. Nowadays I use it a lot to stop fraying on the edges of fabric and as a cute stitch for some of the quilt squares. It's great as grass on samplers as you can vary the length easily whilst still having the ground. Here's what I've done with my buttonhole this week: Sunbonnet Sue is back but with a buttonhole ribbon on her bonnet and apron. I've used the stitch to hold down the bottom of the ribbon from last weeks stitch and also using 2 shades of brown to form the bottom of a muddy field.

Yes it's that time of the year where the TAST  challenge starts again.  Week 1 is Running Stitch. As I'm also trying to complete a couple of my quilted bits to finally do something with them I thought I'd use them as practice pieces as well as do a series of Sunbonnet Sue squares with all the stitches. So here are my two pieces for week 1. I really enjoy the TAST pieces of work as not only do I actually get a finish but it gives me a change from my regular stitching.  If you fancy having a go yourself then head over to Sharon's page and take a look. Just click on TAST at the top of the page and it'll take you there.

It doesn't seem two minutes since it was the end of 2016 and I was looking at what I'd been stitching all year. Now as 2017 comes to a close I've discovered that I've not stitched most of the projects I'd hoped to start but I have had some good finishes.   I've got my next HAED all kitted up and ready to go come 1st January, this one is called Autumns Promise.  Then I'm working on the Peace in my Heart SAL, slow going as I wanted to finish DD's penguins. It's a joy to stitch on using fabric from Sparklies, hopefully over the Christmas break I can work on it a bit. From all of us here in Yorkshire have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. To all my fellow stitchers may you enjoy your stitching and may the frog stay away.

Last week I finally sat and stitched the last part in my Seasons SAL . This is the project that I took with me on holiday to Northumberland and worked on quite a lot in the evenings. It's stitched mainly in DMC but I did have a few silks, Weeks Dye Works and a Crescent Colour thrown in. The colours are mainly the same few but for a couple of motifs I switched out to something different just to make it more personalised. I've loved stitching this, it worked up really fast once I actually got time to stitch and I love how the finished project has turned out. The photographs don't show it to it's true justice but it was the only camera I had on hand at the time. My daughter Darcy loves the bunnies and the snowman :-) Now it's onto finishing my HAED and working hard at my CITA again. I am doing the new SAL which is called Peace in my Heart but waiting on fabric from Sparklies so I can choose threads.

Well the kids have finally broken up for the summer holidays, thank heaven I say as the last few weeks were exhausting. Lukie moved to his senior school for the last week and loved it, even if he was surprised that they still had proper lessons on the last day...welcome to secondary school kids!!  It'll be a few weeks into September I reckon before my heart calms everytime the phone rings, thankfully Boo is at the same school so he'll catch him once a day to check he's ok. Meanwhile whilst the kids are off school I'm planning on plenty of stitching along with lots of fun for them. The boys are doing special training days at Dragons Academy, one of which is a First Responder course which is a junior version of First Aid, then they've Nunchuks and Boo is going to a Pressure Points Seminar (no, I'm not letting him practise on me LOL!) We spent this morning at Crackpot Creations near us where the kids have painted a dragon (Lukie), owls (Darcy), jet and bunny (Boo...