August 2008
It’s been a while since I’ve shown you how the cushions for the Kid’s Company charity are going and the good news is that to date Nicki has put together a grand total of 25…..how amazing is that!
Things slowed down for a time while we are waiting for the next batch of children’s names but I didn’t stop stitching.
Here’s the latest ones that I’ve stitched and Nicki has made up.
Some of the charts came from magazines and others I charted myself.
Panel #3 – Mermaids
Panel #4 – Cat
Panel #5 – Aliens
I’m just showing you the ones that I’ve stitched the panels for on here but you should really pop across to Nicki’s site at Sharing Colour and Comfort to see what the project is all about and to see all the other works of art that she has created for the children.
July 2008
If dogs can have baskets, so can us cats.
I’m sure my mum won’t mind me keeping her cross stitch silks safe for her and the warmth of my body will take out all the creases from the panels she’s already stitched.
The trouble is this basket is just a little bit too small for me to get the whole of my body into, so I’ll have to leave my legs hanging out.
It’s a bit of a snug fit but I have a warm nose now my paws are tucked in.
I’m sure that if I wriggle around a bit I can get the whole of me in here.
Yah! I knew I could do it.
The trouble is, now mum can’t carry on stitching because the thread she need next is tucked away safely under me............... and I’m not moving until supper time.
June 2008
Well it looks like we have a sewing circle starting here….if you can call three a stitching circle!
Back in April Nicki, Sharon and I thought we would stitch another project for someone that we knew and we couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than our friend Hazel.
We all became cyber friends on the Craft’s By Carolyn’s forum and have even managed to meet up a couple of times at various get togethers. I have to say that Hazel is one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met and you might know her as Crafty Hazelnut in blogland as she’s always joining in with WOYWW and taking part in lots of card making challenges.
Earlier in the year I had been looking at Hazel’s blog and had read there that her husband’s guide dog Josey had to be returned to the Guide Dog association because John had been quite ill recently and was no longer using her enough to warrant keeping her.
Although she was really classed as a working dog she was still a pet to them and part of their family, so how Hazel and John coped with handing her back I will never know.
It made me feel so sad to read about it all that I thought it would be nice to try and do something to cheer the two of them up a bit, so I spoke to Sharon and Nicki they both agreed it would be wonderful to make something for them.
We had loads of discussions on the designs for the panels as well as the verses we were going to put on each cushion and then we finally got down to some stitching, Sharon doing the panel for John and myself doing Hazels.
Hazel’s Panel – stitched by me
John’s Panel – stitched by Sharon
And the verse on John's cushion is the words to All things bright and beautiful.
When we had finished the stitching the panels were sent out to Nicki and she made them up for us, even taking into account how with John’s failing eyesight he was going to be able tell which of the cushions was his.
She came up with the great solution of edging Hazel’s cushion with piping and adding four small flowers to the corners and on John’s she used fringing around the edge and added buttons to the corners……….problem solved!
Finished cushions made up by Nicki
June 2008
My dear friend Nicki has asked me if I would like to help out with some stitching for another charity project she’s involved with.
You may have heard of them, it’s Kid’s Company and they help children with all sorts of problems, anything from kids having nowhere to go after school, to children being abused by their parents and everything in between.
Apparently a lot of the children have no belonging to call their own and Nicki had become involved in making cushions for them.
Each cushion has a stitched panel on the front that is actually a little pocket and on the back she puts the child’s name, so they know it belongs to them and them alone.
Well I think it’s a great project and am happy to help because not only does it give me the opportunity to keep stitching………...there’s only so many walls to hang my own finished pictures on in my flat…….. and I’m helping someone at the same time, so it’s win, win in my opinion.
My first efforts were for a teenage mum and her six month old baby boy.
I stitched two Aida bands with Noah’s Ark’s on which Nicki made into a cushion
Panel #1
Next it was mum’s turn and I stitched a Bluebell panel, her name with matching Bluebells and a little gift card to go with it all.
Panel #2
June 2008
I’ve been working on is a Birthstone Fairy for SOLAK ( Stitches of Love and Kindness)and she’s part of a Stitch -a-long.
For some reason this little fairy had been missed and a message was put up on the board asking for a volunteer who didn’t mind stitching on evenweave fabric so I gave a shout and before I knew it the material and chart were on their way to me.
She just happens to be my birthstone fairy too, so she was a pleasure to stitch.
Here she is…….isn’t she cute!
April 2008
Hi everyone, meet Patch.
Patch is part of my very first SAL, that’s a ‘stitch-a-long’ if you’ve never heard of one and it’s where twelve people stitch one piece from a set of charts, using the same fabric to work on.
Then, when all twelve squares are finished they are made up into a quilt which is then auctioned to raise money for the charity to help with the costs of posting all the finished requested quilts to their recipients. A nice way to raise funds for SOLAK I think.
This Sal has a cat theme and I chose to do Patch because of all the different patterns on him and the bright colours but some of the other that you will see shortly in the finished quilt are dressed as characters, like clowns and Superman which is fun.
Here’s Patch
And here’s the finished quilt
March 2008
You may have noticed recently that I’ve been working a quite a few charity projects recently and it’s such a fun and worthwhile thing to do but after having a chat with Nicki we decided it was time to work on something for someone we knew for a change.
It didn’t take us long to decide what to stitch and who to stitch for, helped along by some beautiful Japanese inspired flower charts I had seen in one of my cross stitch charts.
They were stitched in wonderful shades of Lavender and Pink and I knew as soon as I saw them that our dear friend Sharon would love them.
Now I know that Sharon occasionally reads my blog, although I’m not sure if she reads this one, but I hope she won’t mind if I explain the reasons Nicki and I decided that we wanted to make her something very special.
Sharon suffers from ME and that means the she needs lots of rest and often needs to take naps during the day. She also has to cope with the added pressure of having a teenage son with special needs and it all takes its toll so Nicki and I thought that having a quilt to snuggle up under would give her some comfort and remind her that she has some friend out there who are thinking about her and wishing her well
I stitched all nine of the flowers and when they were finished, across they
went to Switzerland where Nicki did all the machining.
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