UFO update

Crafty people are well known for having UFOs, (unfinished objects), however I only have one really & even then that is because I was waiting for the perfect idea to present itself & I don't think you should rush these things.
Last year I picked up a pattern from Broomfields & at Xmas my mum had a couple more of them, one was perfect for this:

I now simply need 4 images for the corners - I have some ideas for those, so will dig them out & see how I go.

Second "gift" project I am working on to be completed is my sampler book & I didn't realise I had only posted the first two pages... so here are 3 more:

 

the thimble is to give you an idea of how small this work is. Very glad I am now over half way through it. Trying to get as much of this done before next weekend as i can, simply cause I have to chop the material as it is the same fabric I stitched my second chair pieces onto & next weekend I am showing some guild members how to put it together.

Stitch on!  

Valentine Special

I know, I know, I wasn't supposed to start any other gifts until I finished what I had going, but I've always liked being a bit cheesy & so when I stumbled across this pattern, & blog, I simply had to put it on a handkerchief...

too cute! Now my brain is working overtime thinking of other handkerchief designs, but not all of them are overly PC.

In my defense, work is progressing on both my UFO gifts & on the Ukrainian - stay tuned :)

More Ukrainian

Thanks for all the lovely comments - particularly about this piece I am currently working on - which is involving a LOT of new stitches & challenges - which of course means learning.

It turns out that, even though I need to actually concentrate on this piece at times, it is good to travel with - mostly due to only needing one or two threads.

And so, I have started to seriously tackle the boarders...firstly with a plaited Slav stitch & then with hem stitch... yep, I'd never done hem stitch before:

Next I had to take a deep breath & cut - man I hate cutting threads, but a girls got to do, what the instructions say... and then weave...

Here is a close up:

I am trying to go by Gay Eaton's Ukrainian Whitework (not sure if I mentioned this before) the design is called Sofia & it is very pretty, but there are some instructions which are about clear as mud to me, however, I am muddling along as there are very good pictures... infact upon further inspections of pics, I'm thinking perhaps I wasn't supposed to go all the way around with the outside border, until I had finished the weaving part... gosh darn it, I'll fix that later :)

Recently I have also been browsing the interwebs & getting very distracted, if you haven't found Feeling Stitchy you should!

They took me to Sew Lovely which gave me a cute little "I Dig You" stencil, which I traced from my computer - just put baking paper on your screen - magic! I'll keep you up to date with my plan... promise!