Autumn Watergarden garden gate finally done

Chatelaine: Autumn Watergarden

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

I have finished the second garden gate. I can see that the 1 year homeoffice with 8-10 hours screen time took its toll on my eyesight - it is getting tougher to see the holes on my 36 ct linen. Maybe it is also the natural flow of time (my doctor said in the last couple of years, that it is a great blessing  I still do not need  glasses - next year they will come for sure!) that closing on 50 (sounds quite a lot, huh) brings the inevitable. So I was doing one stitch a time, skipped evening stitching even with my ottlite, and used only weekend daylight hours to finish the perle and the flowery silver lining on the gate. I am also thinking on getting stitching  glasses...but at lest it is ready, and I can move on the last part, the side branches.

Using my serger - tshirts and a coverlet

 I have finished a Tshirt which was in my to do pile for more than a year, and quickly added 2 more to use up the materials sitting on the shelf. The green is going to be a pj top, but the others are real ones! I took my serger out again, and was fighting with the proper setup - but finally I did it! It was significantly easier than 2 (maybe 3? - no, I have checked, it was only 2)  ago when I bought and first used it, and when I felt overwhelmed by the many bells and whistles. Now the threading is really quick and comfortable, simply choosing the correct setup took some time. But I have nailed it down, wrote on my manual, and also put it here for future reference:

Tshirt setup for singer pro 5serger:

Sewing parts together: #6 3threaded ultrastretch - G,knife, 2N, top orange, blue, bottom red thread

Coverstitch for the edges: #12 wide coverstitch- H, no knife, NN

Stitching on the binding: normal machine.

I have also stitched a cover for my kitchen  breadboard. I have several small and big silicone, but I recently I have realised I liked my gradma style old fashioned wood one best, and bought one. But it is big, and I do not like to leave it uncovered to collect dust, so I quickly made one. I used up an old herb print I bought years ago, it was perfect for this and it was finished in 10 minutes thank to my superquick serger. 

The setup was #9, wide 5 thread safety stitch A, knife, NN, all colours, orange, blue up, others down

 

Autumn Watergarden - cattails are growing

I have finished the second cattail part of Autumn Watergarden. The corners and the middle one had been finished last week, now I am moving to the gate and the branches to finish the second quarter.

Closeup of the cattails:

And a picture of what we are doing when I am not stitching:

No, not a natural diseaster - the family does it willingly. /Do not ask my son, under18 does not vote:) / We are trekking in the weekends, whenever the weather permits. The only problem, that the weather is quite tricky nowadays, so we decided not to listen to the forecast, just go whenever we want. 

This weekend it was 17kms of melting snow over tricky frozen ground creating a slippery path - with some rain given as an icing on the cake (mud?). But we met not only rain, but sunshine, deers, ravens and a beautiful sunset on a hilltop in the woods. The sunset was not that intentional, but gave the adventure a perfect finish - getting to the car just before it became fully dark...

Farewell 2020, welcome 2021!

2020 flew away, the real proof that when I started to write the post I wrote farewell 2019 first! It was a long year, but also a very short one. I mostly loved the staying-at-home part, with some minor breaks. I really enjoyed cooking for the family, having lots of time for table games, spending our weekends in the woods with long trekkings. During autumn I worked a lot, somehow homeoffice took over, and I could not close the computer in time. Then came the last 3 weeks what I spent with family, trying not to think on work - mostly I was successful despite all the effort of the government who came out many new ideas which affects my work. I planned many things I wanted to do in these 3 weeks - and I hardly did anything, but I decided I have a whole year of 2021 to do what I want, so no worries, my plans are waiting.

So let's see what did I do in 2020:

Cross stitch:

No finishes, but 2 new starts:

Kingfisher by Anchor

Anchor: Kingfisher

Fonal/Floss: Anchor from the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart white 16 ct Aida from the kit

Sans Soucis by Long Dog Samplers

Long Dog Samplers: Sans Soucis

Fonal / Floss: Caron (#63,#153) Gloriana (#67) Edmar Rayon (#206)

Anyag/Fabric: Tea dyed Zweigart white 32 ct line

I was working on some WIPs:

Pomarium by Chatelaine, 3/4 done, started in 2016 December

Chatelaine: Pomarium

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

Autumn Watergarden by Chatelaine, 1st quarter - started in 2019 August

Chatelaine: Autumn Watergarden

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

I was neglecting poor others:

Heirloom Nativity Sampler by The Victoria Sampler  - almost finished, only a little hardanger missing, started in 2014 November. This was my holiday travel piece in the last couple of years. Since this year there was no travel, I skipped this. There is only a little part missing, I should finish it in 2021!

Heirloom Nativity Sampler - The Victoria Sampler

Anyag / Fabric : 32 ct Smokey Pearl Zweigart

Fonal / Floss : selyem, a mintaív szerint / silk as in the kit

Riolis 1079 Autumn forest - small part done, started in 2018 summer

Around the World in Stitches by Papillon Creations- finished stitching, mounting to a box missing, started in 2012.

I was planning to gift it as a parting present for my son's teacher, but finally I opted for a quilt and the stitching remained untouched.

Around the World in 80 Stitches - Papillon Creations

Anyag / Fabric : 32 ct white dmc

Fonal / Floss : Anchor

QUILTS:

6 Finishes:

Strolling Along Paths of Green by Yoko Saito. Started in 2018, finished the top in 2018 November.

Balance (Tree of Life)  - own design. Started at the end of 2019, finished in a week

Blue Explosion - own design, inspired by pinterest. It was a birthday present for my Niece

Scrappy happy own design inspired by pinterest: Farewell present for my son's teacher

 Rose Quilts  own design, inspired by pinterest - a double present for my mother

2 new starts:

Winter Maize by Ngaire Brooks: piecing done, applique in line

String - a few pieces done, I started it as a leader/ender project

I was working on a WIP:

Round the Year by betukbandi- 8 out of  16 done

SEWING & other:

Huge amount of masks

T-Shirt

Flourishing -own design inspired by pinterest: a project bag to keep large blocks together:

2 guineapig beds, a little statue posing as a sleeping guineapig:

Pomarium 3/4 done!

Chatelaine: Pomarium

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

 I have reached my goal, 3/4 and the middle of Pomarium is done. It is huge! 

I have started this 4 years ago, in 2016, around Christmas, and now only the last quarter is missing. Plus 2 little things: I used up the petite princess perle for the branches and waiting for them to arrive, and left out the little seed on the strawberries in the corners, and I realised only in the 3rd that there are seeds at all. I should go back and stitch them to the previous corners - they do not make a big difference, but think I will them this afternoon.

The show must go on - Pomarium

 I have continued the corner of Pomarium - the next one is a pale tree. I miscounted one stitch in one side and I have realised it only in the middle of the second tree, so I frogged the first and restitched, but finally it is done.

Chatelaine: Pomarium

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast

Pomarium Autumn corner

 I have moved on my Pomarium and finished 3 motives: a branch, I see as an Autumn one with yellow leaves and apples, a filigree garden and some flowerstems with perle. I lost /used my perle for this part (gloriana petite princess perle #187) and it is extremely rare to find it in the shops. I have ordered from Casacenina in the summer, but they could not find it either, so I cancelled the order. Then I had my luck with crafty kitten, because she has it on stock, so I ordered it, and it was posted yesterday. I wonder having Christmas deliveries in the pandemia how long will it take to get it... Sometimes it is unbelievably quick, I have ordered Ottlite lamp in November from US and it took only 10days from hitting the buy button to be delivered to my doorsteps, but I think it was one of a kind. However, I have many other parts to continue with!

Chatelaine: Pomarium

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart antique white 32 ct Belfast