Quote hoops

 I’ve often looked at the embroidered quotes on Pinterest and Instagram, and though I loved them, thought I wasn’t neat enough (or patient enough)

But then I found Little Light Stitchery and discovered a simpler way of doing things.

Nicky uses a very simple font in her work which is quite effective. I initially bought a few hoops from her Etsy shop, but have since made 7 hoops!

Some using her kits, others using her ideas as inspiration. I love this very simple one, and I think I’ve got similar fabric 

One of the things she does is use a ‘whipped back stitch’ which gives a nice finish, and smooths out curves.

Last night, she did as Instagram live thing and I realised that she also is really, really careful how she does things.

I’m more ‘BodgeIt & Scarper’, so, for example,I like to get to the end of the word and don’t look at how individual letters look.

There’s a mini sew along, so I thought I’d join in.

I only had 4” hoops and a couple of 10” ones, so tiny was the way to go

First job, do the writing. I can’t find my light box, and couldn’t be bothered faffing round with boxes and torches to trace anything, so decided to just ‘do my best writing’. It looks ok as writing, bot not so sure of the results once stitched.

Hmmm, not that neat. And also, song a cursive script means you really have to finish each word, rather than individual letters. Which makes it hard to do the whipping round the backstitch, so I think I’ll probably not bother.

Today is day 2, so the second word needed to be done. As I was awake at stupid o’clock this morning, I’ve cracked on, and also done some very simple Christmas ones.

Now I need to buy some more hoops. 

Really looking forward to seeing Nicky’s new website to see what she’s got.

Slow sewing

Often, during this pandemic malarkey, I didn’t feel in the mood for getting the sewing machine out. Also, it’s in a different room, so mainly I did hand sewing.

I’m not very good at hand sewing. My normal ‘Bodge It &Scarper’ approach doesn’t really work. And I get bored easily, so flit between projects, then have to remember where I got up to!

I’ve done a fair bit of appliqué, this was started in July last year at Threadhouse Summer Retreat

Some embroidery, this is a teeny tiny brooch 

Red work, mostly Secret Stitch Club from Dandelion Designs.

And some teeny tiny piecing. These finish at 1” square, and may end up as a quilt (or maybe not)

More recently I’ve discovered the fun in making little quote hoops

Should I stay or should I go?

Thoughts on moving house.

I’ve always liked the idea of living nearer the river. (It’s the Mersey, not a pretty little countryside thing)

This house needed lots of work doing, I found that incredibly depressing. I didn’t really have the spare cash, and was reluctant to spend money I didn’t have. But it got to a point when the very fact of the thing was stressful. I avoided thinking about it. This caused friction with my son. He’d mention that something was broken, I’d fly off the handle.

Eventually, things got better financially, but I was reluctant to spend as by that point, I just hated the house. And the things that needed doing would a) cost money b) be disruptive and c) probably highlight other areas I hadn’t previously thought of.

Every time I thought about it,I went back and hid under my virtual duvet. Ignored it for a while, in the hope it would go away. But it never did. Some things, like the teeny tiny leak in the flat roof over the bay window would just get worse.

Some things just plain broke, and needed to be fixed straight away. Like the oven, that gave up the ghost on Christmas Day one year; fortunately just after the turkey was cooked.

Or the hob. Which I didn’t know was broken (a tiny crack in the glass) until it tripped the electrics. And we had to get the Electric Board out, and they basically condemned the electrics. So goodbye old Bakelite fuse board, and welcome to a modern consumer unit. And a new induction hob.

I love the induction hob! I don’t know how I managed before. I’ve got one as it uses a 13amp plug, so doesn’t put too much load on the electrics.

But eventually, things changed. I turned 60, and, on a whim, asked for my figures from my Local Government pension. Turned out that by taking my pension 5 years early, I lost out to the tune of £200 a year. So I took the pension, and the lump sum.

I now had proper spare cash, so had some things done to make the place better for me.

Double glazing. I absolutely hate most of it, but if I sell, it will be something that will be used to negotiate the price down, so decided to bite the bullet. The poor surveyor didn’t understand that I wasn’t really interested in anything fancy, just something that did the job. Fortunately it was a local firm, so no pressured sales patter.

I had the back of the house done, with a date set a few weeks later for the front. Then guess what happened? Yep. Lockdown happened.

And I realised that it’s quite useful having shops at the bottom of the road, where the queues were minimal. Small independent grocers within walking distance. If I moved to a flat near the river, I’d need a car to get to the shops. Or have a really long walk.

Now I’m re-evaluating the future. Maybe I should just stay here. At least for the next 5 years. By then, I’ll have no mortgage. I’ll have my personal pension and my state pension. That should be enough to live on. 

So maybe I’ll stay.