Tidying Up and Finishing Off

Hello my friends, thank you for being here!

It's Sunday again and I'm happy to be linking up with  Chrissie for Sunday Stitchalong once again!

Today I'm showing you the completed stitchie I was working on last week:

 I back the fabric with a soft cotton wadding before securing in the hoop, then run a strong thread through the overlap and pull tight. The wadding gives the piece a slightly padded look, which I like. Before tightening the thread, inside the back of the hoop I place a round of good quality acid-free watercolour paper followed by a circle of wadding to neaten things up; have I explained that properly?

So while finishing off this little picture yesterday I thought it a good idea to take care of another couple of things I'd been working on over the weeks - you have seen these before, but I thought it would be nice to show you how they look in their little hoop frames: 

They are just lying on the coffee table here to be photographed, and a permanent spot has not yet been found for them - maybe they'll say goodbye and go off to new homes since Christmas is almost upon us, who knows …

Tidying up these little pieces got me inspired to think seriously about  more of the stitchies that were lying around looking kinda lost .. .. so I got the sewing machine out today and made a couple of cushions … do you remember the cat and the owl from previous posts?

Do you like them? I'm feeling a bit chuffed with myself - oh dear, does that sound like pride? I'm just very pleased with the way they turned out! Owl cushion is child size whereas cat is larger. 

This week has seen very little progress on my cardigan knitting, in fact, let's be honest, I ripped it out and started again, so haven't quite caught up to where it was a couple of weeks ago: the sizing was wrong - it would have fit a monster, and you know, yes, you know don't you, that I'm no monster?!!! Anyway, I'm happy with it now so I will really concentrate on it this week.

I nearly didn't do this post today cause I was all upset! Yes, J and I watched 'Out of Africa' again and boy does that film get to me! I think it's my favourite film ever, taking me through every emotion possible - it just seems so very real and the ending breaks my heart every time. Of course it is a true story so what else can one expect, but Meryl Streep and Robert Redford are so ideally suited to the parts they play - what else can I say - wonderful story!

But before that we had our walk and I took the camera with me this time.

Waterlilies and ducks in the pond on the outskirts of the park - such a treat to behold, don't you think?

Then around the corner and a bit further along we have these lovely sights. We are so fortunate to live in this beautiful area!

And I think this wouldn't feel quite like my blog if I didn't include a couple of  'In the garden this week' pics for you to peruse: I love my garden and it really is at its very best at the moment!

This rose is such a beautiful specimen with a wonderful fragrance - J planted it only three or four weeks ago and it's doing so well already. It's in an ideal spot where it can be admired for it's beauty and fragrance by anyone coming through the front gate: 

It's been quite a week hasn't it - so many interesting blogs full of the excitement of the preparation and celebration of hallowe'en, as well as beautiful makings, fabrics, yarns, etc.. I've enjoyed it all so much and I thank you all for sharing so much of the daily happenings in your lives. Thank you also for the lovely responses to my posts - you're such a lovely bunch of friends!

I hope that you all have a wonderfully fulfilling week and that those of you whose health is not as good as it could be will soon pick up and feel good and strong again.

Warm hugs to you all!

❤Joy xoxo