Bead on - 24,000 - 24-30 March

This work aims to mark 24,000 individuals - Indian Christians who were physically attacked in the one year because of their faith.
I am doing this project because I wanted to see just how many 24,000 actually is.
I am stitching 80 beads each day for 300 days - 10 beads in each small square eight times. Currently working in sets of 9 days.

Being done with the 9th set of nine. I have started a different arrangement of rows encircling the set of nine squares. I am nearly round the square. Day 89...7,120 people have been noted.

Something on Saturday

Treasure 13

I am quite late today. Birthdays, Sewing group and so on.

I have more old books to show, but tonight I quickly took a photo of one of my small sewing machines.

I found this “toy” sewing machine in a market in the Netherlands. It caught my eye because of the deer logo on the front which looks like the John Deer tractor logo. But then I saw it was made in USSR!

There are metal pieces inside that should make everything work together to make a chain stitch. But the metal is quite soft, so even though I tinkered with it and got it to sew, it wasn’t long before they got out of shape again.
Still I think it is novel to have a sewing machine from USSR with a John Deer-like logo!

I like Thankful Thursday

To start with likes, this part is about a Post Rock.
We have a friend who has MS. She used to get out and about in her motorised wheelchair. She loves doing things for others, including writing notes. Such a precious lady to think of others when she had so much trouble herself. She used to ask me if she could get any shopping for me.😍
But she was unable to come up to our door to post a note into the letter box because there is a step.

So, we put out a Post Rock. She could reach down and put her little note under the rock so it couldn't blow away.
Often I would come out and discover the note. I do wish she somehow let me know she was there so I could go speak to her! But now Mr Thoughtful takes Holly to visit this lady instead. (Holly likes the biscuits (cookies) on offer for dogs that come visiting!

Actually, this is Post Rock 2. Someone pinched (stole) Post Rock 1. So, this Post Rock usually lives under the lavender there by the step. Our friend knew it was there, so she could use it and no one could take it.
This dear lady now is suffering from Alzheimer's, so she hasn't been around for sometime. But I leave the Post Rock there because it reminds me of her. That is why I took the photo. It seems like a little a face that makes the rock look mouse-like. She would love that!

As you know, I like seeing shapes and discovering what they look like. The same day I took the photo of the Post Rock, I saw this flint that looked like a mushroom.

It was in a section of rough paving for car parking.
When I looked at the full photo when I got home, I discovered there was a little animal skull-like flint near the mushroom.


Cool! What do you see when you are out and about.

And if you look back at other posts this week, you will see I finished the last quilt for the 70,273 Project. And no other photos, but I posted it yesterday. Hurrah! I like that it is no longer shouting at me from whatever pile I had moved it to. I like that I can at last move on to the next project, which I have already got a good start on!

To see what others are posting that they like, go to LeeAnna's blog. I love the little stories that she tells of her dog Milo.

70,273 long skinny finish

Another finish for 70,273 project commemorating 518 lives lost in the Nazi programme to get rid of disabled, elderly, and mentally ill. This one is 15”w x 46”l.

Top

Bottom 

I am sewing on the hanging sleeves as we speak.

Bead on - 24,000 - 17-23 March

This work aims to mark 24,000 individuals - Indian Christians who were physically attacked in the last year because of their faith. 

I am done with the 9th set of nine. I have started a different arrangement of rows encircling the set of nine squares. But only one day of it has been done. 6,560 people have been noted.
detail

I am doing this project because I wanted to see just how many 24,000 actually is. Already, the mind boggles to think of each bead already stitched on!
I am stitching 80 beads each day for 300 days - 10 beads in each small square eight times.

Hoping these photos are not too fuzzy. Maybe it is just in the composition section of blogger?

Something on Saturday

Treasure 12

This Bible is a treasure to me.

I found it at a secondhand book place on the coast of Maine.

1842!

I love the Proper Names section because it gives the meaning or 'signification' of the words.

There are woodcut images throughout.


But there are treasures secreted throughout as well. I made a composite photo.

The trading cards, the ribbon and the leaf were inserted in the pages before.
You should be able to click the image and read about Cholera medicine. (!) At some point I put in the replica note.

I like thankful Thursday

As you know, I like 'finding' things in various shapes. One comment compared it to cloud watching.

So, here is a duck who has gone splat on his face. Why? I don't know. He was under the table where I had my restoring cup of tea before leaving the Knitting and Stitching Show the other week.

I like my cheerful cyclamen in the front garden.

The posh cyclamen got a bit of a beating from the snow the other week, but it has recovered and there are even more flowers. Kind of a challenge to keep on no matter what gets dumped on you?

I like discoveries. These photos of fungi are from around a tree stump behind our back fence. (I won't go into the story of the wonderful tree becoming a stump. It still makes me cross.)

I was coming back from the shops and these caught my eye. Behind the back garden fence.

Then I saw all these.

And then I realised there was a wide variety of fungi there! I don't think I have ever seen a black mushroom.

or translucent ones? not so great a photo. They were rather hidden.

growing up the different root sections of the tree stump.

I have seen images of the brownish flat fungi in the photos above, but there were also green versions.

and little brown ones

steps for fairies?
And those type were also growing in a patch of dead leaves.

Interesting. The leaves are interwoven with the fungi.
It makes it look like there was a small stump in the upper left corner.
But I know there was no small tree growing. I look out my bedroom window at the back garden and the trees beyond the fence most mornings. I like checking out this stump when I go to and from the shops. Anyway! I kind of overdid it on the photos! But I do like making discoveries when I am out and about.

To see what others are posting that they like, go to Lee Anna's blog.

Seeing things

I think some gnomes or fairies live here.

Bead on - 24,000 - 10-16 March

This work aims to connect with 24,000 individuals - Indian Christians who were physically attacked in the last year because of their faith.

I am almost done with the 9th set of nine, making 6000 people noted.
1/4 of the way to the goal.

I wanted to see just how many 24,000 actually is.
I am stitching 80 beads each day for 300 days - 10 beads in each small square eight times.. currently working in sets of 9 days. I am planning to do a different arrangement when it is finished.

Something on Saturday

A bit late today...

Treasure 11

I love old books. I have quite a few I have collected, most from before I came to England Over 30 years ago.

This book is very special, not just because it is about Abraham Lincoln....

It was actually written the year President Lincoln was killed.

So, to me, that is a 'first source', if you like.

The author, Dr. L.P. Brockett lived at the same time Lincoln did. So, the collection of speeches and the like would have been be current events for him.

I left this image large, so you should be able to read the first page of the preface if you click on the image. According to Dr. Brockett, other books had been written about Lincoln. But they were political books about Mr. Lincoln's efforts to become President, why he was counted as a good President, and much about his first administration.
So, Dr. Brockett wanted to give a different perspective, a view of President Abraham Lincoln as a man in all areas of his life.

and one more image, from the back page.

PS I did a lot of study about the American Civil War when I was in High School. So, that gives this book even more meaning for me.

70,273 project again

Another 18”x22” finish for 70,273 project commemorating 439 lives lost in the Nazi programme to get rid of disabled, elderly, and mentally ill.

Thankful Thursday

I have taken some time out to try to catch up on some of the photos from the Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles January meeting.

I am so thankful for this group. We celebrated our 10th anniversary! and now Jo Saunders is taking on the role of co-ordinator. I will still be doing my favourite part which is booking speakers.

Look what the members did for me to say thank you!

A wonderful basket from the African Fabric Shop.

With a large plant and full of textile flowers members had made for me! Amazing.

Most of the flowers have a tag that has a message. Such lovely work! It is hard to say which would be a favourite. Sizes and shapes go from a wee tiny lily-of-the-valley (in the first photo near the bottom left) to huge flowers, one of which has bells in the centre! I am not going to list everything because I might forget someone. 😅

I left the flowers as they were for sometime, not wanting to spoil the look. But eventually I had to get the plant out to water it. So I took some photos with the hope of seeing each flower more clearly.
Please excuse the fuzzy photos. I was seeing double at the time and had to have faith in the camera.

 At the meeting some of the members arranged for us to have 'afternoon tea'. Very lovely tea sets and tea pots, plus yummy cakes to have along with our pack lunch! There were 3 party balloons proclaiming "10"!  I tied one to the basket handle for me and gave the other 2 to Merete Hawkins and Jane Glennie who helped me to start the group all those years ago. Although mine has become a bit shapeless, it is still staying up in the air.

And then another photo with the basket in front and the plant to the side. It was happy to get water, but had, seemingly, felt at home because it had new leaves trying to make their way to the light.

So, finally, I have been able to share with you a very big like!
If you want to see some of the other likes, go to Lee Anna's blog. Even her Poodle Milo talks about what life is like from his point of view!

Bead on - 24,000 - 3-9 March

This work aims to connect with 24,000 individuals - Indian Christians who were physically attacked in the last year because of their faith.

I am almost done with the 8th set of nine, making 5,440 people noted.

I wanted to see just how many 24,000 actually is.

I am stitching 80 beads each day for 300 days - 10 beads in each small square eight times.. currently working in sets of 9 days.

Something on Saturday

Treasure 10

This was one of the treasures we had from my Mother-in-Law.


I don't know the story of it. All I know is that I think the egg is beautifully painted! It might have been a gift to her from a young lady from Japan who stayed with her at least one summer. She used to house foreign exchange students.

70723 Middling

The Middling I was working on is finished! Even the binding.

Now onto the next one.

70,273

Remember when I was working on xx embroidery for the 70273 project? I had a few quilts to the point where they needed quilting. But physical issues became too much for all the projects I had set myself.
Fast forward and the project has reached the goal! So I thought I better finish these and get them sent off.

Enjoying my machine again now that I can see again! I am stitching ovals around these xpairs.

Bead on - 24,000 - 24 February - 2 March

This work aims to connect with 24,000 individuals - Indian Christians who were physically attacked in the last year because of their faith.
I am almost done with the 7th set of nine, making 4,880 people noted.

This atrocity should be brought to a stop!

Something on Saturday

Treasure 9

This is a very special treasure. I showed it on Remembrance Day, but it is worth putting it on the Treasure list.

A poppy from the installation at the Tower of London. We didn’t get to see the spectacle, but the images on TV and internet really stick with you.

From the website:
Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

The major art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London, marked one hundred years since the first full day of Britain's involvement in the First World War. Created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, 888,246 ceramic poppies progressively filled the Tower's famous moat between 17 July and 11 November 2014. Each poppy represented a British military fatality during the war.
(Video from Tower of London website.)