Rachel's May Update

Hello all!

I'm afraid I still have no Scarlet Macaw Preening start to show you. :(

BUT... I am pleased to announce that I am about 80% happy with my fabric so it shouldn't be long now. :)

You may wonder why it's taking me so long. Well, firstly, I need to commit a whole day to dyeing and I haven't had a full free day for a while. Secondly, the dye is being applied little by little and by hand which is both a slow and time consuming process. Thirdly, the fabric has to be constantly rinsed to ensure colour fastness, with the true colours being revealed only once it has dried. So 1+2+3=SLOW!

But... I'm nearly there so fingers crossed for a start soon!

In the meantime I'm enjoying watching all of your (lack of!) progress for May. I'll catch up with commenting soon.

Rachel x

Rachel's April Update

Hello all,

Well, it's probably not going to come as any surprise that I still haven't started my parrot.

But it's not all negative as I have been experimenting with dyeing the background fabric for him. The results are mixed but I am slowly getting it right as I understand how the dyes work with each other and the fabric. Another weekend of experimenting should see me achieve the result I want.

So, fingers crossed, there will be a much more positive update in May!

Rachel x

Rachel's April Theme - Favourite Gadgets

Hello All,

What are my favourite stitching items? It has to be my wide selection of Millennium products. I have the floor stand, the lap stand, 5 different lengths of bars and the Mini Wizard. They have been a worthwhile investment, are of great quality and fantastic to use. I'm glad I invested in them many years ago as the company's service now leaves a lot to be desired. My posting from April 2014 is still receiving comments!

But I also love my daylight lamp, gold-plated needles, needle minders and highlighters, oh and not forgetting I also love sewing on hand-dyed fabric!

That just about covers everything I think!

Rachel x

Rachel's March Update

Hello everybody.

I'm afraid I've still got nothing to show this month. Fate is working against me and it's almost as if I doomed never to stitch this chart.

I'm very annoyed and upset at the moment because I put my faith in somebody to create a piece of hand-dyed fabric suitable for the background of Scarlet Macaw Preening and she failed to deliver on so many levels. Emails indicated that she would try to recreate the background colours but I ended up with a piece of fabric more of a salmony-orange colour with a tiny hint of purplish-grey. I am not impressed and extremely disappointed.

So..... I'm now going to dye my own piece of fabric. I've ordered a meter of cream Zweigart aida and five bottles of Rit dye liquid in cocoa brown, dark green, cherry red, tangerine and golden yellow. I'm going to spray or perhaps even daub theses onto the aida to create my own background. I've booked next weekend to do it so hopefully I'll be able to post the results soon after.

In the meantime I shall enjoy reading about your progress for March and hope you've had more success than me.

Love and hugs from a very unhappy
Rachel x

Rachel's Favourite WIP

Hello all!

Gosh! My favourite WIP? I have so many to choose from if you include my January/February starts!

My favourite WIP is usually the one I am working on which, if actually started, would be Scarlet Macaw Preening. However, as I'm using him for this blog I'll choose something different.

It has to be OMG Tigger is Out. I don't know why I fell in love with this bedraggled cat but he instantly called to me. I haven't made much progress as I started him just before Christmas and since then have been tied up with January/February Challenge pieces. But he will be back out very very soon. He's not too confetti-heavy and has beautiful colours in the background, not just drab greys as would be expected.

It's interesting how so many of you have also chosen your favourite WIP to be different from the one you are stitching for this blog.

Love and hugs
Rachel x

Rachel's Introduction

Hello all,

So, to tell you a bit about myself.....

I'm Rachel, hubby's Anthony and we've known each other since we were 4. We are both now 44, have been married for 16 years and are the parents of two wonderful children, Heather 13 and Toby 11.

I have a degree in Geography and Development Studies but before becoming a full time mum worked in London as an accountant.

I voluntarily run a local school library and have just been asked to return to a second school to sort out their messy library.

I have been my mum's sole carer for five years. She had a massive brain bleed in 2008 which left her body damaged but her mind and mouth functioning perfectly!

I am very soppy about my pets. The 2 cockatiels will often sit on my head whilst I am stitching or "help" by picking at my needle and thread! The 5 guinea pigs are just loveable rumbling balls of fluff and fur!

I started cross stitching in 1991 but gave it up in 2006 to concentrate on scrapbooking before returning to cross stitching two years ago.

I am extremely OCD when it comes to organizing my cross stitch stash and projects (and there's quite a lot of it to organize!) Everything has to be just so.

Finally, although I'm quite introvert I'm never short of a few words when it comes to writing things down! You'll rarely find a short blog post from me!!

And on that note I'd better stop before I give away any of my deep dark secrets!

Love Rachel x

Third time lucky?

Hello!

It seems that, for one reason or another, many of us (myself included) did not have a very good start to our New Year projects. Nevertheless I have enjoyed watching them all come to life, no matter how many or few stitches were worked.

I have chosen a new fabric for Scarlet Macaw Preening. It will definitely be aida (yippee!) and custom-dyed based on a colourways suggested by the lady concerned. She understands my requirements and has offered to test-dye small samples and take the time needed to get the colours right before I commit to the purchase. How's that for service? I will let you know who she is once I have received the fabric, after which I shall have a lot of catch-up stitching to do!

In the meantime I hope everybody else's February stitching is going well.

Take care,
Rachel x

Scarlet Macaw Preening January Update

Hello all!

Here's Sherlock after a massive 2.5 hours of stitching during January.

As you can see, not much progress has been made on this project and I apologise for not stitching more. There are two reasons for this:

1) My attention has been focused on the 31 DUCJC pieces and
2) I absolutely hate the linen fabric and just can't get on with it, so much so that it gives me no pleasure to stitch on and has brought me to tears :(

Those that follow me will know that this is my second attempt at this project, having been unsatisfied with the first lot of fabric. Well, it looks as though it might well have to be third time lucky as I go in search of another fabric which MUST be aida!

I'm sorry my post isn't a very happy one. At least others doing this SAL have had more success and I have enjoyed watching them grow!

Love and hugs
Rachel x

A Small Amount of Sherlock

Hello fellow stitchy starters!

I thought it was about time I posted a progress picture of Scarlet Macaw Preening. Unfortunately, there's not a lot to see yet as I am ashamedly concentrating my stitching efforts on my DUCJC pieces at the moment.

I'm not liking the linen fabric, nor the fact that the weave and therefore the stitching isn't straight. But it's early days and I'm still experimenting with the best way to stitch on linen.

I do intend to stitch this piece for 30 minutes per day so have a bit of catching up to do. Maybe there'll be more progress by the end of the month.

Love and hugs
Rachel x