Bouquet of Flowers - St Laurence's Christmas Tree Festival

Thank you to everyone who stitched and sent a flower for my tree at church this year. Early in the year I decided my theme would be a Bouquet of Flowers to represent all the beautiful flowers I received after my breast cancer diagnosis. 

I put it on my blog and asked if anyone would like to stitch a flower and send it .... I have been overwhelmed by everyone's kindness, thank you. 

I asked for the flowers to be sent as stitched, this saved expensive postage for everyone and meant I could finish them all in the same way so although different they still matched. 

It was quite a big job to mount, lace and add silver zig zag to each one but worth the time as they came out lovely. I used felt foam for the backing and matched this to the colour of each flower. 

Here's all the flowers together and close ups in small groups. I did email everyone to show how their flower turned out. 

Sadly because of the restrictions here in England due to the coronavirus the church cannot hold the tree festival. It is such a shame as usually the church is filled with 60 real trees with each being decorated in a variety of themes. Everyone takes part from individuals like myself to local charities, nurseries, schools and businesses. It's a lovely atmosphere when we are all in church decorating our trees with tinsel and baubles everywhere. 

However the Tree Festival is still happening .... this year we are having a virtual festival. In the summer the church hosted a very successful virtual Flower Festival and have worked very hard to put together this year's Tree Festival. Many of the images are from previous years and include trees decorated by friends and families no longer with us, it is lovely to see them. 

You can read about the Virtual Festival here  - and watch it below .... the Bouquet of Flowers features for 2021! 

As the Bouquet of Flowers tree is a new tree, Hubby and I got our tree out of the attic and decorated it as if it was at church. I put together a few photos to show how much love has gone into this tree from all over the world. 

Thank you again to everyone who stitched and sent a flower, I did received some too late for this tree but I will be putting the Bouquet of Flowers tree up in church at next year's festival and will make those flowers up to be added in. If you'd like to stitch a flower to be added next year please let me know. 

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas - I hope you enjoy our virtual Christmas Tree Festival from St Laurence's Church, Ansley, England. 

November Smalls SAL

 

This month I do have a small to share as part of Mary's Smalls SAL. The SAL is all about small stitching, any little project you have stitched, it doesn't have to be fully finished.

Here's the full details about Small SAL 2020 - thank you Mary.

My small is Block 11 for the Stitching the Night Away SAL with Needlecraft Haven. I've really enjoyed stitching these different blocks and I'm already working on Block 12.

I have been stitching but this time of year everything is for Christmas gifting. I will be able to share some in December's Gifted Gorgeousness. I'm sorry Rachel I can't show in FF next month but hope to be more organised with my blog writing in 2021. 

Please follow my blog, if you don't already, because next week I can reveal all about St. Laurence's Christmas Tree Festival and our Bouquet of Flowers ..... I'm so excited. 

Health wise I am recovering slowly. I have no more treatments or doctor appointments until the spring which is such a good feeling. My strength is returning, I'm managing a 20 minute walk each day and hoping to extend it slowly. Some days I feel great, other days I'm quite low but of course stitching always helps. 

Stay safe everyone x x 

Gifted Gorgeousness November

 

It's the 15th of each month which means it's Gifted Gorgeousness time, the time each month when we share our latest gifts. These can be gifts given or received, or any item made using fabric, threads, buttons, ribbon, chart, backing fabric that has been gifted.

This great idea is hosted each month by the lovely Jo at Serendipitous Stitching,  if you visit her blog you'll find the links to everyone's Gifted Gorgeousness posts. 

This month my stitching is mainly gifts I have given to others. During the last year my friends at Needlecraft Haven have been so supportive, as has a lovely lady I worked with over 15 years ago and my very good friend who lives in America. 

My USA friend Cathy has sent a get well card every 6 weeks, they have been real 'cheer me up' cards, she is so thoughtful and kind. I wanted to stitch something for her and during one of our video chats (something we began this year despite being friends since the mid 1990s) she mentioned she liked roses. This Durene Jones design was perfect, it was lovely to stitch, I also included a rose scented candle in my gift parcel. 

Thank you Cathy, you have been such a help, you're so kind. 

Durene Jones was also the designer of the gift I stitched for Ann, a lovely lady who I worked with when I taught at college. Although her health has also not been good, she has messaged me every time I have had a treatment or an appointment. I know Ann loves foxes so this design was an obvious choice. I was a bit sneaky and managed to find out her favourite fragrance was vanilla so I popped a vanilla candle in her gift. 

Thank you Ann, it means so much to know you care, thank you for being there.

Our son had a special birthday at the end of October, I like to stitch him a gift for special occasions but it is hard to find ones he'd like. He plays Dungeons and Dragons and is  often the Dungeon Master so I stitched these dice for him. I can't believe he turned 30!

At the end of October I did a Halloween Exchange with Christine and Mary. We were stitching scissor fobs and I had to stitch for Christine but as there was only three of us I also stitched for Mary. I stitched their initials on either side to make personal spooky scissor fobs. You can read more about our exchange on my Happy Halloween post. 

As I said before the ladies at Needlecraft Haven have been so supportive during a very difficult year. We are a very small group now with Christine, Mary, Julie, Gill and myself being the main posters. Life has not been easy for any of us this year and of course Covid has caused additional problems. I wanted to stitch something for Julie and Gill as well, keeping the initials theme I made these autumnal scissor fobs. 

Thank you ladies, NH is such a special caring place thanks to you all.

Due to Covid and the first lockdown we could not send our Easter Exchange parcels. We did put photos on the forum but did not say who we had stitched them for. As restrictions eased we sent our parcels out to arrive for Halloween. I had a lovely spring ornament from Mary, I did hang it up with my Halloween decorations but it is safely away now for next spring.

This is the ornament I stitched for Julie, as soon as I saw the design it made me think of her and her lovely Hubby.

My final gift this month is a late birthday present from Dusty, it took quite a while for Postie to bring it over the ocean but it's always nice to extend a birthday. I love the Paris chart and beautiful scissors, the little kit will be another one I can do for scouts, thank you Dusty.

Dusty also sent some flowers for my church tree, unfortunately I didn't have time to finish them for this year but they will be used. I cannot say much just yet but due to restrictions the Tree Festival will be different this year. I have finished all those sent to me earlier and I have emailed everyone a photo of their finished flower. 

I'll be able to reveal what has happened to our Bouquet of Flowers later this month, it's very exciting. 

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to you all. I hope you all stay safe but still have fun. Hubby and I had Ghoul-lash for dinner and spooky snacks for our usual Saturday quiz with friends via Messenger. As it was Halloween and our 30th quiz night (unbelievable) we all set questions on a given spooky theme... mine was food and drink.

This year's Halloween Exchange was just between myself, Christine and Mary, we had to stitch a scissor fob. I found a great Halloween alphabet which I used to stitch Christine's initials, one on each side, and included a witch treat. 

My exchange came from Mary, she stitched a beautiful scissor fob as well as an ornament that she used for the card too, very clever. Mary also sent some Halloween serviettes which wear great to use with dinner.

I put our Halloween things out, nothing scary really, more scarecrows and pumpkins than ghosts and ghouls. I lit my porcelain tealight holders, they always give a good flicker. We don't get any door knocking as we live in a quiet cul-de-sac with only one family with young children and I think they stayed in this year. 

I hope you all had a safe but fun Halloween with plenty of treats and no tricks. 

October Smalls SAL

 

The Smalls SAL 2020 is all about small stitching, any little project you have stitched, it doesn't have to be fully finished. Here's the full details about Small SAL 2020 - I have really enjoyed this SAL, thank you Mary.

My first finish is Block 10 from Stitching the Night Away SAL with Needlecraft Haven members. I've loved doing these blocks, it's been interesting to stitch with variegated thread. I have used up some Anchor thread from my stash, I don't like this brand and I now remember why. I find the Anchor thread constantly knots up; I do separate each strand and ensure it is straight before using but the knots keep appearing. 

It is with great excitement I can share my other small, it's my first flower for the church tree. I made this up to practice the finish and was really pleased with it so I have been doing all the others. I have to say they take ages, I didn't realise how long mounting each flower then sewing on the zigzag would take. I am gluing the backing on as I am using foam felt.

I have some exciting news about the Bouquet of Flowers but I can't share until early November, thank you all for sending such beautiful flowers. 

Health wise it hasn't been a great few weeks. As I said last time my chemotherapy has finished because my blood count was out and the Oncologist decided I had had enough. As my tumour was removed in April the radiotherapy and this recent chemotherapy was all prevention so I was very happy to say enough is enough. 

However I have really struggled with breathlessness and tiredness. It's been quite worrying with Covid on everyone's mind but my breathlessness is whenever I do anything, even walking to the kitchen, I'm fine when sitting. I know it's because of my bloods but it's taking a long time to recover. I did manage a trip to Hobbycraft yesterday to get more zig zag and foam felt but I didn't browse the store and was exhausted when we got back to the car. I have bloods next week and see the doctor the following week, I'm hoping to have more energy by then. 

Thank you again for all the beautiful flowers - you've made me smile many times, which has been a huge help over this difficult year. 

October Gifted Gorgeousness

 

Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching - on the 15th of every month we post about any item we have either gifted or had gifted or have used that was once gifted. Our posts are linked to Jo's blog so we can see each other's Gifted Gorgeousnesses.

My first GG is a gift I made for our son's friend who is a teacher and has just had Textiles added to her timetable. I have a sewing box that I made from an old watch box, in fact this is my second box as I use it everyday and it does wear. You can see how I made it in my Upcycling post. 

Anyway I decided to upcycle another box for her and raided my stash to put together a sewing box. I covered an old pot to make a pin cushion lid, the pot being for orts, and covered a tape measure with a cross stitched J. I changed the ribbon and used some craft paper to recover part of the inside, I was so pleased with how it turned out. 

Thank you to everyone who has sent flowers. I am busy making them up, I need them all finished by early November. Over the last few weeks I have received theses beautiful flowers from April, Leonore, Mini and Barbara, huge thank you, you are all so kind. 

Today I've had the best gift ...... my Oncologist has said I don't need any more chemotherapy 🤗 My red bloods are very low at the minute and I am breathless just walking to the kitchen. The treatment has been ended as I have had nine sessions and as the tumour was removed in April this chemotherapy was prevention. I now have to build my strength back up, still be extra careful with catching infections but life finally feels like it is returning to normality. 

Thank you to everyone who has sent messages and cards, it's still a road but it certainly isn't as long and there is now an end in sight 🙂