Final post for 2025 (I think. I mean, unless anything amazingly wonderful happens that I can't keep to myself any longer ...)

The days are marching by at record speed, and I've finally - possibly - bought all the presents I need to buy and written all the Christmas cards I need to send.

I decided not to put up a full-sized tree this year as I'm convinced Badger the cat would simply view it as a climbing frame, and I'd find it toppled on a daily basis. Instead, there's a small green tree, and a simple white twiggy one that has lots of vintage baubles dangling from it.

To be honest, I prefer the twiggy one, so the green tree might be permanently retired from now on. I've not gone crazy with the decorations, but there are various strings of fairy lights that look so pretty when they're lit.

I have - between internet shopping and baking mince pies - made a little fishy pin cushion, decorated with seed stitches, French knots, chain stitch and stem stitch. I'm on the look-out for grey tweedy material to make another fish as I think that'd look better than plain grey cotton.

I've also gone colour-crazy with this embroidery. Applique, shisha mirrors, couched down sheep's wool, sari silk patches, it's certainly not minimalist.

The intensely purple piece is a dyed silk carrier rod, which I'd never heard of before I watched an Ariane Zurcher video where she used them on her textile work. In between ordering Christmas presents for other people, I had a moment's weakness and ordered two packs of carrier rods and a bundle of gorgeous threads from Stef Francis.

My dwindling bank account won't thank me for these purchases, but I love 'em all the same.

I'll finish up with a couple of book bargains from the charity shop, and a library book I'm immersed in. 'Old Baggage' by Lissa Evans.

It's a superb read, funny and moving and provides a dose of women's history at the same time. It's set in 1928, and Mattie Simpkin is a former militant suffragette. 'Jailed five times, she marched, sang, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill. But nothing since then has had the same depth, the same excitement. Now in middle age, Mattie is looking for a new purpose.' Mattie's a wonderful character, and I've been trying to imagine which actress would portray her if the book was ever made into a film. I'm still mulling that one over. I can only think of actresses from the past. Margaret Rutherford maybe?

Anyway, that's probably my last blog entry for 2025, so unless plans change I'll wish you a merry Christmas, and glad tidings of comfort and joy. Have fun. x

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Threads of Freedom and charity shop bargains

It's Saturday afternoon, and I haven't done half the things I'd meant to. Partly because I spent most of this morning messing about with paints, stencils and the gell plate. Never mind, everything on today's 'To Do' list will join tomorrow's 'To Do' list ... it's hardly life or death if I don't haul the hoover around the room or pull up weeds in the front garden. I thought I'd show you what I made on Wednesday. I'd gone to my monthly StitchArt group, and this time we did something a little different. There's a project called 'Threads of Freedom' which is working with various community groups across the city. It's about creating little stitched pieces, some of which will be included in a textile panel to go on display at Leeds art gallery. There was lots of fabric we could choose from to sew with, and I picked this vintage tray cloth with the roses embroidery. My own embroidery's not a patch on those flo...

Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out....

Another week's flown by ...

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