Stitching but no quilting (yet).

I really don't know if the COVID thing has anything to do with it, but I stopped doing any patchwork around the time the pandemic started to take effect.  It didn't actually have much impact on our life, as Ken and I have been homebodies for many years now, due partially to his chronic health issues, and just the fact that as we get older we don't feel the urge to travel far.   So the time we spend outside of our home are generally medical appointments, shopping, and occasional meeting friends for coffee and chat in a local cafe.   I go to a gym twice a week to keep my arthritic knees working, and Ken used to accompany me until lockdown, and although I am back there now, he hasn't been. 

So, there is no reason for my patchwork mojo to disappear, but there it is.  However, I've renewed interest in stitching - inspired by the monthly UFO challenge on the Home Makers Forum.
I finally finished a small cross stitch of baby lorikeets, which I was so close to just putting in the rubbish bin because it was so complex with a lot of colours.  I completely lost interest in it not long after I started it, but when I pulled it out of the cupboard when I was decluttering, I thought NO!  This is not going to beat me.  So I persisted, and here it is.

 


 I selected four projects to work on this year, all long term UFOs that have been around for many years, and which have almost ended up in the opshop at times when I lost interest in finishing them.  But I'm glad I've hung on them because I can see the end in sight! Well, not for a while yet, but at least there is some progress on them.  One project is a quilt made up of Crazy Patchwork blocks.  I've made up the blocks and embellished seven of them, with five to go. 

The other projects are my late mother-in-law's supper cloth that she started back in the 1930's or thereabouts, and gave to me about 10 years before she passed away.  I promised her I would finish it, but although I made a start, I didn't get far because it is quite an intricate design of roses and daisies, and it took me longer to stitch than I thought.  But I will persist, although it certainly won't be finished this year!

Then there is the Semco Tea Pots blackwork which has been on a frame unstitched for far too many years, so this is the year I plan to finish it.  I've done a bit, but a lot more to go!  I posted a photo of that on this blog a few months ago.

Finally there is the Peacock cross stitch sampler which I started along with my friend Sharon at the same time.  She finished hers very smartly, but I apparently got involved with something easier or more interesting not long after I'd started it, and it was relegated to the bottom of the UFO pile.  Not any more!  I've started on it again, and am looking forward to finishing it this year!