2012 WIPocalypse - August Full Moon No. 2

Do you ever get the feeling that 'they' are out to get you?  This week has been a nightmare.  

On Wednesday I was driving to work when a man in a white van drove into me.  His insurers have accepted that he was totally at fault and I'm fine but am now waiting to hear if my insurance company are going to repair my car or write it off. 

On Thursday Dad had an appointment at the hospital - the things that they took out the other week are just fibrous lumps formed in reaction to the plastic mesh put in to fix his hernia 15 years ago.  He is now waiting to go for a CT scan as they still can't work out what is wrong with him.

Yesterday I drove Mum and two of the Patchwork Group to Harrogate to The Great Northern Needlecraft Show in Mum's car.  We had a great time and I have some stash to show you in a moment.  It was a 200 mile plus round trip, about 2 hours each way.  Everything was fine until we were halfway down my parents' road and the engine packed up.  Luckily we were on the hill bit and could roll/push the car down to their house, rather than abandoning it halfway up the road.  It turns out that the battery had died and probably the starter motor and possibly the alternator.  To be honest, I am starting to feel that cars and me do not mix!

 Starting with Harrogate, I really wanted to show you this quilt.  All of the red design is done in cross stitch! According to the card next to it, the pattern was bought from the Womans Weekly magazine and had been in the maker's family for 25 years without being used.  The finished piece was then hand quilted - the quilt took 4 years to complete, so serious stuff here and much respect to Janet Kirk of North Yorkshire.  It is called 'Mother' in memory of her mother, who gave her the pattern, and whose last words were 'Promise to finish the quilt'.

I promised you stash - and here it is.  I didn't go overboard, although I was very tempted by The Nutmeg Company's 3D houses (and one of my companions did fall into temptation).  I came away with a Prairie Schooler Halloween chart, two Just Nan angels out of a bargain box and some Petite Treasure Braid (starting my collection for my Chatelaine piece).  I also bought a daylight lightbulb which fits my floor lamp and should save me the cost of buying a daylight lamp.  

There were actually four Just Nan angels - the other two were Evangeline and Serafina.  I was really quite surprised - my Mum saw them as stitched pieces and decided she rather liked them.  In the end, it was agreed that I would buy two and L would buy two and then we would swap them when we were done.

That's the stash - now the stitching.  Despite taking Delft to the stitching day on Friday, it is still not finished.  I got sidetracked after lunch by a family history enquiry, so the main motif is complete but the border isn't.  Maybe by the next update?

Definite progress to report on Train of Dreams.  I have completed the black stitching on the left hand side and, although you can't actually see them, there are a scattering of navy blue stitches in there.  As you can see, I'm sort of gridding as I go along.  I didn't grid before I started because it would have taken forever on 25 count.  

And finally Carnation - this is moving along nicely with the required four blocks for the week being completed in time for the Full Moon on Friday night.  I accept that this is going to take years to complete, but I think that it is going to be worth it, don't you?


I'm turning the page to a new week and hoping that things can only get better!  All the very best to you and yours!