A 2022 Embroidery Challenge
I’ve been watching people making temperature quilts on social media for a few years and really liked the idea of making one. But I knew I would struggle to carry such a large project through to the end, plus the idea of knitting a blanket in the heat of summer wasn’t that appealing. Then I came across the idea of a temperature cross stitch, small, portable and seemed much more manageable!
I found this fantastic pattern for a spiral galaxy by Climbing Goat Designs, bought my fabric and a seemingly huge number of threads and prepared for the 1st of January.
January
Started out well, but I didn’t like how messy each day was to start and finish. So I did some research and found out some neater ways of starting. The loop stitch was for when the thread was nice and long and the pin stitch was for when it was a bit shorter.
February
I found out I needed a much bigger hoop, so ended up buying a quilting hoop which was large enough.
March
I worked out that using a seat frame would make it so much easier to cope with embroidering such a large hoop and my left hand was very grateful for the reduced strain! Also blue and purple were getting quite boring by this point, so I was so excited when green started to appear at the end of March.
April
Finding the start of the next spiral was tricky and I did end up unpicking it once. I was also pleased I had kept on top of stitching the sparkly stars.
May
It was interesting having a visual representation of how much warmer it was getting.
June
The end of the academic year was very busy, so I was quite proud of myself for keeping on top of the embroidery. But the stars had to wait until later.
July
We had an unexpected heat wave. Because my temperature scale had been planned on historic average data it only went up to 28°c and July ended up at 38°c, so I had to buy extra colour to cope with the sudden expansion of my heat scale.
August
It continued to be hot, but not as hot as July. I still needed to use my extra colours though!
September
It was a relief to see the cooler colours coming back. But this was a challenging month to sew because I had triggered RSI in my wrist at school.
October
This was an odd month because the majority of the days were 17°c, which did make for a lot of lime green stitching.
November
We spent a lot of this month packing and preparing to move house, so managing to keep on top of stitching was challenging. A lot of November was actually stitched in December.
December
In contrast to the summer, December decide to swing the other way by plunging into negative figures (this is unusual for London!). My scale ended at 5°c, and we had temperatures as low as -1°c. So once again I needed to pick up some extra colour for my scale. My needle finally gave up a week before the end of the year (clearly being threaded so many times had caused metal fatigue), so I didn’t actually finish until the first week of January.
I still have the starts to finish, but that should be done soon.
Some fun facts from the year:
• 2022 here ended with the same temperature as it started. 13°c for both the 1st Jan and 31st Dec.
• The temperature range on this cross stitch goes from -1°c to 38°c and documents both the coldest winter and hottest summer.
• My original plan went from 5°c to 28°c (as that used average data for the area), so I had to buy extra colours both in July and December to work with the wild variations in temperature.
I really enjoyed doing this, but I don’t think I’ll do another one for a while. I do highly recommend Climbing Goat Designs though, fantastic support and community and a very clearly written pattern.
Christmas 2019, I was going to spend the festive season with my boyfriend’s family for the first time. So I wanted to take something crafty, but compact, to do. Embroidery! I thought – so went to Etsy to find a kit to challenge my stitching skills.
After much browsing I found this cactus kit from Oh Sew Bootiful, which came with everything I needed. Including a comprehensive guide to the stitches I would need to master.
One of the stitches I found the most challenging, which involved watching a few YouTube tutorials, was the French Knot. I still need to practice it, because my knots are still a bit hit and miss. But this cactus ended up with a series of very good knots!
I particularly liked how there was a variety of stitches recommended in the kit. But you could decide which stitch worked best on which cactus. Although I did largely stay true to the cover illustration, there were some cacti that I went “off script”.
By the start of the first lockdown, I had completed a decent amount of the kit, but then the distractions of baking bread and making scrubs meant that the kit was relegated to a shelf.
However, by the start of lockdown 3, most of my crafting materials had been packed up (we are in the process of trying to move). I left myself 3 unfinished projects, one of which was the cactus embroidery.
So with fewer distractions, and the addition of a fabulous needle holder from the Dinky Trinket Co on Etsy, I finally completed it.
The next challenge is to find a way of protecting it in a frame. When I am back in school I might have a go at making one on the laser cutter. I would like it to have a glass front with a wide wooden frame and a way of hanging in on the wall. But that is a challenge for the future!
For now, I’ve started my next embroidery. This time it’s blackwork and I’m learning how to do Holbein stitch…
My logo is a flamingo. I didn’t choose this, it was given to me by a group of teenage boys as a thank you for all the work I had done with them. However, despite originally being a bit perplexed at their choice of logo, I have come to understand how it came about and more importantly to love and embrace my branding!
Back in 2017, my child was taking their GCSE exams. This was such a stressful process for them that I had to wait in the school’s reception area in case something happened and I was needed to provide calming support.
This meant several hours of sitting and waiting, in case I was needed (spoiler – I wasn’t, thank goodness!). So I crafted. I chose small projects I could easily put down if needed. And my main one was cross-stitch. I choose a kit from the Geeky Stitching Company on Etsy.
This was the finished cross-stitch, which now hangs in my office at school. At the same time, I was supporting a fledgeling racing team. The boys (the pupils from my school) were building a racing car with a volunteer engineer (now my boyfriend). At the end of the racing season, the boys and my now boyfriend presented me with this logo as a thank you for everything I had done.
Fast forward 2 years and this logo adorns everything. From my school cup (teachers live off caffeine).
My school apron, which I blogged about here.
Even the racing cars, which we still race, and which I still run (albeit with significantly more pupils).
So in case you wondered why my logo is a flamingo (an engineering flamingo, in case you hadn’t spotted the gear on the wing), now you know!
Every 6 (or 7) years I design a cross stitch that represents my life at that moment in time. It started in 2000 when my daughter was born. Last year I designed the 3rd cross stitch and started embroidering it. Finally a year later it is finished (I will be honest and confess that it was in hibernation for about 7 months of the year!).
I designed it using an iPad app called Stitch Sketch which was really easy to use.
Here you can see a QR code I turned into a cross stitch pattern. It’s also quite useful that you can choose to design in normal RGB colours, or using the DMC colour chart.
I printed out the various design I made (some were purchased from Etsy and adapted) then stuck them together the old fashioned way using masking tape.
So here is the finished cross stitch:
As you can see, now my daughter is a teenager our life has become very geeky! I am also very proud that the QR code works, when you scan it you can read ‘Katie and Charlie 2013’.
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A 2022 Embroidery Challenge
4 February 2023
I’ve been watching people making temperature quilts on social media for a few years and really liked the idea of making one. But I knew I would struggle to carry such a large project through to the end, plus the idea of knitting a blanket in the heat of summer wasn’t that appealing. Then I […]
-
Little Life Update
3 February 2023
I finally caught COVID, and while I am curled up on my sofa feeling sorry for myself, I thought I would check through things. I realised that I haven’t written anything on this blog for ages (gulp April 2021) and so much has happened! The problem is that Instagram is so much quicker and easier […]
-
Alison Glass Lumen Quilt
19 April 2021
In which I attempt to make a giant quilt, for the first time!
-
Cactus Embroidery – Slow Sewing
6 February 2021
It’s taken just over a year, but this embroidery is finally finished!
-
Mushroom Ragu – Vegan and Delicious!
1 January 2021
It's new year's day and I'm making Mushroom Ragu.
-
A 2022 Embroidery Challenge
4 February 2023
I’ve been watching people making temperature quilts on social media for a few years and really liked the idea of making one. But I knew I would struggle to carry such a large project through to the end, plus the idea of knitting a blanket in the heat of summer wasn’t that appealing. Then I […]
-
Little Life Update
3 February 2023
I finally caught COVID, and while I am curled up on my sofa feeling sorry for myself, I thought I would check through things. I realised that I haven’t written anything on this blog for ages (gulp April 2021) and so much has happened! The problem is that Instagram is so much quicker and easier […]
-
Alison Glass Lumen Quilt
19 April 2021
In which I attempt to make a giant quilt, for the first time!
-
Cactus Embroidery – Slow Sewing
6 February 2021
It’s taken just over a year, but this embroidery is finally finished!
-
Mushroom Ragu – Vegan and Delicious!
1 January 2021
It's new year's day and I'm making Mushroom Ragu.
-
A 2022 Embroidery Challenge
4 February 2023
I’ve been watching people making temperature quilts on social media for a few years and really liked the idea of making one. But I knew I would struggle to carry such a large project through to the end, plus the idea of knitting a blanket in the heat of summer wasn’t that appealing. Then I […]
-
Little Life Update
3 February 2023
I finally caught COVID, and while I am curled up on my sofa feeling sorry for myself, I thought I would check through things. I realised that I haven’t written anything on this blog for ages (gulp April 2021) and so much has happened! The problem is that Instagram is so much quicker and easier […]
-
Alison Glass Lumen Quilt
19 April 2021
In which I attempt to make a giant quilt, for the first time!
-
Cactus Embroidery – Slow Sewing
6 February 2021
It’s taken just over a year, but this embroidery is finally finished!
-
Mushroom Ragu – Vegan and Delicious!
1 January 2021
It's new year's day and I'm making Mushroom Ragu.
-
A 2022 Embroidery Challenge
4 February 2023
I’ve been watching people making temperature quilts on social media for a few years and really liked the idea of making one. But I knew I would struggle to carry such a large project through to the end, plus the idea of knitting a blanket in the heat of summer wasn’t that appealing. Then I […]
-
Little Life Update
3 February 2023
I finally caught COVID, and while I am curled up on my sofa feeling sorry for myself, I thought I would check through things. I realised that I haven’t written anything on this blog for ages (gulp April 2021) and so much has happened! The problem is that Instagram is so much quicker and easier […]
-
Alison Glass Lumen Quilt
19 April 2021
In which I attempt to make a giant quilt, for the first time!
-
Cactus Embroidery – Slow Sewing
6 February 2021
It’s taken just over a year, but this embroidery is finally finished!
-
Mushroom Ragu – Vegan and Delicious!
1 January 2021
It's new year's day and I'm making Mushroom Ragu.