First Stitch Along of December

 It's been three weeks since our last Stitch Along check in. I've not been very active in the cyber world but I have been busy in the studio. At least, on the days when I've been able to function. The air quality tends to be so bad around here this time of year that I can't even poke my nose out the door without getting hit by a wall of toxic air. Even with my mask on it takes a toll, sometimes heavy. So let me apologize in advance to any of the SAL bloggers who may visit and not see or hear from me in return. 

I have taken all your encouragement to add a spider's web (and a spider) to my Pumpkin Head canvas to heart. I will do that, just not right away. Thanks for your support! 

I've continued to work on the #12pagesofchristmas book project since our last check in. The first three pages can be seen in that post. The prompt for page four was to use rectangular pieces, a bit of lace, and a button. This is what I did:

As a reminder, my pages are about 3.5" overall, giving me about 3" square on which to work. My rectangles included a couple of clothing labels. The black one in the background is actually about twice as big as it appears. I covered up the lower half with a bit of sari silk and the second label. 

The prompt for page five was minimal: use a square and a Suffolk puff, or a yo-yo as we know it here in the States. 

I used a square of wool felt for my base but also included the square bead. Making Suffolk puffs is not something I enjoy doing so I was glad we only had to do one. I filled mine with an outpouring of miscellaneous beads and tacked it in place with some seed beads. I even managed to include a square sequin! 

The page six prompt was to use neutral fabrics, our choice of stitches, and three embellishments. Anne's stitching was more dense than mine and she used three small, dark safety pins for her embellishments. You can see her pages on her YouTube channel.

My embellishments are the button and two bugle beads (with seed beads at each end to protect the thread from being cut by the sharp ends of the bugles). I like the way the bugle beads echo the staff lines of the scrap of music print. Even the French knots mimic the notes. 

The next three prompts were only recently revealed. I haven't had a chance to work on them yet. I'm trying to get a little something hand stitched for each of our grandchildren for Christmas and that takes time. 😊

To visit the others in this SAL click on the links below. Hopefully the next time we check in, on 27 December, I'll have my book nearly complete! 

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, 

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, MaryMargaret, Renee, 

Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen