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More UFO Sightings, Sustainability and Some ‘Interesting’ Acronyms!

It seems there are still plenty of UFO stories around. If anyone doubts the existence of these things, all they need to do is come and have a read of All Stitched Up! We’d say that we’ve encountered more UFOs than Roswell, and we’re pretty confident that there are more out there. Perhaps if everyone realised that ‘Unfinished Objects’ were so common, it may help to demystify their existence!?

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Sue Donohue Smith wrote to tell us that when her mother passed away in 2009, she was given a large bag of needlepoint ‘stuff’ that had been saved for her, as she was the only stitcher in the family. Sue only had the chance to collect it in 2011 when she flew back to her hometown, where she put the bag in her luggage and didn’t think much more about it.

When she got it home, she discovered a half-finished needlepoint of two swans that she remembers her mother working on as a present for Sue’s sister. But there was no pattern! Not one to be deterred, Sue sat down to figure it out. With the help of one of her guild friends, she finally got it finished and gifted it to her sister.

Needless to say, her sister was overwhelmed, and Sue was thrilled to have completed the piece by collaborating on it with her mother posthumously.

Lucy sent us this lovely picture of a tablecloth that was started by her mother prior to her mother’s wedding in 1950. It was unfinished and left in a drawer until the 1970s, when it was given to Lucy to finish off. She did just that and now still uses it, although she struggles to see which stitches were hers and which were her mother’s. Perhaps a testament to the skill of both needlewomen?

Lucy’s Tablecloth

Wendy Armitage was mulling over sustainability after being inspired by Ann Baseden’s thrifty use of her husband’s shirts as embroidery material. Wendy says she tries to be as sustainable as possible in her life, often wearing her clothes until they are well past the possibility of being donated to charity. Wendy hates putting things in the bin, so she often uses them to embroider on, or cuts up the highly patterned items and uses them to finish the backs of her hoop art. What fabulous ways to reuse and recycle

Finally, Joylene Smart wrote in to add to the conversation for the first time, and there is no doubt that she gave us a good laugh with her closing comments (after we’d gotten over our surprise). Joylene has spent time sorting through her craft room because she realised she needed to tidy things up.

When her daughter threatened to have a big bonfire with it all after Joylene passed, she realised she had better do something about it so that her friends didn’t miss out!

After being shocked by the number of UFOs other readers had, Joylene took a deep breath and counted her own. At that point she realised that she wasn’t exactly perfect herself! Over the lockdowns, she’s managed to finish a few and each new project she’s started this year, she’s made the effort to finish.

Joylene also jumped in on the acronym conversation. It is probably best to quote her directly here as we don’t think we could say it any better:

‘Do readers have PIGs (Projects in Grocery Bags) in their homes? Have they had a good FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip) recently? How about any SEX (Stash Enhancing eXercises) lately?  I may even have a WOMBAT (Waste of Material, Batting and Time) or two in my craft room.’

We think we might just leave it there for this week!