WIP update and a finish.

As I predicted in the last post not much progress was made on the Green Santa last week, but at least, some progress is better than no progress.


We went to 'The Railway' this weekend so I had an opportunity to work on my handbag stitching project, the Santa tree skirt being too big to take with me. This is the Anniversary Biscornu from Just Nan. This biscornu is a shop exclusive for Country Crafts in Greeley, Colorado and has been in the stash since last June. This is the first side completed.


The fabric is the suggested 28ct Zweigart Opal Rainbow Dreams Cashel Linen. The dimensions of this biscornu are 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches.

I managed to finish the cross stitching on my third ornament for Yoyo's Christmas Design SAL.



And finally... my Dad finished his Poppy Screen from Millennia Designs. This is a massive project as you can see from the photo here. The only place big enough to show it off is the stairs, hence the funny angle of the photo.

Poppies

"Exactly at 7.30 AM an uncanny silence fell over the battlefield. The British barrage suddenly ceased as it lifted from the German front line and gun-layers adjusted their sights for the next target. By strange coincidence, the German guns, too, were silent. It was eerie; the sun was shining out of a cloudless sky, birds hovered and swooped over the trenches, singing clearly. ... After a few seconds the quiet was shattered as the British barrage fell upon the next line of enemy defences. In their own trenches whistles blew, shouts came from the platoon and section commanders. The Battle of the Somme had started."

Beginning at 7.30 AM on Saturday 1 July 1916 The Battle of the Somme was probably the biggest battle the British army would ever fight in a single day. The human cost was staggering.

19,240 killed or died of wounds
35,493 wounded
2,152 missing
585 prisoners

Last year we went on a family holiday to the Somme region of Northern France, it is known as 'The Poppy Country'. Here are some of the photos taken of that region, it's memorials and cemeteries, not just those associated with The Battle of the Somme but the First World War in general. Many of these photos were taken by my nephew who was nine at the time and they reflect what was of interest to him.



Quotes and statistics were taken from 'The First Day of the The Somme' by Martin Middlebrook, published by Penguin. Poppies photo shows two panels of the Poppy Screen from Millennia Designs, stitched by my Dad!

Another finish, this time my Dad's!

This is the second panel of the Poppy Screen from Millennia Designs to be completed by my Dad. Holding it up from behind is my Mum! My Dad worked this design from the top down. When he started panel 1, not knowing what he was doing, I asked him if he was doing the title screen from 'The Simpsons'!

This image is enlargable so you can see the panel in all it's glory!

March is complete

So we did go to 'The Railway' this weekend. There was some snow on Friday night but not enough to stop us meeting up with friends at the local hostelry! However, the forecast for Saturday evening was for severe frost, -8 to -10 degrees C. This would mean that our water supply would freeze overnight, so we came home.

I normally go and visit my Mum and Dad on 'Railway Weekend' Saturdays and this was no exception. So there were the three of us each working on something, my Mum the Holland Mandala, my Dad the second part of the Poppy Screen by Jill Gordon of Millennia Designs and me the March calendar.

I finished the calendar this morning and have just finished mounting it. Inspired by The Lady of the Floss's blog I have had a go at staging the completed project photo.

Here it is.