As You Sew, So Shall You Rip!

A bit  pessimistic if you ask me. Not every item I stitch goes wrong and has to be redone. On the other hand, there are times when pulling out the errors makes such a mess of the fabric I have no choice but to start again completely. 

Both Kirsten and I have struggled over the past three years- when we have known what we want to do for our monthly contribution to the collaboration, but it just doesn't look right once stitched. So it is duly unpicked. My last 'flat gift' to her was a retractable unpicker.

For this last project I have cheated a little, I had a spare piece of fabric, and each month worked on a practice patch. Practice Makes Perfect - well maybe not perfect, but there are fewer holes in the finished article, where errant stitches once were...

I decided to make my practice panel into a cover too. 

You remember the Dodo File I found in a CS in May, a random size between A4 and A5. I don't like the printed cover.

I lined my practice panel with a sample of curtain fabric from the stash, and enclosed elastic straps at either end, And I stitched name and date at one end.

And it folds round and slips onto the card folder beautifully. Please don't stare too hard at my machined name on the right- the doorbell rang and when I returned, I lost my place and it went wrong!!

I am quite pleased with it - you will see I had to add extra rows of ribbon to make it fit. And I am concerned about the delicate poppies on the spine. I may have to enclose them in some sheer voile, or their petals will get snagged. But it has already given me things to think about before I make up the 'Proper' CoverStory piece. 

Do you ever make 'practice pieces' when you are doping craftwork?

Moderate Or Fair, Occasionally Rough At First!

Today marks the centenary of the Shipping Forecast, first broadcast on the BBC  on 4th July 1925. It is a much treasured feature of our national radio service. 

I am not a sailor, and have never needed to listen, but I find it comforting to know that those who do need to know what weather is coming their way can rely on this amazing service.

There are currently three broadcasts a day, 00:48, 5:34, and 17:54.  It's the teatime one that we landlubbers are most familiar with I guess. But sometimes, when insomnia has driven me to seek solace in late night radio I listen to the Shipping Forecast, always preceded by Ronald Binge's "Sailing By " Theme. [and if there are gales forecast, I will snuggle into my warm bed gratefully, and pray "for those in peril on the sea"]
I hadn't realised that the tune was chosen because it is repetitive, and so sailors are alerted to the fact it is almost time for the forecast, and it acts as a "filler" between the final programme of the night and the forecast, so it can be trimmed to end at 00:48 precisely. According to HM Coastguard is a legal requirement for the Forecast to be provided, as part of the Mariners' Safety Information.

There are really strict rules about the forecast, so that sailors in the 31 areas can easily understand the data which affects them..

• A strict 370 word limit [at 00:48, an extra 10 allowed, to include Trafalgar
• Gale warnings are always mentioned first to alert mariners
• Then there is a general synopsis, followed by specific areas in strict order [wind, sea state, weather, visibility]
• The words imminent, soon, and later have definite meanings, within 6 hours, 6-12 hours, 12-24 hours
• There are standard terms and abbreviations.

These set phrases have become part of Radio4 fanspeak. jokes which appear on birthday cards and teeshirts. Such as

• light icing
• veering slowly, losing identity
• moderate or good, very poor
• new low expected, south east

Many famous actors have voiced the Forecast, some better than others, to be honest. Samuel West has declared this honour to be a lifelong ambition. He has read it on other programmes, but not read an actual live forecast. Please BBC, let this man do it! Acting as Siegfried Farnon, he is well on the way to becoming a National Treasure. Quick, while his dear Mum Prunella is still around. 

Find out more about the special BBC programmes here

We are having a few days away - I shall pack my copy of One Summer's Grace, a favourite holiday read. We are an island race, and seafaring is an important part of our history.

Bored Of The Flies?

So difficult to keep on top of them, they seem everywhere in this hot weather. It's vital to keep food covered. But there comes a moment when the salad has to come out of the fridge, along with the mayo, and it is good to have plenty of water on hand. I've tried to be creative about "lids" and I think I've found some workable solutions.

It was ridiculously satisfying to discover that the silicone lid I use on bowls in the microwave is exactly the right size for my salad bowl. And my small MOOPOP fits the little bowl I use for serving mayonnaise.

I picked up the little glass jug from a CS year ago. It had lost its original stopper, but this inverted champagne cork does the job. [I don't drink champagne, no idea where the cork came from]  Until the other week, I had a cute IKEA water carafe with a silicon lid. Then it slipped and broke! I retrieved the carafe which Bob had kept since his student days. The IKEA lid didn't fit. 

I found the cover I made four years ago from a vintage doyley. Perfect.

I recently picked up a yellowstickered bag of three limes. I sliced and open-froze them. Instant ice-and-a-slice.

One of the ancient names for the devil was Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies.  I was amused recently to read the suggestion that those irritating insects which keep you awake at night. Buzzing round the bedroom, should be called beelzebugs!

Have you any good suggestions for creating no-fly zones?

You Couldn't Make It Up!

In our crazy language, both make up and made up have a number of meanings
"make up" as a noun usually means cosmetics, and "To make up" as a verb can mean to apply cosmetics.
But "make up" can also mean "create a fiction, tell a lie" - you make up an excuse to get out of a sticky situation, the criminal will make up a story and give a false alibi
And "to make up" means to reconcile after an argument  [kiss and make up!]
Finally "to make up" means to complete something. "If you save your pocket money, I will make up the difference so you can buy the book" Or with a cake mix - make up the mix to produce a cake. Similarly made up can be wearing cosmetics, descriptive of a lie, finished arguing and became friends again, a finished product - and lately it means very happy "He offered me the job and I was well made up"
Kirsten and I are now making up - not lying, or reconciling, but completing the CoverStory project. Our two panels have all their patches stitched, their seams embellished, and the names and dates on an info panel to one side.

Each has ten patches, an information panel, and horizontal and vertical seam embellishments. We each did 5 patches per panel, and half the seam stitching.

Now we each have our 'own' panel [mine is the lower one] 

It is time to make up our panel so it becomes a book cover. 

We wanted this project to be usable [the first four pieces are still languishing in drawers in Norfolk and Sussex waiting to be framed!]

I made an error right at the beginning - I allowed for the 'turnings' on our foundation fabric, and we both stitched "over the edge" so some embroidery will be lost inside. And forgot the info panel, so that had to be added later.

I checked my shelves and foraged in the loft, and found five new and unused A5 notebooks, plus the very slim notebook I was given at my workshop last Saturday - and the travel journal I took to Paris last year, which has been a general purpose commonplace book since then. I think that is the one I am going to make up the cover for. 

But since my parcel arrived from Kirsten, I have been asked to shorten three pairs of pyjama trousers and decorate another slime shirt for the school play, and I already had another special project on the go. 

My CoverStory will not be finished this week - but when it is, I shall be "well made up " too!
Thanks Kirsten for another year of challenging, exciting. collaborative sewing. And for this month's great "flat gifts" which will get a special mention later 

Throwaway Comments

It is fifteen years since the start of this annual campaign, but I think I only really picked it up in 2019. Aiming to be 'part of the solution to plastic pollution'
I know that lots of you are already working hard at this - Taking your own containers to the local chinese takeaway, buying loose fruit and veg, having milk delivered in glass bottles, wearing pee-pants instead of plastic-based sanpro, using waxwraps not clingfilm, taking reusable cups to Costa ...
the list of good alternatives is really long - but we still have a long way to go. I hadn't realised the new kitchen would affect my thinking about recycling, but it has.

Under the sink I now have two IKEA 'hallbar' bins alongside my yellow compost bin [i'm still awaiting the Council to sort out a food waste collection] These are labelled general and recycling. I have found myself being much more careful about putting packaging in the correct bin lately.

Many people think these triangle labels on plasdtic automatically mean you can put it in domestic recycling. You can't! If you can see the number, you are usually safe with 1-5, possibly not 6 & 7. But honestly, how often do you squint at the clear plastic as you prepare a meal, and can see the triangle, but not the number? So you recycle and hope [aka wishcycling]
So well done to the OPRL company [On Pack Recycling Labels] who have been working incredibly hard to make it easier for us, to recognise easily what we can and cannot recycle, with labels like this

This independent company is getting lots of big brands on board

And it seems that their efforts are paying off. Their latest report "What consumers want" involved consumer insights taken from a study in spring 2025 involving over 5000 UK consumers. They covered six areas

I find their conclusions encouraging - I do check packs for guidance on recycling, and prefer simpler instructions. I think labelling is improving - but I am aware of friends and social media spreading misinformation, usually through ignorance.
Now my bins are adjacent, it is much easier to put things in the correct one. I am not sure if there are any massive changes I can make this July, I shall just keep plodding away. Recycling, but more mindfully [and hopefully in a better way] Looking out for the informative OPRL swirls, in preference to the old three arrow triangle. 
I have to come clean here - the company conducting the Consumer Insights Study for OPRL is a small one in Manchester, called Tangible, and my Steph is now the boss. I am incredibly proud of her, and her company, for this research. These small changes in labelling really are having a big impact on the amount of thoughtful recycling. And that makes for a better world for us to live, and our grandchildren to grow up in.

It's "The Silly Season" At Cornerstones

The term silly season originated in the UK and is used to describe a period, typically in the summer, when the media has a hard time finding significant news stories. This leads them to publish more light-hearted, frivolous or unusual stories, sometimes referred to as "fluff" pieces. Well it has certainly been silly round here the last few days...

Thursday - parcel from Manchester, a garment which needs altering [details to follow] "That's not an auspicious label for a dressing gown" said Bob

Friday - still finding minuscule sequins everywhere. This was the day when there were lots of flying ants too. During breakfast we spotted an ant trotting across the floor with its head stuck in a sequin like a blue halo [sorry the picture is not in focus properly- and moving too fast and I was shaking with laughter]

Saturday  - I read BBC news item about Glasto, and a music teacher called James B Partridge, who does nostalgia gigs where he gets the crowd to singalong to what he calls Assembly Bangers. Shine Jesus Shine, Lord of the Dance, This Little light of Mine etc. I watched the video clip with subtitles so as not to disturb Bob. I shall never sing Cauliflowers Fluffy in the same way again. 

The subtitles changed the broad beans sleeping in their blankety bed  to sleeping in the black goodie bag" Oh I do hope you can access it! [BBC video here]

 

Prayer Points

At last week's workshop, I did a page in my notebook using a sticker 'Pray without Ceasing' as the centrepiece.  I added three words made with individual letters
Thankyou
Please
Help
I think almost all prayers can be put into these three categories
We have so much to be thankful for, and it is good to count our blessings and acknowledge things
There are lots of situations where we need to say please - asking God to bless our friends, our neighbours, our country and our world.
And many situations where we are not sure what to say, how to act, where to turn - and we need help from Someone greater.Today is the Annual General Meeting at our little chapel.

• I thank God for those who meet there, all the work that is done in the community, all the friendships represented, and the opportunity to meet and worship in freedom
• I ask God to guide and bless Nick the Pastor, the deacons, leaders of the different weekly groups - and to comfort the lonely and bereaved, heal this sick, and encourage us all
• I ask for His help to show us how to share God's love in our community, and enable us to do more good stuff and overcome our inertia, and help us to be generous with time, money and resources.

Do you have any Thankyou, Please, Help prayers today?