UFO's and grandmothers

No this is not a post about little Green Alien's from Mars.  It is a post of Un Finished Objects.

I have decided that when we move in about a year's time I don't want to be carting lots of things we have been half started or half finished.  So I started first by making the Summer Garden Blanket which is almost finished.  Secondly have been looking through my Cross stitch folder  there were several half started cross stitch card projects and several small kits not started yet.

DH was away  with work till Sunday night sailing on a Beautiful Ship called The Morning Star so I had control of Iplayer and whilst watching several programs during the week I finished several cross stitch kits only small ones.  I also mounted them onto or into cards so that instead of just sitting in a folder they can be sent out for other people to enjoy.  Some of these Cross stitches only needed a few stitches to be finished off.  Cross stitch was the first craft I ever did to a large degree. 

  I also found this little house that needed finishing This might be the centre of a patchwork cushion!

I started this and finished it whilst watching The Other Boleyn Girl on iplayer.  It did feel very strange to be doing embroidery whilst watching ladies embroider on television in the court of Henry the VIII.

Doing all this embroidery and cross stitch made me think of my grandmother.    She was a brilliant seamstress.   Who at the age of 11 she won a scholarship to go to The Royal School of Needlework but unfortunately she couldn't take it up as times were hard and she had to go out to earn a living.  She started of her working life as a pattern girl for a dressmakers in London.  This was where very smart, fashionable and rich ladies to go to have there dresses handmade.  this was before the days of "off the peg" clothing!  She would be sent to get the personalised patterns for the ladies that would come into have new clothes made.  Eventually she worked her way to working in a fur coat factory where she became one of the best  in her profession of sewing.  She sewn Mink which is the finest fur to sew!  To join the pelts together you have to part each and every hair before you can sewn them together.  Now whether you believe in fur or not this was a time before the Second world war where the world was a very different place.  Ladies wore hats with Gloves to match and a gentleman would never been seen outside without his hat!   Now I am not saying that the world was better before the war just different.  My grandmother is no longer with us and I miss her!  Although towards the end of her life she had senile dementia and she was no longer the same I still miss her.  I miss the days when I would spend some holidays with her, my grandfather and my sister when My Mum and Dad were working and we used to watch old black and white films on the television.