Show and tell II

A little while back, I mulled creating a flickr group where those of you who've stitched my designs can post photos of your work and see how others have interpreted them.


I got some positive feedback, so have gone ahead and set it up. All you need to be able to post to the Kelly Fletcher Designs group is a free yahoo account. And then you can browse all the other inspiring needlework that’s on flickr too...

UFO lurking

Funny things, UFOs. Those sad, unfinished mishmashes of fabric and thread that lurk in the back of the drawer. There are so many good reasons why they remain unfinished, and yet it’s so hard to throw them away. They’re like the runt of the litter, the underdog, the sibling that fades into the background.

And being someone who instinctively roots for the underdog, the quiet one, the one with less going for him or her is probably one of the reasons I can’t bring myself to throw these half-finished projects away. I brought them with me all the way from Africa, for heaven’s sakes. It was the perfect time to say good-bye and yet I bundled them in with the rest of the “to do” projects being shipped to the UK, even though they screamed UFO.

So why do I still have them? And why will they more than likely follow me to the next place we decide to settle? Well, I guess:

1) The aforementioned affliction of always rooting for the underdog.
2) They remind me of certain times and places in my life.
3) They’re a reminder of what not to do.
4) The idea may be good, just not the execution.
5) They’re a good indicator of how personal taste changes and develops.
6) Just like Sixties fashion, their appeal is bound to surface again at some stage.
7) The eco-friendly option would be to upcycle them into something fantastic.
8) And I know that the minute I throw them out, I’ll find a use for them.

And that’s my attempt at justification. So looking at what I’ve just typed, I could:

1) Make an exception.
2) Take photographs.
3) See 2 above, and make notes in my book of all things stitchery.
4) See 3 above.
5) See 2 above.
6) No. No it won’t.
7) The best idea as far as I can see.
8) See 7 above and find a use for them.

Or perhaps I could just lay them out, have a little look and make a note to read this post again sometime…

Fishy Love...

Grrk, grrrk, grk, grrrrrk. That’s the sound my mouse recently began making as I moved it across the desktop. Rather annoying. And it felt kind of “gritty” too. No idea why, it just started out of the blue.

I’ve never used a mousepad – mainly because I’m not really fussed, but also because the plasticky commercial ones just look horrible and they’re generally too small to use when designing anyway. But the grrk sound was starting to grate. The nearest thing to hand at the time was a piece of fabric left over from a project I finished recently (but can’t share for a while).

It worked brilliantly. So I decided to make a “proper” mouse mat for myself, one big enough to allow unlimited mouse manoeuvring when designing. And while I was at it, why not incorporate a little embroidery, based on a sketch I doodled a while back?


I rather like it. And it works really well. So well that I’ve made the pattern for my Fishy Love mouse mat available in my online shop. Obviously you can make it whatever size you please. And it’d make a great gift, too.