Wednesday 10 August 2011

A Stitching Day With Lisa & Some Progress

At long last my surrogate sis, Lisa, and I had our stitching day :) Lisa is here on holiday with her DH and DD and as soon as she knew they were coming here she asked if I fancied a stitching day and of course I said yes straight away:) We have both been eagerly anticipating this day and were both so excited. We've known each other online for many years and met a few years ago but today was the first time we got to sit and stitch together. We had a wonderful day chatting and stitching with lunch in between and a few cuppas:) In fact we hardly stopped chatting all day! We had decided a while beforehand that we'd start Little House Needleworks Travelling Stitcher today and that's what we did. Here's my progress from this afternoon ( we didn't start our stitching until lunch as we had a show of our WIPs and some finishes and I showed Lisa the stitching on my walls etc!)
Thank you so much Lisa for a wonderful day. It was so good to see you again and I look forward to when we can meet up again :) Here's a photo of the two of us that DH took. Please excuse the expression on my face as  DH was messing about and I think I was just about to say something to him! Lol! I felt so sad that the day had gone so fast.
I decided that I wanted to stitch Lisa a little something to give to her today and I thought this was perfect as she is a wonderful friend. I edged it in some gorgeous flower trim that Michelle sent me. Lisa loved it and was a little tearful lol!

Lizzie*Kate Friends Are Like Angels


28 count opalescent white fabric


DMC


Started 27th July 2011


Finished 3rd August 2011


Gift for Lisa

And Lisa bought me this little cutie! Isn't he sweet? I absolutely love him and he now needs a name:) Any suggestions? I'm going to sit him on the mantlepiece where I can see him as I stitch on an evening:)

All my PIFS have now been received and I am so happy to say that everyone loves them. I did have a panic as they are not finished how I originally intended as I cut my fabric pieces too small. The letters are from the Blackbird Designs A Stitcher's Journey book. These went to Barb, Michelle, Jane, Elisa, Nadia, Carolyn and Melanie :) Thank you ladies for being my PIF recipients. 

Right now onto my WIPs. BBD AotH Happy Birthday came back out to play seen as my GAST threads had arrived and I managed to get quite a bit stitched. However I did notice a mistake and had to frog the flower underneath the house so need to finish re-stitching that. I think I shall be pleased to finish this one as I'm not enjoying it as much as the others. 

I finished the outside part of BBD Peacock Pin Keep on Sunday evening so will start the top this Sunday. I'm really enjoying this and love the DMC colours.

SB SAL night with Barb and Colleen went well. My border met up so I breathed a huge sigh of relief and started stitching the flowers on the border.

Now I have made a change in my rotation so that I can try and keep up with HAED Guardian. When I go to craft club on a Tuesday morning I've decided, as long as the light is good and I can see OK, I'm going to stitch my SB ornaments so once I'd finished stitching the trim to Lisa's gift there yesterday I started In A Stable. A couple of the ladies were amazed at the 36 count fabric I was using! Anyway this is the progress I made. Can you tell I don't chat much??? Lol! 
So Sunday evenings will now be for Peacock Pin Keep until it's finished then it'll be smalls night. Thursday evenings will be HAED Guardian night. I am now over my panic in my last post * I think* and am *sort of * determined to keep going and finish it. I had a look at the chart which is 30 pages. I have completed 6 and am on my 7th. Out of the 23 pages I have left 9 of them are not full pages so it's do able! I may have another panic before long though! It's such a gorgeous piece and the chart was gifted to me by Lisa so I really want to keep going with it.
I had a good evening on Drawn Thread The Sanctuary last night. I'm hoping to finish this block next week and start on the last one.
So that's all my progress and finishes for now. I'm popping off  to settle down and stitch on LHN Travelling Stitcher for the evening then will try and get caught up on blog reading and commenting tomorrow:)
Have any of you seen anything that takes your eye from the previews of market? I've seen two, the new Shepherd's Bush Roll and My Big Toe Designs A Very Faint Line, that I would really love. I am going to treat myself to the SB roll when it's available for finishing my CBT sessions ( well when I do!)
I've signed up for Carol R's mystery SAL. I tried to resist but Lisa tipped me over the edge ( well I have to blame someone). I just got in so was very lucky. It's a good excuse to buy some 40 count fabric as I don't have any left Lol!

Finally a bit of family stuff. When I arrived home after craft club yesterday Jess had received a letter from the surgery to say that her second lot of blood tests had also shown an abnormality so we made an appointment for her. The GP she'd seen before is off for two weeks and as she wanted to know what it was all about she had to see someone else so wanted me to go with her. It turns out that she on the borderline of having polycystic ovary syndrome so for all she doesn't actually have it it is problematic for her. She can have the oestrogen pill but she has decided for now to see how it goes.
Well I had better finish off now or I won't get any stitching done!

Take care everyone and if you're in an area where the riots are please stay safe. I'm finding it hard to comprehend all this mindless violence. These people are a complete waste of space.

Love & hugs

Sally
xxxx

31 comments:

Gillie said...

Goodness, I agree about the riots, so mindless! Glad you had a good time, stitching with friends is good therapy! See you at the Mystery SAL, I squeaked in yesterday!

Catherine said...

Love all your stitchy goodness! Everything looks great and it looks like you and Lisa had a great time!

I will keep your daughter in my thoughts and prayers and hope that things go well for her.

Hugs!

Margaret said...

Glad you had such fun with Lisa! Love all the stitchy goodness -- always a feast for the eyes when you post!
Sorry to hear about your DD. :( I hope things work out in the end.

Tricia T said...

What a fun update! Your stitching is coming along famously! I love your new sheep. He looks like Cecil to me. : )

valerie said...

Beautiful stitching as usual Sally! I am glad that you and Lisa had a great visit!

Christina said...

Oh my goodness me, you've been SO busy!
I stitched 'Friends are like Angels on earth' for my friend a few years ago and she reacted in a similar way to Lisa! It's such a lovely verse.
With regards to Jess - I have PCOS but didn't find out until I was 34 so that's how little it affected my everyday life! I don't want to dismiss it as I know it varies in severity, but it's definitely something that can be managed. When my doctor gave me the news he told me there are probably thousands of women worldwide who have it but never know.

Jackie's Stitches said...

I LOVE the expression on your face in the pic with Lisa. It's a happy, natural face!

Great lot of WIPs....I always love seeing what you stitch.

Susan @ Real Girl Designs said...

It sounds like you had a nice stitching day with your friend - your gift to Lisa is beautiful, and I love that little lamb.

I have a couple of stuffed sheep (they remind me of living in Australia), and one of mine is called "lamby" (lammie...).

Years ago, my mother gave my daughter a stuffed sheep, and we named it "Lamb Chop" after the puppet that I remembered when I was growing up.

I'm glad the news for your daughter wasn't so terribly bad (I think? - I'm not sure what that symptom is...) - I hope she's okay. {{{hugs to you and her}}}

I'm sorry I haven't visited your stitching blog in so long - I've been out of blogging until just this past week, so I've been playing catch-up. I will be back again tomorrow to try to catch up some more.

Nancy in IL said...

What a lovely day you had with Lisa! I can only imagine how much fun it was to meet an online stitching friend. I've been to a retreat several years ago and met up with a bunch of girls coming from all over, even the UK and other parts of Europe. It was heavenly! I think you should name your lamb Lisa Lambie Poo.

Your WIPs are wonderful, as usual. I just drool seeing Sanctuary! If I can get things caught up here, I just joined a Yahoo Drawn Thread SAL group, where the designer, Cynthia, is an honorary member. Pulled Sanctuary out for this SAL and look forward to getting started.

Gabi said...

Gorgeous stitching Sally. Love all of it. Your pifs are looking fantastic too.
Trying to resist the new releases. But I will fail probably miserably with that...lol.

Mouse said...

cooo you have been a busy stitcher :) so glad you got to meet your friend and love that picture of you both :) and wow alllllll that stitching being done tooo ... love those pif smalls they are sooooo cute :)
glad you have got a diagnosis for DD .. that is half the battle and the other is living with it :)take care and squeak to you soon :) love mouse xxxxxx

Julie said...

It's always good to meet up with stitching friends, thats why i love the meet-ups so much, glad you both had a fun time

You've been busy, lots of progress on everything, send mojo here... desperately needed LOL

Hazel said...

What a lovely day you both had. Love the gift you made for Lisa. Just lovely and all your wips are fab too. xx

mdgtjulie said...

Oh, Sally, it's so nice to hear you sounding positive about things. I'm so happy for you that you got to see Lisa. There's nothing like having a stitchy get together. Love your little pressie for her, and hers for you. I think you should name your lil sheep Horace. I don't know why, it just popped in my head when you asked for suggestions. I hope your DD doesn't have a severe case. I know it can be problematic, as my mom had it. Good luck to her in managing the disorder. Glad you're hunting for new stash to reward yourself for doing something good for you. It should be a celebration for you! Love all your stitching as usual. Can't wait to see your progress on your HAED. It's a beautiful chart. Feel free to email me the next time you need to be scraped off the ceiling!! Just look at it as I need to do page __ and then I'm gonna celebrate the finish. If you go page by page, and stop thinking about how many pages there are, you'll have a lot less stress!!! It looks gorgeous so far, btw. Can't wait to see you finish up Sanctuary too. I love the colors in that. Hope today is a great one for you!!

Lois said...

Sounds like a lovely day with Lisa. Your needles have been flying lately, I always love to drop by your blog and catch up with what you've been working on.

Siobhán said...

Thoughts & prayers for your daughter! My SIL's sister was just diagnosed with that (can't spell it). I don't know if this could be helpful, but I know that Mirenas are good in terms of stopping heavy cycles. I am anemic and had to get one in because of that. Just a thought--don't know how it would interact with those issues.

I'm so glad that you had a good time with Lisa! It sounds like such a fun day--love your SAL piece! Lovely work on your stitching.

Carol said...

What a fun day with Lisa--I love the little sheep she gave you. He looks so cute perched on that book.

Lovely stitching, Sally, as always. I just purchased The Sanctuary chart myself. Who knows when I'll get around to stitching it, but I'll enjoy watching your progress...

Christine said...

Glad you had a good time with Lisa.
I hope your daughters condition is something that can be managed easily.
Beautiful stitching as always
Oh and your sheep looks like a Rodney to me

Mary Ann said...

It is so nice that you and Lisa had a wonderful visit! And, your stitching is beautiful as always!! I will keep your DD in my thoughts and prayers.

Lesleyanne said...

I'm so glad you had a lovely day with Lisa. I'm sure it was what the dr ordered. I love your gift for Lisa and her to you. I think you should call him Larry the Lamb. All your stitching is gorgeous. I hold you to blame, in the nicest possible way for my change in rotation lol. I hope you daughter is okay. I have PCOS and rarely know much about it there are a few things that are a pain but I'm sure she will be okay.

jane said...

Wow Sally you have smoking needles at the moment. Your WIPs are all lovely. I am so pleased that you enjoyed your day with Lisa, hope you get to do it again soon. The gift you made for her was just perfect.
Thank you again for my PIF gift, I have it safely wrapped up so it does not come to any harm during the decorating..lol. When things return to normal I will blog about it, promise.
Sorry to hear about Jess, I hope that she doesn't experience too many problems from her diagnosis.

Brigitte said...

What a fun day you must have had with Lisa. It's clearly vsible from both your faces. A nice picture. And very pretty goodies.
You made some great progress on Sanctuary, it's one of my favourites by DT. Enjoy all your other projects!

Michelle said...

What a lovely day you seem to have had with Lisa - isn't it just wonderful meeting up with stitching friends.

I will keep Jess in my thoughts and prayers and hope that things go well which I am sure they will.

Sally your stitching is lovely xx

Kathy A. said...

What a joy it is when we get to spend time with a fellow stitcher who understands us so well.
You two look so happy. What a lovely gift you made for her. and the little lamb - just so sweet!

Kate said...

Glad you enjoyed your day with Lisa - a stitching day is always a good day.
Lots of lovely progress pictures.
How's your Mystery SAL going - I managed to finish Part I quickly.

Poussy Stitches My Love said...

♥ oh que belles choses bisous bisous ♥

Clare-Aimetu said...

Sounds like you had a great time with Lisa - memories to treasure.

I'm just having a quick catch up from France and your stitching is fabulous - I am always so envious of your work - it's beautiful Sally

Lisa said...

I had a wonderful time spending the day with you on Wed Sally, it just went far too quickly. I was so happy we managed to spend another hour or so together on Friday as well, but I'm exactly the same as you, now we're home it feels like we're so far apart again and that makes me really sad.
I'd love to help you choose a name for your sheep, let me have the list lol.
It was so lovely to see all your finishes and wips in person, when I see your pics now I'll be able to visualise you stitching and all the wonderful finishes around your house. You are definitely going to HAVE to come and visit me now sometime soon lol.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Hi, new follower here. I came over from Lisa's blog as you sounded like such a lovely friend to her. Then I read your blog and it seems like you are a good friend to so many others too.
Beautiful stitching too. I've joined the iStitch a long as well. Looking forward to seeing everyone's colour choices.

Dani - tkdchick said...

I'm glad you and Lisa had a fantastic stitchy day... gooness knows Lisa needed it!

AS usual you have a wonderful array of WIPs!!

Ranae said...

It sounds like you and Lisa had a fabulous day. I know Anna and I did, so we have the 27th planned to stitch or finish together. I am sure Lisa was over the moon wit hthat little stitchy surprise.
All your beautiful WIP's give me so much inspiration
Fingers crossed for your DD
Those riots...senseless