Jessica's Piccies

Jessica and her friends taken at the ball. From left to right Bethany, Jessica ( in the blue), Becky, Nicole.

As promised here are a few photos of Jessica from last night; all dressed up for her year 11 ball at Willerby Manor. The photos aren't brilliant as I took them a bit quick as we were in a mad rush!

Especially for Julie here are Jess' shoes!

Wednesday

I thought I'd share my WIP of the Papillon Creations freebie Love Letters. I wanted something small just to pick up when I have a few minutes spare so this is what I've done so far. I'm stitching it on 32 count mushroom fabby, I think lugana but not entirely sure, using the DMC threads that Yvonne suggested. It is stitching up quite quickly. I really like Yvonne's designs as they are so easy to stitch.

I am doing OK with HAED Winter this week, although it was slow going on Monday evening as I was finishing off the lettering. I should get a good go at it now I've got that bit done so watch this space for an update on Monday when my week is up on it.

The 7th part of the Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV was released on Monday and to say I was disappointed was an understatement really! You might see why when I've got it stitched but I'm really not keen.

Well the weather on Monday, as I'm sure you will all have seen on the news, was absolutely terrible. Where I live we have been relatively lucky as far as flooding goes, although there were several homes under water and roads were blocked. All three schools closed on Monday around lunchtime and remained closed yesterday. My DH left work early on Monday but it took him over two hours to get home due to flooded roads and he actually thought he wasn't going to make it home. My heart goes out to all the people whose homes are flooded and to the familes of those who have lost their lives.

What gets me about all this flooding is the fact that the authorities seem to do nothing to try and prevent it. Years ago the rivers used to be regularly dredged, dykes cleaned out, drains cleaned out etc but these days it doesn't get done. I'm not saying that it would have completely stopped the flooding this time as the rain was so heavy, but it might not have been so bad. Plus the drainage sytems in this country are in desperate need of upgrading.

I have been up to Abi's school for her review day this afternoon. I had an appointment to see her group tutor to discuss her academic review and see how she's doing. He is very pleased with her, says she is very pleasant and a hard worker and a language wizz! Her teachers comments were all good too so we are very happy.

Tomorrow evening it's Jessica's year 11 prom so I'll have the camera out taking piccies and will post them here hopefully Friday!

Love is Patient WIP

As I had finished Papillon Creations Simple Little Quaker I started La D Da Love is Patient on Friday evening. This is stitched on Sassy's Fabbys COTM Cheryl's Wild Rose, which is a gorgeous colour, using Crescent Colours. The colours I have used so far are Manor Red and a black which I can't remember the name of! This piece will now be in the first week of my rotation.

This week's piece is Heaven and Earth Designs Winter by Sara Butcher. I'm looking forward to getting on with this again and getting a few rows done! I know it's going to take me years to do but I'm long past being able to stitch one piece at a time, finish it then start something else. I'd get very bored if I did that and would possibly never finish any larger pieces. It's OK stitching one small piece at a time but with larger pieces I know it wouldn't work for me. Having said that I probably have too many larger pieces on the go:)

And speaking of HAED the people who signed up to the newsletter received a lovely surprise for Fairy Day of the chart of Jessica Galbreth's Believe in Yourself. I think this will be one I stitch for Abi as it would look gorgeous in her bedroom when we get it decorated! So thank you Michelle and Bob for a gorgeous Fairy Day gift.:)

Thank you to everybody who posted well wishes for Abi. The visit to the doctors for both her and Jess went OK. Jess has an infected toe so has cream to put on that which will, hopefully, clear it up. If not she has to go back on Friday. I'm just keeping my finger's crossed that it clears up otherwise it may well mean she'll have to have her toenail taken off. Ouch! Abi has a sinus infection so has antibiotics for that. I've kept her off school today but hope to get her back tomorrow but will see how she goes.

What horrible weather we are having! It is throwing it down and is very windy out there. I need to go to the post office to post out some Ebay stuff but I will be soaked before I reach my front gate! I think I'll wait a bit and see if it slows up a bit.

Stay safe and dry everyone!

Simple Little Quaker

Simple Little Quaker
Originally uploaded by stitchyangel

Wahoo, here's my latest happy dance! I was determined I was going to get this piece finished this week and I have:) This is Papillon Creations Simple Little Quaker, stitched on 28 count Fairy Dust Lugana using VC Dragon Blood silk. I have thoroughly enjoyed stitching this and am looking forward to stitching another of Yvonne design's in the future. This will going to the framers. I think I know the frame I want so I'm hoping he still stocks it.

So tonight, after searching through my stash to try and decide what to stitch next, I will be starting La D Da Love is Patient on Sassy's Fabbys COTM Cheryl's Wild Rose. I was going to stitch it in DMC rather than the called for Crescent Colours but I had a few of them in my stash so decided to order the others I needed from Lekker Threads. I can work round those for now until they arrive.

I'm doing well so far stitching from my chart stash ( OK on the chart stash wagon!) and am still very determined to last until 1st December. I have had no urges to buy charts, although my wish list has grown a bit! LOL!

I have both Jess and Abi home at the moment! Abi has been struggling with a nasty cold all week so I decided this morning that she could in for first period, as she had a Maths test that she didn't want to miss then have to sit on her own, then go to matron and get her to ring me to pick her up. They're both going to the doctors later so that'll be fun!

Hope everyone has had a good week. I hope you are all safe, dry etc after all the rain we've had here in the UK this week, with more forecast.

Guardian WIP

Guardian WIP 1
Originally uploaded by stitchyangel

Here is my WIP pic of Heaven and Earth Designs Guardian, artwork by Selina Fenech. I have loved stitching on this as it has big blocks of colour so is so easy to stitch. I have managed 30 full rows since picking it up again on Friday evening plus started the next 10 rows. Complete piece can be seen here. When I've finished page 1 I might move down and across to page 7 as I think the angel could be starting on that page and it will make a change to stitch something different to background!

Tonight I'm moving onto Papillon Creations Simple Little Quaker, which I'm really looking forward to. I'm hoping to have it finished this time around so we'll see how I do! I need to work out the personalisation though.

I had a lovely surprise yesterday from my dear friend, Lisa, who RAK'd me with Heaven and Earth Designs Royal Flower quick stitch by Caron Vinson. She is so regal and serene ( just like me hahahaha). So thank you Lisa {{{{{hugs}}}}}

I now have Jess at home until September as her exams are all done and dusted! She was hoping to find a small part-time job but we were chatting to one of her friends and her Mum this morning and they'd been looking too but a lot of places will only employ you if you're 16 and Jess isn't until August. I am sure I can find her plenty to keep her occupied! Lol!

I hope everyone is having a good start to the week. I have some stuff up on Ebay which ends tomorrow so keeping my finger's crossed it'll all go. Only have bids on two things so far though:( ETA I have relisted what didn't sell. The items can be found here

Serendipity

Serendipity
Originally uploaded by stitchyangel

I'm all caught up! I put the final few stitches into part 7 last night so that's Papillon Creations Serendipity done until part 8 comes out. I'm really looking forward to seeing what part 9 is though:) I have loved stitching this and am thinking of making it into a cushion when it's finished. For those who are wondering it's stitched on 32 count evenweave using DMC 550 and 3350 along with Kreinik Braid #4 005.

Not sure what I'm going to stitch on for the next few evenings. I guess I should really go onto the next slot in my rotation but I may have other ideas! Lol!

Well it has certainly been a naff few days weather wise. I had to go out earlier and I was soaked by the time I got back home. I've had to change my t-shirt and my jeans! As they say lovely weather for ducks!

Jess has her last exam this morning. In fact she will have just about finished as I type this and was so excited this morning that she only had this one to go! Now we have to try and forget about them until the results come out!

I am feeling somewhat sad today as it's 22 years since my Mum passed away. I miss her more now than I ever did before I think. Seems daft in a way but it's just the way I feel. I've been and bought flowers for her grave but I don't think I'll be taking them today. It's a funny time for us as a family as my Mum died on the 15th and the 16th was my MIL's birthday so that's two graves to visit. My MIL would have been 68 tomorrow.

That's all from me today. Not much to say:) Hope everyone is having a productive stitchiy week.

QS Dragonette

QS Dragonette
Originally uploaded by stitchyangel

Here is my WIP for last week on Heaven and Earth Designs quick stitch Dragonette. Isn't she cute?! Here is my previous WIP picture if you would like to see how much I have done this time:) I have about 30 rows on page 2 to do then a few on pages 3 and 4. Hopefully not too much confetti then it'll go quite quickly:)

I picked up Papillon Creations Serendipity last night, got a bit stitched then realised I was out by one row on the border and had to frog all I'd done on part 6 which I was close to finishing. As you can imagine I wans't very happy with myself but I did manage to frog the lot and get some restitched. Hopefully tonight I will get it all restitched then finish that part tomorrow evening. Thursday, finger's crossed, I can make a start on part 7! I will have to try and remember to get more DMC 3350 as I will probably run out after all that frogging!

Thank you to everybody who commented on my finishes the other day. They give me the inspiration to try different finishes etc rather than framing:)

Oh before I forget congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for winning the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday and here's to many more podium finishes:)

Sunday Update

Well I finally got my sewing machine out yesterday afternoon, although it was a bit of a waste bringing it down as I only did one piece! Lol! The other two I did didn't need the machine but never mind. At least I got some bits done!

So first off this is Abi's San Man Originals Home is Where the Heart Is. It has been in her stitching box for absolutely ages and when I made my first couple of pinkeeps she decided that's how she wanted it making up! I used plain black fabric for the back and silver, white and purple pins ( purple to match the purple spider) and black ribbon. She is really pleased with it and now has it on a shelf in her bedroom.

Next this is Little House Needleworks Pine Tree Hill. I wanted to finish it as it had been in the Just Cross Stitch magazine but I think I cut my felt a bit too small or sewed too big a seam allowance on it as the piece ended up onlu just fitting on. I still have a hanger to sew on as I didn't have any ribbon or cord in red. It seems a shame to just hang it at Christmas so it might end up on display all year round!

Lastly this one was a very quick stitch I did one afternoon. Some of you may know my favourite wild bird is a robin so I stitched the Elzabeth's Designs freebie The First Robin of Spring, although I did stitch more red in it than the chart actually had! I had a coaster which Carol ( cc45 on the SMO board) sent me for one of my wishes so I decided to mount it in that. It is stitched on an ornament cut of 28 count Sassy's Fabby in Sunburst Yellow Pearl.

HAED quick stitch Dragonette is coming along quite well this week, although I didn't stitch on it at all on Friday evening then last night I was all set to stitch on it whilst watching Dr Who but I had to watch it first then start stitching! *sigh* I love David Tennant *sigh* Er yes anyway I am hoping to get one last evening on her tonight before I move onto the last piece in my rotation which is Papillon Creations Serendipity. I shall stick to the rotation I have as it has worked really well and given me a lot more incentive to work on my HAEDS with stitching something else inbetween. I won't be adding anything else this time unless I finish something and I could well finish Papillon Creations Simple Little Quaker.

Just one more week and Jess will have finished her exams, thank God! She's got five this week and I think she's really looking forward to her Chemistry one! Lol! She received her 6th From acceptance letter this last week so now she just needs to have got the grades she needs for the subjects she's taking. Abi's review day is towards the end of the month so I need to write in her planner the time I prefer to see her group tutor. Last time it was really a waste of time but they hadn't been there long then so this one might be a bit more productive!

Hope everyone has had a good weekend. I'll be back in a day or so with my progress on Dragonette, hopefully!

New Look

Well I have finally plucked up the courage to try a new template for my blog and it was so easy I wish I'd done it before! Lol! I got this from http://freeskins.blogspot.com/ and I love it. It takes a bit of time as you have to put all the page elements back that you had but it's worth it. What do you think?

I was going to get my sewing machine out this afternoon and do some finishing but I got a bit waylaid doing this :) I WILL get it out tomorrow ( yeah right!)

My First No Sew Cube.

I finally plucked up the courage to try a No Sew Cube this weekend. Lisa said she got her polystyrene at B&Q ( thanks for the tip Lisa!) and we had to go on Sunday as one of the drawer runners in the kitchen had breathed it's last so I got some while we there. I decided to make the San Man Originals double maniac design, Dream a Little Dream, that I finished a while ago into one so here it is. I am rather pleased with my first attempt as it was so easy to do. I will definitely be trying more of these. I really need to get some stuff finished up. I have Christmas ornaments from a SAL I did two years ago to make up yet!

I had a brilliant last few days on Just Nan Spring in the Air and am delighted with what I achieved on it. As you can see I did bands 1 to 5 and made a small start on band 6. I am hoping the rabbits in band 6 show up better once I get them completely stitched. I will see what they are like then I may just backstitch round them to make them show up better.

This week it's the turn of Heaven and Earth Designs quick Stitch Dragonette in my rotation. I managed quite a few stitches last night so, finger's crossed, I just might get 10 rows finished tonight and move onto the next 10. I stitch on 10 rows at a time across one page as I find this the easiest way with HAEDs. I am determined to have another HAED finish soon but will it be Dragonette or Summer?!

I am now officially stitching from my chart stash until 1st December so I'll be ready for a treat by then! Lol! I will admit that I have never done particularly well on "the wagon" so if I look at it as stitching from chart stash it might not seem so bad. Chris, Nicola, Gill and Claire are keeping me company so let's see how we do! Good luck girls!

I just knew it was too good to be true! The other day I was saying that I'd felt better than I had in a long time. Yeah right, smash, bang, wallop and I'm feeling yuck again! Same symptoms I've had over and over before so I just say nothing, plod on, look happy blah blah blah! I've had restless sleep for a couple of nights with some very vivid dreams. In one my Dad was a withered up little old man, refusing to listen to the doctor then had a huge fall and I'm there trying to pick him up. My Dad is 78 but in this dream he looked so much older. In another I am in a hospital and my brother is on the floor having a heartattack. The medics can't get his heart going so they open him up there and then and massage his heart. Next thing he's stood in front of me like nothing had happened, no scars, nothing, giving me a hug. The weird thing is I don't have a brother but in the dream I'm screaming don't let my brother die! My dreams don't usually bother me but I must admit that these two did shake me a bit. Must be my age I think! Lol!

We had a bit of a clear out in the loft on Saturday and took loads of stuff to the local Lion's charity shop, lots of boxes and stuff to the tip and three bags full of girls clothes to my sister-in-law for her girls to go through! Abi had gone through the bags and picked out what she wanted that would still fit her ( they we Jessica's) so is now very happy with all the trousers and jeans she found! She's growing so fast heightwise that we just can't keep up with her!

Hope the weather is good where you are. It's much nicer than it has been here and the sun is shining. The birds have been having a field day in the garden searching for bugs in the bushes and worms in the grass. I love watching them!

Off to get some lunch now then catch up with all your blogs while I eat:) Thank you for dropping by and for all the lovely comments you leave. I love reading them.

Spring in the Air

I don't seem to have got much done on my new start this week. I started Just Nan Spring in the Air on Monday evening and, granted I didn't stitch on Tuesday evening, I have only got the first band done! Having said that I have had four pansies to stitch one over one so they have taken up a lot of time. I might get more done now those are complete! So here's my WIP pic so far this week. I love the look of these tiny pansies.

I received my Ebay win yesterday as well as the Cat's Whisker's Heartstrings chart which I bought with my credit from Jayne's Attic I'm going to make a couple of the little bags for Christmas presents for DH's aunties. So I am now seriously thinking of stitching from my (chart) stash until December. The reason in saying December is because it's Christmas and also my birthday so I think I'll deserve a bit of a treat by then. Anybody care to join me and help me along? I will still buy fabric and threads but only if I need them for anything I stitch in between times but I do have quite a bit of fabric on hand and I shall still have my Sassy's Fabbys COTM each month if I carry on with it for the rest of the year. I do have a couple of charts on order, one of which is on it's way from DSL You may wonder why I have suddenly decided on this! Well I bought myself a notebook and wrote all my charts in it and supplies I needed for them plus left spaces where I could write start and finish dates so I had a record and realised I had 30 charts and that's without counting the HAEDs I have! I know it's probably peanuts to what some of you have but it's a lot for me really and I can easily stitch from those for the next five months and not make that big a dent in them! Lol!

We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End on Tuesday! Wow what a fantastic film! I can't wait until it comes out on DVD and we can see it again! I have loved all three films and can't understand why the critics say this film isn't as good. Johnny Depp is as always gorgeous and I just love Geoffrey Rush as Barbosa! If you go see it there is a bit worth seeing at the end of the credits.

Other than that we have had a quiet half term. DH has been decorating the bathroom and it now looks bright and clean. Jess has been revising Maths and Biology and Abi has had some Maths revision to do. I can understand Jess having it to do when she has GCSEs but Abi is only in year 7! I do think that school holidays should be just that with no homework etc but it seems some teachers have different ideas!

Hope everyone has a had a good week. I'll be back Monday probably with my another Spring in the Air WIP!