The Travelling Pattern Arrived......

At my humble abode from the Mouse House on Tuesday ( thank you Mouse:) ) so of course I had to do some immediate stash diving so I could make a start on it :) I had some SIlkweaver fabric I'd bought off a fellow blogger/ stitcher a long time ago so I decided to stitch it on that! It's 28 count Tutti Fruitti linen so a bit different and I'm using 2 GAST and the rest DMC. I have to admit that I really fell out with the Grape Arbour GAST as it kept knotting then breaking so it was very nearly a scrapped piece! Anyway I persevered and finished the wording so now I don't have to stitch with that any more! I popped my first few stitches in it on Tuesday evening and stitched more yesterday. Guardian will not be coming out tonight as I want to get a good go on Count Your Blessings so I can pass it on as soon as possible. Watch out for a post sometime soon.

Tuesday was a very nice post day as postie also brought some Shepherd's Bush charts from kits from Barb that I knew she was sending me. They are the two she has stitched recently, My Mom's Garden and French Heart, and they are so pretty! Thank you so much Barb:)

There was another package that totally threw me as I wasn't expecting anything else. When I opened it there was something wrapped in pink tissue paper and on opening that I just stood there in shock with my hand over my mouth and tears welling up in my eyes. It was the new Blackbird Designs book A Schoolgirl's Work via Fobbles from dear Barb. Barb I cannot thank you enough and wish I could come and give you a big hug. I was going to put it on my Christmas list but Barb has beaten Father Christmas to it. I am blessed by our friendship and treasure it so much. {{{{hugs}}}} For any of you thinking of investing in this book I would say go for it. There are pages of beautiful old samplers sewn by the most talented young girls plus lovely things to stitch inspired by those samplers. 

While I was taking photos I thought I'd show you my stash from JJ's that I mentioned in my last post. As you can see there are the new L*K 6 Fat Men charts which Lisa and I are going to be stitching very soon and the Shepherd's Bush 2011 Fob kit. I love the fabric in the kit!

Monday evening and a little bit on Tuesday evening I stitched on Drawn Thread The Sanctuary. A few more trees were stitched and another arch. I am hoping to get on well again with this next Tuesday as as soon as it's finished Barb and I can start TSG Glad Tidings with Jane Austen:)

Last night I finished up Little House Needleworks Travelling Stitcher, my SAL with Lisa, but I do still have the part for the needle book to stitch which I shall probably do next week. I've loved stitching this with Lisa and am looking forward to our next SAL:) I stitched both of our initials over one on this as I thought it would be nice seen as we started this when we had our stitching day together last month:)

Little House Needleworks Travelling Stitcher

32 count white evenweave

Crescent Colours

Started 10th August 2011

Finished 28th September 2011

SAL with Lisa.

I'll be on the look out for some suitable fabric at half term probably to make a pouch unless I can find some on-line in the meantime. Thank you so much Katrina for the instructions you sent me :)


I still haven't got part 5 of the iStitch mystery SAL stitched yet. It's a good job we have 2 weeks this time. I've been busy getting a birthday gift stitched and I can't show what I stitched at craft club this week either! One thing I will say is we had a very yummy chocolate cake made by the one of the ladies this week :)


I've been thinking a lot about my stitching lately and the fact that I buy charts when I have lots in my stash already ( like so many other stitchers I know!). It's really hard to stick to a no chart buying rule when there are so many gorgeous charts out there but I'm getting to the stage now where if I want to stitch something new ( like for starting a SAL or a gift) I'm having a real hard time finding fabric in my stash as I sorted a lot of it and cut it to put with charts in my stash so that I had to stitch those!!! So now I really need to stop myself buying charts and just buy fabric if I can be a good girl! I am on auto for the new BBD Loose Feathers so have to have those and of course I need the next 3 L*K 6 Fat Men charts when they're released then I really have to behave myself! 


Also next year I'm planning on only one biggie which will be Guardian although I know I won't have finished my AotH piece by the end of the year. It'll take a miracle for me to finish that by then. So it's going to be **mostly** stitching from stash ( ha-ha I feel a fail coming on already but notice I did say **mostly**!) and no more biggies! Wonder if I can stick to that!!!


Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my Snow finish for Lainey. I found my chart so will be stitching it again for myself sometime lol! I've searched to see if I can find it on-line anywhere but I can't. I got it in an order from Needlecraft Corner ages ago.


That's all my stitching news today so I'll catch up on your blogs now then go get some exercise done on the Wii Fit Plus. I hadn't been on it for well over a month until yesterday and I really need to get back to that and walking plenty. I totally lost my enthusiasm.


Take care everyone.


Love & hugs


Sally
xxxx

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Nope not really! Not yet anyway, although according to the forecasters there's a strong chance that some of the country may see a considerable amount of snow as early as October and more of the country will have it from November through to February. Looks like we're in for another harsh winter but it wouldn't surprise me as there are a lot of berries on the trees and bushes.

Anyway I am digressing here! The Let It Snow is for a finish I have recently had. It was dear Lainey's birthday on Saturday and as many of you know she is rather partial to snowmen ( and sheep!). So I was debating what to stitch for her and I came across this freebie that I'd had for ages. I really want to stitch this one again for myself as I'm so pleased with how this looks. I've been trying to find the chart again this morning but don't know where I've put it!! Duh!

Little River Snow ( freebie)

Jayne's Attic COM Sweet Pea

DMC

No idea when I started it but finished 18th September 2011

Birthday gift for Lainey.

I am very happy to say that Lainey loved it:) Happy Birthday Lainey xx

I had another finish on Friday and that was this.

Blackbird Designs AotH Pumpkin Farm

36 count Rosewood Linen

DMC & GAST.

Started 19th August 2011

Finished 23rd September 2011

I dedicated this block to my DH. I added his birth year as well as the initials on his parents and brother. The bonus block is next:)

I posted Tricia's wee prize for naming Cecil the Sheep on Friday so hoping to be able to show that as soon as it arrives over the pond:) 

I haven't had chance to stitch part 5 of the iStitch mystery SAL yet as we had a bit of a busy weekend but hoping to get it done before the next part comes out.

My other bit of stitching is Tra La La's Duo Noel Mouton. The mouton lol just has legs at the moment but hopefully will have a body next time! I'm loving stitching this!

I think I'll be stitching on Drawn Thread The Sanctuary tonight and tomorrow night so I can get more done. Barb and I are having a wee break from our Monday night SB SAL to stitch The Primitive Hare Christmas Carol Sock and I think we are starting next Monday. I had to dye some fabric as the only piece I had big enough was white so I'm hoping it'll look OK. I used Lady Grey teabags lol. We were going to start it when I'd finished The Sanctuary but Barb suggested the break from our SB SAL so we can have a better chance of having it finished ready to hang for Christmas and I'm all for that! I hope Colleen won't mind. I have emailed her :) Also we can then start The Sampler Girl Glad Tidings with Jane Austen which we had also planned to do sometime this year! 

Lisa and I will soon be starting our L*K 6 Fat Men SAL. I finally got my charts on Saturday so now just need to buy some fabric which I will do this week. We are going to finish Little House Needleworks Travelling Stitcher first. 

I had a lovely surprise when Mouse emailed me the other day as I have now become part of the Stitcherhood by winning Shakespeare's Peddler Count Your Blessings chart:) This chart is so apt for the way I've felt this year. I am so pleased as I've been following this on blogs I read for a while now so as soon as I receive it I'll be stash diving. Look out for a post in the next week or two if you'd like to be part of this although rules do apply:)

Jess is now in her new student digs. She rang me this morning and sounded quite settled so I feel a little easier. I will feel much better when she starts her new course next week and I know she's settled on that. However we thought she was settled on her chemistry course! She does seem much more excited about English and Creative Writing and was so chuffed to find nearly all of her reading list in a second hand book shop on Saturday. She even started reading one of them straight away!

Well I think I'd better get myself sorted and get my sewing machine out again! Must get caught up on blogs tomorrow after craft club and see what you've all been up to.

Take care everyone.

Love & hugs

Sally

xxxx

I Seem To Be On A Roll.......

With finishes this week. They are mostly what I've been stitching on for a bit except for one which I started and finished on Monday evening! I can't show two of them as one is Tricia's prize for naming Cecil and the other is a birthday gift, both of which need sewing up so my sewing machine will, hopefully, be coming out to play later today.

Anyway I'll start with my progress on BBD AotH Pumpkin Farm. I couldn't finish this as I ran out of one of the threads. I should have it finished this weekend all being well. I am personalising it for my DH even though he wasn't born in October.

Sunday afternoon I settled down to stitch on Carol R's iStitch mystery. It stitched up really quick and I love how it's looking. I think this will be perfect for my DMC box.

Sunday evening I wanted to get the BBD Peacock Pin Keep Needlecase finished but it wasn't to be. However my Monday evening Shepherd's Bush stitching went very well so I put the last few stitches into it then. I've dyed some white fabric this morning to use as backing for the pin keep and the needlecase and will have a go at finishing it all soon.

Blackbird Designs Peacock Pin Keep

28 count tea dyed fabric

DMC

Started 24th July 2011

Finished 18th September 2011

I decided that I couldn't stand to take SB Wisemen Came with me to craft club again on Tuesday so before I had my new SB start on Monday I finished it. I have a few of these to get made up now so I think I'd better go through my finishing fabrics and see what I can find!

Shepherd's Bush Wisemen Came

Unknown fabric

DMC

Started 30th August 2011

Finished 19th September 2011

My new start for the SB SAL with Barb and Colleen was Rosy Egg. Lisa stitched this a while ago and kindly sent me the chart and leftover silks and there was enough for me to stitch it. I couldn't believe how quickly this stitched up and how tiny it is! It is so cute! I used a scrap of Jayne's Attic COM fabric and can't remember the colour but I think it's perfect for this piece. I need to add a button to this and I think I might have a purple heart button that would be perfect for it. I have no idea how I'm going to finish it though! Any suggestions? I'll have to decide on what to start next Monday! Lol!

Shepherd's Bush Rosy Egg

Jayne's Attic COM Fabric ( unknown)

Leftover silks from kit

Started and Finished 19th September 2011

I went to craft club yesterday thinking I had all the threads I needed to finish Tricia's prize and also took something else with me in case I finished it. After I'd been stitching a while I realised I was one thread short so just stitched what I could. I then asked the other lady who cross stitches if she happened to have any DMC 316 on her. Would you believe it she had it! So I "borrowed" a couple of strands and was able to finish that. There were 20 minutes left by then so I started Tra La La Duo Noel:)

Last night I stitched a little bit on Drawn Thread The Sanctuary. I finished the trees at the top and started the bit down the left hand side. I am itching to get this finished especially as I now have The Primitive Hare Christmas Carol Sock chart which arrived yesterday:)

I'm really looking forward to my LHN Travelling Stitcher SAL with Lisa tonight:) Does anyone know of a tutorial or have any tips for making a pouch similar to the one used? 

I also had another chart in the post yesterday. Last week I won Mary Ann's giveaway for Little House Needleworks Summer Splendor which she has recently stitched. She posted it in Friday so it arrived very quickly! I fell in love with this chart from the minute I saw it so was delighted to have won it. I think this will be my next small new start:) Thank you so much Mary Ann and her DH who picked my name:)

I was hoping my JJ's order might be here today as both mine and Lisa's were shipped on Friday and she got hers yesterday. So I'll hope for tomorrow lol! 

That's all my stitching for news so I shall pop off and catch up on your blogs. Thank you for all your good wishes for Jess. She's had her blood done today and the results should be back in a couple of days. Fingers crossed it's clear. 

Hope everyone is having a good week. Take care.

Love & hugs

Sally

xxxx

Pansy Roll Finished :) & The Blessings of Stitching Friends.

On Monday evening I finished all the stitching on SB Pansy Roll and added the beads. I decided I wanted it all made up and done before next Monday so that I could have a new SB start ( not sure what it will be yet). So yesterday I added the lace, more beads and sewed it up and ended up with this! It is so pretty and I love the over one verse on it.

Shepherd's Bush Pansy Roll

32 count white fabric

DMC and Mill Hill Beads

Started 29th August 2011

Finished 14th September 2011

So which SB shall I start next? Rosey Egg? Feed My Sheep? I'm trying to think of what I have everything for! The Journey maybe if I have suitable fabric. Our Hearts Pincushion? Elizabethan Pincushion? Sophie's Pincushion?

I started stitching the trees on Drawn Thread The Sanctuary on Tuesday evening. I am hoping that these stitch up quite quickly as I am now on a mission to get this piece finished ASAP ( more about that later in this post!). There is still so much to stitch but I love how this is looking. How I'd love to sit in a garden like this stitching away!

As usual on a Tuesday morning I went to craft club. There wasn't so many of us this week so it was easier to join in conversations etc so my stitching was feeble! It didn't help either when I started doing the back stitch that I realised I would have to frog some of the stitching I'd done there last week! I'd had bother with the moon too with the thread for that being close! So we'll see if I can do better next week and actually finish it.

Last night was SAL night with Lisa on LHN Travelling Stitcher so I stitched on it until 10 pm then picked something else for half an hour. I finished stitching the house then did a bit on the verse.

I had a lovely surprise from Lesleyanne the other day. She recently stitched the sheep from Tra La La Duo Noel which I love and have on my wish list after seeing it on June's blog. Lesleyanne very kindly sent me the chart so I am looking forward to stitching that. I think I shall pop it into my rotation when I've finished Blackbird Designs Peacock Pin Keep. Thank you so much Lesleyanne {{{hugs}}}

I am really excited about the next SAL Lisa and I will be doing which is going to be Lizzie*Kate's 6 Fat Men. We've both received our invoices from JJ's so looking forward to receiving the first 3 charts. We're starting when we've both finished Travelling Stitcher. I need to see what fabric I have and decide what to stitch them on but I am thinking of getting the Amber that the model is stitched on as Sew and So have it.

Another SAL I'm super excited about is one Barb and I are going to be doing later on in the year. Barb is such a terrible enabler ( love you though Barb:) ) so I should have known better than to look at The Primitive Hare Christmas Carol Sock chart when she mentioned it in an email. Jess and I have a Christmas Eve tradition of getting into our PJs and into her bed and watching A Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart in it so I had to look at it. I fell in love with it straight away but wanted to see how many pennies I had left when I'd paid my JJ's invoice. So yesterday I emailed Isabella of The Primitive Hare to see how much the chart and shipping was and it'll be on the way to me tomorrow morning:) Barb has also put an order in for the chart so our SAL is a go ( once I finish The Sanctuary) Isabella is a sweetheart to deal with:)

I'll be stitching on HAED Guardian tonight and hoping I can keep up with it while we watch Torchwood as it's the season finale.

I was chatting to Lisa yesterday and she asked about the iStitch mystery as she had more branches and leaves on part 3 than I did. Well guess who had missed some of it off???? Yep me!! So I sat down for a few minutes this morning after I'd done some housework and finished it properly!

Poor Jess is not having a good time of it of late. You may remember she had two urine infections lately as well as having two lots of blood tests for "womens problems". Well the last time she had her urine checked the doctor thought there were still slight signs on infection but said to leave it a couple of days then take another sample in and they'd send it away. Anyway she's been back today but the results weren't back so the doctor rang through for them. Thankfully there were no signs of infection but ketones were present. He said that that could be sign of diabetes ( which my Mum had) or starvation so he asked if she eats breakfast which she doesn't. So just to be on the safe side she has to go have a blood test for blood sugar! So now that means she won't be moving this weekend as she had planned. Good job there's another couple of weeks to the start of the new semester.

Well I had better go now. Not sure what I'm going to do; maybe do some finishing or stitching.

Take care everyone.

Love & hugs

Sally

xxxxx

iStitch Mystery SAL Part 3:)

Part 3 of CarolR's mystery SAL arrived in my inbox on Saturday so I immediately printed it out ready to get started on Sunday morning. Each part has been quick to stitch but this one was even quicker and is my favourite part so far because it's a bird:) I can't wait to see what's next! I'm waiting until I've stitched the whole thing before I decide what I'm going to do with it. I havea box which I bought with DMC threads in it with some of the money I was given for my birthday last December and it might fit in the top of that:)

Friday and Saturday I stitched lots on BBD AotH Pumpkin Farm. I am loving this block because of the autumnal colours and am hoping that I might be close to finishing it next week. I think this is now my favourite block so far and a refreshing change from Happy Birthday!

Finally my progress on Blackbird Designs Peacock Pin Keep Needlecase from last night. I had hoped to get this finished but we have a new member in the family and I was sitting with Abi while she handled him ( more later lol) but I'm happy with the progress I made.

The new family member is Abi's Syrian hamster which she has named Leo ( full name Leonardo after Da Vinci!). She bought him herself and loves him to bits! We are trying to get him used to her ( and us) so we sit for a while after tea and she handles him. He's very good but does have a tendancy to bite now and again but I think it depends on what we have had on our hands! After last night I am thinking she should rename him phsycho! He has a little wooden house inside his cage and he sleeps in it and hides his food in it. However I think he forgets as he was getting the corner of the house in his mouth and lifting it. Later on when we looked he's tipped it on its side then this morning it was on its roof!!! He also climbs up his cage ( which is normal I know!) but the best laugh is when he sits on top of his wheel and it moves so he slips off!! I was helpless this morning watching him. Anyway here's a slightly blurred photo of the mad thing!

Right I'd better get going and do some veg for tea. Roast pork tonight.

Take care everyone.

Love & hugs

Sally

xxxx



The Stitchy Week That Was!

OK I know it's not been exactly been a whole week since my last post but I'm desperately trying to get back on track with a couple of posts a week instead of just one.

Anyway I have a few progress pictures to show. I started the needle case from BBD Peacock Pin Keep on Sunday and this is where I got to. It's on the same tea-dyed fabric I have used for the pin keep itself. Hopefully I should be ready to have a go at making all the pieces up soon.

Monday was my ususal SB SAL night with Barb and Colleen and I hope we all got plenty of stitching done :) This is my Pansy Roll so far. It looks so pretty. As I just have the chart I must remember to go on the SB website and find a photo to see what the charm is for this. I'm hoping I might just have something suitable!

I managed to finish the bottom left hand block on Drawn Thread The Sanctuary this week. I will admit that it didn't quite get finished on Tuesday evening so I finished it on Wednesday before I picked up LHN Travelling Stitcher. I do have the four sided stitch to do around this block and the bottom right one and that seems to take forever so I might do a bit then move onto something else like the trees. I want to get this finished this year but there seems to be so much still to do.

Almost forgot the SB ornament I've been stitching at craft club. This one is Wisemen Came and I'm really enjoying it. It's easy to stitch in company although I do have to stop if I'm getting involved in the chatting! Sometimes I do sometimes I don't; it depends on what the ladies are talking about. This week I managed to squeeze myself round to a vacant seat near the window so could see better.

Wednesday evening was SAL night with my surrogate sis Lisa. I am loving stitching LHN Travelling Stitcher. I've been looking forward to this SAL for such a long time and just love the colours of this piece. I remembered this week to stitch the leaves on the second tree and also finished off the grass before moving back to the house. Hopefully I'll finish building that one next week:)

Final progress for this week is my start on the next page of Guardian. The crazy thing is I settled down after lunch yesterday to grid the page and lo and behold it had been that long since I gridded my last page I could not remember how I'd done it!!! I did the outer gridding just fine but when it came to the rest of I just sat there staring at it. I actually don't think this is how I have gridded HAEDs before but it works so that's OK! Anyway this is my start and I won't post another progress picture until the end of the month.

Back to Blackbird Designs AotH Pumpkin Farm tonight and tomorrow night and the third part of Carol R's mystery SAL is due to be released so I may get some stitching in during the day over the weekend to stitch that. I was thinking yesterday that I have the urge to start something Autumnal but realised I have Pumpkin Farm on the go! Duh!!!

Is anyone thinking of or is joining Measi's WIPocalypse? I am thinking about it as I think it will be a good way of keeping up with my WIPs that might otherwise fall by the wayside ( like Guardian!). I'll only, hopefully, have two long term WIPs that I'll be carrying over into 2012 and anything else you start in 2012 can be included.

Well I think that's all from me for now. I need to go update my other blog too as I haven't written there for weeks.

Take care everyone.

Love & hugs

Sally

xxxx

A New Start and Another Page Finished

Yes another new start! What's a girl to do when she has so much to stitch????!!! Of course I have the excuse that I finished Shepherd's Bush Family Sampler so just had to start something else to replace this so that I can carry on my SAL with Barb and Colleen. What is better than stitching with friends even though they are at the other end of the country and the other side of the world? So before I waffle on anymore here is my new start for our Monday night SAL. I chose Pansy Roll and I just love this so far. I can't actually remember what the fabric is but I think it may be 32 count. That's what you get for sorting your fabric and putting it with your charts. I really must learn to make notes in a notebook! Barb and Colleen are visiting me tomorrow evening ( virtually of course!) for our SAL:)

So what else have I been up to stitching wise. Well I have to admit I have been a tad bit restless again this week so progress has been a little slow some nights. However Drawn Thread The Sanctuary did go rather well on Tuesday evening and I got the border of this block stitched up as well as more of the block. There is still a fair bit to do on this block so I think my hopes of finishing it were a bit much to ask. However I don't know if any of you noticed that I have already stitched the year on this piece so I have to finish it this year right??!!! Speaking of Drawn Thread have you seen Cynthia's gorgeous new releases??? I keep telling myself no new stash but this one is going on my Christmas list and I'm hoping my DH will treat me to it for Christmas! Has anyone in the UK ordered direct from Cynthia?

I was eager to get stitching on LHN Travelling Stitcher again this week ( my SAL with my surrogate sis Lisa) but again the restlessness in me thought otherwise and it was later than usual when I finally got settled enough to stitch. I had an email from Lisa, who has been on holiday, asking how I'd done with it and it suddenly dawned me that I hadn't stitched the leaves on the tree before I'd moved onto the next house!

The "another page finished" in my post title ( I know I'm not very imaginative when it comes to titles these days!) is my 7th page on Heaven and Earth Designs Guardian. I am quite ashamed that I started this so long ago and I've only done 7 pages and had I had the enthusiasm/ drive whatever you want to call it to keep up with it I could have had so much more done. However I am pretty pleased with myself to have another page down. Just 23 more to go now! I need to grid the next page which will, again, be just background.

That's all my stitching for this post as I forgot to take a photo of BBD AotH and to be honest I only stitched on it last night rather than Friday night as well. Friday night I started Tricia's prize for naming my sheep from Lisa. I also had a new start at craft club ( another SB ornie) but it wasn't reallt worth taking a photo of the little I got stitched.

On Friday I placed an order with JJ's on their Labor Day sale. I've had a few sales on Ebay and privately recently so I caved and ordered the Lizzie*Kate 6 Fat Men Flip-its and the Shepherd's Bush 2011 Fob kit which I'm hoping is included in the sale too. Lisa and I are going to SAL on the 6 Fat Men when we've finished LHN Travelling Stitcher so I'm looking forward to that. I admit that I hadn't taken much notice of the new releases at market other than the L*Ks and the SBs. Someone on a group on Facebook posted about the new Bygone Stitches Quaker Christmas II so that has now gone on my wish list with a couple of others I just happened to notice. I swore I would buy no more biggies so will leave it on the ole list for a while and see if I still like it in 6 months time!!!! Lol! Please is there no cure for this addiction????

I forgot to mention in my last post that I got called in for a job interview a week last Friday. I came away from that interview feeling really disheartened as the supervisor said my lack of references could hamper my chances and that they also expected a passport and a drivers licence! I'd never heard anything like it! Yes I expected the references but even that after almost 17 years away from working outside of the home is difficult. I don't have and never have had a passport and although I do have a drivers licence it's a paper one and not a photo one. Needless to say Jess took a message for me last Tuesday while I was out to say that I hadn't got the job because I didn't have a passport or references. I was a little upset and have since been wondering how the hell I'm supposed to find work. Does the fact that I worked for 5 years with one employer and 9 years with the next count for nothing?

Back to school ( well 6th form) for Miss Abi this Thursday while Miss Jess staying home for a couple more weeks yet. She picked her keys up for her new student house last Friday and we moved some of her stuff in. I have to say the house is lovely. It's been gutted and is all lovely and clean and new. So much better than the one she was in last time. She's sharing with two lads one of whom we met on Friday and he seems a really nice lad. We have let the other one before as they've been firm friends since their first year.

Well I guess I'd better upload the photos and publish this post. I've got caught up on blog reading and commenting so I can pop off and stitch after tea:)

Take care everyone.

Love & hugs

Sally

xxxx