Sunday 11 November 2012

Wash Day and Other Stories

I am still here! I can't believe it's well over a week since I last posted. This last week seems to have been manic. Lots of time spent on the phone to Ebay customer services and worrying about Fozzie who had two visits to the vet. 

So without further ado here's the a wee bit of finishing from last Sunday. Let's just say my sewing machine very quickly went away after this! In the words of Craig Revel Horwood from Strictly Come Dancing "It was a disaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaster darling!" I managed to prick my finger and bled on it, thankfully on the wrong side of the fabric, then when I had it all sewn up and turned it the right way I had sewn the backing fabric on back to front! I looked at it and thought OK it doesn't look so bad so I'll quit before things get worse! Sewing machine may be coming out again this afternoon! Anyway this is Carriage House Samplings Wash Day which has been sitting in my finishing pile for a few months now. I am actually quite pleased with it so maybe not quite the disaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaster I thought!

So what else have I been up to? Well I was hoping finish LHN Snow In Love last Monday but it didn't quite happen. I ran out of the red I needed to finish the wording so fingers crossed I'll get it finished tomorrow. Barb has made a start on the wordplays and once she's finished January I'll be starting mine. So I may have to do another ornament in the meantime. 

I can't show you what I stitched at craft club on Tuesday. I had a finish but that is a gift and all will be revealed after Friday. I did stitch on another piece but again that is a gift. Tuesday and Thursday evening were HAED QS Holly Fairy nights. I'm now onto black again after stitching her eye and getting down to the bottom of the page on that bit. Love how she is looking.

I have been in the parlour with Barb and the ladies at Needlecraft Haven. I really must get my WIP pic put up on there before they think I have forsaken them. The house isn't quite finished yet but I'd got a bit bored with it and wanted to stitch something else so moved onto the wording!

I finally finished page 9 on HAED Guardian and made a start on page 10. Yay! The more I stitch on this the more determined I am to keep going and actually finish it. 9 pages down, 21 to go! I have stitched a little bit more but didn't get a photo taken.

I had some lovely post this week from my dear friend Michelle. She is beating the Christmas rush and posted out a birthday card and gift as well as a Christmas card and gift. I don't have a photo as I have put them away to resist temptation! Thank you so much for thinking of me Michelle {{{{hugs}}}}

HAED had a 35% off sale the other week and I had to be good as funds are a little tight as we've had a lot to pay out lately what with one thing and another. I kept telling myself that I had plenty to stitch and there would be other sales so it wasn't a big deal. However when Michele upped the sale to 50% for 36 hours  ( then for longer when all the traffic crashed the site!) deep down I was a little disappointed that I couldn't take advantage of it. So imagine my surprise when the lovely Claire RAK'd me with this cutie from my wish list :)

This one is History of Chocolate Storykeep. Thank you so much again Claire. Later on in the evening I was RAK'd again by my surrogate sis Lisa with this beauty from my wish list.

This is Mini The Forgotten and this piece calls to me so much. Thank you so much again Lisa. Looking forward to when we can do our SAL of this but don't worry if we have to postpone. I understand {{{hugs}}}

Later on I was RAK'd yet again this time by the Christmas Elf :) I have a sneaking suspicion who she is but I can't be 100% sure. This one is Santa Claus at the North Pole Stocking. I can't tell you how much I want to start this right now but I'd never finish it for this Christmas so I think it'll be a project for next year. Whoever you are thank you so much.

I felt so humbled and undeserving of all these lovely gifts but amazingly it did not stop there. I was in bits over my Ebay problems then with Fozzie being ill and my lovely new Facebook/ stitchy friend, Karen, sent me this one to take my mind of it all.

This one is Home is Where the Magic Is Storykeep. Isn't it gorgeous? I would love to be in this house with the snow falling and all my lovely stitching/ crafting friends there with me. Thank you so much again  Karen{{{{hugs}}}}

I will be passing on the kindness these lovely ladies have shown to me at a later date as I've sold some bits on Ebay. I thought my account may have been compromised after I stupidly clicked on a link in an email from them which I very quickly realised wasn't from them at all ( very clever as it was about an item I had listed) so I ended up having to ring their customer services three times to get it sorted as the first two times they were pretty useless! I cannot believe I was stupid enough to click a link and I still so cross and upset with myself as I have never done it before. I'm still in two minds what to do with account at the moment. Has anyone used Etsy for selling charts etc?

We will remember them.

Well that's it from me for today. If my sewing machine comes out and I get any finishing done I'll be back in a couple of days hopefully!

Take care everyone.

With much love

Sally



39 comments:

Catherine said...

Cute finish! And wow, you will be busy with all of those HAEDs!!

Vickie said...

Wow! What a busy week. Your finish looks fantastic. How blessed you are, so many gifts from your friends. Have a good, productive week Sally.

Mouse said...

sorry about the bleeding finger and if you do get it on fabbie ... get some white sewing cotton and give it a gentle chew and wipe over the stain ... usually works :) gorgeous raks ... love the dragon and the magic one too .. well done on the stitching front too :) hope you have a productive day today too ... :) love mouse xxxxx

Chris said...

What wonderful progress Sally. You have some amazing projects coming up. Those charts are so wonderful.
Glad to hear that the Ebay situation got straightened out and that Fozzie is ok.

Emma/Itzy said...

Oh hurray I am not the only one who fights with her sewing machine. Last Wednesday something I thought would take about half hour took more like 3 or 4 !

First I stitched the backing on the wrong way round, not one, BUT TWICE! Then the needle broke...Argh, what a disaster it was!

All the RAKs you received are very pretty, you are so lucky :)

I hope your ebay issue gets sorted, and Fozzie feels better soon.

Margaret said...

I love your washday finish! Beautiful! So many HAEDs too -- wow! Lovely stitching as always.

Barb said...

Hi Sally, wow where do we start! So much to look at and read. Love your progress and I saw you sneak in with your LHN piece , good to see you in the cottage parlour.
LOVE the Raks especially the story keeps are they easyish to do? You certainly are deserving of your gifts . Speak again soon

Julie said...

Great you could join us in the parlour this week, it's growing lovely. You are going to be really busy next year with all those RAK gifts. Hope fozzie is all recovered.
Lovely pillow finish.

Myra said...

Wash day looks wonderful Sally. I do hope your Fozzie is okay.

Sue said...

Love the washday, it's so pretty and such good progress on your HAEDs. You have been blessed with such thoughtful friends, beautiful RAKs. Glad Fozzie is better...x

Tricia T said...

You've had a busy week!!! Your pillow looks wonderful - not a disaster at all! And the kindness of your stitchy friends puts a smile on my face. How fun to have so many charts added to your stash!! I think that stocking is adorable!! I hope you get your Ebay troubles sorted soon!

North Country Stitcher said...

Sally, Such a beautiful washday finish. I love watching your progress on the HAEDs. I was sorely tempted by the sale, but gave up after a few tries. Lucky you to receive those lovely RAKs. Have a good day. Lisa

Hazel said...

Beautiful stitching Sally. Wow you got a lot of gifts through. Happy stitching. x

Gillie said...

Oh get away with you, I LOVE the finish, ignore Craig, lol, it is lovely!

butterfly said...

Beautiful finish I just love it , You have been busy, love all your stitching and lovely gifts, hugs.

Heather said...

Sally, I LOVE your new finish!! I love the fabric you chose to finish it with!

Your other pieces are coming along nicely!

What a wonderful blessing to have such dear friends!!

Love, Heather

cucki said...

very cute finish..so cute..
lovely stitching..
big hugs x

stitcherw said...

Cute finish, love the little birds. Great progress on your HAED's too. What fun to get the RAK's, the SK Hist. of Chocolate is one I have in my stash too, I love those dragons. Hope Fozzie is feeling better now.
Sue

Mylene said...

A beautiful finish, love it!

WOW! such gorgeous designs you'll be working soon.

Linda said...

Great progress and finishes on all your pieces. Wow, love all the new HAED's you received.

Linda

Kathy Ellen said...

Oh, what a wonderful finish to a perfectly sweet piece! How ever do you manage to work on so many very special projects? I am very impressed with your progress!

Blessings for a wonderful week!

Carol said...

Such a cute finish, Sally!! I've sewed the backing fabric on the wrong way a couple of times--maddening, isn't it?! Anyway, it looks great :)

Lovely gifts from your friends--you are very blessed!

Do hope things improve for Fozzie...

♥ Nia said...

Congrats on your finish! And you're almost there with your snow couple too :) Looking good!
You've been lucky, wonderful RAKs :D
have a great week!!

Ellen said...

Love your Wash Day, beautifully stitched n finished! Your HAEDs are progressing well. Wow, more HAEDs, lot of stitchings for you ahead ha ha!

Hugs,

Gabi said...

That's quite some progress. And what a lovely finish. Wash Day turned out so gorgeous.

Lesleyanne said...

Sorry to hear you had a fight with your sewing machine but your finish is gorgeous. Lovely RAKs. Glad fozzie is on the mend and you sorted the ebay problem out. Great progress on your stitching projects.

Christine said...

Ooops! If I had £1 for every time I've sewn two pieces together with one the wrong way up I'd be a rich woman by now!
I love the bird bath finish and the WIPs are looking great, wonderful new stash as well.
David did that with our Ebay once but once we'd re-set the password we had no further problems.

Lisa said...

You certainly get a lot of stitching done in a week. And as usual such wonderful finishing :-)

Siobhán said...

Lovely finish, Sally! Your WIPs look great. The HAEDs will definitely keep you busy!

Shirlee said...

Hi Sally! So many lovely WIPs! Also, so many RAKs! It's like Christmas has come to your house already : ) Your finish looks great! So sorry about your finger : ( I don't know about selling patterns on Etsy but that is something I plan to do there. I can say, however, that I have bought quite a few there : )

Fiona said...

Your stitching looks great. All your lovely new HAED designs look fantastic. I took advantage of the sale and bought my first every Footprints Quick Stitch, I think. Iam now waiting to buy the 25ct white and the griding thread so I can get started on it, wish me luck.,

Anne said...

Wow! Loads of great HAED's to work on Sally! How lovely that you were RAK'd by so many :D I luckily took advantage of that sale and managed to purchase two charts. Great finish on washing day. I hope the Ebay issue will get sorted out. I got scammed on Ebay awhile back and found they weren't too helpful. Luckily I got my money back via Visa, but since then I have not used Ebay (about 8 years ago). I think you may be able to sell your charts on Etsy...not sure though!

Nicola said...

What a wonderful friend to RAK you the HAED chart.

It must have been horrendous trying to get through to Ebay.

Michele B. said...

I adore your Wash Day finish! I stiched it about two years ago and have been pondering what to do with it. How inspiring your work is!

Pull the other thread said...

Such beautiful RAK's I hope they helped to cheer you up a bit. I love your finish, it looks wonderful. Also Holly, Guardian and Snow in Love all look fab.

Pam in IL said...

I think your Wash Day finish is gorgeous! All your other stitching looks great too. I'm in love with your LHN ornament. I need to get mine out and stitch it up too.

Michelle said...

Oh Sally I hope your fabric is ok. I adore the Washday one it looks stunning well done x

Michelle said...

Great stitching!

Sarah said...

Hi

Just visiting your blog.
Your stitching is beautiful and your finish looks lovely.

Great presents and charts too!