Almost 2014.

Well the New Year is almost upon us so that means that Stitch From Stash 2014 is almost here too. I have been good for a week now. My last chart purchase was iStitch Designs Sew Advent and Sew a Brown Bunny. I didn't sign up for Sew Advent when Carol announced the SAL as I knew I had too much on to keep up with it so when she released it once the SAL was over and I had also seen the lovely progress I decided to have that one last treat. I am rather ashamed of what I have bought lately but it's not all charts as I have bought fabric as I received a GC from Kerri ( no blog)  for Colour Cascade Fabrics a couple of weeks ago which I added pennies to so I could buy a Gold/ Silver Duet which arrived on Saturday. That was amazing as it was posted on Christmas Eve and winged its way from Australia in record time! I do have some fabric on order from The Crafty Kitten along with a couple of finishing forms which I have paid for today :) The next chart in the CCN Frosty Forest series arrived so that has gone away ready for when I start it sometime early 2014!

So even though there are still a couple of days left in 2013 I'm not going to succumb to anymore ordering! I will start as I mean to go on. No more charts until December except for buying one probably in November for the SAL Chris and I will be doing in December and fabric and thread when I need them.

Speaking of the SAL Chris and I will be doing next December I have set up a poll  on my side bar and ask if you would help us decide which one to stitch please! We have 3 and can't decide which one to do! Here are photos of the 3.

Barbara Ann Designs O Christmas Tree

 New York Dreamer Frosty Night

 UB Designs Beerenherz im Winter

So I guess I'd better show what I've been stitching and the gifts I received for Christmas. As I said in one of my last posts I finished both February's Primrose and Mary's Sampler but didn't show them. I'm not sure how I'm going to finish Mary's Sampler yet.

I can now show the challenge piece I stitched from the Jura Point De Croix blog. I loved stitching this. It was a must stitch for me!

I've been desperately trying to get plenty done on Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons so have been stitching mostly on that. I finished part 2 and am getting on well with part 3. It won't get finished before the end of the year but hopefully it will be an early finish in 2014.

A little progress on Friendship with Barb :)

The only other thing I can show is my progress on Country Cottage Needleworks Silent Night which is my December SAL with Chris. I settled down yesterday with it and got quite a bit done.

I stitched an ornament as a little gift for Michelle which she loves.

These are the lovely gifts that I received for Christmas in no particular order. This is what I received from Michelle.  Isn't that ornament so me!

This is my beautiful glass robin from Barb which was made by her DH Martin.

This lovely ornament came from Shirlee.

This lovely needle threader is from Lisa.

This is Rory the Reindeer which is from Lainey.

This lovely notebook is from Karan. I am going to use it as a stitching diary for 2014 and beyond :)

My DH bought me these fabrics and chart ( they were on my Christmas list! ).

Thank you all for my wonderful gifts. Hugs to you all :)

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. We had a quiet one full of happy memories, a few tears and lots of laughs. We ate far too much, drunk a little, watched a little TV and just generally chilled. I asked Father Christmas to bring us a Wii U console, which he did, and it's great fun. I downloaded the new Wii U Fit for free. It's a 31 day trial but if you buy a Wii Fit Meter and sync it to your console you get to keep the full version of the game which is a great deal. My meter arrived today so will see if I can get it synced! Hope so as it's no use without the game lol! It's been lovely just chilling and spending precious time together as, believe me, you never know what is going to happen. 

Anyway I have had a very successful stitching year finishing a grand total of 44 projects. Not as many as previous years but I've just been enjoying it and having great fun with it. There have been highlights and low points through the year. The highlight has to be my 50th birthday earlier this month as my family and friends made it so special for me. I will never, ever forget it as long as I live. The low point was January 14th when my dear Dad passed away. I still have guilt and I don't feel as though I have anyone I can talk about it to. Hopefully I'll be able to deal with it better in 2014. 

This is my last post for 2013 so I shall see you all, hopefully, in 2014 with some new starts, WIPs, SAL's and finishes. Thank you all for reading and commenting on my blog. It means the world to me. Happy New Year to you all!

With much love

Sally xxx

Sneaking in.....

One last post before Christmas! I have been panicking a little as I popped a little gift in the post to Shirlee at the beginning of December and as the days went by I was getting more and more worried that it wasn't going to reach her or it was stuck in customs as I forgot to remind the man in the PO that it needed a customs label. Of course he should have known really and not needed reminding if he knows his job! Anyway it finally arrived yesterday so a massive sigh of relief could no doubt be heard right across the world! 

So here is Shirlee's wee gift. Unfortunately I messed up big style making this up and it ended up a little too small to hold teabags without folding them but she loves it all the same so I am very happy! I included some teabags with it, Mango and Cinnamon, which I hope Shirlee will enjoy. 

The Little Stitcher Tea Time

Gift for Shirlee.

On Sunday evening I finished Cottage Garden Samplings My Garden Journal February's Primrose but will save that for after Christmas. I also finished PSS Mary's Sampler :). I'm getting down my WIPs now!

I was catching up on blogs the other day when I came across a mention of Stitch From Stash 2014 so I duly followed the link to see what it was all about it! I have my surrogate sis, Lisa, keeping me right and me keeping her right and my dear friend Barb too but I thought what better way to make it even better by joining Mel and all the others doing this. It will give me even more determination to make it through to December 2014 without buying although we have allowances but I won't be using that for charts and I certainly won't be using it every month or the full amount. The purpose of me stitching from my stash in 2014 is so that I don't buy anymore charts, get my charts down and stitch some of the beauties I have that have been neglected! So if you're interested in joining go have a look at this page on Mel's blog and drop her an email. 

That is definitely it now until after Christmas! Lol! The turkey crown is cooked as is the gammon and everything else is prepared just to go in the oven tomorrow. I get as much as I can done on a Christmas Eve so that I don't have to send all Christmas morning in the kitchen meaning more time with my family. I am just about to vac up and get a shower then we can all relax this evening. Jess and I have a Christmas Eve tradition of getting in our PJs and watching A Christmas Carol ( the Patrick Stewart version) and now Abi joins in too :) 

So again have a wonderful Christmas everyone and stay safe and warm if you are in areas of storms. The wind is supposed to whip up here this evening but further up North it is forecasted to be much worse.

With much love

Sally xxxx

Four Sleeps

It's hard to believe that it's only 4 sleeps to Christmas Day and not long to go to 2014. Where did 2013 go?

I'm trying to have as much of a clean slate for 2014 as I can but I know some things are not going to be finished! Last night I did finish part 4 of Jardin Prive La Pensee Positive which is one of my SALs with Barb. Unfortunately I discovered that I have messed up in several places on this part so am going to have to be very careful with part 5 as there is no way I'm frogging all that! It's personalised lol! I'm looking forward to part 5 in January then I will need to find a hanger I think and finish it as a bell pull.

I did say in my last post that I didn't know when I would get my December ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL finished but I decided, rather than having a new start for my 50th birthday, allbeit a bit late,  to try and get the ornament finished as well as  PSS Mary's Sampler. The ornament is stitched, not made up, so that's that SAL done for this year. I'm not sure if I will do it again next year if anyone takes it over as I've managed 24 ornaments over the last 2 years so my tree is looking lovely now. I will probably still stitch the odd ornament especially as I have all those JCS ornament magazines as well as the Lizzie Kate Flora McSample 2013 Stocking Ornaments.

And here's my progress on Mary's Sampler. Almost there.

Part 2 of Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons is almost done. Hopefully part 3 will get done a little faster!

I've finally got the trim on Country Cottage Needleworks Winter's Eve and Full Circle Designs Moonlit Joyride.  I've also completed the challenge piece for Jura Point De Croix and emailed a pic in but can't show that until after Christmas.

I also got some trim on Shepherd's Bush The Journey. I stitched this last year! The initials on this are mine and Barb's. 

I haven't stitched anymore on my SAL with Chris but hope to do a little tonight and try and get Mary's Sampler done too. Tomorrow evening I'd love to get February's Primrose finished if I can then I start the next one.

I went through all my charts the other day and listed them in To Stitch From In 2014. I have to say I got a considerable shock when I saw just how many charts I have and those don't include HAEDs! So I feel I've done the right thing deciding to go on the chart stash wagon until December 2014 then I will probably have a treat from my wish list before possibly doing the same thing in 2015 depending on how much of my stash I get stitched next year. It's not as though I don't have plenty to keep me going!

I'm really pleased with what I have stitched this year. It has been great therapy for me during what has been a difficult year. I am sure there are people who look at what I get done and think I stitch all day and all evening  but I don't.  I very rarely stitch during the day and the only times I do are for a couple of hours when I go to the craft group and when my friend Gill and I have our stitching afternoons. Sometimes on a weekend if I have nothing else to do I'll sit for an hour in an afternoon but that is very rare.

I am still having problems with my thumb. Overnight while I sleep it seems as though it is ceasing up so when I try and move it it clunks and clicks and is quite sore and painful. I am determined to keep stitching and Lisa B kindly sent me her Handeze gloves to try as she can't get on with them. 

All that remains now is to wish each and every one of you a Happy, Peaceful, Healthy, Stash filled Christmas and thank you for friendship, enabling and wonderful finishing to drool over!

With much love,

Sally xxxxx

A Christmas Finish :)

As promised I am back to show some stitching and two of those are actually finishes! However first of all I would like to say a massive thank you for all your lovely birthday wishes on my last post. I had a fantastic few days ending on Sunday ( wasn't a birthday treat but I enjoyed it none the less!) with a trip to the cinema to see Disney's latest film Frozen which was brilliant! 

I do have a few more birthday gifts to show. These arrived from the lovely Lainey. Aren't they just so sweet?

Lisa B had been perusing my wish list and sent me this beautiful chart from Midsummer Night Designs. Bless you Lisa I love it :)

Jess came home on Friday so we could all go out for a meal and this is what she bought me :)

We met up with my sister and her partner for a meal on Friday evening and they had bought me a lovely pair of earrings and some rather lovely body lotion:)

I still can't get over how spoilt I was by everybody and again thank you to all my family and friends for making my 50th so special.

Onto my stitching now. I am hoping I can keep going as I am having problems with my thumb and refuse to stop stitching! The joys of getting older I guess! Anyway I have two recent finishes that I can show.First is this one.

Lizzie Kate Hearts and Holly Christmas Sampler

28 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

WDW threads

Started 5th October 2013

Finished 14th December 2013.

I am not sure how I'm going to finish this as yet so it won't be done for Christmas.

Second finish is this one with Barb.

Little House Needleworks Little Sheep Virtues Wisdom

32 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

DMC

Started 18th November 2013

Finished 9th December 2013

So Barb and I have now started Friendship. Surprisingly Gratitude arrived on Saturday. Just one more to get now!

I made a start on my December ornament last week at craft group and carried on with it today. Not sure when it will get finished as we don't meet again until January.

I still have to finish PSS Mary's Sampler. I did manage a little bit of the border of Sunday evening.

I'm still hoping to get LHN Song of the Seasons finished by the end of the year but I can't see it happening as I only have one more Wednesday to stitch on it before Christmas. I had hoped for an almost clean slate to start 2014 with but it's not going to happen!

Chris and I making progress on our December SAL.

I can finally show the ornament I stitched for the Needlecraft Haven Christmas ornament exchange. 

Any guesses who I sent to? It was Barb and I am happy to say she was delighted with it!

Chris and I exchanged ornaments on my birthday. This is what I stitched for Chris.

And this is what she stitched for me which I absolutely love!

I still have to fully finish my November ornament yet. Still sewn up but no trim on it!

I received some lovely Crescent Colours threads from Lesleyanne in a gorgeous Christmas card. Thank you Lesleyanne.

I opened a beautiful card from Michelle and her family and inside were these Christmas teabags. Can't wait to try these! Thank you Michelle.

I received a lovely card from June with a very sweetly named Rudolf Red Dragon Floss :) Thank you June.

The first chart with fabric for the Country Cottage Needlworks Frosty Forest arrived from Crazy Annie's Stitchin.

I also treated myself to a chart from The Snowflower Diaries in her Black Friday sale and I also bought the Nina's Threads to stitch it with. Maja is such a sweetheart to deal with and even sent me a chart for my birthday :) Thank you Maja.

I am in The Crafty Kitten birthday club so got 12% off any order during my birthday month so I bought a couple of pieces of fabric specifically to stitch some charts next year :) The top one is Muted Garden opalescent and the bottom one is Vintage Petals.

Almost forgot for Barb here's me with a barn owl from the other Sunday.

And my new hairstyle. Photo isn't good. It is layered and quite short at the back :)

That's all from me for now. I hope to be back before Christmas so until next time.

With much love,

Sally xxxxx