12 Pages Down, 18 To Go!

It appears that I am getting a bit bad at this  blogging malarkey!  I need to get myself back to posting more although while I'm stitching so many HAEDs it seems a bit pointless blogging more as my finishes are few and far between. Need to get my finger out!

So what I have been up to. Some stitching, still no making up on the stuff I've got finished. I think the only thing I've actually made up in months is the  birthday gift I stitched for Lesleyanne. I swear I need a swift kick up the backside but right now I'm not entirely sure it would do any good anyway! My Just Nan Floral Fifteen sits half made up on my chest of drawers in the dining room and taunts me about the fact that I haven't done anything to it in months! The stitching I am fine with. The making up is a no no! Maybe one day I will shock you all and myself for that matter!

This week has been quite successful on the HAED front as I've actually managed to finish a page on both QS Holly Fairy and Guardian! Yay! So one full page and 4 partial pages on QS Holly Fairy and 18, yes I did say 18, pages to go on Guardian! HELP!

I didn't stitch on QS Spirit of Winter Robin last Sunday as I had something to get finished so I need to get it out tonight and get some done. I noticed last time I picked it up that I hadn't gridded it properly so must be careful of that. 

I had hoped to get Little House Needleworks Little Sheep Virtues Love finished last Monday but it didn't quite happen. As you can see I just have a bit of the border to do. Barb finished hers the week before and you can see it on her blog:). We are impatiently waiting the arrival of Peace now and have you seen Courage, which is the next one? So sweet.

A little late in the month but I have finally started my ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL. I doubt I'll get it finished in time as it's not much  of a start but I'm going to take it to craft group on Tuesday and see if I can plenty done. Can you guess what it is? Lol!

I had a very successful evening on Shakespeare's Peddler Gentle Stitches, my SAL with Mouse, until I realised that the vines weren't right. I'd stitched almost the full row when I realised. I counted and better counted but they were right.  It turned out I had too many stitches on the row above which I think I'd stitched the second week of our SAL! Ugh! So a- frogging I had to go. I've almost got it all restitched but let me tell you I wasn't a happy bunny!

That's all my stitching news for now. How are you all getting on with Bloglovin? I must admit I'm not using it much as I like to use my tab rather than use my PC and it doesn't seem to work too well on mine so I've been using my reading list on Blogger which I find easy to use on my tab. I'll still keep Bloglovin for now as there might be some updates that will make it work better on my tab.

Take care everyone and I hope the weather is improving where you are. We thought Spring was here but it's turned rather chilly again!

With much love,

Sally xxx

Blessed

Lots of stitching has been done since my last post and not only that I have also received some lovely gifts. I did not realise until dear June emailed me but I had won one of her lovely giveaways. Last week this arrived. Look how beautifully it is wrapped.

I had to take a photo before I opened it up and found this lovely chart, ribbon, thread and pins.

Thank you so much June, I love it all.

This week I received a package and envelope from dear Lainey. She has been having an awful time of it lately and you may have read on her blog that her DH had  a cancer scare. I have been keeping in touch ( not as much as I should have really ) showing my support as have several of her friends. Look what she sent me to say thank you. How sweet is that and how beautifully wrapped :) Honestly, Lainey, no thanks were needed but thank you so much.

Also she sent me the LHN Curly Q Ewe chart so that I can join in with her and Mouse in their SAL. Bless you Lainey you are so sweet for thinking of others when you are going through it yourself. I look forward to our SAL. I was going to order the threads I need in the JJs sale but international shipping from the States has increased dramatically so any saving I make would be swallowed up by shipping so time to delve into my thread stash or wait for Patchwork Rabbit to reopen:).

I am so blessed to have such lovely stitching friends. So many of you have been wonderfully supportive since I lost my Dad and for that I will be eternally grateful. As silly as it sounds I shed a wee tear or two when I received the sales leaflet for his house from the estate agent on Friday and later that day the stone mason rang to say that the head stone was back on the grave so my DH, Abi and I went to look at it. Seeing my Dad's name there with my Mum made it seem so much more real and Abi and I cried. Sounds crazy but I'm sure some of you will understand what I mean.

Anyway enough of that! Time to show my therapy stitching. My Little House Needleworks Little Sheep Virtues SAL with Barb is going well. Barb has not been well so started after I did but I was a little slow the first Monday I picked mine up :) Here's where I am at  so should be able to finish it next Monday. I'll make a start on my April ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL then and hope I can get it stitched up before next month!

Of course my problem when I have other things to stitch, like the ornament, is that I don't want to put one of my HAEDs away while I stitch it as I'm afraid I wouldn't pick it up again but it think I may have to give QS Spirit of Winter a miss this  coming Sunday and stitch on something else! Speaking of QS Spirit of Winter this is my progress.  I always think it hasn't grown much but then when I look back at the last photo I think that doesn't look so bad!

I had a panic with HAED Guardian this time. I'm sure those of you who stitch HAEDs have all done it at some point! I was stitching where the angel's hand is and it just did not look right. I was thinking I'd done something wrong so checked the colours against the thread key and no that was all fine. Anyway I put it to one side while I went to make a cuppa, glanced at it and thought wow there is a hand!!! So pleased with this page as it's nice to get away from background as there is a lot on this one!

My SAL with Mouse is going well. I'm loving the colours in this so much. Just hope I can finish it how it's shown on the photo! My finishing bug has gone awol and I'm seriously scared it will never come back as I certainly don't want to resort to framing everything again!

I stitched a teeny bit more on HAED SK Dragon's History.  Note to self- stick to stitching 10 x 10 squares on this piece rather than wandering!  I got very confused on this and I know that some shades of a  colour are in the wrong place but I can't really tell so not even attempting to put it right!

Finally QS Holly Fairy. I am quite  close to finishing page 4 and am so excited by it. I know I'm sad aren't I?! I'm still hoping to get her finished by September if  not before but with 5 more pages to do I'm not sure I can do it! OK 4 of those are partial pages so maybe I can!

Just want to send a heads up to those of you who like using silk thread. One of my stitching friends on Facebook has just started dying her own silks. At the moment she only sells from her Facebook page but is hoping to get a website set up soon. If you're on Facebook and fancy having a look her page is Thread Pickerz Silkz.

Hope you are all well and stitching up a storm.

Take care everyone and thank you for visiting. I appreciate it more than you  could know :)

With much love

Sally xxxx

Oops!

Well it's been nearly 2 weeks since I posted last.  Time flies doesn't it?!

I have been stitching lots but just not felt much like blogging and I am sorry to say I haven't been reading your blogs much either as I haven't had the enthusiasm I'm afraid. Of course it's been the Easter holidays too and although we haven't done a great deal time has just flown. Last week Abi was on work experience with Bridlington Free Press shadowing their photographer. The rubbish bus service from here to Bridlington meant she could neither get there on time or get home when she'd finished so my DH took the week off to take her there and back.  She actually  ended up only working 3 and a half days but thoroughly enjoyed it. Last week she had one of the photos she'd taken published in the paper then this week there is a write up and photo of her at her desk along with a photo of her with an owl which Paul took at Sewerby Hall.

I actually managed to finish my March ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL before the end of March. I enjoyed stitching this and love the fabric I've used ( thank you Lois ) and think I might just treat myself to a fat quarter of it one day.

Bent Creek Glad Tidings

32 count Salamander linen

DMC

Dani I'll get the chart in the post to you as soon as I can :)

No other finishes but I do have a new start. Mouse and I started our SAL of Shakespeare's Peddler Gentle Stitches last week and so far I am loving it. I love the colours and it's so nice to stitch.

Oooh I have another new start. How could I forget that the next Little Sheep Virtues, Love, arrived last week so Monday Barb and I made a start. Well I think Barb did as, bless her,  she's not been well.

I'm afraid that all my other WIPs are HAEDs now. I think I'm a teeny bit addicted as I added to my stash this week during the sale but more about that in a bit! I'll start with the one that will hopefully be my next HAED finish and that is QS Holly Fairy. I've been working on getting lots of black background done and there is also some blue in that. I took it to craft group with me on Tuesday morning and just stitched solidly on black!  I'm itching to get her finished but it will take me a few months yet I think.

I've been managing a little progress on Guardian and here is is in all his glory!  It makes a nice change to actually stitch him rather than background.

As I said in my last post I've been giving SK Dragon's History some attention driven by the March competition on one of the groups on Facebook I belong to. Well that attention paid off as I came third and could pick a reward from the items some the ladies have donated  I chose a Mystic Stitch chart called  Daybreak. I'm intent on keeping up with adding a few stitches on this when I can over a weekend.

My Sunday evening stitching is QS Spirit of Winter Robin and he's coming along nicely.  Once QS Holly Fairy is finished this will move to her slot in my rotation :)

Finally I sat down for a wee while on Easter Monday afternoon to pop a few stitches into Mini The Forgotten my SAL with Lisa. It doesn't get very much attention so it was nice just to put a few stitches in.

As I said earlier I added to my HAED stash this week. I really shouldn't have as I now have a grand total of 23 and when I'm going to get around to stitching them all I do not know as even the QS take a long time but they are so worth the time and are not expensive when you think of all the hours and joy you get out of them.

 Anyway I was feeling pretty down so I treated myself to Faces of Faery 132 Ornament and Mini Home is Where the Magic Is. Yes I know I have the SK of this but I decided I like the full picture as well but would never do the BAP so the mini it was! I think the SK and Mini would look lovely hung side by side. Then on Wednesday my lovely friend Lesleyanne RAK'd me with this.

Mini Jolly Old Fellow.  Now there is a story behind this which I told on Kerri's WIP pic of the BAP of this. I might have told it on here and I apologise if I have. Every time I look at photo of this on the HAED website the train gets me. Years ago my Dad told us how when he was a boy he'd askedfor a red toy train from Father Christmas  but never got one. So I  bought a red toy train, wrote a letter on the computer from Father Christmas saying how sorry he was it was late and popped it under our tree for when my Dad came on Christmas Day!  He kept that train until the day he died and we had it put in his coffin with him along with a Lindt Chocolate Rabbit that the girls had given him several years ago that he never ate as he said it would remind him of them.  Lesleyanne thank you so much for your wonderful, kind RAK. It means so much and once QS Holly is finished and I move QS Spirit of Winter Robin to her slot I'll be starting him :)

I feel terrible to that I forgot to show these lovely threads that dear Michelle sent me from her trip to South Africa. Aren't they gorgeous? I am so sorry that I forgot to show them Michelle. Thank you so much xxx

Well that's all my news for now. Thank you for reading  my ramblings and for all your lovely comments. They mean the world to me.

Until next time.

With much love

Sally xxx