Whole Lot of Stitching Going On

Hello from a rather hot England. In fact ( and please don't shout at me!) it is just too hot! Thankfully here on the north east coast it is not as hot as it is down south but it's uncomfortable enough for me. I actually feel unwell today so just want it a bit cooler now. It is lovely to see the sun but I'd love it about 5 degrees c cooler than it is here now. I thank God for the sea breeze!

So, for all it has been so hot, I have been getting some stitching done. I have no finishes to show as I don't have any but I have had a new start and have made some decisions about all the HAEDs I have on the go!

So first up is my little bit of progress on the Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons mystery which I'm stitching along with Barb. I love this so far. Still waiting for the next sheep *sigh* lol!

I seem to have done really well on HAED QS Spirit of Winter Robin. Last night I was still stitching away at 11.30 pm. Big mistake as I feel so tired today! Doesn't he look gorgeous?!

LHN's Curly Q Ewe, my SAL with Lainey and Mouse,  is coming along nicely. Look she has a head, hands and feet now! 

My new start is my July ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL. I chose LHN All is Calm. I started this while I was at my friend Gill's for our stitching afternoon yesterday.

Lastly my other HAEDs. I have to admit that I have become rather bored with Guardian at the moment but I don't want to put it away as I know if I do I may well never get it out again. So I think I'm just going to see how I feel and maybe just stitch on it one evening a week for a bit. I did consider finishing the page I'm working on then the next one and calling it a finish but several of my stitching friends said it wouldn't look right and they are right.

My progress on Mini Jolly Old Fellow my SAL with Gill :) 

Anyway I have thought all the HAED pieces I am stitching and think I have overdone it! I'm leaving myself little time to stitch on other things and trying to make even just a little progress on all five is impossible for me. So Mini The Forgotten is going away for a while as was Mini Jolly Old Fellow but not sure I can put him away as I'm loving the colours etc so will have to see what I can do. I'm going to continue stitching on Guardian and QS Spirit of Winter Robin in the slots they've been in and bring my SK Dragon's History to an evening slot as that is more doable with it only being 4 pages. Then I'll see how things go!

I bought some ribbon, trims and fabric this week so that I can finish some bits off soon. I am determined to get that pile down over the summer! Last Friday my DH and I were going to Wren to finalise our new kitchen so I asked him if we could pop to a shop in Cottingham that Chris had recommended. They were supposed to close at 5 pm but when we got there at 4.35 pm they'd already closed so I was disappointed. So on Saturday I trawled the internet! I ended up ordering ribbons and trims from Ribbon Oasis and my fabric from Thread Bear.

Speaking of Chris she visited me on Wednesday :) It is always lovely to see her. We sat out in my garden chatting and having a cuppa :)

That's all my stitching news. We have an electrician coming on Monday to sort some sockets etc in the kitchen. I know there's going to be a mess. HELP!

Take care everyone.

With much love

Sally

xxxx

Courage

Here we are. The lovely, cute LHN sheep is all done and dusted but not made up yet. I'm still trying to make my mind up whether to finish them as flat ornaments or pillows. Hmmm decisions, decisions!

Little House Needleworks Little Sheep Virtues Courage

32 count Vintage Country Mocha Linen

DMC

Started 17th June 2013

Finished 9th July 2013

SAL with Barb.

We are both eagerly awaiting the arrival of Faith which will, of course, mean I'll get 2 more of the Cottage Garden Samplings My Garden Journal charts :)

Monday was the lovely Karan's birthday and here is what I stitched for her. I am happy to say that she loves it :)

The Sampler Girl Sweet Things

Unknown fabric

Caron Waterlilies

Started 10th June 2013

Finished 2nd July 2013

Happy Birthday Karan :)

I have been stitching on my HAEDs but forgot to take photos! I have the first 20 rows of  Mini Jolly Old Fellow stitched and a little more on QS Spirit of Winter Robin :)

As I mentioned on my last post Barb and I were having a new start on Monday. We started the Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons mystery. I made a small start. I am loving this WDW Straw linen. 

Tonight is Curly Q Ewe night with Lainey and Mouse. Loving stitching this one and really must get a head on the lady tonight. She looks a little scary as she is!

Oooh I almost forgot! I made up some Christmas ornaments!

I am quite pleased with these. They are now in a box with some of my others :) I still have a few to go at as well some finishes I had last year. I will get them all done eventually!

I have a quick question now. Does anyone know when the JCS Halloween special is due in the UK please? I don't get it as part of my subscription so want to keep an eye out for it:)

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my last post. They mean a lot to me. I am thankful for all my lovely friends in the stitching, blogging community.

Until next time.

With much love

Sally

xxxx

Stash & Stitching & Wildlife

Well it's been a while since I last posted. We had a hectic week the week my DH had off going out, started to rip the kitchen out to make way for the new one and filling out forms regarding the sale of my Dad's house with my sister and taking it all in to the solicitors. The solicitor's PA informed us that we'd have more to fill in. Seriously?!

So I have been stitching and I tried to get some making up done, honestly I did, but didn't quite get there and get finished. I will though.

I have had a finish and a new start but I can't show either of those as they are gifts. I also have an almost finish! This is Courage,  one of the Little Sheep Virtues, which I'm stitching with Barb. I really should have had it finished  by now but I didn't stitch at all the Monday before last as we'd been out all day. I want to try and get it finished before Monday as Barb and I now have other plans in between stitching these adorable sheep!

My new start, HAED Mini Jolly Old Fellow, is  not going too badly at all and I even have a litle bit of Father Christmas' hat. I'm really enjoying this so far. Poor Gill, who I am SALing with, hadn't started her Mini Sleigh Ride as her threads hadn't arrived but she's hoping to start it tomorrow.

QS Spirit of Winter Robin is now getting stitched on 2 evenings a week and is  growing nicely. He now has an eye and doesn't he look adorable!

Speaking of adorable look at this photo I took during our day out at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. I am so proud of this photo!

OK back to stitching! Lainey, Mouse and I are still SALing on LHN Curly Q Ewe. Here's my progress. It's a headless, leg less woman walking a sheep! See my needleminder? Well that was one of my naughty purchases this week. My surrogate sis, Lisa,  has started making these and I couldn't resist this one. She has a group on Facebook so if you're on there it is No More Lost Needles and tell her I sent you :). I think I'm aiming for a needleminder for every project as I already have a few!

I'm happy to report that I finally finished page 13 of HAED Guardian and have made a small start on page 14. Yay! It's going to take me at least 2 more years to finish him though!

I haven't started my ornament for July as yet. I thought I'd decided on another Lizzie * Kate one but when I looked at my list I discovered it was this one!

Now to the stash part of my title! As you can see from the photos I did actually buy 2 needleminder as there was a Holly Fairy one and I couldn't decide between them! My JCS ornament preview issue arrived and oh dear there are several I want to stitch so I dread to think what the actual ornament magazine will make me want to stitch!  The same day I also had the LHN Song of the Seasons chart, thread pack and fabric from Karla at The Patchwork Rabbit. Can hardly wait to get started on this one and this is what Barb and I are going to stitch on in between the sheep. Once I've got this year's stash fest over with I really must stop  buying new charts and just buy fabric and threads if I need them!

Ooh I almost forgot! QS Holly Fairy is back from the framers! We did have to take her back as there was a piece of the fabric stuck in between the glass and the stitching but my framer soon put that right. It's difficult to get a decent photo but hope you can see it OK.

As I said earlier we had a day out at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. We had a fantastic day, walked miles around the park and saw lots of animals. Took lots of photos too so here are just a few. Thank God for zoom lenses otherwise you wouldn't have seen much on some of these!

Once again I am way behind on blog reading and commenting.  I just don't seem to be able to get myself motivated to do much of anything other than stitching yet again. I have discovered that bereavement is not just about grieving for a loved one as it can lead to a slippery slope of having little or no enthusiasm which in turn leads to not wanting to go anywhere or do anything other than sit on your  butt which leads to a bigger butt and bigger everything! So I am peeved cos I know I've put more weight on so I have to try and sort myself and get myself going on. I have started exercising again using EA Sports Active for the Wii but it's such hard work so think I'm going to do yoga as well and alternate them. I only go out walking when I have to unless I have someone to walk with which isn't good. I feel so sad so much it's really not good. I have thought about asking about bereavement counselling as I do have issues with guilt etc but I guess it's still early days yet.  I really don't want to lose my readers and commenters because I haven't been visiting your blogs very often so I will try harder.

If you've made it this far thank you cor sticking with me. I appreciate all your lovely comments and hope you will continue to leave them:)

Until next time.

With mu h love

Sally xxxxx