Finishing Frenzy!

I've finally got my butt into gear and done a little more finishing. My sewing machine came out yesterday so I could get some bits sewn up then last night I decided not to stitch and get some trims etc sewn on. I can't show them all as one is a gift and the other is for an exchange and then I didn't get the trim on the rest! So here's what I did get done that I can show.

Yesterday at craft group I started and finished a wee gift that I now need to attempt to make up in to what it should be! Hmmm. 

As I've been stitching on exchanges and gifts there isn't a deal of stitching I can show. My Cottage Garden Samplings have been on hold but, hopefully, I will be back to those on Sunday. I did get some more house building done on Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons but decided I needed a break from the house and went and built a snowman instead before putting some windows in! I'd like to get the Winter/ Autumn section finished tonight in the parlour with Barb and the other ladies at Needlecraft Haven :).

I managed to get part 2 of Lizzie Kate Holly and Hearts Christmas Mystery Sampler finished on Saturday just in time for part 3 arriving on Monday :). So I think I'm going to make a start on that this afternoon as I'm having a stitching afternoon with my friend Gill. I'm going to have to be careful with the WDW Oscar though as I don't think I'm going to have enough. 

Barb and I are snow stitching on the little Wisdom sheep. So cute! I got the sheep stitched. I saw the 11th sheep, Gratitude, and it is so sweet! 

Final piece of stitching I can show is another SAL with Barb. This time it's Jardin Prive La Pensee Positive. I've almost finished part 3. My sheep are showing up quite nicely so I'm pleased that I won't have to backstitch then!

I received a lovely package from Michelle last week which contained birthday and Christmas cards and presents. Thank you so much Michelle. I have been a good girl and put them away until the right days. I can't believe that 3 weeks tomorrow I will be 50! I'm looking forward to it and going to welcome it with open arms as so many people I know have not been lucky enough to see 50. I do feel sad though that my Dad is not here and it's going to be a tough first birthday and Christmas without him but I know he would not want us to be unhappy.

It was a good stash day on Monday as I received the latest Just Cross Stitch magazine from Country Designs, the final part of the Lizzie Kate Christmas Mystery from The Crafty Kitten and my order from Crazy Annie's Stitchin. Not everything is shown here as one is a gift and one is to be stitched for a gift! 

Last, but by no means least I received this book from Lois. Lois as been stitching the gorgeous Lo How A Rose from it and kindly offered to send it to me when she had finished so I could stitch it. I'm really looking forward to stitching this as soon as I can get around to it. Thank you so much Lois :)

Well that's it from me for now. If I get anymore bits stitched up I may well be back at the weekend!

I need to catch up with you all. I seem to be way behind but will make time this week to visit :)

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally

xxx

Another Sheepie!

Wahoo I have another sheepie finish to add my growing flock :). This time it's the sweet Patience. I just love this one but then again I love them all!

Little House Needleworks Little Sheep Virtues Patience

32  count vintage country mocha linen

DMC.

So next week Barb and I will be starting Wisdom :). I can hardly wait to see what the last 2 series are like.I will have to get myself sorted to get some supplies to finish these off. I still haven't quite made up my mind just how I want to finish them but I know how I want to display them.

I have almost finished part 2 of the Holly & Hearts Christmas Mystery Sampler :) So pretty! Part 3 is just as beautiful. No I don't have it yet but I have seen it!

I don't have any other stitching to show right now as I've been stitching on my ornament for my annual exchange with Chris. Almost have it finished!

I was looking through my email from Bloglovin the other day and came across  a  Christmas challenge here and as the photo showed a rather sweet snowman I thought I'm having a go at that! So I sent off an email and the next day I had the two charts you can stitch from in my inbox. You can stitch either chart or combine elements but it think I will just do the snowman. I won't be able to show any of my progress until Christmas Day as that is one of the rules. It shouldn't take too long to stitch but will have to get it made up as well!

Anyway today is my blogoversary so today is the day to pick a winner for my little LK Love-ly Pincushion. The finishing is far from good but I do hope the winner will like it :). The entries were popped into my lovely Jenny B tin.

The winner is....................

 Congratulations my dear friend! I will get this in the post to you in the next few days :)

Yesterday I was very impressed when  postie delivered my GC order from 123 Stitch which I won in Shirlee's birthday, not blogoversary, giveaway. Brain was not in gear. Sorry Shirlee. I'm sure you're all itching to know what I  bought so........

The Scarlet House A Sampler Grows and Lizzie Kate My To Do List. These two have been on my wish list for a while now, in fact A Sampler Grows has been on it since it was shown as a retreat piece on Tanya's blog over a year ago, so I had to have these two! Thank you again Shirlee.  Love how 123 Stitch are so quick at shipping out and they were so helpful when I couldn't find the box to redeem the GC!

I have been thinking about my stitching plans for next year and planning to try and not get snowed under like I have a few times this year plus if I'm  not really feeling something I'm stitching on to put it away sooner rather than later. My HAEDs will be kept to a minimum with QS Spirit of Winter Robin being my HAED focus and will possibly be stitching Sundays only on Mini Jolly Old Fellow as a SAL with the Dona Gelsinger group on Facebook  but if it doesn't work for me I will stop. Once the sheep are finished Barb and I are going to carry on with our Monday SAL, Barb with the Calendar Girls and me with Frosty Forest. I aim to get back to and finish my Anniversaries of the Heart, once I have  borrowed the charts, as that has been wallowing waiting for me to pick it up again.  Going on the chart stash wagon next year will be good for me as I  will get some of the lovely charts I have had in my stash for a while stitched!  Fingers crossed.  I haven't actually made stitching plans these last few years but I think I may make a list from my stash and see how I go. I'm determined to do this stash wagon, even though I'm getting the Frosty Forest series, as I'm not proud of myself for not doing this year other than the sheep. I feel like a complete failure.

Christine asked if I would show some of my sunrise photos so here are just a few of the ones I took along with others I have taken. I'm still trying to get to grips with my camera  but I think I'm getting there!

The weather has certainly turned chilly here now and we've had the odd frosty morning. I love frost! We may get our first icy  blast in about a week so wondering if that will mean snow!

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xx

Always In My Heart

This week has been a funny old week. Still no trim on those stitched up pieces on my last post. It's funny how I seem to have done so little yet time has got away from me. Yesterday morning I was out the house at the time I'd normally be getting up! I wanted to get down to the beach to watch the sunrise and take some photos. So there I was standing on the beach at 7 am, not  a sole in sight, waiting for the sun to come up! It was well worth it too even though there was some cloud. I took way too many photos so need to plough through them and pick out the ones I want to keep! Unfortunately being up at that time didn't mean I had a productive day housework wise or making up wise as Abi and I went out last later in the morning armed with cameras for a walk along the seafront and then into the park!

Anyway on to stitching! I managed to get my October ornament finished for the Christmas All Year Round SAL. My November one is started but no more progress on that.

My Big Toe Designs Always in my Heart ( 2011 JCS Ornament Magazine )

36 count Vintage Examplar linen

WDW

This one will be going on my ornament tree in memory of my parents and my parents in law.

I have been making steady progress on the Lizzie Kate Holly and Hearts Christmas Mystery Sampler. Part 3 is on the way to my ONS over here and I would love to get part 2 finished by the time it gets to me. Not sure if I will as I have a couple more ornaments I want to get stitched. One will be a gift and the other my exchange with Chris. I also have my ornament for the Needlecraft Haven exchange to make up and get packed up ready to go.

Barb and I are SALing together 3 evenings a week at the moment.  I enjoy these evenings knowing that she is stitching away with me especially as she has become such a dear friend. So first SAL of the week is, of course, the sheep! Patience is coming along nicely and looks so sweet. There hasn't been one single one of these that I haven't loved and I can hardly wait to see what the last two look like even though I know we probably won't get them until after Christmas. 

Our next SAL evening is with the ladies in the parlour over at Needlecraft Haven where we stitch on either Little House Needleworks, Country Cottage Needleworks or The Sampler Girl. Barb and I have gone back to the Song of the Seasons mystery. I started building a house. Boy this house building is hard work!

Final SAL is Friday evening and Jardin Prive La Pensee Positive. We are on part 3 and mine is going well. I've finished the wording and started the sheep. I may  backstitch the sheep when I'm finished depending on how they stand out against the white fabric.

Final progress is from last Sunday on Cottage Garden Samplings My Garden Journal February's Primrose. I have no idea what is happening with the next few of these I'm waiting for. They were supposed to coming in to the ONS I'm getting them from about 2 weeks ago. I have decided I'm not chasing them. I'll chase the sheep ( ha ha ) if I have to but that's it. I'm sick of chasing!

I still have to get caught up on the PSS Mary's Sampler as I really don't want to get a long way behind. I will have to see whay I can do before the next part comes out tomorrow.

My blogoversary is coming up soon I think. I was going to borrow Barb's idea of picking someone who had commented over the last year to win my finished Lizzie Kate Love-ly pincushion but then I thought what if whoever I pick doesn't want to have it so I'm going to go with comments on this post. If you'd like to win it ( it's not completely finished yet so I can't show it ) just say so in your comment and I'll pick a winner on my blogoversary when I look  back to see when it is! The only rules I have are that you have commented regularly in the last year and not to post it to your blog. I know my giveaway is not much but I cannot afford to send out big packages or anything like that.

Finally thank you for all your lovely comments on my kitchen in my last post. We are so pleased with how it looks but it has also been a very emotional time for us. We have cried quite a lot both during fitting it and since finishing it as we wish that both my Dad and my DH's could have been here to see it but without the inheritance we got from them we would not have been able to do it. We all miss them both so much. 

Until next time.

With much love,

Sally xxxx

Another Week Goes By! ( Picture Heavy)

Well I don't seem to get on top of this blogging! My plans to blog a couple of times a week has gone to pot oh so quickly but never mind.

I've had another productive week stitching wise and have stitched up some ornaments that now just need trim on them. My sewing machine was playing up yet again so I wasn't too happy but I seem to have sorted that now.

The storm that we were on yellow alert for overnight Sunday and Monday was nothing more, thankfully, than a damp squib. In fact it was windier last Sunday during the day. Unfortunately southern parts of the country were not as lucky and there were some tragic deaths and some damage. The weather has definitely turned chilly now, the clocks have gone back an hour and the nights are pulling in.

So time to show my progress from the last week. Sundays are My Garden Journal evenings for now and here is my progress on February's Primrose. Vinniey chooses such beautiful colours for these designs.

Next up is sheep SAL night with Barb, my first of 3 evenings stitching with her :), and progress on Patience. 

Tuesday at craft group I decided to try and get more done on my October ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL. At the rate I'm going I can't see me finishing this by the end of November!

I have been desperately wanting to get part 1 of the Lizzie Kate Holly & Hearts Christmas Mystery Sampler finished and get a good bit done on part 2. Part 3 is due soon so I want to get as much as I possibly can done so I've been stitching on that a lot this week. I finished part 1 and made a good start on part 2:)

Wednesday is my second SAL night with Barb and also the ladies in the parlour over at Needlecraft Haven. Barb and I are both stitching on LHN Song of the Seasons. I corrected my mistake from last week and added more stitches.

I decided, rightly or wrongly, to join Vonna's new CCN blog and this weekend has been WIP-it weekend. Now I don't have a CCN WIP and I didn't want to start a bigger one until my December SAL with Chris so I made a small start on Winter's Eve from one of the JCS Christmas ornament magazines. Not much done but I shall make this count as my November ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL too seen as it's free choice this month.

My final SAL with Barb is Jardin Prive La Pensee Positive SAL. Part 3 was released on Friday so promptly downloaded and printed and started!

Last piece of progress is Plum Street Samplers Mary's Sampler. I am behind om this and the next part is due out today! I kept up for 3 weeks! What happened?!

I had such a wonderful surprise on Friday when Shirlee emailed me to say I was a runner up in her blogoversary giveaway and to watch my email for my prize :) Later in the day a gift certificate arrived for 123 Stitch :) Thank you so much Shirlee for picking me as one of your winners. It brightened my day no end as you know. It's a secret what I have chosen until I receive it lol! 

Finally at long last I have got some photos of our finished kitchen! DH took some but they were on his laptop so I asked him to email me them. The photos make the units look white but they are cream. I love my kitchen!

That's all my news for now. If I get these trims etc on these ornaments I will be back to show those. Thank you so much for visiting me and for continuing to do so :)

With much love,

Sally xxxx