June Stitch From Stash, A Finish and A Giveaway!

Here we are again at that time of the month.  The final report for part A of SFS. Next month is a whole new start on it.

Balance carried fwd : £119.46

Amount spent : £58.16 ( fabric and hand dyed threads for CCN ornament auto, parts 1 & 2 of the Shepherd's Fold )

Amount earned 0

Balance: £86.30

So I have done well which is thanks to the "earnings" I've had. I haven't declared any earnings for this month as we are allowed to carry them over if they've not been declared. I did check that with Mel.

I have not been well since last Thursday but thankfully I have still managed to stitch. I started with a mild vertigo attack ( not had one for over a year ) which I think may have been caused by the fact that I appear to be getting a cold. My DH has one so I think he's kindly shared it with me. I must admit that I felt rotten from tea time last night and I've hardly been out of the house since last Thursday.  I did get to craft group yesterday as it's only a minute or so's walk from me now and I thought it would do me good to get amongst some different company.  I'm hoping that I will feel much better soon.

So I am sure you are all here for the the stitching and not my pity party lol so here's my finish!

Little House Needleworks Comfort

40 count Gander linen

Crecent Colours

This was such a lovely stitch.  I'm not sure how I'll finish it yet but I think it might be a pinkeep. I won this from Mii so am now ready to pass the chart along with the left over threads.  So if you'd like to be the next stitcher please say so in your comment and I'll pick a winner next week.

So it'll be a new start next week maybe! I really need to get on with my July Cottage as I am way behind again! I actually stitched twice on this last week to try and get further on with it and I'm hoping I can maybe get it finished tonight as it's parlour stitching with Barb and the ladies at Needlecraft Haven ( virtually of course! ).

Speaking of Barb we are SALing away on our Halloween, Shepherd's Bush and Country Cottage Needleworks pieces! I have added a different colour to Ghoul Tidings at last! This is such a fun stitch but that top took a lot of concentration lol!

I completed the house on A Full Heart and stitched a bit of the heart above the house. Part 2, My Home Fob, arrived today and it is so sweet! It'll be a few weeks before I start on that though!

After having to frog where I should have stitched a door on the church on Let Us Adore Him I started stitching white again! Duh! Thankfully I had only done about 4 stitches when I realised so out they came and I now have a door! I think this might be a finish this week providing the frog stays away.

I have also stitched a  couple of times on my lovely robin. I can't quite believe now much quicker ( even though there is really nothing quick about it ) this page is going compared to the last one. I am planning on 2 evenings stitching on this once the garden journal pieces are finished.

So that leads me to my progress on November's Chrysanthemum which is coming along very well :). Just one more to go after this!

I have started reading again. I was always a very keen reader and would get through a book at least every week but the cross stitch took over! Not long ago I read The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Ablom which is a wonderful book. It got me hooked again.  Whilst we out and about I  bought a few books which I am looking forward to reading. I still have books to read from a few years ago as well . I decided to start Dicken's A Tale of Two  Cities which Jess bought me for  Christmas a few years ago along with Great Expectations.  I just read for half an hour or so before I go to bed. I must say I am finding this one hard going! Anyway I have joined Goodreads so if you're on there look me up if you'd like to!

Thank you for continuing to  visit me and leave such lovely comments. I truly love reading them all. I will get around to visiting you all again soon. I did start but still have to get caught up fully.

Until next time.

With much love

Sally xxx

Some Making Up and A Day Out! ( Picture heavy ).

Good afternoon from a sunny east coast of England. For all I don't like very hot weather I am enjoying the sun today and the slightly warmer temperatures. As long as it doesn't get too hot I will be happy.

I have a couple of birthday gifts that I stitched to show you. First of all my friend, Gill, had a birthday at the beginning of June. I wanted something seaside themed for her as she loves the beach/ sea and I suddenly remembered that there is a perfect design in the Blackbird Designs A Stitcher's Journey book. I adapted it as you will see!

Blackbird Designs Seaside Retreat ( from A Stitcher's Journey )

40 count Sand linen

GAST Black Crow

Birthday gift for Gill.

I changed the word stitch to knit, left off the border and added the name of Gill's wool shop to the top. I am very happy to say that she loved it :)

June also had a birthday this month and I couldn't resist stitching her a happy little sheep!

Shepherd's Bush Sheep Freebee ( can be found here on page 3 of the newsletter )

32 count Colour Cascade Fabrics Silver Springs

DMC

Birthday gift for June.

June loved her wee gift :)

Since my last post I have finished stitching this one and got it made up!  I added mine and my sister's first initial and my Mum's initials inside the heart

Shepherd's Bush My Mom's Garden

32 count Vintage Country Peach linen

DMC

See the cute bee button? I've had that in my stash for a long time waiting for a special piece to put it on! It was made for me by a lovely Italian lady called Barbara :)

I offered the chart in my last post and the winner is Vickie! Vickie the chart is on the way to you. Enjoy!

I have also been finishing up some other bits that have been waiting in my finishing pile. It is going down a little now although I have some bigger pieces that I'm not sure what to do with. 

This one was stitched last year and it is JBW Designs Our Family.

The following were stitched this year and will be coming out for Halloween!

Not a lot of stitching was done last week so I only have a bit to show as July Cottage, Ghoul Tidings and Let Us Adore Him aren't worth showing. Well Let Us Adore Him would have been but I have to frog as I got carried away and stitched white where I shouldn't have! I had a new start on Thursday with Barb as we SAL on Shepherd's Bush pieces on Thursdays. I made a start on A Full Heart which is the first in the Shepherd's Fold series.

LHN Comfort is looking very pretty with the pink stitches now :)

My Robin is coming along really well. Isn't he adorable?!

Finally a bit of progress on November's Chrystanthemum.

So last week my DH and Abi were on holiday from work. Jess didn't get the week off but she only worked Tuesday afternoon and Sunday so she managed some days out with us. She didn't want to go to RSBP Bempton so we went there while she was at work. We had a lovely day and saw lots of beautiful puffins as well as many other seabirds. At this time of year the cliffs are covered in various birds. I took lots of photos but I haven't sorted through them as yet. We also had our annual day out to Yorkshire Wildlife Park which is a fantastic day out. Again I took lots of photos and have sorted some so I'll post a few here. We were very honoured to see Tschuna the Amur tiger's sweet little cubs. Since we went last year they have 2 polar bears named Victor and Pixel. Pixel is Victor's grandson!

That's all from me this time. I'm hoping for a more productive stitching week although I didn't mind not getting as much done last week :)

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxx

Some Finishing Up

Here we are in June. Did I really say June? Hard to believe we are almost half way through the year. During this week you'd have thought it was Autumn rather than Summer but it looks like better weather is here although please don't let it get too hot!

I have been getting a few bits finished up this week. Some were already half way done and just needed trim on.I'll show those first then get onto my new starts and WIPs!

Country Cottage Needleworks Snow Love was finished up the same as the model as I loved Vonna's finishing.

As you can see Christmas Cheer was waiting to be done and here's how it looks now. Not bad for a first attempt with a rotary cutter and wave blade! I still have all my fingers intact!

Do you remember The Snowflower Diaries Angela from last year? ( I know it's shameful that she's had to wait this long to be done! ). Well here she is.

Finally Blue Ribbon Designs Owls in Moonlight which I stitched a few months ago. I'm not happy with my cording on this one. 

I have a few more to finish. Well a lot more to finish lol! 

I have been trying to stay away from my tab in an evening this week and get plenty of stitching done instead. I have had three new starts two of which are Country Cottage Needleworks. The first one is July Cottage.

I will make some changes to this but not sure what just yet. I think I'll just leave the flag off and maybe add a flying bird or something. I'll leave the fireworks as we have a carnival here in July and there is always a firework display.

My other CCN start is Let Us Adore Him. Barb and I moved our Christmas ornament SAL to Thursday just for this week. I really like this fabric. It is so soft.

My third new start was Cottage Garden Samplings November's Chrysanthemum. I can't believe I am almost done with this series! At one point I thought I'd never finish them lol!

I have been making good progress on my ongoing WIPs except for Shepherd's Bush My Mom's Garden as I started with a flashing in my eye so had to put it away. That was the second episode in a week which was a shock as I haven't had it for a long, long time. I am planning to get this finished this evening if I can then I can start the first part of the fold next week.

I would like to pass the chart on when I've finished as Barb passed it on to me. So if you'd like to stitch this please just say so in your comment :)

Comfort is coming along nicely. I hope I have enough thread but I should do with me stitching it on 40 count.

Page 5 of my robin was started on Saturday evening and I have to say I really did not want to put it down! My DH was out at some trials riding on Sunday afternoon and the girls were doing their own stuff playing Lego Lord of the Rings ( hilarious! ) so I got it out again and did a little more.  

Finally my other SAL with Barb which is our Halloween SAL and a little more stitched on Ghoul Tidings :)

I signed up this week for part B of Stitch from Stash but I get a feeling I won't last long on it! Have you seen the new Lizzie Kate mystery that is being released starting next month? I truly believe I am a lost cause when it comes to stitching stash and I should just give up trying to be good right now lol. I am very tempted by the new mystery ( there are sheep in the sneak preview! ) but then I think I really don't need anything else and I have so much to stitch it's silly. However when has that ever stopped a stitcher?! Lol. I think I'll sleep on it a bit! 

I got sorted with the leaf edging on my afghan at craft group. One of my oldest online friends helped me but I still couldn't work out just how but 2 of the lovely ladies at group helped and I was sorted! Fingers crossed I can actually remember when it comes to the next corner! I'll take a photo next time I blog.

That's it from me today. Until next time take care everyone.

With much love.

Sally xx