Catching Up! ( Picture Heavy)

Hello! I'm hoping you'll still be with me seen as I've disappeared again. I decided I'm going to catch up today and then, hopefully, blog more regularly. I think what has been putting me off has been I'm so far behind showing my finishes so this post is going to be picture heavy I'm afraid with those and my WIPs!

So let's get started with my WIPs. As you know I am doing a few SALs so first of all this is my sheep SAL with Barb. It is Plum Street Samplers Kringle and Woolard which I'm stitching on 40 count vintage country mocha. 

Another SAL is a Lizzie Kate with Barb and Sue. I have just finished Snow Belles ( see photo further down post!) so I have just started Home is the Nicest Word There Is. I am going to have to frog the E in The and the word Nicest as it's all too high up. 

Barb, Sue and I are also stitching on LHN Farmhouse Christmas still but we are on the last one now. I have enjoyed stitching these but I think I am ready for something different. 

Sue and I are stitching Silver Creek Samplers My Christmas List. I am loving stitching this and hoping to finish it for Christmas and on the wall. Fingers crossed!

I am still stitching on the Dessine Par Elke Christmas SAL but I forgot to take a photo! I can't show my last WIP as it for an ornament exchange so no peeking at that one until it is finished and received.

As you all know we commemorated 100 years since the end of WW1 on Sunday. I made a wreath to put in my window but I don't know what I did with my photo so I'll show that next time! However I do have to show a beautiful glass plaque that was a gift from my dearest friend Barb made by her DH Martin. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw it and I will treasure it always. It is in memory of my paternal grandad's cousin who DOW at the Battle of Arras in May 1917. 

Here are a few photos from our town to commemorate 100 years. 

On Instagram there has been a stitchy wish list tag going round for a while and I popped my wish list up. A few weeks ago I received a lovely message from Jen @spooneriestitcher saying she could grant one of my wishes and it arrived recently. Not only did she send me the chart she also sent some DMC to stitch it with. This is going to be my New Year's Day start! Thank you Jen :)

So onto my finishes now and I actually think I will just let the photos do the talking! 

Thank you for reading and looking at my photos. I know there are a lot but now I am caught up!

Until next time. With much love.

Sally xxxx

Remember Me?

Yes I know I said I'd be back soon and it didn't happen! Coming back to blogging after not doing it for months is so hard and I'm not entirely sure whether I'll keep up with it so posts may be few and far between. I just didn't know where to start again as I've has lots of finishes so lots of photos to take, edit etc. I just wish that you could get the Blogger app in the Apple store as I'd blog on my iPad and it would be so much easier and quicker. Unfortunately there isn't a decent blogging app for Blogger. Typical! My laptop has been painfully slow editing my photos this morning so I'm only showing my WIPs and my latest finish. I may show my finishes another time as there are a lot of them.

So my latest finish is my sheep SAL with Barb. I loved stitching this one and I have personalised it rather than stitch it as charted. The photo does not do the fabric justice.

Little House Needleworks Dear Diary Julia Flynn

Crafty Kitten Winter Skies opalescent

DMC

Started 22nd June 2018

Finished 7th September 2018

SAL with Barb

Barb, Sue and I are still stitching on Lizzie Kate's on a Monday and I am stitching the Snow Belles. I have 3 done so 3 to go. This is such a fun stitch.

Barb, Sue and I are also still stitching the Farmhouse Christmas series. We have 6 done and we're onto the 7th although I haven't started it yet. I will be doing so tomorrow. We can't believe that this series is almost done now. We just have the last one to come towards the end of the month.

I seem to have a few SALs going which is really nice. I just wish we could stitch together in person rather than virtually. Barb and I decided to start Kathy Barrick's Good Intentions. We'd both seen some lovely WIPs of it by Lainey and Mouse and they made colour changes. So here's mine so far. I'm sorting colours as I go along and using a mixture of Victorian Motto, DMC variations and Seaside Treasures so far. 

Another SAL is with Sue and Lisa and her friend Amanda were joining in but I don't know if they've got any done so I think it is just Sue and I at the moment. I seem to be stitching a lot of Christmas and Winter but they are my favourite things to stitch! This one is Silver Creek Samplers My Christmas List. My photos are really not doing these pieces justice at all!

Lisa and I are still carrying on with our HAED pieces each week but I forgot to take a photo of Guardian. I will finish it if it the last thing I do and, by God, it probably will be at the rate I am going LOL! 

My final WIP for now is a SAL I came across while scrolling down Facebook. It is a Christmas one ( of course ) and you can find it at Brise De Terre It is a freebie one and it is in so many parts. It is only stitched in 2 colours but, of course, you can make it your own. I started it at craft group on Tuesday morning but then discovered I had started it in the wrong place so it all had to come out! As it was it made me rethink the threads I was using. The bit I have got done is in DMC 310 and I'm thinking of doing the red parts in Carrie's Creations Holly Berry which was a Jayne's Attic exclusive several years ago so I'm hoping I will have enough!

Those are my WIPs at the moment. I hope you have enjoyed looking at them. 

I have been feeling very guilty about the amount of charts I have in my stash so the last Farmhouse Christmas is going to be my last chart for a while. I am hoping just to stitch from stash until I get my chart stash well down. I know there are people out there who mock me and laugh at me every time I say that but I feel like a complete failure and I'm letting myself down each time so this time it is something I need to do. I don't need new stuff and I know us stitchers are prone to collecting but I just can't do it anymore. So if you see me lusting after a new chart please stop me lol! Barb and Sue are going to help me and join me so fingers crossed we can do it between us. I regret the amount of HAED charts I have and as they are PDFs I can't sell them on. I'll never stitch them all so they are a waste of money!

Well that is all for now. I'll try and blog more often now as I do really miss it and the lovely fellow bloggers I have met.

Until next time.

With much love,

Sally xxx

Still Around

Hello everyone! Have you missed me lol? I am sure those of you who are on Instagram will have seen me on there so know I am still alive and kicking! I have just been finding it so much easier to take a quick photo with my phone and pop it up on there. However I do really want to get back to blogging if I can but I am so far behind with showing my stitching I just don’t know where to start! So I think I will try posting again in a few days with some finishing I have done and maybe some stitchy finishes and see how I get on. 

I have been doing lots of stitching so have lots of finishing in the pile as well as lots I want to stitch. I keep telling myself, as always, that I won’t buy anymore charts but of course I do lol! 

So, hopefully, I will try and do a post later in the weeks. Big news is I finished the HAED dragon 🎉

Until next time.

With much love,

Sally xxxx

March

Happy March! These weeks are flying by so quickly! Last week March came in like a lion with "the beast from the east". To be honest it was a bit of a let down where I live. We didn't get the amount of snow that was forecast but we did get the high winds which gave us a wind chill of -10. This week it is more like Spring although yesterday we did get snow but it melted very quickly. 

So since I was here last I've been getting a fair amount of stitching done. I really need to get myself motivated to do some finishing but I need to go through what I have to finish then go through fabric and trims etc. 

The first piece I have to show was finished last time I blogged but I couldn't show it as it was on the way to my dear friend and fellow stitcher Barb for her 70th birthday.

Silver Creek Samplers Sweet Friendship

28 count cream cashel linen

DMC

Started 19th October 2017

Finished 31st January 2018

Birthday gift for Barb.

I covered a paper mache box with fabric and mounted my stitched piece onto the top. Barb was delighted with it :). Inside the box I popped a sweet little glass bird that I spotted in the local garden centre. 

I have had a few more finishes since my last post.

The Snowflower Diaries I Will Be There

40 count sand linen

GAST

Started 8th February 2018

Finished 27th February 2018

I stitched this one for the third, and final, time.

Lizzie Kate A Little Stitch

28 count Amber linen

DMC

Started 19th February 2018

Finished 28th February 2018.

Final finish is a snowy one!

Country Cottage Needleworks Snow Place Like Home 1

40 count vintage country mocha linen

DMC, CC & WDW

Started 14th January 2018

Finished 24th February 2018

Of course I had to start Snow Place 2 :)

Lesleyanne very kindly lent me all 3 parts of the Lizzie Kate A Little Mystery. I did have it and stitched a couple of the bonus designs ( gifted one of them) then sold the charts. I had forgotten about the piece I had stitched and gifted and came across the photo on my PC late last year and instantly regretted selling the charts! So I have made a start on the main design and got part 1 stitched and part 2 started. Thank you so much for lending me them Lesleyanne :)

My progress on LHN Little Red Barn is going slow but, hopefully, I might have a finish on Sunday. The next one in the series, Horsin' Around, arrived last week. 

Barb and I still doing our sheep SAL ( and our LK one as well as the Farmhouse Christmas with a lovely lady called Sue) and I am plodding away on The Pastoral. I might actually have a sheep soon!

Of course no post is complete without my HAED pieces. Lisa and I stitched on the 25th of last month on our stockings. It doesn't look much but at least it's progress!

We are also doing well on our 300 stitches a week SAL. Last week I got carried away and did more but this week I haven't done any yet BUT Lisa is visiting tomorrow so I'm going to do mine then. We are both so excited to have the opportunity to have a stitchy afternoon again :)

Finally I'm still plodding along on the dragon. I'm getting there slowly!

Oh I almost forgot about the Stichrovia Quotes to Live By WIP. I only stitch on this at craft group and if I have something I need to get more done on it doesn't get much love. So it's going slow but I have got a bit done on it in recent weeks.

After Lizzie Kate's announcement about her retirement I decided to add a couple of her charts to my stash. I know I'm doing stitch from stash but I knew I'd kick myself if I didn't get them so I bought Winter Smalls and Collect Moments. Then the other day I was thinking maybe I'd get a few more. The places I use seem to be sold out of a lot and taking a while to get more in but I managed to do a couple of orders and picked up most of what I wanted. There is another but it comes with threads so I'll just look out for it chart only on the Facebook selling sites. I did miss out on it when a friend was selling some stash! 

Thank you so much to all of you who left good wishes for Jess. It really means a lot. She is doing really well, has been to the hairdressers, doctors and out to Dungeons and Dragons which she plays with old school friends without having a panic attack. She is also back at work. Work have been so good and very understanding.

So that is all my news for now. Until next time take care everyone.

With much love,

Sally xxxxx