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

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

A Birthday Gift For Lesleyanne.

A couple of weeks ago it was my lovely friend, Lesleyanne's birthday. I was a little late sending her birthday gift but she was very understanding. Here is what I stitched for her.

Lizzie* Kate Friends Are Like Angels

Unknown fabric

GAST & DMC Variations

Started 19th February 2013

Finished 5th March 2013

Gift for Lesleyanne

I am very happy to say that Lesleyanne loves it :)

I had a finish this week which is great as my finishes are few and far between with me stitching so many HAEDs. I sometimes think I must be mad having so many but I have got my love for stitching them back. Anyway back to my finish!

Little House Needleworks Home of a Needleworker ( Too! )

Silkweaver 25 count Stormy Skies

Crescent Colours

Started 3rd October 2012

Finished 21st March 2013

Of course it wouldn't have taken me as long to stitch had I not abandoned it in favour of CCN Gingerbread Cottage! I love how it has turned out!

Mouse and I are going to be going back to our SAL next and are starting Shakespeare's Peddler Gentle Stitches so I'm looking forward to that.

I have almost finished my March ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL. I'm hoping to get it finished this week. I really like how this is looking. I have been stitching this with my dear friend Barb while we are waiting for the next Little Sheep Virtues.

Onto my HAEDs now. QS Holly Fairy is coming along well. That bit under her face was driving me mad on Thursday evening and I will admit to getting a bit lost at one point and wanting to throw it but I composed myself and sorted it out!

I did a little  bit on QS Spirit of Winter Robin. He has a beak now!

I've started to try and stitch on SK Dragon's History as one of the stitching groups I belong to on Facebook are running a March competition where we count up the number of stitches we do each session on our SAL piece. It's been the kick up the butt I needed to get a bit done on this. If we're not doing anything on a weekend I sit for a couple of hours on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon and get a few stitches in. I need to do something like this for Mini The Forgotten! Run a competition for myself and say when I get so many stitches done I can treat myself to something lol.

Finally my progress on Guardian. I am making pretty good progress but it never seems enough somehow when I still have so many pages to go. I am determined not to give up though like I usually do and see it through to the final stitch even it takes me until I'm 60!

So I'm impatiently waiting for the next LHN Little Sheep Virtues, Love, to arrive on our shores.  It seems to take so long and I'm desperate to get started on it! Also have you seen the gorgeous Cottage Garden Samplings Garden Journal series?  Oh wow it is so pretty and I love the idea of actually making it into a journal. I am desperately hoping that Karla at Patchwork Rabbit will be able to get them in but I'm waiting to hear from her. She did say she'd look into it so fingers crossed. So much so for only buying the Little Sheep Virtues this year but the way I've been feeling I think to hell with it! I'd  order from the States but shipping has got ridiculous but if she can't get them I think I might have to bite the bullet and just get them!

Before I forget I was most disappointed to read that Google Reader is finishing on 1st July. I really liked using it as it was so simple. I am giving Bloglovin a go now and it seems pretty good so I've imported all the  blogs from Google Reader to Bloglovin.

Thank you to all of you who keep visiting me and leave me such lovely comments. It's lifting to know that so many people care so much and are thinking of me and my family.  This past couple of weeks I've wanted to cry every single day but try and hold it together for my girls sake. Sometimes it just hits me and all of a sudden I just think I've lost my Dad. It's so hard to think of him not being here even though he's in my heart and always will be. Then of course there's the idiot company who send a  bill even though I was told his gas and electric accounts would be on hold for 3 months and it's not 3 months yet! Not very compassionate at all!

That's all my stitching for now. Until next time.....

With much love

Sally xxx

New Starts, A Finish & An Almost Finish

I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last post! I have been busy stitching and have had two new starts, a finish and have almost finished my LHN.

So here is said LHN Home of a Needleworker ( Too! ). I'm stitching this with the ladies in the parlour at Needlecraft Haven. I'd love to get this finished next week but don't think I will. There is a bit to do yet.

My new starts now. The first one is my ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL. This month is a free choice so I decided on Bent Creek Glad Tidings. I thought I'd stitch this with Barb until the next Little Sheep Virtues arrives here in the UK. I'm pleased with how much I got done.

Next new start is JBW Designs Our Family which you may remember Julie kindly sent me a few weeks ago. I started this at craft club on Tuesday. Not much done as I decided to stitch the border on LHN Merry Skater and that took me ages!

My finish is this. Loved every single stitch and it just makes me smile and believe me I need something to make me smile!

Little House Needleworks Little Sheep Virtues Hope.

32 count Country Vintage Mocha Linen

DMC

Started 18th February 2013

Finished 4th March 2013.

Can't wait for the next one to arrive!

Progress on my HAEDs now. Some are going better than others! I finished page 11 on Guardian and made a good start on page 12. If I can keep on making some decent progress I shall be happy.

QS Holly Fairy is coming along quite nicely. I'm stitching lots of black at the moment. I really should have bought a cone! Wonder if I get this finished for the middle of the year?!

Next is QS Spirit of Winter Robin. There is a bit of  confetti in this which slows me down quite a bit but it'll worth it. Can you see the bit where the robin's beak will be?

Finally I got a good few stitches in on SK Dragon's History. I spent a little bit of time on Saturday afternoon then as Mother's Day was on Sunday here in  the UK I decided to stitch in the afternoon. So I've almost stitched the top 20 rows of this. Again quite a bit of confetti so it doesn't grow very fast.

Thank your to those of you who have emailed me to ask how I'm doing now. In all honesty I'm not doing very well but I don't want to  bring my blog down and have people stop visiting ( I once had an email several years ago saying maybe I should start a second blog for the personal stuff) and it is, after all, a stitching  blog so I put a brave face on! My stitching has been a God send and I don't know what I'd do without it.

Until next time.

With much love

Sally

xxx

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On A Mission

This coming weekend is IHSW so I shall be attempting to stitch up a storm on HAED Guardian providing I'm in the mood for stitching on him! Don't forget to join in:)

My sewing machine has been out and I've finished off three things, two of which I can show. I'm not too happy with my finishing this time. I don't know why but I think I could have done a much better job! First off here's Miss Crescent's Crowne Jolly. I would have liked to add some of the trim that was used on the model but I don't have anything like it and have no idea where to get it so it's staying plain! 

Second one is Bent Creek The Littles Bunny with Peter Rabbit doing a fine job of modelling it :) The winner of the chart is Vickie. Vickie can you email me your full name and address please :)

Progress has not been bad at all this week. I've set myself a goal of trying to finish three of my WIPs before I go into hospital and I think I can do it. Then I can have some new starts when I'm home and feel like stitching! Obviously not Guardian or AotH! Monday was SAL night with dear Barb and more progress was made on Shepherd's Bush The Journey. I decided to make a start on the border so fingers crossed please that it meets! 

Tuesday was craft club and, as I'd finished my ornament for this month, I took L*K 6 Fat Men Snow Day with me and more white stitching was done. I got it out again on Tuesday evening and finally added some more colour to it!

Finally last night was SAL night with Mouse on LHN Summer Splendor. I did not get as much done on this as in the afternoon I decided to do 15 minutes knitting on my snood then had to take it back a few rows and I couldn't rest until I'd found the mistake and knitted a few rows back up. So this meant I didn't pick Summer Splendor up until later on in the evening.

And here is said snood. I'm knitting this in King Cole Mirage. I think I'm about a third of the way and desperately hoping I've got enough wool! I have now got the bug a bit but it won't take over from my cross stitch. When I've finished the snood I quite fancy trying my hand at a shawl but I think it might be too much for me!

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my last post about my new haircut. I absolutely love it and wish I'd had it done ages ago!


A little more stress this week. There's no wonder I have a fuzzy head! Poor Abi sprung it on me on Tuesday that she thought she needed to go back to the doctors as her heart had been beating fast. It had been happening a while on and off but she hadn't told me. I really wish she had. I wanted to her to go to school during the Easter holidays as they were doing heart tests there in memory of a boy who died suddenly last year but she wouldn't go. So I managed to get an appointment yesterday and although our doctor didn't think it was anything to worry about as her pulse was good and heart sounded healthy she did decide to send her for an ECG which she had yesterday afternoon. It did show her heart was beating a bit fast but the nurse had kept us waiting 20 minutes after her appointment should have been which is bound to get anyone stressed! We haven't heard anything and the nurse said the doctor would be in touch if there was anything.

I'm going to have a blog catch up now and maybe get my sewing machine out again after lunch.

With much love

Sally
xxxx

A Lovely RAK , Finishes, Chart giveaway, Progress and A Hair Cut!

What a lovely surprise I came home from grocery shopping to this morning. Postie had left a package for me and it was from dear Shirlee:) I opened it up and read the card inside and she had kindly chosen me to be the lucky recipient of an RAK from her. I had to have a giggle to myself as I stitched an RAK for Shirlee a couple of weeks ago but haven't got it made up yet! Shirlee posted about liking tea on her blog and I commented saying I love tea. I never drink coffee and haven't done since I went off it when I was pregnant with Abi. Here is what Shirlee sent me and it is perfect for a tea lover like me:)

 

Thank you so much Shirlee. I will treasure it always {{{{hugs}}}}

 

For all I haven't blogged for over a week I have been stitching but with it being Easter and DH has been off I haven't had too much time for PC time although I did catch up on blogs yesterday afternoon. We went to Sewerby Hall on Easter Sunday as they had some medieval jousting on which was brilliant! I do have photos but have to sort through them yet.

 

Last weekend I spent some time with my hunky angel and this is where I left him on Saturday. 

 

I haven't picked him up yet this weekend as I just wasn't in the mood for HAED stitching last night. I might do a bit tonight though whilst watching The Voice.

 

SB SAL night with dear Barb went quite well although I did start the basket in the wrong place and had to frog that! This piece is growing much faster than I expected as it's such a joy to stitch.

 

Nothing much was stitched on L*K 6 Fat Men so I haven't bothered to take a photo. Hopefully I'll get a good evening this next week on it.

 

I did, however, do better on LHN Summer Splendor, my SAL with Mouse, on Wednesday. This is another lovely one to stitch and it's stitching up beautifully. 

 

On Thursday I fancied a new start after finishing a birthday gift and as I'd already sorted fabric and thread for Bent Creek The Little Bunny I started that and finished it last night.

 

Bent Creek The Little Bunny

 

35 count white linen

 

DMC

 

Started 12th April 2012

 

Finished 13th April 2012

 

I won this chart in Tricia's giveaway so would like to pass it on. If you would like to be in with a chance of being the next stitcher just leave a comment on this post and I'll pick a winner next week:)

 

I didn't go to craft club on Tuesday as we went out for the day so when I'd finished the bunny I picked up my April ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL and finished that.

 

Miss Crescent's Crowne Jolly

 

Unknown fabric

 

DMC

 

Started 3rd April 2012

 

Finished 13th April 2012

 

I'm hoping to get my sewing machine out after lunch to do some finishing:)

 

I made a start on my snood last weekend. I have to admit I hadn't got far before I made a mistake and pulled it back out to start again! It's going OK now but it's a good job Winter is a long way off as I think it'll take me ages!

 

I'd been getting sick of my hair. I've been growing it for well over a year but couldn't cope with it any longer. Everytime I look in the mirror I just see an ugly middle-aged woman so I did some searching on the net, printed out some photos and made an appointment with my hairdresser to get it cut. She actually thought I'd change my mind as I went for a short inverted bob so here's how it looks. At least my colour will be gone quicker now! I'm really pleased with it and it's so much easier to manage.

 

Finally some furry fiends! Here's Wesley and Fozzy.

 

Wesley

 

Fozzy

 

They are both so much fun although we've not managed to stop Fozzy chewing the bars of his cage. They both do it but he does it worse!!! 

 

That's it for today. If I get this finishing done I might be back sooner than I have been this time!

 

Thank you for all the lovely comments you left on my last post. 

 

With much love

 

Sally

xxx

More Finishes!

Wahoo!!! I have two more finishes to show you today so I am well pleased! Plus two things that have been received so that takes my finishes so far this year to 57!!! Wow!

First of all here is my stocking all finished up and hung up ready for Father Christmas!

Bent Creek Christmas Carols

28 count raw linen

DMC

Started 7th November 2008

Finished 15th December 2008

Next finish is my BBD Loose Feathers which would have been finished on Sunday evening had it not been for the fact that I had a visit from the frog and had to rip out all the stitching I'd managed to do that evening on the left border! So I sat down on Monday afternoon and finished it!

Blackbird Designs Blessings and Kind Wishes

30 count R&R Olde Town Blend

DMC

Started 7th September 2008

Finished 15th December 2008

I decided to stitch a few ornaments for friends this year and I can show the one I sent to Julie as she received it yesterday. The funny thing is I chose this particular design from the 2002 issue of the JCS ornament magazine because I read on her blog that she'd taken a liking to PS Santas. The thing I didn't know was that Julie was stitching same one for herself! LOL! So she now has two!

Prairie Schooler Christmas Tree

Stitched on unknown fabric over one

DMC

For Julie

Next is the blogoversary gift I sent to Juls. I stitched the same for both Juls and Christine but Juls has green velvet ribbon around it. I heard from Juls yesterday that she had received it at last and likes it so I am happy!

Mary Garry Sewing Cabin Christmas Heart Pincushion

30 count R&R fabric

Carrie's Creations

The girls have picked a name for the lovely one and only snow white bunny that Julie knitted me for my birthday:) She is called Snowdrop so the winner of a little prize from me is Rachael! Rachael please email me your address and I will get something in the post to you in the New Year! Julie I hope you like her name:)

Last week I won one of Michelle's wonderful giveaways and on Monday I receieved my prize which was a Mill Hill kit called Warm Wishes Snowlady. I entered for this one because I just love snowmen so was delighted when I won. Michelle also included some Greek chewing gum and a lovely card. The thread you see in the photo was in a Christmas card I received from Ranae. Isn't it a lovely colour? Thank you so much Michelle and Ranae.

I think that's all from me for today. It's taken me ages to do this post and get the photos positioned correctly as, in light of the major security flaw in Microsofts Internet Explorer, I'm using a different browser and it seems to work differently to IE but it seems so much better!

Someone asked me about Twisted Oaks Designs Merry Noel and I can't find the comment and can't remember who it was! I am so useless! Anyway the design is called Merry Noel and Drema at Needlecraft Corner has it on her site.

Thank you for continuing to visit and to all those who leave comments:) They mean a lot to me:)

Hugs