Birthday Gift For Barb

Hello again. I know it's been a couple of weeks but, to be honest, it wasn't worth me posting as I didn't have much to show. My dear friend Barb had a birthday coming up and I had decided before Christmas what I was going to stitch for her and when I started it in January I thought I had plenty of time to stitch it. Of course I didn't realise just how much stitching there was so I ended up eventually dropping just about everything else except for my Monday SAL with Barb and I was still stitching on our sheepy SAL on a Friday as well as it was sheep I was stitching for Barb! I am so happy to say that Barb loves her gift ( and to be honest so do I!!!). So let me show you what I stitched for her.

Hands on Design Wool Block Party

28 count Zweigert cashel Smokey Pearl linen

DMC

Started 20th January 2017

Finished 12th February 2017

Birthday gift for Barb.

This was just so nice to stitch and I am just delighted with how it turned out. I always get a bit stressed and panic when deciding on what to stitch for gifts so it's lovely when the recipients really love them.

A couple of weeks ago I managed to get page 3 of SK A Dragon's History finished and gridded the final partial page ready for when I pick it up again ( hopefully tomorrow evening). If things go to plan I should have this and Mini Jolly Old Fellow finished this year!

Although the page I'm stitching on Mini Jolly Old Fellow seems to be taking forever! I know I will get there in the end but I'm getting a little frustrated!

Last night I finally got Sotto La Neve out again. It hasn't seen the light of day since before Christmas so this is another one that needs to get finished. I must admit I am dreading stitching all the snow on the trees, the ground and the falling snow! I can't seem to get a good photo of this one today so please excuse the crappy photo.

Final WIP is Winter which is my Monday night SAL with Barb. I am loving this piece so much. It's such a fun piece to stitch. 

I have a few new starts in the pipeline. This evening is sheepy SAL with Barb so I've kitted Just Nan Lorelei Lamb to start. Chris gifted me the chart for my birthday in 2015. I'm looking forward to stitching it and hope that when I make it up it actually looks like a lamb! I kitted The Magic by L'Atelier Perdu back at the end of November with the intention of stitching it in December but it didn't happen. So I'm hoping to start that at some point as well. So much stash to stitch!

As you may well know I am doing stitch from stash through a group on Facebook. Last month I only spent 32 p on a DMC thread that I needed ( local shop is selling them off ) but this month I have spent a little more. I am not feeling too guilty as I am within my monthly budget plus I had finishes that I had credit for. Anyway I bought 2 Stitchers Anon charts as Gaynor is closing her Etsy shop on 1st March and I couldn't miss getting parts 2 and 3 of Holmsey Hare's Winter Wonderland. I got part 1 when Gaynor  had it up for free on her Facebook page a while ago. I definitely won't be having too many purchases this year as I am determined. 

That's all my stitching news for now. I hope I'll be back sooner than I was this time!!!

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxx

Lots to Show.

Hello everyone out there in blog land! It has been 6 weeks since I last blogged and I will admit that I really don't know where to start! I have so much to show you so be prepared for a picture heavy post although I may end up forgetting some bits! I really need to blog more regularly. 

First of all you may remember me stitching Garden Bliss by Silver Creek Samplers almost 2 years ago. It has been languishing in my finishing pile waiting for me to to get my head around personalising it for my late Dad. Well I finally did it and had it framed. It's been hanging on my living room wall for a few weeks now.

Barb, Chris and I have been getting on with our ornament SAL. I managed to get another one made up, finished stitching June's and July's and started one for August.

I needed to order the eyes for my August one and the only place I could find them online in the UK was Sew and So. I couldn't just order those so I also ordered a DMC I had run out of, CCN's Merry Christmas My Deer, which is the one Chris and I will be stitching for our December SAL, and one of the CCN Gingerbread Village charts as Chris and I are planning to do a SAL of it next year and sharing the cost of the charts. I have been very good this year when it comes to stash buying and I have to say I am very proud of myself. Compared to other years I've bought very little and long may it continue!

I finished off With Thy Needle and Thread Sweet Violet as a simple pillow. I do love how it turned out even though it is a simple finish. 

I passed the chart onto Lainey and look what she sent me as a thank you.

Isn't it just so cute! Thank you so much Lainey.

Of course Sweet Violet was stitched with Barb for our sheep SAL and since then I've stitched 2 other sheepy designs and started a 3rd.

Barb suggested that we stitch on one thing for a week each month and I thought it was a brilliant idea. This week is the week and I decided to stitch on my HAED Mini Jolly Old Fellow. I feel very slow on my HAEDs compared to some of the people who stitch them but I do stitch on other things as well. 

I've made some good progress on my SK Dragons History too. I haven't stitched on it for a couple of weeks but I will get back to it! Those eyes are so cute!

OK what else have I been stitching? Hmmmmm. Oh yes! LHN Soft and Sweet! I finished that one then made a measly start on Season's Greetings. I guess it's a start though! I've had this in my stash for nearly 2 years so it was time I started it.

Another finish was the bonus sampler from the Lizzie Kate The Little Mystery. I wasn't keen on the colours as I was stitching it but now it's finished all the colours have come together nicely. I have the 3 charts and embellishment pack for sale if anyone is interested :)

I think I had finished the stitching on LHN Hands to Work last time I blogged and now I have it made up!

I think I just have 2 things left to show you. ( breath a sigh of relief! I'm so sorry but it has been 6 weeks!). I've been picking up Tilton Crafts Always ( Alan Rickman tribute ) a little bit and am still stitching black. Lol! Typing of Tilton Crafts if you've never seen Shelley's lovely charting and love stitching BAPs then please head on over to Tilton Crafts and have a look. If you're on Facebook search for her page as there is a coupon code to use for 25% off charts and there's only a few days left :)

Final stitching to show is the bonus block on my Anniversaries of the Heart piece. I haven't done as much as I would have liked but again this one hasn't been stitched on much these last few weeks.

We had been talking about having our bathroom done last year but just never got around to it. We'd asked one firm to give us a price a few weeks ago but they never got back to us ( one of my pet hates!) so we asked my DH's cousin ( we'd have asked him in the first place but we didn't know he did them ). He said he could do it before he went on holiday otherwise it would be 3 months after that meaning it would be nearly Christmas. Getting it done before he went on holiday meant a mad rush to try and get a bathroom suite and all the bits needed for the job and lots of stressful moments! Getting it done wasn't straightforward as he found problems that had be fixed but, having said that, it was a good job really otherwise it would have led to more problems and more than likely lots of damage! It's not quite finished yet but it is so good to have a new bathroom. We bought this house in 1988 and the suite was in when we bought it. Next job will be the dining room! 

Last week my DH and Abi were on holiday from work but we didn't do much. We had a couple of trips out so the girls could do a bit of shopping and I ended up adding 5 books to my collection! Oh dear I really must stop it for the rest of the year but Abi and I are still waiting for CL Coffey to do a signing in Hull for her new book and we keep hoping it'll be soon! I have also been looking for a Snape Pop Vinyl figure and have looked in every shop that sells them whenever we have been out. We walked into Waterstones in York and there he was! So I had to buy him! 

I think I now need to go hide away from books and get on with reading some of the ones I already have! I'm currently reading Sourcery by Terry Pratchett but have found it hard to get into. I am finally enjoying it, put my stitching away last night and had just starting reading the next paragraph when the power went off!

Well I had better stop waffling, get all these photos uploaded and publish this. I do hope you won't all have left me and will still visit.

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxx

At Last!

Well it's been a while since my last post but I am happy to say that I've been stitching up a storm. Well on some things at least lol. I also have a few charts for sale above on the for sale page if anyone is interested please do have a look :)

I am even more happy to say that I have finally finished this!

Country Cottage Needleworks Countdown to Christmas

32 count fabric

Suggested threads.

This was my New Year's start on the 1st January and I finally finished it yesterday.  I have to say the longer I stitched it the more I didn't like it and mistakes were made as some of the French knots are the wrong colour!  Maybe it's a good job it won't be on display until 1st December then I may have fallen back in love with it again!

Another finish was my March ornament for the SAL with Barb and Chris and Lisa may be joining us too :). I don't know if Barb has guessed what it is but I'll tell her now!

Hands on Design Plenty ( from the 2015 ornament mag )

Unknown fabric.

DMC.

Of course April is here which means another ornament. This one is from 2007. Any ideas Barb?! I'm not sure of the fabric colour and the picture doesn't show it very well.

Do you remember my Arsenic and Old Lace afghan that I was knitting? Guess what?! I've finished it!! Yay! I can't tell you how happy I was to get it all finished up! It's been along time in the making with me putting it away for a year but it's done and on my bed. The photo isn't great as I couldn't get it all in.

I have cast on an aran jumper now but forgot to take a photo!

I was making good progress on HAED SK Dragons History andam about halfway down page 2.

However I'm not sure I'll get much done on it over the next few weeks as there's a new challenge started on the Official Heaven and Earth Designs Facebook group and I'm taking part in that. You may remember that the last one was to stitch 10  10 x 10 blocks diagonally and I stitched on Mini Jolly Old Fellow. Well that one was pretty easy but this one is going to take some doing as this challenge is stitching a FULL PAGE of between 7,300 and 7,600 stitches,  cross country stitching one colour at a time over 10 weeks! Yes I did say a full page! Well let me tell you it's a long time since I completed a page on a HAED in that time frame lol! As I'm not near the next page on SK Dragons History I decided to do Mini Jolly Old Fellow. I haven't finished page one yet ( nearly there ) so I've gone down and started page 4. Here is my progress on that page since Saturday and the progress on the first page since my last post. I'm very happy so far with my progress! That is 12 colours on page 4!

Oooh I have finished AotH Evergreen Lane except for  finishing the personalisation and started Elizabeth Jane:).

Final stitching ( seen as I forgot to take a photo of tne SB fold piece ) is our sheepy SAL. Poor Barb scrapped hers and restarted it. Here's my progress. Still a fair bit to do yet!

A few weeks ago DH and I went to see Heather Small in concert and he took the following day off work in case we were late home. The concert was brilliant and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Anyway the following day we had decided to drive up to Pickering in North Yorkshire as the Flying Scotsman was on the North York Moors Railway. Abi came with us and we had a lovely day out.  It was such an honour to see the Flying Scotsman. We then went for a drive round and ended up on the North York Moors . Such a beautiful place to be! I took a few photos.

That's it from me for today. I hope to catch up with you all soon. Thank you for visiting me and for all your lovely  comments.

With much love,

Sally xxxxxx

I am Still Here!

I know it's been a while since I last blogged! I try so hard to make the effort but it just doesn't seem to be happening but I guess if I blog every now and then to keep my hand in I won't lose the bug all together.  I most certainly don't want to use Instagram ( although I am on there but hardly ever use it! ) as it seems so impersonal and I have always loved the blogging platform and made many lovely stitchy friends since I started a few years ago. There was a point a few days ago where I thought I'd just give up but I don't want to so you won't be getting rid of me lol!

First of all I just want to say a massive thank you for all your good wishes for Abi. All her bloods came back normal which is good but also a little frustrating when she has been ill on and off for so long and lost weight. She gets so down and suffers with anxiety which doesn't help either. Anyway she seems to be picking up a little now and is slowly eating better so fingers crossed she is turning a corner. The doctor thinks she has picked up a winter bug that has taken some getting rid of and that she will pick up again over time. She has started coming to craft group with me ( she taught herself to crochet a while ago ) when she's not working so she's seeing different people.

So what have I been up to stitching wise. Well my fourth Shepherd's Fold piece, Cherish Life, was finished and I finally finished making it up yesterday. It is far from perfect but I love it. The wool inside is supposed to have a herringbone stitch down the middle but my brain wouldn't engage so I didn't do it!

So the fifth piece, Fear Not, was started . This one will be a needleroll. I look at these pieces and think oh that won't take long! Haha! They take longer than you think but then again I do only stitch one evening a week on them.

I finished the stitching on my February ornament and waited for March to come around to start another.

Blue Ribbon Designs Snowmates

40 count Sand linen

DMC

I'll get this one and my January one made up soon. The craft knife that I used for cutting card disappeared and even though I turned the house upside down it didn't turn up! DH was sorting the boot of the car out and found it in there! We'd put Christmas wreaths on our parents graves early in December and taken the knife to cut string to tie them on with!

Last night I made a start on my March ornament.  Any ideas what it is Barb?! It is from the 2015 mag.

Barb and I have also been stitching away on our sheep SAL but we are not really feeling it with this one. I'm going to persevere with it though as it will be lovely when it's done. Violet is now complete and she has her sheep by her side. Now she just needs her flowers to water.

Gill and I have been trying to get back to our craft mornings recently and we've managed two so far! I have picked up HAED Mini Jolly Old Fellow to stitch when we have our mornings and I also stitched this on Sunday ( Mothers Day here ) as I was on my own. I've filled in all the squares from when I did the challenge on the HAED Facebook page. I can't wait to get to Father Christmas although it will slow me up a lot then!

The first page of HAED Dragons History was finished a couple of weeks ago and I made a start on page 2. I can't wait to get further down the page as the top of the dragon will appear!

I went through all my HAED charts last week writing order numbers on the front pages and if they were RAKs, birthday gifts and who they were from or I'd bought them myself. Bad idea as I wanted to start so many of them! Of course I'm not going to as I don't want to get snowed under again like I have in the past as that is when they end up getting put away for ages. The times I've said I'll keep going until one is finished and ended up putting it away is ridiculous!

I have stitched a few extra times on CCN Countdown to Christmas to try and get more done. I love it but I'm a little fed up of it now but don't want to put it away for fear I'll never finish it! I still have quite a lot to do but hopefully those little motifs in the boxes won't take too long!

Oooh I am so excited as I have almost finished AotH Evergreen Lane! I just have to fill bits around the border and add the personalisation but I'm not sure how I'm doing that yet. So just one more block to go and the bonus bit! I wonder if I can get it finished by mid year!

Have any of you seen anything that you like from Nashville Market? I don't think I've seen everything but nothing has really jumped out at me which is good! I'm not buying anyway as I haven't finished 10 things yet and I'm trying not to buy on impulse when I allow myself to buy as that is not good!

As I mentioned earlier it was Mothers Day here in the UK on Sunday. My girls gave me some lovely card and pressies. Jess bought me the Harry Potter colouring book. She says mistakes were made as she didn't realise there were snakes in it lol! She'll be colouring those pages for me! Abi bought me the book and the choccies which look too nice to eat.

A couple of weeks ago I decided I'd had enough of my hair style. I loved it when I had it cut for my 50th birthday but it wasn't how it was then having had to change hairdressers when ours left. So I messaged my current hairdresser and told her I wanted a change, took in some pics to show her and off I went last Wednesday feeling rather nervous!  If you look at my profile photo that's me just after I'd had it done. Of course I can't get it like that  no matter how hard I try lol but I love it.

Time for me to get some photos uploaded and publish this! Thank you for reading and for all the lovely comments you leave me. You have no idea how much they are appreciated.

With much love.

Sally xxxxx