A Stitching Day With Lisa & Some Progress

At long last my surrogate sis, Lisa, and I had our stitching day :) Lisa is here on holiday with her DH and DD and as soon as she knew they were coming here she asked if I fancied a stitching day and of course I said yes straight away:) We have both been eagerly anticipating this day and were both so excited. We've known each other online for many years and met a few years ago but today was the first time we got to sit and stitch together. We had a wonderful day chatting and stitching with lunch in between and a few cuppas:) In fact we hardly stopped chatting all day! We had decided a while beforehand that we'd start Little House Needleworks Travelling Stitcher today and that's what we did. Here's my progress from this afternoon ( we didn't start our stitching until lunch as we had a show of our WIPs and some finishes and I showed Lisa the stitching on my walls etc!)

Thank you so much Lisa for a wonderful day. It was so good to see you again and I look forward to when we can meet up again :) Here's a photo of the two of us that DH took. Please excuse the expression on my face as  DH was messing about and I think I was just about to say something to him! Lol! I felt so sad that the day had gone so fast.

I decided that I wanted to stitch Lisa a little something to give to her today and I thought this was perfect as she is a wonderful friend. I edged it in some gorgeous flower trim that Michelle sent me. Lisa loved it and was a little tearful lol!

Lizzie*Kate Friends Are Like Angels


28 count opalescent white fabric


DMC


Started 27th July 2011


Finished 3rd August 2011


Gift for Lisa

And Lisa bought me this little cutie! Isn't he sweet? I absolutely love him and he now needs a name:) Any suggestions? I'm going to sit him on the mantlepiece where I can see him as I stitch on an evening:)

All my PIFS have now been received and I am so happy to say that everyone loves them. I did have a panic as they are not finished how I originally intended as I cut my fabric pieces too small. The letters are from the Blackbird Designs A Stitcher's Journey book. These went to Barb, Michelle, Jane, Elisa, Nadia, Carolyn and Melanie :) Thank you ladies for being my PIF recipients. 

Right now onto my WIPs. BBD AotH Happy Birthday came back out to play seen as my GAST threads had arrived and I managed to get quite a bit stitched. However I did notice a mistake and had to frog the flower underneath the house so need to finish re-stitching that. I think I shall be pleased to finish this one as I'm not enjoying it as much as the others. 

I finished the outside part of BBD Peacock Pin Keep on Sunday evening so will start the top this Sunday. I'm really enjoying this and love the DMC colours.

SB SAL night with Barb and Colleen went well. My border met up so I breathed a huge sigh of relief and started stitching the flowers on the border.

Now I have made a change in my rotation so that I can try and keep up with HAED Guardian. When I go to craft club on a Tuesday morning I've decided, as long as the light is good and I can see OK, I'm going to stitch my SB ornaments so once I'd finished stitching the trim to Lisa's gift there yesterday I started In A Stable. A couple of the ladies were amazed at the 36 count fabric I was using! Anyway this is the progress I made. Can you tell I don't chat much??? Lol! 

So Sunday evenings will now be for Peacock Pin Keep until it's finished then it'll be smalls night. Thursday evenings will be HAED Guardian night. I am now over my panic in my last post * I think* and am *sort of * determined to keep going and finish it. I had a look at the chart which is 30 pages. I have completed 6 and am on my 7th. Out of the 23 pages I have left 9 of them are not full pages so it's do able! I may have another panic before long though! It's such a gorgeous piece and the chart was gifted to me by Lisa so I really want to keep going with it.

I had a good evening on Drawn Thread The Sanctuary last night. I'm hoping to finish this block next week and start on the last one.

So that's all my progress and finishes for now. I'm popping off  to settle down and stitch on LHN Travelling Stitcher for the evening then will try and get caught up on blog reading and commenting tomorrow:)

Have any of you seen anything that takes your eye from the previews of market? I've seen two, the new Shepherd's Bush Roll and My Big Toe Designs A Very Faint Line, that I would really love. I am going to treat myself to the SB roll when it's available for finishing my CBT sessions ( well when I do!)

I've signed up for Carol R's mystery SAL. I tried to resist but Lisa tipped me over the edge ( well I have to blame someone). I just got in so was very lucky. It's a good excuse to buy some 40 count fabric as I don't have any left Lol!

Finally a bit of family stuff. When I arrived home after craft club yesterday Jess had received a letter from the surgery to say that her second lot of blood tests had also shown an abnormality so we made an appointment for her. The GP she'd seen before is off for two weeks and as she wanted to know what it was all about she had to see someone else so wanted me to go with her. It turns out that she on the borderline of having polycystic ovary syndrome so for all she doesn't actually have it it is problematic for her. She can have the oestrogen pill but she has decided for now to see how it goes.

Well I had better finish off now or I won't get any stitching done!

Take care everyone and if you're in an area where the riots are please stay safe. I'm finding it hard to comprehend all this mindless violence. These people are a complete waste of space.

Love & hugs

Sally

xxxx

Pay It Forward at Stitchyangel's Treasures

I have been hoping to come across a fellow cross stitcher offering up a PIF and yesterday I struck it lucky and signed up for Susan's :) I love doing PIFs and have taken part in a few before although one I never actually received anything but never mind. So today I'm offering up a PIF on my blog. I borrowed the rules from Susan's blog as they are nice and clear!

"The idea is that 3 of you join my Pay It Forward and then I will send a hand made gift (made with love!!!) to each one of my THREE within the next 365 days!

So this is me, asking for 3 people to join my PIF -just leave a comment to this post !That's it...no Catches!NOW...I only need THREE...who wants to be my THREE????

So please come and join me and be one of my THREE because I would really love to make something special for you."

Now here's my rules :) If you would like to sign up please comment on this post only and I would really like it if you are a regular visiter to my blog. Now as I have also signed up for a PIF on Patti's blog ( she emailed me to ask if I would!) I would actually like 6 victims please lol!!! If I don't get any or enough interest I will simply pick 6 people to receive something from me. Simples as Alexander would say!  :)

Hugs

Sally
xxxx

Here I Am!

Yes I'm back! I decided to do a blog post after lunch today then go off and do a bit of stitching! I know I've been away longer than I intended. It was only supposed to be a couple of weeks while hubby was off on holiday but I'm afraid I just lost my enthusiasm and have had a hard time getting it back. The fact that I spend quite a lot of time Facebook has nothing to do with it as I was blogging before and on Facebook; it's just the way I've been feeling. Just me and nothing else:(

So while I've been away I've had three finishes. First of all I fnished HAED Tiny Treasures Purple Dragon. In a way I was sad to see her finished as I'd enjoyed stitching her so much and she is so pretty.

Heaven and Earth Designs TT Purple Dragon

Artwork by Jasmine Becket-Griffith

Started 20th May 2009

Finished 17th August 2009

11,016 stitches.

I think I'll be making her up into a hanging pinkeep rather than getting her framed but I'm not 100% sure yet.

My next finish was The Sampler Girl In The Garden With Jane Austen from the May 2008 of The Gift of Stitching. As you can see I took this picture before I made it up into a bag but I haven't taken another yet as I still need to get some ribbon to finish it off properly. I love this piece although my making up leaves a lot to be desired! I found doing the lining of the bag rather fiddly and had to have several goes at it!

The Sampler Girl In the Garden With Jane Austen

Started 4th July 2009

Finished 28th August 2009.

My final finish for this post is my SB needleroll for August which didn't get finished until this month! lol! I chose to stitch Friendship Roll as a PIF for Andrea. I just love the sentiment of this roll.

Shepherds Bush Friendship Roll Kit

Started 28th August 2009

Finished 8th September 2009.

Stitched for Andrea.

So it's now onto the other bits I've been stitching. Since I finished TT Purple Dragon I decided to concentrate solely on HAED Guardian for a while and although it's been a bit slow going due to me also not wanting to stitch quite as much in recent weeks I have finished another page so 4 down and 26 to go!
I have got back to stitching once a week on Needleprint Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler too and have actually been enjoying it as well! it's amazing what a little break can do! I'm now all the way across at the bottom and working my way up.

Unfortunately I haven't picked up Winter Wingdings in weeks and I really should get back into it. Instead I've been stitching on Lizzie*Kate Merry Christmas By The Letter. I seem to have been spurred on with this piece since we got into September. That's all the stitching I've done in the past few weeks.

Other news is that Jess got into university and goes a week tomorrow. We are so proud of her but it's going to be hard to adjust to her not being here. I know she's only going to Hull so is not too far away and will be able to come home weekends when she wants to. She's very lucky too as two of her friends are also going and their rooms are either next door but one to each other or next door depending on the layout! And of course Abi is back at school and is now in year 10. Poor Abi is not really keen on school but she studies and works hard. She's really pleased as she put down for dual science but school put her in for triple science.

I think that's all my news for now. I think I'm going to change the way I blog so will probably only blog once a week. I will see how I feel:)

Take care everyone:)

Hugs Sally
xx

PIF FOR Ruth & An RAK FROM Barb

At long last I can show what I stitched for Ruth for her PIF. I was getting worried as I posted it three weeks ago but she had been off work sick so only actually got it Monday when she went back. I have to say I was not very happy with my finishing on this piece but Ruth assures me that she loves it so I am happy:)

Dragon Dreams Time Well Spent ( freebie- no longer available I don't think)

Unknown fabric

DMC threads

Stitched for Ruth ( PIF)

I am a very lucky girl today as I received the most gorgeous RAK from Barb ( no blog). Barb makes the most beautiful beaded fobs and she sent me one along with a gorgeous pair of scissors, some ribbon and a Caron Wildflowers thread. Thank you so much Barb {{{{hugs}}}} I feel honoured to own one of your fobs and I will treasure it along with the scissors. ( I love scissors and a girl can never have too many).

The only other stitching I can show today is my progress on HAED QS Girly Gothic. Again I chose to stitch on her two evenings this week so that I could make even more progress:) I am now almost halfway through page 2 so if I am lucky I will have her finished well before I had hoped to; finger's crossed! Of course there is a fair bit of confetti stitching on this bit so it may take me a bit longer plus some metallic stitches and metallic and I are not the best of friends anymore!

That's it for now! Have a great weekend everyone and stay safe in the high winds we're having here in the UK.

Hugs

A PIF FOR Angela

Just a quick post for today to show the PIF I sent to Angela. I wasn't sure what to stitch for her then read in a comment on my blog that she'd taken a liking to Shepherd's Bush designs so I chose a design called Woolwork Sheep from the leaflet Pillow Flock and I made it into a biscornu. Angela let me know that she received this morning and likes it so I am happy:)

Shepherd's Bush Woolwork Lambs ( from the leaflet Pillow Flock)

Stitched on Silkweaver Solo 14 count aida

DMC Thread and Rainbow Gallery Metallic

PIF for Angela

I am hoping to be able to show the PIF I sent to Ruth soon as I sent it over a week ago so hopefully it will arrive soon.

I have also finished my Christmas ornament for the SAL but I haven't taken a picture so will save that for another day.

Thank you for all your well wishes after my last blog post. I have now got my appointment for my scan and it's the 30th March. I can't believe I've got an appointment so soon but I'm pleased I have so that it'll set the ball rolling quicker ( depending on what they find) plus I don't have to go to hospital in Hull as they come to the surgery here a few times a week. I can't wait to get it over and done with.

HAED have just started a reward program and if you send in photos of any HAED finishes you have with full details they will send you a chart of your choice to the same or lesser value. I sent 5 photos in and received 5 charts back then I found another photo of one I stitched as a gift. Lisa and Claire are planning on a new HAED start in April and Lisa asked me if I'd like to join them. I wasn't sure as I did say no new HAED starts until QS Girly Gothic is finished but the free charts I received are relatively small and as I really wanted to start something by Jasmine Becket Griffith I decided upon Tiny Treasures Purple Dragon. Providing I have finished BBD Beyond My Heart by then I will allow myself this new start. It's only going to be an informal SAL of stitching on it when we want, if we want to which sounds good to me. I've got my chart printed out and am either going to stitch it over one on 25 count or over two on 40 count.

Better dash and get some lunch as we're at the hairdressers in a bit.

Have a wonderful weekend and take care everyone.

Hugs

Sally

xxx

PIF WINNERS

As promised I left my PIF post open for a week and it is now closed. The "chosen ones" ( LOL) to receive something stitched by me within the next 365 days are:

Angela

Andrea

Elisa

Angela and Elisa please email me (email is in my profile) with your addresses. I will be searching your blogs for your likes and dislikes

Please remember to add the PIF to your blog (I don't mind if you wait a while) so that you pass it on.

Thank you to all those who signed up. I'm only sorry that I couldn't send you all something.

New PIF Sign-Ups- NOW CLOSED

Late last year I signed up for Lisa's PIF with the promise I'd put this up on my blog in the New Year. So as it's now the New Year this is how it goes:

If you would like to receive something stitched by me within the next 365 days please comment on this post to say that you are interested. If there are more than three takers I will draw three names. If, like other times I've offered this, there are not enough takers or there are none at all I will pick people at random to receive something made by me. If you do decide to take part please keep this going by posting it to your blog. It is a lovely way to spread a little joy in our little stitching world:)

I will leave this open for a week to see how it goes.

To Ruth and Yuko don't worry I haven't forgotten about you. Time has gotten away with me although I do still have 6 months left to complete your PIFs from last time! I was intent on getting them done sooner.

Beautiful PIF From Monique

I have no stitching of my own to share today but I just had to do a blog post and show this gorgeous PIF gift I received yesterday:)

I signed up for Monique's PIF not that long ago and yesterday I received the most gorgeous project bag from her. I absolutely LOVE it, will treasure it and use it ever so gently. Monique stitched a Quaker design and stitched the initials of me, my DH and my two daughers on it:) It is so beautifully stitched and finished. Thank you so much Monique.{{{{hugs}}}} It was a pleasure being one of your PIF victims recipients. I hope you received the email I sent yesterday.

I started a breast cancer awareness freebie for the S&S Otober SAL challenge yesterday then found out I have until tomorrow to finish it and make it up! I thought I had another week! Duh! Oh well I might get it finished today then make it up in the morning maybe. I'm not going to tell you what I'm stitching but it's a lovely design:)

I finished up a little The Sampler Girl freebie but I can't show it yet. I need to finish it off and send it to it's new home before then. It was a fun stitch.

My JCS ornament magazine was posted to me yesterday and I'm so miffed to find that postie hasn't brought it today. Some of the ladies have got theirs today so I am saying " Stupid Royal Mail" in my best Homer Simpson sulky voice! I was so looking forward to relaxing with a cuppa and reading it. Something to look forward to in the post maybe on Monday but I won't hold my breath. I guess that's what you get for living in a rural area although sone finishing fabric I bought on Ebay yesterday has arrived!

Thank you for all your good wishes for Abi. She still isn't 100% and looks so washed out and tired. We are hoping she'll be feeling a lot better in a few days as it's half term here next week. We got some work for her from school and she was disgusted to see the amount of Maths she had. She got Maths, Chemistry and English. She did the chemistry and Maths on Thursday morning then at lunchtime Jess came home with more Maths for her as the stuff she'd been sent the day before was the wrong one! As you can imagine she was not very happy!

I am going to go see if I can finish my BCA freebie now! It's cold and miserable here so a good time to stitch!

Take care everyone!


Hugs