October Stitch From Stash

It is that time of the month yet again for reporting our stitch from stash triumphs etc! So I'll get that bit over with and get onto my stitching. 

Month : October

Spent £44.55

Earned £30

Balance Carried Fwd: £92.44

I did spend a little more than I intended as I needed two lots of fabric. I have one more Shepherd's Fold to come probably next week and that is done. I am intent on treating myself to a few new charts before the end of the year then next year NO CHARTS lol! Just fabric and threads when I need them. I will need lots of encouragement though!

So I have had a couple of finishes since my last post. Finish no.1 was Christmas Birdhouse.

Merry Merry was started by both Barb and I. Love this one.

Finish no. 2 and a massive happy dance was December's Holly which is the final one in the series of the Garden Journal charts. I do still have the journal cover to stitch but I think I'll do that later.

I had a page finish on QS Spirit of Winter Robin and made a small start on page 2. I may do 2 evenings on this now to try and get more done.

Ooooh I can now show my square for Mouse's quilt.

Dragon Dreams A Spot of Tea

32 count white evenweave

DMC.

When I posted this to Mouse I also sent this.

Lizzie*Kate Night Before Christmas Sled Mouse

Brown perforated paper

DMC.

As soon as I saw this chart I had to stitch the Mouse one for her! I am happy to say that she loved both the square and the sled :)

My November Cottage is coming along nicely. I do love these bright colours in it.

I finished one side of the My Home Fob and started the other side. It is so pretty. 

A few weeks ago my lovely friend Chris broke her ankle and was feeling rather down. All her crafting supplies are in her loft so I decided to pop onto Patchwork Rabbit and kit her a little something up for her stitch. I chose Potted Poinsetta which is one of the Little House Needleworks Sampler Tree ornaments. Well imagine my surprise when an envelope from Chris arrived this morning and I found that she had also stitched it for me as well as herself and sent the chart to me. Thank you so much Chris. I love it. 

So if you would like to stitch this chart please say so in your comments and I'll pick a winner next time I blog :)

I have still not managed to catch up on blog reading and commenting. I feel so bad as it's something I used to do so regularly and I really must try so much harder. I much prefer blogging to Instagram etc and I most certainly do not want to lose the friends I have made. 

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xx

PS I don't know what has happened to the writing on this post!

September Stitch from Stash

Well I seem to be getting a bit bad at this blogging lark. I keep saying I'll get better at it and commenting but it just doesn't seem to happen and I know I'll lose readers etc if I don't comment. I'm trying really hard but.....

So first off my  September SFS report.

Brought fwd :£67.25

Spent :£30.26

Earned :£20.00

Balance carried fwd : £81.99

I am done with my autos now except for the Shepherd's Fold. I just have 2 more of those to come then I will try even harder not to buy anymore charts/ kits! Having said that I do want to get some more sheepy ones before the end of the year as Barb and I are going to be doing a sheep SAL! Next year I intend to just buy fabric and threads. Yes it'll probably be famous last words as I seem to be useless and let myself down every time!

Plenty of stitching has been done since the last time I blogged. One I can't show as it's a gift and the the one I've just started is for Mouse's quilt so I won't show that until I've finished it and she has it :)

My lovely robin is growing steadily but if I am going to finish it for February I am going to have to stitch more than one evening on it. 

So as soon as this is finished my robin will replace it in my rotation. Lots of holly still to do yet!

I didn't stitch on A Full Heart for a couple of Thursdays but last week I got back to it and I have almost sown all the grass! It all looks so pretty and I am so pleased I finally decided to sign up for this.

Barb and I finished Holly Jolly but I don't have a photo yet as I just have to finish making it up. Last week we started Christmas Birdhouse and here is how far I got. Doesn't look much like a birdhouse yet does it lol? I am going to love this one though.

I am steadily making progress on Clara Ellen. I don't look forward to picking this up but I think that is because I have been away from it for so long. Mistakes have been made already but believe me there are lots of mistakes in the whole piece! 

No post would be complete without a cottage! So her's my October Cottage. Will it be finished for October? Hmmm we will have to see about that one!

I received the JCS Christmas ornament mag today and I have to say I am a little disappointed in it this year. Barb and I going to stitch an ornament a month from it and I am hoping I will find 12 that I want to stitch! I think I will as there are a few that caught my eye but not like other years where I've wanted to stitch more than I didn't want to! Still I will keep buying it every year as I enjoy collecting them and have every issue since the year 2000.

That's all my stitchy news for this time. 

Take care everyone.

Until next time.

With much love

Sally xx

August Stitch From Stash

Well it has been a while since I last blogged but I am here at last! First of all I'll do my August SFS report then I'll show my progress and finishes :).

August Report

Spent : £28.55 ( thread and fabric for ornament auto, L*K Littles Mystery part 2, not yet received, Shepherd's Fold pt 4, not yet received.

Earnt: £40 ( August Cottage, CCN ornament, Sewing Bird, Autumn Witch, Joy Ornament,  November's Chrysanthemum )

Balance carried fwd : £67.25

So what I have been up to since I last blogged? Well lots of stitching and also some knitting but no photos of my knitting as I forgot to take any. However Jess' Doctor Who scarf is going well,  I've reached the next corner on the edging for my blanket and my Soukie top is ready to sew up! The edging on my blanket is on hold though until I go back to craft group in a couple of weeks time as I can't remember how to ease it around the corner!

At long last this beauty got finished.

Cottage Garden Samplings November's Chrysanthemum

40 count pearl grey linen

DMC

Then this equally beautiful piece was started and it's the final Garden Journal piece.

Barb and I have been stitching away on our ornaments. This one was not one of our favourites!

Country Cottage Needleworks By The Chimney

32 count, not sure what it is!

Of course we started the next one which is Holly Jolly which we are both enjoying!

Clare, one of my online stitchy  friends, was asking if anyone would like to stitch an ornament for her church tree . This years theme is Joy and here is what I have stitched. Not made up yet but I hope you like it Clare.

Lizzie*Kate Flora McSample 2011 ornaments Joy

32 count Cobblestone linen

DMC

I have decided to stop stitching Halloween for a bit but Barb and I will still be stitching along virtually :). This is my last one for now.

The Snowflower Diaries Autumn Witch

Unknown fabric

DMC

From this evening I'm going back to my AotH and am planning on not putting it away until I've finished. Here is where I left it God knows how long ago!

I made a start on the September Cottage and here is how it looks so far. I can't believe it's September a week tomorrow. I don't think I will get this finished in time!

Once I'd finished Clare's ornament I decided to have a new start and I chose the bonus design, Happy, from Lizzie*Kate's Things Unseen Mystery Sampler. I have decided to just stitch the bonus design and pillow from this so will be selling the charts along with the embellishments for the main design so do let me know if you are interested.  It will be £15 plus postage for all 3 charts and embellishments for the main design.

I have so many things to show I can't remember what else there is! That's what you get for not blogging for weeks! Ooh of course my lovely robin!

Finally part one of the Shepherds Fold.  Boy this grass is taking some sowing but it's going to be so pretty!

Well I think that's all my stitching. So sorry for the picture heavy post.

I am happy to say that Jess started a new job today. Well I'll be even happier when I know she's got on OK! She's been unsure about her job at the card shop for a while now. She never knew what she was walking into when she went to work or who was telling the truth, stabbing you in the back etc etc. So this job came up, she applied and got it! Her notice was duly handed in and she left on Saturday.  She'll be working on the same outlet site at Regatta. Fingers crossed she likes it and the people she's working with!

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll get back to blogging regularly again and catching up with you all.

Take care everyone.

Until next time.

With much love

Sally xxx

July Stitch From Stash

Here we are again at that time of the month where we declare how good we've been or not as the case may well be! You may remember that Mel had allowed us to carry over any earnings from part A as long we had not already declared them and as I didn't declare any in June I am going to have a good bit. I sort of feel like I'm cheating but Mel did say we could do it. So here's my report.

July Report.

Amount spent : £34.25 ( Lizzie Kate Littles Mystery part one, paid for but not yet received, Just Cross Stitch Halloween Magazine, Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Fold part 3)

Earnings : £40( 2 CCN cottages, SB My Mom's Garden, LHN Comfort and CGS October's Marigold.

Balance carried fwd: £30.80

I have been trying to get more bits finished off since I posted last and CCN Frosty Forest went into see my trusty framer and here it is on my wall.

Do you remember Barb and I stitching Tralala Tricotine last year? Well I wanted to make a knitting bag and it has taken me a long time to actually pluck up the courage to get some fabric let alone make the bag! Mistakes were most definitely made. The stitched piece is a little too low but I can't get it off as I machine stitched it on. I have tried but fear I will ruin both the fabric of the bag and my stitched piece. The handles are on wrong too! Oh dear I clearly wasn't thinking when I did those lol! However this is my first attempt and I am quite happy with it. It is just a plain tote bag with no pockets, zips, fasteners etc.

Ages ago I bought a frame in the sale at Matalan. I didn't have anything in mind for it but I liked it. I am not quite sure when I stitched this piece but it is LHN Curly Q Ewe which Lainey, Mouse and I SAL'd on and I just love how it looks in this frame.

I have a couple more pieces half finished so look out for those hopefully soon!

So what I have been up to stitching wise? Well Ghoul Tidings is going rather well and I think I might just get it finished on Monday. Not sure what I will stitch next but it may just be something from this year's JCS Halloween mag which I received last week. I wasn't going to get it but I saw the gorgeous basket by Mani Di Donna and changed my mind!  Of course if I stitch that it means I have to buy the handle and button!

Barb and I have still been SALing on our ornaments and our SB pieces. I had hoped to get By The Chimney finished but I am somehow not feeling this one. Fingers crossed for a finish this week.

The first part of the SB Fold is looking so good even though I say so myself!  I just love the threads and the colours and the fabric is just so lovely and soft.

Again I seem to be so behind with my cottage. Not much longer to go to August so I am hoping I will get this finished just in time!

November's Chrysanthemum is looking so pretty. Still a fair bit to do yet but I hope to have it done soon so that I can start the December one!

Last but by no means least my lovely Robin! 

I have started a new knitting project! No my afghan is not finished yet but I need a little break from it! Can you guess what it is lol?

It was carnival weekend here last weekend and imagine my delight when I found out my surrogate sis Lisa was coming over with her DH and DD for the weekend. We arranged to meet at some point on Saturday afternoon and spent a lovely maybe an hour and a half chatting in the beer garden at one of the local bars.  It was so lovely to see her and we always get on so well.  I'm looking forward to the next time :).

I am finally hoping I am on the mend  but I am not  getting too excited yet! Sometimes I feel OK then other times I don't and I get so frustrated. Our central heating boiler sprung a leak ( lovely wet carpet in Jess' bedroom but thankfully it is just a drip ) and trying to get under the boiler to see where it was coming from was not pleasant!

So we called an engineer out to have a look at the boiler ( we have insurance on it thankfully ). He was here an hour on Monday afternoon as once he had worked out where it was leaking from he ran a diagnostic on it only to find it was dangerous as the emissions were too high! Arghhhh! It was decided that it could be to do with the part that needs replacing  but it is still not fixed. He turned up at just before 8 pm last night. He could only get one part which didn't fix it so he's now ordering more to see if that works and coming tomorrow to fit them. This boiling a kettle lark to wash pots is no good. He has recommended we get another boiler before Winter.

I am so sorry that I still haven't visited and commented on your blogs. I will get it done soon I promise but I have to be in the right frame of mind to do it. Even doing a blog post seems to take so much effort these days but I do still love it.

Thank you for visiting and for your lovely comments. They really do make my day.

Take care everyone.

With much love

Sally xxx

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

May Stitch From Stash & Birthday Gift for Michelle

It's that time of the month yet again! So here's my SFS report then I'll show my birthday gift for Michelle.

May Report.

Carried fwd from April : £86.84

Amount Spent : £16.38 ( more than I'd hoped but I needed more fabric for my cottages )

Earned : £24.00 ( for 3 finishes, Summer Witch which I can't show yet, May Calendar Girl and another I can't show yet!)

Balance to carry over : £119.46.

I must say this month has been difficult. I don't know why. Maybe it's my mood as I always crave new stash when my mood is low but I have managed to stop myself by looking at what I already have and giving myself a damned good talking to ( and calling myself some not so nice names ) plus reminding myself that I do have the Shepherd's Bush Fold to look forward to for the next 6 months or so. Of course I am getting rather impatient now for it to arrive but, fingers crossed, it should be soon. I hope so as if it doesn't arrive before July I will be well and truly screwed on SFS! Lol! 

Onto my actual stitching now! The lovely Michelle had a birthday at the beginning of May but I was late with her gift as I didn't even finish the stitching until the day of her birthday. I was so pleased that she loved what I stitched for her and here it is.

Little House Needleworks May Calendar Girl

32 count Colour Cascade Fabrics Silver Springs

DMC

Birthday Gift for Michelle.

Another finish is this cute one. Makes me smile.

Country Cottage Needleworks Christmas Cheer

32 count Lambswool linen

DMC & WDW

SAL with Barb

After weeks of waiting my LHN Song of the Seasons was ready to pick up from my framer. He had problems with his oval mount cutter and ended up having to order a new one. I have to say it was well worth the wait and this photo really does not do it justice.

I have been busy trying to get plenty done on my June Cottage seen as June will soon be here! Love this one. 

Barb and I are also SALing on Shepherd's Bush pieces. This is my progress on My Mom's Garden. I should get all the cross stitching done this evening then move onto the speciality stitches.

My robin is getting there on page 4. Hopefully not much longer! I say that every time don't I?! Lol!

Finally October's Marigold is almost done! Just a little more on the flowers and some bits to fill in here and there and it'll be done!

I almost forgot about the charts I was giving away. There were not many takers for them but here are the winners.

Shepherd's Bush Happy Birthday : June

JBW Designs To The Beach : Heather

Little House Needleworks May Calendar Girl: Kay

Heather and June I have your addresses so Kay can you please email me yours :)

That's all from me for now. I got caught up on visiting and commenting but I am probably a long way behind again now! Thank you all for continuing to visit me  and for your lovely comments :)

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xx