Stunning Sunset and Stitching!

Hello fellow stitchers! Yes I'm here again much sooner than I have been of late! I really, really want to become the blogger I used to be so I'm going to try really hard to make that happen. I just hope that you won't get fed up of seeing my WIPs as I certainly haven't had as many finishes as I have in previous years! Last year I had 60+ and this year ( up to now ) I haven't managed 30! However I have been stitching on bigger pieces this year.

You may remember me finishing an ornament the other month called Snow by Val's Stuff. Well I have got it all made up. I am so pleased with this! Those eyes are so funny!

No other finishes for me but plenty of progress which is always good. Barb and I are stitching away on our SB Frightful Halloween Rolls and are hoping to get them finished for the day. I thought that the 31st was on Tuesday but, of course, it's on Monday so this has to be finished this evening so that I can get it made up over the weekend!

I am continuing my house building on the bonus block of my Anniversaries of the Heart. I can hardly wait to get this finished, framed and on my wall.............if I can find a space lol! I could swap things out but lack of storage space makes that just a bit difficult! 

I forgot to take a photo of my progress on my dragon but I did take a photo of my progress on Tilton Crafts Always ( Alan Rickman tribute ). Justine was asking me how I was getting on with it. It's not much when you consider I started this on April 26th but it only comes out every now and then. I'm hoping that I can fit it into my rotation next year and stitch on it more.

My plan for October on Mini Jolly Old Fellow was to definitely finish the partial page and attempt to finish 10 rows on the next page. Well I did manage the partial page but not the 10 rows. I gave it a good go though!

Lovely Sotto La Neve is getting some love!

Finally a bit of knitting. I can't actually remember whether I've posted this on my blog or not but I've  been knitting an aran jumper ( wool and pattern from Seaside Yarns ). This is the front, back and one sleeve done! Hopefully I should have it finished just in time for cold weather coming! It isn't a colour I would normally wear but I fancied something different!

Last night I was cooking tea when I glanced out of my kitchen window and saw the most amazing sunset going on! I rushed into the living room where my DH was sitting, turned out the light and pointed out the window! We both grabbed our cameras and took some photos. These are a couple of mine. I don't think I have ever seen such an amazing sunset and it was just one of those moments that makes you feel glad to be alive! 

That's all my news for now. Thank you to those of you who are sticking with me and dropping by to see me and leave a comment. I truly appreciate each and every one. I finally made time to drop by and see you all and am hoping to keep that up too!

Take care everyone.

Until next time.

With much love

Sally xxx

A Little Bit Of Stashing :)

Yes I have been stashing a little! Not a huge amount as I am still trying very, very hard to be good but in being good I'm not supporting my favourite online shop much so maybe next year I should get back into buying lol! I think I've only ordered twice from there this year so Karla must be wondering what on earth has happened! I did so desperately want to sign up for the new 5 part series from Country Cottage Needleworks and was going to do it when I was told not to sign up by my friend Chris. I'm not sure if she was being my voice or what but I've done as I was told................for now!!!

So what was my stash?! Well we have got to that time of year when the JCS Christmas ornament magazine is reaching our shores from across the pond and I couldn't resist ordering a copy but I couldn't order just that so I ordered another part of the Jardin Prive Histoire De Moutons series so I just have one more to get now. Oh and a couple of skeins of DMC white. Only one is in the photo as the other is in use!

There are some lovely ornaments in this issue so there'll be even more ornament stitching in my future!

When I blogged last I showed my cute little snowman by Val's Stuff which I've been stitching as part of the ornament SAL with Barb and Chris. Well I now have the snowflakes stitched so it's just to make up. I'm going to try and get this done this weekend as I have another piece which needs to be done very soon. I have picked out another to start for this month but I doubt it will get finished before the end of the month.

I also have another finish! 

Little House Needleworks Season's Greetings

28 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

Classic Colorworks

I'm so pleased with this one. It is so pretty. 

Once this was finished I started this beauty.

I've had this in my stash along with the fabric for a while now. My DH bought me it for Christmas a few years ago when I had it on my list :). It is Renato Parolin Sotto La Neve which I'm stitching on Crafty Kitten 32 count latte monaco. 

I have a little more progress on my AotH piece. I didn't get much done but every little helps doesn't it?!

On Saturday Abi wanted to go to Meadowhall and I was shattered and in a really strange mood with myself  when we got back so Saturday evening I couldn't be bothered to pick my Sk Dragons History. I just wanted some mindless stitching so out came Tilton Crafts Always ( Alan Rickman tribute ) and some black stitching! It's slow as I don't pick it up much but when Barb and I have our stitching for a week on one project I'm probably going to choose this piece to do.

This evening Barb and I will be doing our sheep SAL and look I actually have a sheep on mine now! Just love this!

Of course no post would be complete without Mini Jolly Old Fellow! As you can see I'm about halfway down the partial page on the right. The more I think about it the more I doubt it'll be finished for Christmas but if it's just after I do not mind. I'll probably want to keep it on my wall all year anyway. 

Just a quick post today as I wanted to get one in and try not to leave it so long between if I can. Thank you for visiting and for your lovely comments :) They truly mean so much to me.

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxxx

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

Oooops! ( Picture Heavy Post )

Wow has it really been a month since I last posted! A lot of stitching has been happening in that time but no finishing. I'm still struggling to get going with that! Something else that has happened in the last month is my DH and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary and not only that we went away for a week and this was our view!

More about that later. Stitching first!

I've had a couple of finishes. First one is the 5th Shepherd's Fold piece.

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Fold Fear Not.

As kitted.

As you can see it's not made up into a needleroll yet. How lazy am I as it wouldn't take much finishing.

Second finish is my April ornament for the SAL with Barb and Chris. 

Country Cottage Needleworks Peace ( from the 2007 JCS ornament mag)

32 count Permin Riviera Olive linen.

DMC.

I will, hopefully, be starting my May one this evening and it will be from the 2014 issue.

My other SAL with Barb is, of course, the sheep SAL and we have been stitching With Thy Needle and Thread Sweet Violet. Mine is nearly finished but I ran out of thread and I could have sworn I had another skein. I don't want to order another so I'm going to see if I can match it up with DMC somehow. Fingers crossed this will be finished on Friday.

Elizabeth Jane is coming along slowly but surely. I desperately want to get this Anniversaries of the Heart piece finished as soon as but whether I will is a different matter!

My HAEDs have been getting some attention. As you may remember I joined in the second challenge on the official Facebook page and that challenge was to stitch a full page cross country using one colour at a time. Well I think this is the fastest I've finished a full page in a long, long time! You can see by my photo that I still have to go back and finish page 1.

I've done a little more on SK Dragons History.

As I had finished CCN Countdown to Christmas I started a new one to stitch in the virtual parlour with the ladies of Needlecraft Haven. Not much has been done as I only took a couple of bits away with me plus last Wednesday I ended up with a banging headache and I had to go to bed. This one is LHN Hands to Work which was a birthday gift from dear Shirlee a couple of years ago.

While we were away I had a new start. This is Tilton Crafts Always ( Alan Rickman tribute ). I was very naughty and bought it then ordered a thread pack from Thread Geeks. I have never had a thread pack before and I am so pleased with it. Anyway not much of a start as I only stitched a few hours on it. I must find a way to get it into my rotation! Can you see my needleminder? That was a gift from my surrogate sis Lisa :)

So that's all my stitchy news for now so time to tell you about our holiday!

A while ago Jess came home from work saying she'd been chatting to one of her colleagues and every year she goes to the Dumfries and Galloway area of Scotland on holiday and Jess thought it might be nice for my DH and I to go for our 30th wedding anniversary. She said she'd pay towards us going as a present. Well let's just say that I like my own bed these days but the more I looked at photos etc the more I thought let's go! So we booked a cottage called The Hen Hoose near Newton Stewart and patiently waited for the day to come. We were both dreading it a little as we were leaving the girls behind for a week and it was going to be strange without them. However we had a fantastic week, we didn't want to come back here, and we only scratched the surface of things to do. We have both decided that we're going back next year. It was so beautiful and peaceful. So here's just a few photos ( I took well over 500 and I dread to think how many DH took! ). 

So that's all my news for this time. Hopefully it won't be a month before I post again!

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxxx