A Bit of Stitching and Cake!

Strange title I know! Lol! You will see later where the cake comes in!

I have been feeling much more human this week so I've done more stitching than I did last week. I know some of you may wonder how I still managed to stitch last week when I have felt so ill but it helps me relax and forget to a certain extent how bad I felt.

So here's my progress on Blackbird Designs Rites of Spring ( Loose Feathers). I'm not too happy with the T in Rites as it looks more like an F. I've already altered it once but I think I may need to change it again. I do, however, love the design and the colours of this. It is so easy to stitch.

As usual Mondays are A Quaker Christmas night so more stitching on my favourite piece of the moment! There are quite a few errors on the chart and, to my surprise, I am managing to pick them out as I go along and I have decided to correct them best I can. I am also going to make my own changes with some of the wording:)

Last night I did quite a lot on HAED TT Letter J so I was very happy. Next week I may just get page 1 finished:) I absolutely love stitching this and love how it is stitching up.

I am very excited as Lisa and I are planning on doing a SAL of this after the Summer holidays. I am really looking forward to doing this as I've been downloading all the parts since it started in the hope of stitching it one day. I don't know exactly when we will start but at least it gives us 6 weeks to decide on fabric and threads:)

The girls finished school for the summer yesterday so they'll be doing lots of relaxing and stuff! Jess is going to have to get a summer job as she wants to learn to drive when she's 17 ( in a few weeks) but as we live in a small town I'm not sure she'll find one easily. She did look a few weeks ago and asked in one shop and was told no because she wasn't 18.

Jess was quite upset a while ago to discover that one of her chemistry teachers would be leaving. She adores this teacher and she is also very popular with most of the class so her and a few of her classmates decided that they'd throw a little party for her on the last lesson! I don't know how they managed to keep it from her but with the help of other teachers and the technicians it was kept a secret. Jess made her a cake and here it is! Just incase you're wondering the icing under the writing is "Just a splodge" which was something the teacher used to say! I think it must be a scientific term! Lol! Anyway the party went well so they were all pleased:)

Hope everyone is having a good week. Looks like we might just get some good weather for a few days! Take care everyone!



Hugs

Another Award!

Wow I have received another award this time from Christine:) Coming from a lady who is a designer and a fantastic finisher this is another honour. So thank you Christine:)

These are the rules:
1. The winner can display this award on their blog
2. Display a link to the person you have got the award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs, you like.

4. Set the links to the blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a comment on the blogs you have chosen.

My nominees are:)

Svenja at Storm at Sea

Ranae at The Needle and I

Veronica at Veronica's Stitching Vault

Helen at Homespun Hearts

Paula at Paula's Stitching Place

Kim at Stitchful Thinking

KarenV at Simply Stitching

Again these are just a few of the blogs I read and enjoy. As you can see by my blog list there are many more:)

Hugs

Kreativ Blogger Award:)

I am so happy to have received the Kreativ Blogger Award from Michele B and Joei. To have received from these ladies is truly an honour as they both create the most beautiful pieces of stitching so thank you both for this award {{{hugs}}} and right back at both of you:)

Now I need to pick my 5 nominees with the following rules:)

1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.

2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.

4. Put links to the blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Now I could chicken out and not nominate anyone like I did last time I received an award! I read and enjoy so many blogs it's going be difficult to choose just 5 but here goes:) but this award does go to everyone whose blogs I read:) This is in no particular order.

Chris at Criss Cross Corner

Elisa at Paperfairie's Palace ( Old Ragged Threads)

Hazel at Quietly Stitching

Staci at Snippets and Stash

Michele at Just Another Stitching Blog

It wasn't easy to pick just 5 and I have tried to pick some different blogs that I enjoy and are inspirational but this does not mean that I don't enjoy all the ones I read:)

Be back tomorrow with some stitching updates.

Hugs

Catching Up!

I can't believe it's been over a week since I updated my blog. It's not really heard of for me to go this long but I have not been feeling too well and I couldn't be bothered to sit and update. I have spent a lot of my time examining the insides of my eyelids! Anyway without further ado, as tomorrow is reveal day for the S&S biscornu exchange, I'm going to show the biscornu I stitched for Angi M ( no blog).

WDC Design WDC in Blue ( From The Gift of Stitching)

Stiched on 28 count white evenweave

DMC threads.

Just over a week ago I received a lovely package in the post from Dani. A while ago I won a giveaway on her blog and look at this gorgeous piece she stitched for me. It is perfect for me as I love red plus, as you can see, my Gingher scissors are red.

And here are the other things she included for me:) and you can also see the other side of the fob with my initial. The JCS ornament preview issue ( which I had been waiting to get my hands on but being in England we have a bit longer wait for so I had to wait no longer!) and some skeins of GAST. Thank you so much Dani! {{{{hugs}}}} You really spoilt me:)

I have been doing some stitching but not as much as I would normally do so I do have some updates to show. I think the most I did this week was on Blackbird Designs Rites of Spring on Sunday. I love how this is coming along and hope I will feel something like to get a lot done tomorrow evening.

Monday was, as always, my evening on Bygone Stitches A Quaker Christmas but I didn't do much on it this time but every little bit is a bit more towards the end! I am amazed at how quickly I am stitching this up and if I keep it up I see no reason why I shouldn't have it finished in time for Christmas.

I was hoping to get more done on HAED TT Letter J this week and be a lot closer to finishing page 1 but things don't always go to plan. Not to worry as there's always another week!

I can't show what else I've been stitching as I've been working on the S&S SAL Challenge which this month is Debbie Draper's Love. I have finished stitching it and made it up but can't show it until reveal day which is 27th July so not long to go! I've tried another new to me finishing technique this time and am quite pleased with the result.

I think I might put part of my rotation on hold for a bit and concentrate on getting my exchanges stitched. Feeling the way I have over the last week has made me think a lot and I just want to get my exchanges stitched and made up so that they can done in plenty of time and ready to send out when needs be. I'd also like to stitch some small bits for a change. I will stick to my BBD, Quaker Christmas, TT and Sea Stars on their alloted evenings and QC for the week probably.

We were supposed to be going to Burton Constable Country Fair last Sunday but I felt too ill so we ended up staying home. Wednesday DH and I went to Driffield Show ( minus the girls as Abi had an activities day at school and Jess a biology field trip to Robin Hood's Bay). We had a pleasant day looking round the stalls, watching displays, etc but I started to feel ill halfway through the day. We went to the car for a bit and I got a second lease of life! Lol! I just feel that the way I am at the moment is playing havoc with my every day life and I am fed-up. I have been so tearful and feeling quite angry. I did manage an evening out last night as it's the annual carnival here ( it was cancelled last year due to flooding) so we went to watch the wing walkers last night ( how on earth do they pluck up the courage to do something like that) and then watched the firework display later on in the evening.

Thank you so much for all your well wishes and hugs for Abi. She had her blood done on Tuesday and was so brave. She was really scared but she did really well. No tears:) Anyway all her tests were fine so we think it's just a case of getting plenty of rest over the holidays ( they finish Tuesday lunchtime). It has been a long term so we think she's just tired. Obviously we'll be keeping an eye on her.

I have been trying to keep up with blogs a bit and Jess kindly leant me her laptop on Thursday evening and I read and commented on quite a lot but I am still way behind. I promise I will get round to you all eventually to see what you've been stitching and stashing:) Thank you for your lovely comment Michele B.

Hugs

I Love Cross Stitch

No I'm not stating the obvious; it's my latest finish! I stitched this up as a PIF for KarenV and she received it today so I can share my finish:)

Les Grilles De Maryse I Love Cross Stitch ( From Gift of Stitching)

Unknown evenweave

Gentle Art Sampler Threads

Finished as a Pinkeep.

I loved stitching this piece as the colours are so pretty and I shall probably stitch it again for myself.

No other stitching today as I started with a headache while at the doctors with Abi yesterday and by the time I got home and had some pills it was awful. Not had one like that for a long time. It is still niggling a little but hopefully I've had the worst of it.

Thank you for all your good wishes and hugs and for Abi. The doctor thinks it's a viral infection but she wants to do blood tests to be safe but Abi doesn't want that, bless her. The doctor was very good and said she'd leave it up to her to think about it but she really does want to check. Anyway DH and I had a talk to her when she got in today and we've persuaded her to have it done. She feels so rotten and tired and is so tearful. I'll be going to make an appointment tomorrow and hope we can get it over and done with soon.

I am probably way behind on blogs again so please forgive me if I haven't visited. I will get around to it as soon as I can.

Hugs

Biscornu Exchange

I received my biscornu from my partner in the S&S Secret Biscornu Exchange and what a beauty it is so huge thanks to my partner ( I know who she is but it has to remain secret until next week. Bit difficult to keep it secret when A; you have to send them recorded delivery and B; you've known the person for years!!) as I love it! She also included some postcards ( I collect them) and some counting pins which she makes herself. I can't show the one I sent until partners have been revealed.

On the stitching front Sunday evening I stitched on Blackbird Designs Rites of Spring which I am really enjoying. It's so easy to stitch and so pretty. I am tempted to follow Mary Kathryn's idea of finishing it as a stitcher's wallet but I shall see when I actually finish it!

Monday night, as always, was A Quaker Christmas night! My little bit of Christmas in the middle of Summer ( well if you can actually call it Summer but at least it's not too hot!)! Still loving this piece and never really want to put it down.

Last night was HAED TT SAL on the HAED forum so my letter J came out. I still can't quite believe just how much I can get done on this in one night as on others I've done I couldn't even get it done in one week! Lol! I do love the way it's stitching up and, hopefully, page one will be completed in a couple of weeks.

That's all the stitching I can show for now. I posted a random PIF today so will show that once it's been received. I can now start on my last round of PIFs:) I should get to know who my partner is for the S&S Redwork Exchange and that will be secret until it has been received which is much better I think.

Abi is still under the weather. We came to the conclusion that not only was her hayfever bad she also has cold which is making her feel really ill. She's also having "problems", really silly things, with a couple of friends. She had to come back this morning because she'd forgotten her PE kit and she'd got herself so worked up. She said she was sick of them being the way they have been with her and she still didn't feel very well. It's a good job it's not long to the Summer holidays. Anyway I made an appointment for her to see the doctor after school today, when I went for my repeat blood test this morning.

Looks like it's going to be a rather wet afternoon here so it may well be a stitching afternoon! Although I'll be making a quiche for tea before I do any stitching:)

Hope you are all having a wonderful week.

Hugs

Yay! It's the Weekend!

Good Saturday Morning! It's a bit dull here on the east coast of England and we are expecting rain but at least it'll keep the pollen count down and help Abi!

This week I can't show all my stitching as I've stitched a random PIF but it's yet to be made up then I've started some other secret stitching. I've also joined the Redwork/ Monochrome exchange on S&S, my third exchange on there, and I'm looking forward to that. I'll find out who my partner is sometime next week then I'll decide what I'm going to stitch etc.

Tuesday was Tiny Treasures SAL night on the HAED forum ( although I get the feeling I'm the only one in it! Trust me to join late!) and I made a little progress on it. I do feel that I make more progress in one evening on this than I ever have done on any other HAED!

I cheated a bit on Ink Circles Sea Stars, my SAL with Karen, and I stitched on it two evenings this week. I managed to get another sea horse finished, another stitched, a motif, two fish and another motif started so I was happy!

My Tournicoton chart from Hollie Stitch arrived on Wednesday and it is gorgeous. I can vaguely work out the finishing as it's made up very similar to the Ackworth Friendship Book. I am looking forward to stitching it but it won't be just yet as I have other things I'd like to do first plus I don't have any fabric and I don't want to buy any just yet!

Now I have a question to ask! I have a thing at the moment about stitcher's wallets, pockets etc! I don 't have one as yet but I do have two charts in my stash (AMAP and Tournicoton), I have several on my wish list and two in issues of GOS I'd like to stitch! How many can a stitcher have???? Lol! One for every project? One for every day of the week? Just for display? I feel a bit guilty wanting so many of them but there are so many lovely ones out there and have you seen this It looks fantastic but I couldn't commit to anything like this without knowing how much it was going to be and I know some of her designs work out very expensive! I seriously think I need to stop looking at stitchy sites and do more stitching instead!

Abi has been choked up with hayfever this week, so much so school rang on Thursday for me to pick her up. So we decided it was time to review her medication as she's been on medicine for years. So we're now trying her on tablets. She's not keen as they're a bit bigger than the ones she had for her knee but I am sure she'll be fine taking them. We'll see when she has her first one today.

Well I had better get off here and dry my hair. I didn't have a lie in this morning as I couldn't sleep and my back is sore so I was up , in the shower and had had my breakfast, taken these piccies and was on here before DH got up! I must catch up on blogs over the weekend too as I am way behind!

Hope all my US readers had a safe and wonderful 4th July! Have a great weekend!

Hugs.

My RR Returns and Other Stuff!

I am here at last with a blog update! Last week was my full-ish week on Bygone Stitches A Quaker Christmas and I made pretty good progress even though I do say so myself! Lol! I actually stayed up until I'd finished the snowflake motif last night as I didn't want to leave it unfinished! You can see my last picture of it here.
Friday Chris came for a visit. We had a lovely afternoon chatting. I showed her all my stitching all over the house, some of my stash, we did a bit of trading and I saw her gorgeous Judy O' Dell Sampler Garden Casket and accessories ( not finished yet) and it made me want to start mine but I can't yet so have to be good! She forgot to bring my RR but I forgave her and we decided that she keep it, finish it for me, and send it back all done!!! Lol! Somehow I think she must have had a change of heart as my RR arrived in the post yesterday:) I'm looking forward to meeting up again soon as I enjoy her company and we get on well. Here is a pic of my RR. I couldn't get a close-up but in the next few weeks I hope to make a start on making it up into the accordian book. Should be fun!


As you know I was thinking about maybe having a new start to replace Just Nan Morning Song and I couldn't make up my mind what to do. In the end, rightly or wrongly, I decided to go ahead and start Blackbird Designs Rites of Spring:) My plan had been to keep up with the Loose Feathers and have one finished before the next one came out which worked well for the first one then went totally to pot after that! Lol! I managed to stitch a bit of the tree and one of the swans. I think it could be quite quick to stitch.

I have been very naughty this morning and have ordered this after Kate posted a link to it on the S&S forum. I ordered it from Hollie Stitch . I will never be rich at this rate but I will have some lovely stash! Still at least I'm not stashing as much as I used to and I'm being much more selective about what I buy! I tend to think long and hard now rather than jump in with both feet!

Last week I received a parcel from Sarah who I got to know through the HAED forum and we keep in touch via PM on there. She knows I have not been well and sent me these lovely things:) Thank you so much Sarah. The notepad and pen are now in my bag and the JBW chart is waiting to be started and I hope to stitch it ready for Autumn:)

I finished the biscornu for the S&S secret biscornu exchange and it's in the post. I can't show it yet although I don't think the person I'm sending to reads my blog. I don't think it'll be much of a secret as we've known each other for several years now!

I went to the doctors yesterday as I found out on Friday afternoon that he wanted to see me regarding my blood tests. There was nothing untoward showed up so my swollen jaw is still a complete mystery, which is rather annoying, but he did mention the possibilty of it being a blocked saliva gland but I would be in more pain. I wanted to scream so why the hell have I felt so ill then?!!! It's been swollen two weeks now and I'm beginning to think I'm stuck with it although it's not as swollen as it was. So it's a wait and see situation as far as that is concerned. The only thing that did come to light is that my iron levels are low again so I now have just over three months supply of iron tablets. Something else that it looks as though I am going to have to put up with! Thank you all for your good wishes. I appreciate them very much and they mean more than you could all ever know:)

Well I better end here so thank you for reading all my drivel today:) Hugs to you all.

Secret Stitching and WIPs!

Not much stitching this week although I did manage almost 10 rows of page 1 of HAED TT letter J on Tuesday night. Monday night by the time DH and I had got back from the meeting/ talk at school I did not feel like stitching as I felt so ill. The talk was pretty dull I must say but there were some points brought up that we did not know about but it was pretty scary too thinking that at the end of uni Jess could be about £24,000 in debt!

Anyway back to my stitching! Here's my progress on HAED TT letter J. I do like the way this is stitching up. It's so easy to stitch with there being so little confetti and so few colours. I can see me actually wanting to keep stitching this and finishing it! Lol!

Last night I was a bit late sitting down to stitch by the time Abi and I had got back from her review evening, had tea, washed up etc so I only got the seahorse finished on Sea Stars and another one started. I was in bed at just gone 10pm which is not like me at all. I love this seahorse! He looks so cute! Karen how are you getting on with yours?

Now that I know everyone has received their little gifts I can show the secrets I finished! I wanted to stitch a little something for Chris, Lisa, Jane and Tracy for stitching on my RR and found the ideal thing when Jayne was doing pre-orders a while ago. So here is what I stitched! The picture does not do them justice though.

Twisted Oaks Designs M'Lady's Needle Nanny

Carrie's Creations Lumiere De Cheryl

Gifts for Chris, Lisa, Jane and Tracy.

Thank you for all your good wishes for the dentist. Unfortunately I am still none the wiser as to what is causing my jaw to swell but it's up more and I have felt terrible these past few days. The dentist was very thorough and was totally stumped! So I managed to get an appointment for the doctors the same morning and saw the same one I saw at half term. He decided he wanted to do blood tests to see if those will shed some light on what is going on so I went for those yesterday although I have to go back in 2 weeks to have one of them repeated. He said that if there is anything he will be in touch and the results should be back tomorrow. So I'm keeping my finger's crossed that I am simply fighting an infection of some sort and it's nothing more serious than that.

Jess enjoyed herself at university on Monday so much so she didn't want to go back to school on Monday! Lol! Let's see if she feels that way when she's there full time!

Abi's review evening went well. I did not feel like going but it's only once a year and as DH was working late and could not go I decided I needed to make the effort and I was so pleased I did. All the teachers Abi and I saw had nothing but praise for her and I came out feeling so proud:) Apparently the group she is in has quite a lot of children who really don't want to work and one teacher said that Abi and the group of girls she sits with have kept her going which I thought was lovely. I really would not like to be a teacher these days.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my Just Nan finish:) Your visits and comments mean so much {{{{hugs}}}}.

I'm going to hang some more washing out while it is fine. It keeps looking like rain!

Hugs

The Song Has Been Sung!

Last night I finished Just Nan Morning Song! Yahoooo!!! Lol! This has been an absolute pleasure to stitch and thank you so much Nic for stitching along with me:) Not sure if I'll start something else for a Sunday or just carry on with my rotation as it is for now. I'm tempted by the BBD Loose Feathers Rites of Spring but I may wait a while and try and finish something else first!

Just Nan Morning Song

SAL with Nic

Stitched on 28 count Jayne's Attic Count on Me Jonquil

DMC

Started 13th April 2008

Finished 22nd June 2008

I am going to the dentist tomorrow. As I said last week my jaw is swollen again. It was only half term the last time it happened and I went to the doctors and he said I could be fighting an infection but leave it and see what happens. This time I decided dentist first then doctors if they don't find anything. It's the 4th time it's swollen up but this time it's happened again quite quickly. I can feel it coming on when it happens and I must admit I don't really feel well. I keep getting all hot and bothered but that could be hot sweats due to my hormones but I haven't had those for ages! Oh well time will tell. Will see what my dentist says tomorrow.

Jess has gone off to Hull University this morning for masterclasses in Biology and chemistry so I'm hoping she enjoys it:) We've got a meeting at school tonight about applying for university etc then it's Abi's parents evening on Wednesday so we're going to be busy! Not sure I want to sit through this meeting tonight but it should only be an hour and we have no idea of the why's and wherefores of university so it'll be a big help; hopefully!

Thank God the high winds have dropped today. It was awful here yesterday and rather scary. I noticed lots of leaves and branches blown off trees when I was out earlier this morning.

Have a good week everyone:)

Hugs