Put on Your Dancing Shoes........

and do the Happy Dance with me, albeit gently! Lol! After almost 4 ( yes 4) years the everso slightly dreaded Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV is FINISHED!!!! Wahoooo!!! This is the piece that made me swear blind that I would never do another mystery again and at one point I didn't think I would ever finish it. Now don't get me wrong there are parts of this that I love but there are also parts of it that I hate and now it's finished I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with it! I don't feel that I can warrant spending pounds upon pounds to have it framed so does anyone have any suggestions? Lol! I do actually need to find my files for this and see whether I want to add any wording to the big ribbon at the bottom. I know there's something written on it but I can't see it clearly enough on my print out. Anyway enough of my waffling; time for some photos!

Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV

32 count antique white evenweave

DMC

Delica beads

Crystals

Started 26th December 2006

Finished 3rd November 2010

Sunday evening I made a start on Little House Needleworks Frosty Flakes. I am loving this! The snowman is so damn cute!

Monday was Jane day with dear Barb and the Jane Austen Sampler Stocking. I think we are both on the verse which should stitch up quite quickly then it's the house! I do love this piece and can't wait for it to be on Jane wall. Even though it's a Christmas stocking it'll be staying up all year.

I am looking forward to my stitching for next year as I have a good few SALs and it's always so nice to stitch along with others as passionate about our hobby. I am now SAL-ing with Valerie on the BBD AotH so am really excited about that :) Joining Barb and I in the SB SAL are Colleen and possibly Julie and Colleen is also joining Lisa and I on the stash wagon lol! Laura is going to be joining Chris and I in our SB ornaments SAL :)

Right that's me for today! Off to post my finish on Stitch and Stash to keep Mr Stick happy!! Lol!

Have a great week everyone.

Hugs

Sally

xx

It's A Happy Pumpkin!

Just in time for Halloween and the end of the month I've finished my Shepherd's Bush roll for October which now means I am back on track with them! This one was such a fun stitch! Those pumpkins are so cute and there is also a witch and a ghost which you can't see in the photo as I only took this one. It's getting dark here now as it's been rather a dull day and the clocks went back last night too.

Shepherd's Bush Happy Pumpkin Roll

28 count Polstitches Nature's Grace Opalescent

DMC and GAST.

Started 20th October 2010

Finished 30th October 2010

Thank you Barb for sending me the chart. {{hugs}}

Last Tuesday I was a good girl and picked up Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV for the Stitch and Stash UFO night/ week. I was only going to do an hour but I ended up doing more as I can see the end now so that is spurring me on! Once it's finished I plan on concentrating on some smalls/ Christmas ornaments or whatever until after Christmas.

Final photo is block 9 of Shores finished!!!! It's amazing just how much I can get done on this if I stay off the PC and concentrate! The last 3 blocks look as though they might be quite quick to do so I'm still hoping for that end of year finish to enable me to start the Blackbird Designs AotH piece.

I'm going to make a start on an LHN Christmas ornament tonight. I wasn't sure which one but after seeing Lesleyanne's Frosty Flakes finish that's the one I've chosen. After looking in my stash I've decided to stitch these on 36 count Sand linen so have my fabby ready and just need to sort my threads.

Thank you for all your welcome comments on my Their Song finish. I'm saving up to have it framed and hope to get it done before Christmas. I'm now passing the chart onto Chris.

Tomorrow is Lisa and I's official start on the wagon lol! We both think we can do it and we'll be keeping each other right!

We had a quiet but very enjoyable halfterm. We bought what Abi needed for her final textiles project ( £34 we spent in Boyes- ouch!) so I guess they'll be making a start on that soon.We saw Jess the same day and we took her for some lunch and she wanted to do some grocery shopping too. She seemed really happy and settled and it was so good to see her and give her a hug or two! I'm not really looking forward to DH going back to work and Abi going back to school but I'll get over it! Lol!

My smear results arrived through the post yesterday and I am happy to say that everything was normal so that's that for another 3 years :) Yay!

Right I'm going to sort my threads now for Frosty Flakes. Enjoy the rest of yoir Sunday whatever you are doing!

Hugs

Sally

xxx

Their Song is Sung:)

Another finish from me today:) I have been determined that this would be finished but I didn't quite get it done on Sunday evening so I have stitched a little on it yesterday and today and finished it. I have loved every single stitch of this and a huge thank you to Nicola for passing this chart onto me:)

Blackbird Designs Their Song

40 count linen coffee dyed

DMC

Started 8th August 2010

Finished 26th October 2010

I'm planning on getting this framed soon and it'll be hung in my hallway with my other Blackbird Designs pieces.

So now Their Song is finished I'd like to stitch ornaments on a Sunday evening starting with the Little House Needleworks ones I have and hopefully some from the JCS ornament mags.

I had quite a good couple of evenings on CHS Shores and I also stitched a little on it on Sunday afternoon as well. I expected the rocks to take ages to stitch but they go surprisingly fast!

As always last night was my night stitching along with my good friend, Barb, and Jane lol! I finished those adorable sheep ( I love sheep) and also got the next row stitched and made a small start on the verse so I'm looking forward to getting on with that next Monday :)

As you may see from the ticker at the top of my blog I am on the stash wagon!! Lisa and I were chatting the other night about our new start on the 1st January. We are starting one of the Kelmscott hornbook designs and I was deciding which one to order and couldn't so thought about ordering both but was feeling guilty lol! Anyway Lisa suggested we both go on the wagon from 1st November to 1st February so that's what we're doing. If we need threads to complete a project then we're allowed but other than that we're not!! Obviously things we already have on order we are also allowed. There have been several times we've been on the wagon before and most of the time we fail before the time is up but now and again we have done well so, hopefully, this will be one of those times!

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my last post and the stitched piece I did for Michelle:)

Take care everyone.

Hugs

Sally
xxx

Follow Your Heart

I am so proud of what I have to show you today :) Michelle and I have done some trades recently ( our tastes are so very similar!) and she said she'd be happy to receive something stitched by me as well as TSG JA Sampler Stocking chart when I've finished stitching it. I knew straight away what I was going to stitch and although I haven't finished it exactly as it says on the chart I actually prefer it the way I've done it!

L'Atelier Perdu Follow Your Heart

stitched 1 over 1 on white 32 count evenweave

DMC

Started 5th October 2010

Finished 20th October 2010

For Michelle.

I added some homemade cording to the scissor etui as I thought that finished it off much nicer than leaving it off. I just hope Michelle has some scissors that will fit in as the pair you see in the photo are the only pair I have that would fit nicely! She received this yesterday and I am so happy to say that she loves it :)

Here's my Halloween tree! Not much on it so it's a good job it's only a 2 foot tree! There is nothing hung on the back of it! I found the bellpull and the San Man piece you see under the tree in one of my stitching drawers. I do have a Lizzie*Kate design too that was hung on my hallway wall. I found that in a box and hope to make it into a flat fold this week to stand next to the tree.

Tonight I hope to finish Blackbird Designs Their Song so I may be back with another finish soon. I am also close to finishing Shepherd's Bush Happy Pumpkin Roll which I started on Wednesday once I'd finished the stitching on Follow Your Heart. Yesterday was such a horrible day I spent all afternoon stitching on it then last night I stitched on Shores. I want to do a bit more on that this afternoon as it's another horrible day. Not quite sure what happened to the sunshine we're supposed to have!

I am happy to say that Debbie at Stitches N Things was lucky enough to pre-order the Just Nan Christmas Sheep Ornament Pocket and Woolly Ewe Winder for me :) I might get my DH to put it away for me for Christmas or my birthday though.

Lisa and I have been chatting about what we are going to stitch next year. Lol! My "biggy" for next year, as I've already said, will be the Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart. In fact I think it will be my biggy for part of 2012 as well! Barb is starting Shepherd's Bush The Journey so I asked if I could join her and stitch SB Emmanuel's Song and she said I could so I think we may starting the first Monday of the New Year ( correct me if I'm wrong Barb!). Sometime in the New Year Lisa and I are starting Little House Needleworks Travelling Stitcher and we're also going to have a small new start on New Years Day!!! Possibly something we can start and finish on the day! Lol! That Lisa is such a bad influence; she really is!!! Lol! Something else I really want to do next year, in place of the SB rolls, is stitch an SB ornament a month from the JCS ornie mags. I think I've mentioned that before and Chris is going to join me. So next year is another to be another stitchy filled year, God willing of course.

It's half term this week so I'm looking forward to having my DH and Abi at home. I think we will just be chilling for the week although we will be going out on Wednesday as we're going to pick Jess up and maybe have some lunch out. I need some wee bits from Hobbycraft for my PIFs and Abi needs some stuff for her final Textiles project so a visit to Boyes is in order too!

Thank you to everyone who left good luck comments for my smear. I am so glad to get it over with for another 3 years as it was so uncomfortable. I came out of the surgery and I was so close to tears but never mind. It's done, just have to wait for the results, and I can relax again. Also the government spending cuts that were announced on Wednesday are really going to hit many people very hard. We still don't know what's going to happen with the agency my DH works for but we think it may be OK, fingers firmly crossed.

Hope everyone has a lovely week. I'll be back soon with my WIPs and maybe a couple more finishes:)

Schoolhouse Roll

It's another roll and a few more to go! Lol! I can't actually remember how many more I have in my stash to stitch but I do know that I need to buy three more! Now out of those three I bid and won one for a very good price on Ebay so once I have that one in my hands I only need two more. Anyway here is the roll I started last month and have finally finished

Shepherd's Bush Schoolhouse Roll

32 count vintage green linen

DMC & GAST

Started 29th September 2010

Finished 17th October 2010

I didn't have the school bell charm and had nothing suitable to put in its place so haven't added anything. Now I need to get the Happy Pumpkin one started and finished for Halloween!

I am very happy with my two evenings progress on Shores. This block is going so well and I am hoping to get back on track and have this one finished by the end of the month.

Last night I stitched on Blackbird Designs Their Song. It's almost finished! I would have managed to stitch more but I had to frog but I did get what I took out restitched and more done besides so I was happy :) I think this will be finished next Sunday!

The pre-order that I did yesterday was for the Just Nan Christmas Sheep Ornament Pocket which you can put the Vintage Woolly Sheep thread winder in. I had a newsletter from Deb at Stitches n Things and read about it on there. It is limited though so I may not be lucky enough to even get one even though I've pre-ordered as it just depends on how many each shop orders. Keeping my fingers crossed! I usually miss out on things like this or just don't bother but I'm not with this one. It may be the last stash shopping I do for a very long time unless I have funds. Our government are announcing massive spending cuts this week and I have to say I am extremely worried as my DH works in the public sector and that's where the cuts are going to be. Whether or not it will be in the department he works for or not we shall have to wait and see but I fear that whatever this new coalition government do it won't be pretty and will cause a lot of hardship and possibly throw our country back into recession. Anyway enough of those depressing thoughts!

Stitching plans for the rest of the week are The Sampler Girl Jane Austen Sampler Stocking with Barb tonight, tomorrow night is UFO night so the Christmas mystery will be coming out for a while, then until Friday I'll be working on getting Michelle's trade piece finished and made up :)

Other plans, my Dad is having a home visit from an optician on Wednesday afternoon so I need to be there and Thursday afternoon I have my dreaded smear. Last time I had one it was extremely uncomfortable and painful so as you can imagine I really don't want to go but a bit of pain and discomfort for a possibly life saving thing is better than the alternative.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments on my first flat fold finish:) I am so pleased with how it turned out and have it on display. I intend to leave it out all year!

Whatever you are doing hope you have a wonderful week.

Take care

Hugs

Sally

xxx

Winner of the LHN Chart

Just here quickly to announce who has won the LHN Holly & Berries chart then I'm going to try and get warm and stitch. I used a random number generator and popped the number of the post and name of the person and here is how it came out!

There were 14 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1.5 Christina

2.12 Lindsay

3.1 hazel

4.10 Sheila

5.16 PegC

6.25 Maureen

7.15 Patty C

8.20 Ellen

9.24 CalamityJr

10.23 Lisa

11.13 Srinity

12.8 Christine

13.9 Cath

14.2 Nicola

Timestamp: 2010-10-17 12:28:11 UTC

The winner is Christina!!! Congratulations Christina! Please email me your address ( although I think I may have it ) and I'll pop the chart in the post to you as soon as possible:) Enjoy!

Right I am going to try and finish my Schoolhouse Roll now :) I've been very naughty today and pre-ordered something but I won't tell you about that just yet but I will say that I think I'll have to not buy anymore stash for a while!!! It's not expensive as I won't pay loads of money for stash but it is a limited edition!

My First Flatfold

Yesterday I decided to try my hand at making a flat fold :) Now I've never tried this before so had absolutely no idea how it would turn out! I had seen a tutorial for a framed flat fold and thought that would be ideal for Little House Needleworks Holly & Berries so I started cutting card and fabric and steadily worked my way through each step, getting very nicely glued up in the process, and ended up with this :) of which I am very proud! I think I would have liked my cording to be a little thicker plus I would have liked something to cover the join in it but I don't have anything suitable. Other than that I LOVE it! Oh and the bow at the top is off a box of Thornton's Continental Chocolates! It really does pay to save these things ;)

I used Angela's tutorial on her Hooked on Stitches Tutorial blog. Do go have a look if you haven't done before. I'm sure that there are many of us who appreciate these ladies such as Angela and Vonna who take time out to do these tutorials for us so thank you ladies :)

Tuesday evening it was time to pick up my Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV and, for all I did not do much, I did do some! I filled in the rest of the metallic on the wing then made a start on the hair. By 9pm I decided enough was enough so I picked up the piece I'm stitching for Michelle for our trades but I ran out thread so had to put that away! I now have the thread so hopefully I'll get that finished and made up soon.

My other stitching is the SB Schoolhouse roll I started in September but didn't get finished so I'm hoping to finish this and stitch the Happy Pumpkin one too this month. This is my progress on the Schoolhouse one so far :)

Tonight and tomorrow night is Shores and I'm looking forward to getting lots more done on block 9 stitchingalong with Lisa who is stitching Spooky but next week I think she's joining me with her PS piece in order to get a bit more done on it :)

I think I'm going to have a lazy day today as I have Abi off ill with this cold/flu bug that seems to be doing the rounds. She's been dreading getting it and hoping that she wouldn't but as I type this she's in bed fast asleep, bless her.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for all your lovely comments. I do love getting them and reading them :)

Hugs

Sally

xxxx

A Little Snow!

That doesn't mean we've already had snow here on the east coast of England! Lol! It's snow on my latest little finish! I actually started this a few weeks ago but it fell by the wayside while I've been trying to get some Halloween ornaments stitched and as I still only have 5 of those stitched with the said day fast approaching I'm quite disappointed in that fact! I am hoping to get a couple more done if I can. Anyway back to my finish!

Little House Needleworks Holly and Berries

36 count Flax linen

DMC

Started 1st September 2010

Finished 12th October 2010

I haven't decided how I'm going to finish yet but I want to finish it as soon as I can.

If anyone would like this chart please leave a comment saying so on this post and I'll pick a name at the weekend :)

Onto my WIPs now and proof that I actually did stitch on Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV last Tuesday! I have to admit that when I took the photo this morning I thought no I have to stitch on this tonight! I want to get it finished but I so don't want to stitch on it BUT I will! Just incase you're wondering what that is I've stitched it's a cherub's wing!!!

I can't show what else I stitched on in between this and Shores so we'll move onto Shores! I had a good two evenings stitching on this especially on Saturday evening as I got new reading glasses that day so even though my eyesight has only changed very slightly it did make a difference getting new specs! This block is going really well and I am enjoying it which makes all the difference doesn't it? Lisa I hope you had a good two evenings on Spooky!

Sunday I really wanted to get Blackbird Designs Their Song finished but it didn't happen so maybe next Sunday? Lol! Not that I'm really in any hurry but it would be nice to start ot get started on SB Emmanuel's Song. I really LOVE Their Song. Love the colours, the saying, the birds, everything! This piece will be framed when it's done and hung with my other BRD pieces. I haven't had anything framed in ages so I think I deserve it! Lol!

Last night was my Jane evening with Barb! I was determined to get onto the sheep and I did just that! Not quite a complete sheep but nearly! I just need to fill in the Wisper thread next week then I can start on another. I know Barb started the sheep as well so we are about at the same place :)

I had a couple of trades again with Michelle :) We have so very similar tastes in designs it's spooky! She sent me Renato Parolin Peace Joy Love and The Sampler Girl My Everything ( which is to stitch for my DH) so thank you so much Michelle. I'm still stitching on your trade piece and it'll be with you as soon as :) I also had another RAK from Lesleyanne of LHN Merry Skater :) I really need to get my finger out and get some of these LHN ornaments stitched. Thank you so much Lesleyanne :)

Right that's all from me today :) Hopefully I might just be back with another finish in a few days if I can stay off this PC and get on with things!

Take care everyone.

Hugs

Sally

xxx

A Little More Halloween Stitching!

I am determined to have a good few ornaments on my little black tree so that I have a decent display so here's another little cutie that I started last Thursday. I decided to stitch it on a scrap of 18 count linen I had leftover but I used 2 strands of thread and it's come out a bit bulkier than I would have liked. I also made a huge boo boo when I cut this. This wasn't the intended finish but I cut it too close and couldn't make a stuffed ornament! So the felt came to the rescue!

Waxing Moon Designs The Spooks Are Out

18 count linen

DMC and GAST

Started 30th September 2010

Finished 3rd October 2010

As this has pumpkins on it this will count towards my finishes in Becky's Great Pumpkin Challenge 2010 :)

I have my fabric and threads ready for my next Halloween ornament but I must do some other stitching first before I start that!

My two evenings on Shores went rather well. Block 9 was duly started amidst threats from Lisa to kick to my butt and this is what I got done. I did come across a teeny mistake I'd made with the birds, well two actually, but I am not about to frog so the mistakes will stay!

More stitching was done on BBD Their Song on Sunday evening. I would really love to have this finished soon as my plan is to start Shepherd's Bush Emmanuel's Song and have it on my wall in time for Christmas but the weeks are flying by and I'm not holding out much hope of making that goal!

Last but by no means least is last night's progress. As always Mondays are Jane days with Barb and TSG Jane Austen Sampler Stocking. I had to do a teeny bit of frogging on this so didn't get quite as much done as I would have liked but never mind :)

As I finished Chatelaine Spring Morning the other week I need to pick another UFO for UFO night with the girls from Stitch and Stash. As promised I'm going to finish Chatelaine Mystery IV which I started ( wait for it) Christmas Day 2006!!! Those who read my blog back then will know that I fell out with this maybe about half way through the year and it totally put me off ever doing another Chatelaine mystery :( If I am honest I am not really looking forward to picking this up but it needs finishing and what better way to do it than with the threat of a bashing from Mr Stick and Julie! So for those who have never seen my UFO before here's a piccie for you. I only have another cherub to stitch so it's really bad that I've never finished it! I don't know what I'm going to do with it when it is finished.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my last post. It really makes my day when I see that someone has left me a comment :)

I have added some threads to my For Sale page is you'd like to have a look. If you are interested please email me ( email in my profile)

I have so much that I really want to stitch I hardly know where to start! I was saying to Lisa when we were chatting the other day that I don't have time to go out to work or do housework with the stitching I want to do! Of course that h word has to be done or we'd be knee deep in dust!

Speaking of working I had a look at the local outlet shopping village this morning to see if there were any jobs going and was surprised to see a few but nothing I really fancied. I know a lot of people might say why be so choosy but if I'm going to have to do this I'm going to do something I want to do! There was a job at Thornton's but it was only 9 hours a week and you would eventually be trained up to be senior assistant manager and I don't want that sort of responsability or to end up being full time.

Right I'd better see if I can my pictures to uploa properly now. It seems to take Blogger ages to fix stuff but I find it so easy to use that I don't want to move elsewhere!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Take care

Hugs

Sally

xxxx

Little Floral Needlebook and Tricks or Treats!

It is a horrible day up here today after the gorgeous sunshine we had yesterday so thought I'd do a blog update then maybe sit and stitch once I've polished the living room floor :) Please excuse the state of this post. I am having terrible problems with blogger today. It seems they have a problem with their new blog editor and uploading photos so suggest reverting back to the old editor to upload photos, which I did, but now my writing is all over the place!!! I hope they fix it soon as it's a right pain! It was working fine when I did my last post!

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my last post. Louise and Ousman loved their gift and Louise said they would treasure it :)

I've had a couple of finishes this week. That is the beauty of stitching smalls and it's something I really want to do more of next year if I can. The first one is a gift for Heather as it was her birthday yesterday. I wasn't sure she'd receive it in time as I was still making it up late-ish on Wednesday afternoon but DH popped it to the PO for me and, low and behold, it did arrive on the day :) I heard from Heather and she loves it :)

Cherished Stitches Little Floral Needlebook ( Gift of Stitching magazine)

32 count linen

DMC

Started 22nd September 2010

Finished 29th September 2010

Stitched for Heather.

I did not have the linen threads for this so stitched it in normal DMC and I love the way it turned out. It was a little fiddly to make up but I would definitely do another:)

Next finish is another Halloween ornament from this years JCS Halloween ornament issue. I absolutely love the colours in this one. This is also my first finish for Becky's Pumpkin Challenge 2010! I'm hoping it'll be the first of a few as I have really got a bee in my bonnet about having plenty of ornaments on my black tree and also having a nice Autumnal display :) It seems now the more I stitch the more I want to stitch!

Val's Stuff Tricks or Treats

WDW 30 count fabric

DMC

Started 28th September 2010

Finished 29th September 2010

I went to my local arts and crafts shop to get some purple ribbon to edge this with but saw this brilliant orange and purple cording so had to have some of that as well!! I love how it goes so well with this ornament :)

I did make a small start on my SB needleroll for September but it's not worth showing. I'll finish it this month and hopefully make a start on another! I chose the Schoolhouse Roll for September and will, hopefully, do the Happy Pumpkin one for this month!

My only other stitching to show is my progress on my SAL with Barb from Monday evening. Of course it's The Sampler Girl Jane Austen Sampler Stocking. I LOVE how this is coming along. There is still loads to stitch yet as it's huge but I'll soon be at those gorgeous sheep!

 

And speaking of JA and The Sampler here is a piccie of the start of my JA/ The Sampler Girl wall :) This is at the side of my staircase and I hope to have more up there as I stitch each piece I have :)

I had a lovely trade with Elisa this week. She wanted to buy or trade my EEF Love Letters and she had one of the LHN ornament charts on her for sale/ trade list so we traded and it arrived on Wednesday. Thank you for trading Elisa and I hope you enjoy stitching the EEF :)

I also had these lovelies from Lesleyanne :) She emailed me to say she'd been looking at my wish list and had some charts that she'd stitched that she wanted to send me and these arrived yesterday:) Thank you so much Lesleyanne; I love them and hope to stitch them soon. I think Lisa and I are going to do a SAL of Travelling Stitcher after the LHN December SAL so I'm looking forward to that. Does anyone know of a DMC conversion for this? has anyone stitched it in DMC if they've had the chart passed onto them? As I promised I will stitch a little something up for you:)

Finally a piccie for Ellen of where I have my Chatelaine pieces hung. As you can see there is a space for Autumn Dusk when I eventually get that one stitched lol!

Thank you to the 5 ladies who have signed up for my PIF. I will be emailing you if I need your address :) I need one more; any takers???? If not I will pick someone at random to receive the 6th one :) ETA Thank you Barb for being my 6th victim lol!

And if you've stuck with me this far thank you :) As always I truly appreciate your comments so do please leave me one if you have the time :)

Take care everyone.

Hugs

Sally

xxxx