A Little Bit of Halloween

Yep I know Halloween is gone but I didn't get a post done before to show my finished Shepherd's Bush roll so, without further ado, here it is!

Shepherd's Bush Frightful Halloween Roll

Stitched using fabric and threads in the kit.

I just LOVE how this turned out. Of course those of you who have been visiting me for a long time will know my love of SB rolls and how many I have stitched over the years! So this one has now been added to my 2 baskets full of SB rolls! Thank you to my dearest friend Barb for gifting me the kit. Barb also stitched it so do pop on over to her blog and have a look :)

Anyway I'd like to pass the chart and leftover threads onto someone else now so if you'd like to stitch it and then pass it on to someone else please just say so in your comments.

I don't have any other finishes to show as the only other one I have is for a private ornament exchange. I'm also on with stitching another ornament for another private exchange that I do each year. I can, however, show my start on my November ornament. I had to do this one didn't I?! It's Swallick Stitchery Waiting for Santa from this year's JCS ornament mag. This one is so cute! 

No new sheepy SAL start as I've been trying to concentrate on getting the ornament for the exchanges done and I'm not sure if I'll start again now until after Christmas. There are so many lovely Winter/ Christmas charts in my stash that I always want to get done and never seem to so I'd like to maybe get at least one stitched but we shall see. Chris and I will be starting our December SAL soon ( can you believe it is only a few weeks to December?!) and I want to keep up with my HAED stitching so it'll depend on what time I have. Barb and I are going to be SALing throughout December too on Cross Eyed Cricket Winter. Barb had ordered the chart then realised she already had it so is kindly passing one onto me so we SAL :)

So I've made some really good progress on the bonus block of my AotH piece. I am desperately hoping to finish it this month. I still have to finish some personalisation on a couple of blocks especially as I decided to unpick the name on the August block as I think it will look better over 1! 

I am loving how Sotto La Neve is looking. Just looks as those sweet deer under the tree! I'm really pleased that I chose this fabric to stitch it on. I think it is perfect! 

Onto my HAEDs now. Mini Jolly Old Fellow is growing slowly but surely. I now know that there is no way he is going to be finished for Christmas but I am very happy at the progress I've made this year. When you consider all I had done at the beginning on the year was a few rows of the first page and now I have finished 4 pages! If I had stitched solely on it it would have been finished now but I can't be a one at a time girl anymore as I'd get bored!

Finally SK A Dragons History. Isn't he a cute dragon!

Typing of HAED they have just had a quick more or less 24 hour sale of 50% off and guess what?! I didn't buy anything!! That is several sales I have resisted so I am very proud of myself! I figure I'll stick at finishing the two I'm stitching then when they're done Guardian will come out again and I'll start another small one. I have way more than I'll ever stitch in my lifetime! 

That's all my news for now. Hope you are all well and keeping warm where it is cold and cool where it is warm! I was hoping we would get some snow here during the week but we didn't. Some parts of the country were lucky enough to get some but not here. I just hope we're not going to have a mild, wet Winter again. It's so depressing!

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxx

A Little Bit of Halloween

Yep I know Halloween is gone but I didn't get a post done before to show my finished Shepherd's Bush roll so, without further ado, here it is!

Shepherd's Bush Frightful Halloween Roll

Stitched using fabric and threads in the kit.

I just LOVE how this turned out. Of course those of you who have been visiting me for a long time will know my love of SB rolls and how many I have stitched over the years! So this one has now been added to my 2 baskets full of SB rolls! Thank you to my dearest friend Barb for gifting me the kit. Barb also stitched it so do pop on over to her blog and have a look :)

Anyway I'd like to pass the chart and leftover threads onto someone else now so if you'd like to stitch it and then pass it on to someone else please just say so in your comments. 

I don't have any other finishes to show as the only other one I have is for a private ornament exchange. I'm also on with stitching another ornament for another private exchange that I do each year. I can, however, show my start on my November ornament. I had to do this one didn't I?! It's Swallick Stitchery Waiting for Santa from this year's JCS ornament mag. This one is so cute! 

No new sheepy SAL start as I've been trying to concentrate on getting the ornament for the exchanges done and I'm not sure if I'll start again now until after Christmas. There are so many lovely Winter/ Christmas charts in my stash that I always want to get done and never seem to so I'd like to maybe get at least one stitched but we shall see. Chris and I will be starting our December SAL soon ( can you believe it is only a few weeks to December?!) and I want to keep up with my HAED stitching so it'll depend on what time I have. Barb and I are going to be SALing throughout December too on Cross Eyed Cricket Winter. Barb had ordered the chart then realised she already had it so is kindly passing one onto me so we SAL :)

So I've made some really good progress on the bonus block of my AotH piece. I am desperately hoping to finish it this month. I still have to finish some personalisation on a couple of blocks especially as I decided to unpick the name on the August block as I think it will look better over 1! 

I am loving how Sotto La Neve is looking. Just looks as those sweet deer under the tree! I'm really pleased that I chose this fabric to stitch it on. I think it is perfect! 

Onto my HAEDs now. Mini Jolly Old Fellow is growing slowly but surely. I now know that there is no way he is going to be finished for Christmas but I am very happy at the progress I've made this year. When you consider all I had done at the beginning on the year was a few rows of the first page and now I have finished 4 pages! If I had stitched solely on it it would have been finished now but I can't be a one at a time girl anymore as I'd get bored!

Finally SK A Dragons History. Isn't he a cute dragon!

Typing of HAED they have just had a quick more or less 24 hour sale of 50% off and guess what?! I didn't buy anything!! That is several sales I have resisted so I am very proud of myself! I figure I'll stick at finishing the two I'm stitching then when they're done Guardian will come out again and I'll start another small one. I have way more than I'll ever stitch in my lifetime! 

That's all my news for now. Hope you are all well and keeping warm where it is cold and cool where it is warm! I was hoping we would get some snow here during the week but we didn't. Some parts of the country were lucky enough to get some but not here. I just hope we're not going to have a mild, wet Winter again. It's so depressing!

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxx

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 Birthday Gift for Lainey

Oh dear I can't believe it is a month since I last blogged. I just don't seem to be able to get back into the swing of this or visiting blogs. I have, again, considered giving it up but I would miss it so if I manage one post a month then I'm fine with that even it's just for me to record my finishes etc. 

Anyway I have a month's worth of stitching to show and some photos from our holiday ( yes we took another trip up to Scotland but this time Abi came with us ).

Just before we went on holiday it was my lovely friend Lainey's birthday. I wanted to go with a sheep or snowman themed stitch as these are her favourite things ( and who can argue with that as they are mine too! ) so I decided to stitch a portion of Histoire De Moutons and I am delighted to say that Lainey loved it.

Portion of Jardin Prive Histoire De Moutons part 3

DMC and unknown fabric

Birthday gift for Lainey.

I've had a few other finishes. It seems they are like buses; you wait for one and several come along at once!

My Big Toe Designs Merry Christmas

28 count white linen.

DMC

WDC Needleworks 2016 Stocking

32 count nougat linen

DMC

Final finish is my sheep SAL with Barb piece.

Shepherd's Bush Red Snowman

Weeks Dye Works 30 count red pear

WDW, GAST and CC.

I love how this turned out. The snowman needs his nose but I have 4 buttons in my stash and they're all too big so he'll end up with a stitched one!

The other week postie brought me a surprise from The Nimble Thimble from my dear friend Barb. She knows I love SB needlerolls ( well SB in general really!) and had bought me this.

She has also bought herself one so we decided to abandon our sheep and ornament SAL just for the next few weeks to try and get it stitched in time for Halloween. I only started mine on Friday but I did manage to get a bit stitched. Thank you so much Barb I'm enjoying stitching this. It's so nice to do another needleroll to add to my collection.

Both my HAED pieces are coming along quite nicely. I have picked up SK Dragons History again and got a little stitched on it but oh last week I really wanted to just scrap it! However after Saturday's session on it I'm feeling better about it and am determined to finish it. I just have this page to finish and then a partial page to stitch!

Mini Jolly Old Fellow is looking rather good even though I say so myself. I've finished the 4th page and have gridded ready to start the next page. I don't think a Christmas finish will happen but I'll give it a damn good try!

I have been stitching away on the middle tree on Sotto La Neve and I will admit that it has been driving me mad! I did a working copy copy of the chart so that I could mark off what I'd stitched but it's not very clear and I have already personalised it ( as in made mistakes! ) but never mind! I'm happy to have been stitching birds on it now instead of just tree! Lol! It is a very pretty piece so that will keep me going!

My final WIP is the AotH piece by Blackbird Designs. I can feel the finish line! There is still a good bit to do and some of it will be over one stitching ( not good on 36 count! ) but it is looking so pretty! 

Oooh I almost forgot I finally took my Lizzie Kate Holly and Hearts Sampler to get framed. I finished this in 2013 ( hangs head in shame!). My framer did a great job as always.

When we went on holiday I took my Tilton Crafts Always with me. I didn't stitch every night but I did almost finish all the black stitching on the first page. I forgot to take a photo though so I'll take one next time.

So a while ago we decided it might be nice to go back up to the Dumfries and Galloway area of Scotland again. Abi said she would love to go with us so we decided on the last week of September and booked a lovely looking semi detatched cottage in a little village not far from Gatehouse of Fleet. We had the most brilliant few days up there visiting places we'd been before and discovering new ones. Abi loved it and we have vowed to go again next year. I'll add a few photos. The scenery is just amazing and the wildlife incredibly cute. It just takes your breath away!

Well that's all for now and I'll see you all in a month unless I manage another post before then.Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll pop by and see what you have all been up to.

Until next time.

With much love,

Sally xxxx

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