Speedy Stitcher ~ Cross Stitch and Stuff

A quick round up!

2012-02-09T19:11:00.000Z

So last week in the rotation it was 'Joy to the World'. This is over half way there now, a lot of beading to do.

Not the best photo but the flash reflects off the paper too much. At the weekend I was able to add a few more stitches to the Heirloom Wedding Sampler. The next part really will be the Hardanger!

This week It was back to White Nights. A couple of good stitching sessions have really moved this one on quite a bit.

This is a close up of the boarder.

It's fright night came back from the framers last week so here is this project in its bespoke frame.

That's a quick round up of my stitching fortnight. Next week is half term here in the UK so I have a week off work. On the rotation it should be a Halloween project, I will need to start a new one, and I haven't decided which one yet!

I hope wherever you are the weather is not too bad, it's freezing here and not looking good for the weekend, snow and more snow, not fun.

Happy stitching!

A romantic theme!

2012-01-30T19:05:00.002Z

Last week I managed to achieve my aim with the Heirloom Wedding Sampler. All of the Kloster blocks and other foundation work for the Hardanger section was completed by the end of Wednesday evening.

So what was I to do? I didn't want to do any more on this because, as I've mentioned before, stitching with white on white is hard work. I had a late evening in school on Thursday and on Friday I was off across The Pennines to stay with my fiancee for the weekend. So, like you do, I started something new!

As you can see I also finished it. This is the Potpourri Heart from The Sweetheart Tree. This came in kit form and is stitched with DMC floss on 32ct opalescent raw linen. The actual design is less than 4" x 4" and is really delicate. I might splash out and get this one framed professionally.

The reason for braving what turned out to be a horrendous journey on Friday evening, there was so much snow on one stretch of the M62 that they closed it, too late for me I was already trying, with difficulty to get through that bad section, was to go to York to pick up our wedding rings from the jeweller.

No prizes for guessing which one will belong to me! This is the photo I like.

I'm sure there's something symbolic about it.

Back to Christmas stitching this week, fingers crossed Joy to the World will be finished, if not then nearly.

Happy stitching!

Next up is the hardanger!

2012-01-23T17:32:00.000Z

I was pleased with my progress on White Nights last week. With three late-ish evenings at work and two nights of wedding stuff sorting This was my progress after two evenings stitching.

Over the weekend I was able to do a little more on my Heirloom Wedding Sampler but I noticed, when I had completed the first row Algerian Eyelets, (the second to last row on the photograph) that I had counted wrongly and was one thread out. Where was the mistake? On the previous row so yesterday afternoon there was a major attack of the frogs as I had to unpick most of the weekend's work. Anyway, I managed to stitch it all back up and some more last night.

The next part is the big Hardanger section. I am still yet to decide what to do on this, my fourth and final rotation week, so for now I am carrying on with this. Mind you stitching with white on white is hard work and quite often I have to use the magnifier so I might intersperse the sampler with White Nights. The again I might be tempted to start this.

It's the Finery of Nature, part of the Gold Collection by Dimensions. I have had this in the stash for years and was reminded of this kit when I saw that Daffycat has started it over on her blog. Anyway I haven't decided what to do but it is here on the sofa trying to tempt me!

Happy stitching!

A change of plan

2012-01-16T18:25:00.000Z

So last week on the rotation it was the turn of White Nights. This was my progress after one evening's stitching.

I say one evening's stitching because, as the post title suggests, there was a change of plan. I had visitors from Tuesday until Friday and White Nights with it's frame etc is on the large side to have out, so that gave me the excuse to start something new. I started , and finished, It's Fright Night from Poppy Kreations.

This was stitched as charted on the recommended fabric, 28ct hand dyed Jobelan, Stormy Grey, using the overdyed floss suggested. I have the bespoke frame for this so you will see it again when it comes back from the framers. There was no progress made on the Heirloom Wedding Sampler this week but I'm hoping to do some more at the weekend.

This week, to make up for last, it's back to White Nights.

Happy stitching!

Thursday's post on Sunday!

2012-01-08T19:20:00.000Z

So, totally forgotten by me was that I had to attend a presentation evening at school on Thursday evening, hence, no post and no stitching. The rest of the week was not as bad for stitching. At Christmas I my Mum gave my sister and me a Kreinik Stitch-A-Pen kit. Mine was Silver Snowflakes. Here it is stitched up.

And here it is inside the pen.

Before Christmas I bought a copy of Cross Stitcher magazine because I liked the cover kit which was some cross stitch gift tags. I have stitched four out of six of them.

I changed the Aida in the kit for 28cout antique white linen which made doing the fractional stitches easier. This week was Christmas week on the rotation so as well as finishing of these gift tags, which I will use as tree decorations, I managed to put a few stitches into Mill Hill's Buttons and Beads Winter Series, Joy to the World.

To be truthful the Heirloom Wedding Sampler has had quite a lot of time spent on it tis week, well I am working to a deadline. Here are the latest progress pics.

I changed the type of letter and the colour from that suggested on the chart.

I'm really enjoying doing this project. There are only two, maybe three more rows to do before the Hardanger section at the bottom. The embellished heart is the next thing to do at the top but that will be the last thing I do as I don't want the stitching to get squashed in the scroll bars. This week its back to White Nights.

Happy stitching!

The final finishes of 2011, the first of 2012 and a Wedding Sampler!

2012-01-02T15:06:00.001Z

Happy New Year to everyone. Just a quick post as this is the last day of the holidays and I want to get in as much stitching as possible.

Before Christmas I finished the Silvery Tree from the Mill Hill Festival of Trees series.

My Mum gave me a stitching project on Christmas Day. I don't usually see my family until New Year, and this Christmas Day sewing project has become a bit of a tradition. This year it was Santa's Sleigh Ride by JBW Designs.

This was stitches as charted with a mixture of the recommended Weeks Dye Works floss and DMC alternatives on the 28 count Antique White Opalescent linen provided in the kit. I did Santa's beard in cross stitch instead of the recommended French knots.

My first finish of 2012, completed this morning, is The Pink Snowman from Shepherd's Bush. If you remember, I left the original kit on the train, but fortunately not the stitching itself! Anyway a replacement kit arrived from America just before Christmas so I have been able to finish it sooner that I thought.

This Year the rotation is back, and Farmville on Facebook has been blocked, as this was seriously eating into stitching time! At the moment to rotation is looking like it is going to be White Nights, a Christmas project, a Halloween project, and something I haven't decided on yet, each for a week.

For Christmas my Mum gave me the stuff to do the Heirloom Wedding Sampler from The Victoria Sampler. Here are some photos of my progress so far.

As I am getting married on April 7 and I want to have this completed before 'the big day' the rotation may not quite work to plan as I will need to do a little on this every week. This is what I will be working on for the rest of today. Hopefully more progress photos of this weeks stitching on Thursday.

Happy Stitching!

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-24T16:52:00.000Z

A different type of stitching?

2011-12-19T17:24:00.001Z

Today I finished my final Christmas ornament, another Santa from The Prairie Schooler. I've stitched this one five times now! I ran out of gold beads so two of them were finished with green ones.

My gift from 'Secret Santa ' this year was a small stitching project which I started yesterday and finished today, Appropriately most of this was stitched on a train. I made sure I left nothing behind this time! I'm not sure how I will finish this one. At the moment I'm thinking of buying a paperweight, I think Framecraft do them, and finishing it that way. I changed the aida for linen but apart from that this was stitched as charted. The design is called Steam Train and it is from a company called Mouseloft.

My next piece of train stitching will be The Silvery Tree from the Mill Hill Festival of Trees series. This is the last one to stitch as I did the other five last year. As you can see I've made a small start.

The cross stitching may take a back seat over Christmas and New Year as I have a different stitching project to do.

Yes, it's Sara Lund's red jumper from the second series of the Danish thriller 'The Killing'. Only as you can see I'm doing mine in a teal like colour, not red.

This is likely to be my last post before Christmas and possibly until the New Year. Next year the rotation is back!

Until then I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a happy New Year.

Pink Snowman disaster!

2011-12-07T18:44:00.000Z

A couple of weekends ago, whilst away from home, I made a start on the Pink Snowman from Shepherd's Bush. There was quite a lot going on that weekend; what with my Dad's birthday and going for meetings at our wedding and reception venues. So, unfortunately, I was not able to complete this project in a weekend. I say unfortunately, because if I had, the following disaster might not have happened. I put the snowman project on hold for the week and instead stitched White Nights in evenings.

Last weekend I stayed at my fiance's so on the Thursday evening I packed my weekend stitching, the Pink Snowman and some smaller projects. On the train journey to his I did some stitching on one of the smaller projects. Before leaving the train I packed all my stuff away and checked I had left nothing behind, or so I thought. The next morning I got the Pink Snowman out to stitch him but there was no chart and no floss, I did have the clay buttons. A frantic search of his house followed and on Sunday one at my house in case I hadn't packed the chart in the first place, but no, the chart and the floss have gone. I must have left them on the train! This is as far as I got.

So I am now waiting for a replacement kit to arrive!

White Nights has now been put away for December. The middle tower is finished except for the backstitching, beading and the one over one section at the base of the tower.

White Nights has been put on hold for December because, as promised, St Nicholas Tree Skirt, now officially a UFO has been taken out. This isn't quite where I left it at the start of the year as I managed to do a little stitching last night.

The next train journey is planned for a fortnight's time and I will be triple checking that I have not left anything behind!

Happy stitching!

Quick update

2011-11-22T20:56:00.002Z

Firstly here is my latest progress pic of White Nights.

I have also managed to frame Catgirl & Catboy from Jardin Privé. The frame came from Wilkinsons. For the first time I have been able to keep the glass as usually the fabric stretched over the padded board is too thick for a shop bought picture frame.

I have also managed to stitch a small Christmas ornament from The Prairie Schooler.

This was stitched as charted using DMC floss on 28ct Lambswool linen. The chart was a freebie.

I am thinking that there is only one week left on White Nights as in December St Nicholas' Tree Skirt might get an airing.

Happy stitching!

Purple is done, pink, red, bue and green still to go!

2011-11-07T20:24:00.000Z

I'm talking about the snowman series from Shepherd's Bush. This weekend was a weekend away. White Nights is too big to take anywhere so on Thursday evening it was a trip to the stash room to find something that could be stitched in a weekend. I was tempted with a Halloween project but I decided to go with the Purple Snowman.

Some progress was made with White Nights.

This week I will be continuing with White Nights.

Happy stitching!

Back with a finish!

2011-10-31T18:05:00.001Z

Sorry for the delay since my last post. I have had a busy few weeks and stitching has taken a bit of a back seat. However, I can report that I have a finish. Warm Water Wash from Raise the Roof Designs.

This was stitched on 28 ct Glacier by Picture This Plus with the recommended overdyed floss from Crescent Colours. The buttons are from Just Another Button Company. The whole thing came in kit form from The Nimble Thimble.

Last week was half term here in the UK so we spent a few days in Amsterdam. Here are some pictures.

We visited a few interesting places including the Dutch Resistance Museum, The House of Bols, a must for anyone who likes cocktails. Here is a picture of me trying to identify one of the 36 different types of Bols liqueur.

We also visited Amsterdam's Extracold Ice Bar where we had to wear really thick coats and gloves to have a drink in a bar where the walls, seats, tables and bar and even the glasses we drank out of were made out of ice. This is a shot of the normal bar before you go in.

Don't get me wrong the two days we spent in Amsterdam were not spent in bars. We did find this gem of a cafe/restaurant in Amsterdam's Central Station.

This week it is back to White Nights. I know I've been saying this for a bit but this week it's going to happen.

Happy stitching

At last a finish!

2011-09-29T19:31:00.000+01:00

At long last I have a finish! Halloween Night by Mill Hill was finished this week.

This looks better than it does in the photo as the flash is reflecting off the paper. We might be having a heatwave here in the UK but the nights are still drawing in!

This weekend is a 'Railway Weekend' but despite this I'm still hoping to make some progress on Warm Water Wash. Next week it really is back to White Nights.

A little progress

2011-09-15T20:17:00.000+01:00

Well, since my last post there's not been much progress on any of my WIPs. Why? Two reasons, OK, excuses. Firstly, it was back to school and things have been a bit hectic but calming down now, fingers crossed. Secondly, there is a wedding to plan. Thanks to everyone for their congratulations and best wishes on my last post. Rest assured my posts over the next few months are not going to be all about 'the big day' which has been set for April 7 next year.

What little stitchy progress I have made has been on Mill Hill's Halloween Night.

With a bit of luck this should be finished next week then it's back to White Nights.

When I came home from 'The Railway' the other weekend I couldn't resist taking a photo of this. Good enough for Snow White.

They taste good too!

I'll leave you with a picture of where we will be geting married. Whittington Castle in Shropshire.

Happy stitching!

Otherwise engaged!

2011-09-01T14:01:00.000+01:00

Quite a lot has happened in the two weeks since my last post. On Thursday 18 August the plan was to go into school for A Level results day and then travel over to my boyfriend's in the afternoon. His Mum was coming down from Scotland on the Friday for the weekend and we had planned a surprise trip on a steam hauled train from Leeds to Carlilse over the famous Settle to Carlisle Railway on the Saturday. His Mum was due to travel back on the Tuesday and I would come home as I needed to be in school for GCSE results on Thursday and Friday. As I said, that was the plan. Everything did go according to it apart from the fact that I did not come home on the Tuesday because on the Wednesday my boyfriend took the day off work and we went shopping in York for this:

On the Thursday evening, in one of our favourite restaurants, he proposed!

Now it so turns out on that Thursday I started a new stitching project which I managed to finish before the shopping trip. I was Just Nan's 'Tulip Bunny' WhimZi.

This was stitched on 32ct lambswool Permin linen with the recommended DMC floss. All it needs is a frame and a suitable place in the house as a memento of a special weekend!

On finishing in school on the Friday I drove to The Railway for the Bank Holiday weekend. We had a busy two days. I was guard on one of the trains on Saturday and on Sunday was 'promoted' to level crossing gate keeper!

As a reward for opening and closing these metal gates over forty times during the day I was given a the chance to be a bus conductor on one of the many vintage buses that were on display this weekend for The Railway's Classic Transport Weekend.

That was Sunday. In the evening we went to my Mum and Dad's as we were taking them out for a meal as a thank you for our holiday in Belgium, well that's what we told them, and it was half true. The meal became a double celebration as my boyfriend asked my Dad for permission to marry me whilst my Mum and I were out of the room. Well I think that's what happened as neither my boyfriend or my Dad can actually remember what was said!

The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind trying to find a suitable venue fro the marriage ceremony and for the reception. Fingers crossed this is all now in place and we are looking at a Easter wedding.

What with all this going on there has been very little stitching. These are some progress pics. Firstly Warm Water Wash.

I also started what I thought would be a quick stitch Mill Hill's Halloween Night. These projects usually take about a week but like I've said I have been otherwise engaged!

Three starts and two finishes!

2011-08-17T15:36:00.000+01:00

It's been a busy few weeks since my last post. With a 60s Weekend at 'The Railway' followed by a weeks holiday in Belgium then a few days at home, a couple of days at my boyfriend's followed by a weekend in Scotland. With all that travelling I've been busy stitching. Firstly my Belgian holiday stitching was 'In the night' by Jardin Privé. I began when we emerged from the Channel Tunnel in Calais and finished it before we came home.

This was stitched as charted using DMC floss on 32ct opalescent white linen. The only change I made was stitching it with one strand of floss rather than two. For the last twelve months or so I have been framing most of my own work. This frame came from Wilkinsons and is a 7" x 5"photo frame made out of solid wood. I've used this style frame a number of times and this was my last one. To my disappointment Wilkinsons no longer stock this range so for my next batch of framing I had to buy a different type of frame. Here it is with 'Trick or Treat'.

And a larger frame with 'Witches Riding By'

It turns out that this range of frames better as the way the back clips on is more secure. So that's the framing over with, back to the stitching. I had a couple of backup projects in my stash bag just in case I finished 'In the night'. The first back up project was the 'Owl Winder Pocket' from Just Nan.

Here it is made up.

This was stitched as charted on 28ct opalescent raw linen with DMC floss. I also started 'Warm Water Wash' from Raise the Roof Designs.

Progress has also been made on White Nights, but not since last week. I hope to continue with this after the weekend.

That's all for now. Happy stitching!

The results are in!

2011-07-26T17:47:00.000+01:00

Thanks to everyone who voted in my 'What to stitch over the summer holidays' poll. The winner was 'In the night' by Jardin Privé. This is now kitted up and in the sewing bag ready to go on holiday, along with another two projects, just in case.

Late last Thursday I put the final stitch in to my Tuscan Gardens II UFO.

This has been a UFO for a number of years. I have the third Tuscan Garden project in my stash, let's hope that when I eventually start to stitch it, it does not have the same fate. I finished the larger Tuscan Gardens I a number of years ago. I do have two more Christmas themed projects which have become UFO's over the last twelve months, I started stitching on one of those again last weekend. Progress pics on that one next time maybe.

So far this week I have been stitching White Nights. My aim this week is to finish the lower portion of the middle building on the left and right hand side. Here is my progress so far.

I was lucky enough to receive a blog award from Becka, The Stitching Lion, thanks Becka. At the moment I am not in a position to pass this on, maybe in a few weeks when things are a bit less hectic.

Happy stitching!

Nearly there!

2011-07-11T19:07:00.000+01:00

Look at what I managed to achieve after a weekend at 'The Other Railway'

There's not much to do now! I might be tempted to try and complete Tuscan Gardens 2 this this week, wait and see. I would have finished all the cross stitching on this project if I hadn't finished the DMC mini kit snowman.

I've not decided how to finish this off as at 4" x 4" it's a bit too big for a Christmas tree decoration (I don't have a massive tree). Any ideas?

Last week I managed to complete the sections of the White Nights border I set out to do. I was also able to make a start on the central buildings. here are the border sections before the project was rolled up.

Finally Waxing Moon's Simply Welcome came back from the framers. The frame is a bespoke frame especially for this project.

Thanks to everyone who has voted on my poll on the sidebar. If you have not all ready done so there is still time to vote. more information can be found in the previous post.

Happy stitching

The border is started and help is required.

2011-07-04T18:48:00.002+01:00

Last week I made good progress on White Nights. I started and finished the tallest tower. The previous week I completed the other three towers, which only needed the odd stitch and the beads putting on. This is a picture of the first two towers.

Last night I started on the border. My aim, this week, is to complete the small section of border on each side so that I can roll up in order to stitch the large central group of buildings.

There are now only fourteen school days left until we break up for the summer holidays and my mind is turning to holiday stitching. Some time will be spent on White Nights but I fancy a new start but what? So, in order to help me choose I'm going to have a poll.

These are the choices.

In the night ~ Maggi Co's Village range from Jardin Privé

Counting Bats ~ Just Nan

Winter Arbor ~ The Drawn Thread

Three Gables ~ The Cross Eyed Cricket

The poll will close on Wednesday 20 July. So please help me out and get voting!

Please register your vote in the poll on the sidebar.

A quick update!

2011-06-27T21:14:00.000+01:00

Shock horror almost three weeks since my last post! however, on the stitching front things have been progressing. After finishing the Three Tulips Humbug I started Lady Scarlet's Secret Garden, also by Just Nan. what with one thing and another I've had a couple of disturbed stitching weeks so I can't tell you how long it took to stitch. However, I can tell you that the finishing took an evening. Here is the needle book before finishing.

Here it is made up and inside Lady Scarlet.

The back has a the same design but in a different colour. Here it is.

Last week I went on a school trip to the University of Manchester. Whilst travelling to and from the event I began a DMC mini kit. I did a little bit more on it yesterday after wearing myself out tiding the garden, on probably the hottest day of the year so far. The subject of this project?

At 'The Railway' this weekend I was able to put a few stitches into my Tuscan Gardens UFO. There really isn't that much to do on this one and with another 'Other Railway Weekend coming up I have high hopes that this will soon be finished. This week it's the turn of White Nights. I did make some progress on this last week but not enough to show. So to finish here is Tuscan Gardens.

Happy stitching!

3 Violets Humbug is finished

2011-06-09T20:36:00.000+01:00

This evening I finished 3 Violets by Just Nan.

This was stitched as charted using DMC floss. The fabric should have been 28ct Zweigart periwinkle prism, cashel linen. However, it soon became apparent when I started stitching that The Silver Needle had supplied me with 32ct instead of 28ct so the humbug is slightly smaller than it should be!

So what next? I have kitted up another Just Nan project which I might start tonight but next week I might go back to White Nights. But then again I might not, as with one thing and another, I will only have two stitching evenings next week. I might just have to finish my latest start!

All the threes...

2011-06-06T20:18:00.000+01:00

So last week, half term here in the UK, there was a slight change of plan. I went to my Mum and Dad's for a stitchy Bank Holiday Monday and took with me Witches Riding By. I got on quite well and decided to try and finish it during the week, rather than go back to White Nights. Late on Tuesday it was mission accomplished. Here she is

This was stitched, as charted, with DMC floss on the recommended fabric, 36 count Sand Edinburgh linen. I took the one over one option with the face and arms, a magnifier was needed for this bit! As you may know I like to stitch on planes, trains and in the car, not with this project. The 36 count fabric was just too fine, in fact I don't want to stitch on such fine fabric in the future, if I can help it. Having said that I started, and finished, a new project on Wednesday and what was it stitched on? 40 count gauze!

This was a Rainbow Butterfly Pin from Rosewood Manor. This is the stitched piece.

Here it is in it's mount.

So that you get a true idea of the finished size here it is with my stork scissors.

Next my third finish of the week! This is Catgirl & Catboy from Jardin Privé. This was stitched on 32 count opalescent white linen. I stitched this with one strand of Soir d'Alger 3446 instead of the suggested two strands of DMC 310. The other alteration I made was the noses of the cats. I used pink for the girl and blue for the boy. I also made a major error with this piece, but as it wasn't noticeable I left it in. The two cats are four stitches closer to each other than on the chart, I can't count!

The next three is my latest start, the 3 Violets Humbug from Just Nan. Most of this was stitched at 'The Other Railway'. Here's the proof, taken in Bewdley North signal box on The Seven Valley Railway.

This is the progress so far

The thread picker was christened!

2011-05-26T21:22:00.000+01:00

As promised here are some update photos of my progress on White Nights this week. Unfortunately I've had to christen the newly manufactured thread picker I showed you last time! The purple tower did have a roof. It was only when I came to fill in the windows, the last job on the tower that I realised I had missed out a whole row of stitches. Hopefully I will be able to re stitch this before going to bed.

Here is the building on the opposite site.

This weekend is a' Railway Weekend' so stitching will take a back seat until Monday but the good news is that next week is half term so there should be plenty of opportunities for more stitching, probably on White Nights as I feel like I'm on a bit of a role with this one at the moment!

Happy stitching!

More White Nights and a beading project!

2011-05-24T18:28:00.002+01:00

At the weekend I was able to finish the beading on the south side buildings of White Nights. Here it is, turned the 'right way up'.

I was also framed Little Witch from Shepherd's Bush.

Over the weekend I also started something new. This is Catgirl & Catboy from Jadin Privé's Maggi Co's Village range.

I am stitching this on 32ct opalescent white, the same fabric I'm using to stitch White Nights.
Last night I had a short break from stitching and made this thread picker using left over Mill Hill beads, some other left over beads (the coloured ones) and a #26 needle. I'm quite pleased with the result!

Work continues on White Nights. Progress pics on Thursday.

Happy stitching!

White Nights Update

2011-05-19T20:38:00.001+01:00

It's unusual for me to post twice in a week but I'm so pleased with my progress on White Nights that I have decided to share it. The south side buildings are finished, with the exception of some beading and three Algerian eyelets. Here is the full view.

This is a close up of the centre portion.

This weekend is a non railway weekend. I might start something new or I might continue with Witches Riding By. Next week I'm going to continue with White Nights.

Weekend Stitching

2011-05-16T19:02:00.000+01:00

This weekend was spent at 'The Other Railway' and involved a very early start, 05.15 on Saturday morning, but it was light, so I was able to start stitching as soon as we hit the motorway. Well to be correct start frogging! I had a bit of a bad week on Waxing Moon's Welcome having to frog the M and the E with their connecting vine. That error was quickly rectified and then I noticed that I had stitched the centre heart in the wrong place. That was the early morning frogging job. Anyway, the heart was re stitched and the lazy daisy garland completed all before elevenses.

The bespoke frame for this project is waiting at the framers so i will post another photo when it is framed.
I spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday stitching Witches Riding By from Lavender Wings. There's still quite a lot to do on this one but I hope it will be finished soon. I was going to continue stitching on it this week but as I have four evenings to myself I'm going to go back to White Nights. Here is how I left Witches Riding By.

Happy stitching!

A finish and a start

2011-05-02T21:02:00.000+01:00

This bank holiday weekend I finished Trick or Treat from Shepherd's Bush.

This came as a kit. The fabric is 32ct lambswool linen and the floss is a mixture of Soie D'Alger and Mori silks. The moon button is really great, here's a close up.

The new start is Simply Welcome from Waxing Moon Designs. This is my progress so far.

Happy stitching!

Spring Frills is finished!

2011-04-27T18:53:00.000+01:00

The Easter weekend was a railway weekend with a differnce. Good Friday was spent at the Seven Valley Railway, to be known from now on as 'The Other Railway' where the new BF is a signalman. Saturday and Easter Sunday were spent at 'The Railway' which is actually the Llangollen Railway in North Wales. The BF went back to ' The Other Railway' on Easter Monday whilst I went to my mum's. So over the weekend I was able to do quite a bit of stitching, finishing Just Nan's Spring Frills humbug. Here it is before it was 'finished'.

Here is the humbug made up.

This week I have continued stitching Trick or Treat from Shepherd's Bush.

I'm hoping to finish this over the Royal Wedding weekend and hopefully make another new start, fingers crossed.

Holiday Stitching

2011-04-19T19:09:00.000+01:00

On Friday 1 April we broke up for the school's 'Easter Holiday', more appropriately renamed the 'Spring Holiday' as we have gone back to school before Easter has happened.

Time was spent between home, my BF's home, 'The Railway' and our holiday destination. Anyway, good excuse to start something new! Although at 'The Railway' my Tuscan Gardens UFO did get some work done on it.

The first, yes first, new start was Just Nan's Spring Frills Humbug.

Now because this involves quite a few floss colours it was not suitable for taking abroad, well that's my excuse, so my holiday stitching was Trick or Treat from Shepherd's Bush. The holiday consisted of flying to Munich and staying there for two nights then travelling by JetRail to Budapest for a three night stay before flying back home. Although I had my stitching with me I didn't do any on the flight out. The first opportunity I had was on the train journey between Munich and Budapest, which lasted seven hours. But disaster, so so it seemed, I had forgotten to pack a hoop! Luckily Trick or Treat is stitched on Permin linen, which, if anyone has used it, is like stitching on cardboard so I was able to stitch 'in hand', not my favourite method. Anyway the results don't look too bad.

Here are a few photos from the holiday. Firstly Marienplatz in Munich followed by the Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest and the view from Budapest's Citadel.

I hope everyone has a great Easter break. I'm off to try and finish my two new starts!

Happy stitching!

Minerva's Mouse

2011-04-04T17:30:00.000+01:00

Last week I continued to stitch on White Nights. I only managed two evenings stitching and was quite pleased that I almost managed to finish another tower. So yesterday after returning from a 'Railway Weekend' I thought I would only have to do about ten stitches before the tower was completed. Well that's what thought did. On closer inspection I had missed a row of stitches and had to frog all of last week's efforts. I did, however, manage to restitch the whole tower last night.

As the last few weekends have been Railway weekends I have done some work on my Tuscan Garden UFO.

Having re stitched the tower last night I made a start on Minerva's Mouse from Just Nan. This was a really quick stitch. Here she is before finishing.

Here is the finished mouse.

And the mouse with the Minerva.

I'm off to stitch Witches Riding By. Progress pictures next time.

Happy stitching

White Nights update

2011-03-24T22:15:00.000Z

White Nights has been on the rotation for the last two weeks. As a result of a change in home circumstances I am managing, on average, two evenings a week stitching whereas before I was able to stitch for four evenings a week. This is the progress I have made.

The two towers have involved lots of colour changes and frequent visits upstairs to 'the stash room' in search of floss. The plan with this is to finish the 'south side' picture and the border before moving on to the west and east sides. This picture shows this week's progress in relation to the 'bigger picture'.

I am tempted to continue with White Nights again next week but I might go back to Witches Riding By.
I have also made some progress on my UFO. Photos of that next time.

Happy stitching!

A finish!

2011-03-13T22:11:00.000Z

Hot off the needle, here is Little Witch finished!

This project came as a kit. The linen is 32 count Zweigart Country Mocha and it was stitched with Au Ver a Soie silk threads, some of which were overdyed. All I need to do now is frame it which will be a job for when I next have a weekend at home.

As mentioned in my last post the rotation is being re launched with White Nights. I've just uncovered it this evening and am looking forward to making a start tomorrow!

Some progress at last!

2011-03-10T19:21:00.001Z

This week I feel that I've got my stitchy mojo back. On Monday evening I was on a roll with Little Witch from Shepherd's Bush. Then disaster! I ran out of one of the threads provided in the kit. Now the kit said that the thread colour was Au Ver a Soie 3844, soft black. So 3844 was duly ordered from Sew and So and as per usual it arrived the next day. Second disaster, the colour I had run out of turned out not to be 3844 as stated on the chart but, after searching through some other Shepherd's Bush kits 3846! So I'm now waiting for that to arrive. This is my progress to date.

I've enjoyed stitching this witch but as I sit on the sofa I see White Nights which has not been stitched on since Christmas so next week I think it might reappear on the rotation, which I am going to resurrect.

Happy stitching

Some good reasons for not much progress?

2011-02-22T19:52:00.023Z

So, the new project I decided to start was Little Witch from Shepherd's Bush. Just the right size for stitching in the car and I knew there was going to be a lot of travelling to come. This is how much progress I made.

Not much for a week, I have to admit, but when you are travelling through scenery like this who can blame me for looking rather than stitching?

These are views of the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Skye the latter being where I spent a few days last week. This was a surprise trip organised by my new BF, and it really was a surprise, I had no idea where we were going.

So I hope you can understand the reasons for the lack of progress. \i'm carrying on with Little Witch this week so, hopefully, I will have more to show next time.

Witches Riding By

2011-02-11T20:23:00.000Z

Working with children/teenagers has many rewards but it also has its downsides. One of them being that you can catch their diseases. In my case tonsillitis! Coupled with a very bad cold/cough the result has been over a week off work. So, when I've felt up to it I have stitched on Witches Riding By from Lavender Wings. I am really pleased with the progress.

There is a little bit of backstitching still to do on the owl and the dress. The unstitched section at the bottom is all white with a verse to be backstitched on top. The face and arms are done in one-over-one. This is my progress so far on her face.

Next week I'm going to start something new but for various reasons I don't know how much I will manage to do. Possibly more in the next post!

Happy stitching

By the way I am now fully recovered.

Pretty Winder Pocket

2011-02-06T17:33:00.001Z

Earlier on today I finished the Pretty Winder Pocket from Just Nan.

I have really enjoyed stitiching this little project. Tonight I'm hoping to rediscover Witches Riding By which will be my stitiching for next week.

Happy stitching

I chose ...

2011-02-02T18:21:00.000Z

... Just Nan's Pretty Winder Pocket.

Shown with my stork scissors to give you an idea of the size and also, the beaded scissor fob happens to go perfectly with the colours in the design! This has been stitched on the recommended overdyed fabric, 28ct zweigart opal angel song cashel linen. The top square is complete, except for the beads and the majority of the middle square has been done. The final section is only half the size of the other sections so it shouldn't be too long before this one is finished! I know it should have been Witches Riding By this week but after being in a really bad slump I want to get a finish under my belt so that will now reappear next week.

Tuscan Gardens UFO

2011-01-26T17:02:00.000Z

Apologies for the lack of posting recently. Lack of posting has reflected a lack of stitching on my part, for reasons I won't go into, but which may become apparent in the future. I have managed to do a little work on my Michael Powell Tuscan Gardens UFO.

Stitching a UFO is probably not the best idea when stitching is the last thing on your mind but I will persevere, at least until the weekend, when I might start something new! Next week I should be stitching on Witches Riding By. I was really enjoying this project before I gave it up for Christmas stitching so I'm looking forward to picking it up again. I hope if anyone else out there is in a stitching slump you soon get out of it. Start something new! In fact I might just do that this evening on thinking about it. Off to the stash room to see what takes my fancy!

Happy stitching!

Festive Fifteen, finished!

2011-01-11T21:35:00.000Z

This evening I finished Just Nan's Festive Fifteen. Before I give you the finish photos here are pictures of the last five squares. Just out of interest can anyone spot the deliberate mistake, fortunately spotted before finishing?

This is the finished item.

So having finished this I have stuck to my guns and have begun stitching on my Michael Powell 'Tuscan Gardens' UFO. Progress pics on this to follow!

Happy stitching!

The final finish of 2010 and the first finish of 2011

2011-01-02T15:30:00.001Z

Between Christmas and New Year, despite entertaining The Other Half's relatives I managed to finish a couple of things. Firstly, Chessie's Fern Pincushion & Fob from Chessie and Me. This was a gift from Father Christmas and was started on Christmas Day.

I also finished the Stitcher's Favourite Biscornu from The Sweetheart Tree. This project has been lurking in my handbag for what feels like the best part of twelve months, I know that is an exaggeration, but a long time at any rate. As you can probably tell I'm pleased it's finished! Here are the usual shots, firstly the completed stitching followed by the finished item.

I finished this late on New Year's Eve so it only just made it as the last finish of 2010!

That brings me on to the first finish of 2011. Again a project that has been lurking in my handbag for a few weeks if not a couple of months and, yes, my handbag is reasonably large! This is the Old Fashioned Tree from the Mill Hill Festival of Trees series.

So what does the New Year bring on the stitching front? I was very lucky as Father Christmas enhanced my stash with some really interesting projects which I will share with you as I get round to doing them. But firstly I have decided to suspend the rotation and blitz some of the things that have been hanging around too long, mainly the St Nicholas Tree Skirt, followed by the Timeless Elegance Ornaments and my Tuscan Gardens UFO. The ornaments will probably remain as my weekend stitching but I'm trying to go with no new starts until the other two are finished! With so much lovely stuff in my stash I don't know how long that New Year's resolution will last. But first I need to finish Festive Fifteen. Four more squares to go and the final finishing. I didn't hit the last target on this one, maybe next weekend?

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year and I hope Father Christmas enhanced your stash too!

Christmas Eve update.

2010-12-24T23:16:00.000Z

I made good progress on White Nights this week. The floss used in the windows of the middle building really makes them look like stained glass.

This week I also stitched a three of Just Nan's 'Holly Knot'

This looks better in real life than it does here.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Pre Christmas update.

2010-12-21T19:11:00.000Z

Despite not posting for nearly a fortnight I have been stitching. I've now finished ten of the Festive Fifteen squares. Here they all are.

I've made a start on one of the last five squares. There seems to be less work on these so I'm hoping for a Christmas Eve finish, fingers crossed.

Be Jolly By Golly arrived back from the framers.

On Saturday morning we woke up to 17cm of snow! This is the photographic proof.

As a result of this snow fall I was prompted to finish Icy Hill by Just Nan. I started and finished the stitching on this one in the first week of January, the last time we had any significant snow. I finished it as a bell pull. The pull ware is made by Framecraft. This picture is not too good but it gives you an idea.

This week I'm stitching White Nights during the day and carrying on with Christmas stitching in the evening, but I'll say more about the later, after the weekend.

Happy stitching!

A festive finish

2010-12-06T19:20:00.001Z

Last week, despite other Internet commitments mentioned in my last post, I managed two finishes. First was Sylvia's 'My Little Heart' SAL. I changed the December picture from the nativity scene designed by Sylvia to a Christmas tree.

Here is the completed piece. Thanks go to Sylvia for providing this fun SAL.

The second finish was 'Be Jolly By Golly' from Waxing Moon Designs. I stitched this on the recommended fabric, 28ct Wichelt 'Star Saphire' linen, with the suggested over dyed floss.

This should be off to the framers this week so, with a bit of luck I might get it back before Christmas.

I also managed a few stitches on a Mill Hill Festival of Trees decoration. I actually made better progress on this than shown. Only I made a massive error and had to frog quite a lot!

A fortnight ago progress on White Nights was not great so I'm leaving any photos of that project until next time. Back on the rotation this week it's Just Nan's Festive Fifteen.

Happy stitching!

Disaster darling!

2010-11-22T21:01:00.000Z

That's what Craig Revel Horwood from Strictly would say if he were to judge my stitching efforts last week!

So first up is 'Be Jolly By Golly'

Not much progress there then. A mitten and a bit of an arm.

The one success story of the week was that I did finish the November picture for Sylvia's 'My Little Heart SAL'. This time I made some modifications to the chart to make it more suited to November in the UK. I kept the lady, stitching during the long November evenings, and added some fireworks for Bonfire Night, November 5, and some poppies for Remembrance Day.

As for The Railway's Green Book homework? I did do some, but not enough. Will try harder this week on both the Green Book and the stitching, as it's back to White Nights. This is where I left it.

The reason for this disastrous week? See below!

Christmas stitching

2010-11-14T20:54:00.000Z

As soon as I had published my last stitchy post I asked The Other Half for his advice, now this doesn't happen very often! Should it be the Mill Hill or the Waxing Moon? As anticipated his choice was the Mill Hill design. As anticipated because he doesn't like things with words or alphabets on! So I chose to do the Waxing Moon design 'Be Jolly By Golly'.

Next week on the rotation it should be the turn of the Santa tree skirt . There's no way this will be finished in time for Christmas 2010 as I still have one and a half Santas to do, plus all the fancy couching, not looking forward to this bit either, as I've not done any couching before. So I,m going to continue with Be Jolly By Golly and Festive Fifteen. I'll leave you with a photo of my 'homework'. I really do have to get my nose stuck into this ready for a test in the New Year. Wish me luck!

And finally my Shepherd's Bush Pumpkin Stew came back from the framers this week. It's been ready for ages but I'd not had a chance to collect it. Photo in the sidebar gallery.

Remembering

2010-11-11T00:01:00.001Z

Festive Fifteen is started

2010-11-09T18:36:00.000Z

Last week my Christmas stitching began with Just Nan's Festive Fifteen. I managed to complete five of the squares but not all the beading.

Here are some close up pictures of the squares with beads.

This week I might start another Christmas design from either Waxing Moon Designs or Mill Hill. The Mill Hill will probably win as I'm looking for a reasonably quick finish as I've lost one evenings stitching this week because of having to do stuff for work. Then again I may change my mind! As they say in Stingray 'Anything can happen in the next half hour'!

Thanks for all your great comments. I really appreciate them!

The last halloween ornaments of 2010

2010-11-02T18:41:00.000Z

Last week it was the half term holiday so no work for me, of the payed variety. We did, however, decorate the kitchen and do one or two other bits and bobs around the house. I was able to finish two more Halloween stockings from Blackbird Designs, Candy Corn and Haunted House.

I did take a picture of my light tree decorated for Halloween but it didn't come out too well for some reason. Sticking with the Autumn theme I was also able start and finish the Just Nan Autumn Humbug ~ Autumn Glory.

I still have the Spring one of these to do but that won't be until next year now, as it's time to start the Christmas stitching! This week it's Just Nan week on the rotation and I've started Festive Fifteen but there's not enough to show just yet. Last week it was the Santa Tree Skirt. I'm quite pleased with the progress I made on this although I'm not sure it will be finished for Christmas this year!

White Nights Part 7 is finished!

2010-10-25T13:36:00.000+01:00

Another White Nights happy dance!

This week it's half term so I have a week off. I can't decide whether to carry on with White Nights in the day, to get a head start on part 8, or to stitch the Santa Tree Skirt, which is on the rotation this week, in the day and during the evening. Anyway, before such decisions have to be made I have some more Halloween stockings to finish.

This morning I finished the Just Nan Tricky Tweets, Jackie Lantern, which was one of my birthday stash enhancements from last weekend.

I stitched this on 28 count Dawn Cashel linen from Picture This Plus using the recommended DMC floss. The five pence piece is shown to give some idea of size.

This weekend was a Railway Weekend. Whilst walking up the main street in Llangollen I saw, in a shop window, some items which could enhance my Halloween display. One of the items was duly bought. Here she is.

Called Alizon Device after one of the real Witches of Pendle she is part of the, you've guessed it, Witches of Pendle range, from Sawley Fine Arts. Whilst looking at their site, which I recommend you do, I noticed that one of the witches in the range was called Jennet Device. This was a must have as we share the same first name, only mine only has one N, a long story, but my Dad is to blame for the missing letter. By the way, in real life Jennet Device was not actually a witch. So an eBay purchase later and another Lancashire Witch is on it's way back to Lancashire!

I'm off to finish the ornaments as my Weeks Dye Works Carrot should now be dry, having been through the washing machine in a Floss-a-way bag as it was in the back pocket of my jeans!

Spooky Scissor Fob

2010-10-19T17:22:00.000+01:00

Last weekend we stayed at my Mum and Dad's so I was able to get a lot of stitching done. I was able to start and finish the Spooky Scissor Fob from Shepherd's Bush. I finished this into an ornament for the light tree. This is the front.

This is the back.

Last week on the rotation it was the turn of Witches Riding By. I'm really pleased with the progress I'm making on this one. The dark parts of the sky, owl, broom and the dark parts of her dress are finished.

At the weekend it was my birthday. I got lots of lovely things, including some stash enhancements. The Other Half also bought me some handmade chocolates and a bottle of Champagne. The chocolates look too good to eat!

I also received a teddy bear dressed as a witch. Here she is with the Spooky Scissor Fob.

Happy stitching, Halloween or otherwise, to everyone!

Ghastly, Ghostly Ghouls!

2010-10-10T16:55:00.000+01:00

Ghastly, Ghostly Ghouls! was my Just Nan stitching for this week.

I stitched this on 28ct Zweigart Cashel Linen, Cobblestone , using the recommended DMC floss. The coffin charm is quite bulky and hides a surprise.

Here is a close up of the coffin when it is shut

and open!

Today was a finishing off day. Firstly I made 'By the Full Moon' into a pillow to hang on the light tree.

I also finished the Trick or Treat stocking into an ornament. I've run out of black beads so the cotton perle hanger is a temporary one.

Next week's stitching has a Spooky feel to it as it is back to Witches Riding By. But there are still a few stitching hours left today so it could be a new start, probably with a spooky theme!

Happy Stitching

Some progress is better than none at all!

2010-10-04T20:27:00.000+01:00

That's how I feel about The Cream Santa. In reality I'm almost up to his beard but there's a lot more stitching to do on his other side.

This weekend was a Railway Weekend and despite a ten hour shift in the signal box on Saturday I managed to complete the stitching on the Blackbird Designs Halloween stocking called 'Trick or Treat'.

I should be able to finish this off into an ornament for the light tree next weekend, along with 'By The Full Moon', a design by Tracy Horner, of Ink Circles, which appeared in this year's Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue.

I stitched this on 28ct lilac linen from Zweigart using the recommended overdyed floss.

On the way to 'The Railway' I stitched the October picture for Sylvia's My Little Heart SAL.

So that was it for last week. This week is Just Nan week and I have a small Spooky item to stitch. Mind you, this evening it has taken me about an hour and a half to compose this post. Is anyone else having trouble uploading photos with the new Blogger compose/edit feature? Some of these photos have taken up to five minutes to upload. I even switched to The Other Half's laptop in case my PC was a fault, hence no fancy signature this time.

Spooktacular Pumpkin

2010-09-26T17:36:00.003+01:00

So much for doing another Halloween stocking that did not involve much work. The one I chose to do next took longer than expected. I also missed out some of the charted stitches. This is 'Spooktacular Pumpkin'.

As with last week's stocking this was done on 32ct lambswool with the recommended overdyed floss. I've made a start on the next stocking, this one does involve less work!

This morning I was able to stretch and mount Pumpkin Stew, so that is off to the framer this week. With a bit of luck I should get it back in about a fortnight to ten days.

Last week on the rotation it was White Nights. This is a bad photo of my third corner. I managed to complete the two minarets in four evenings.

After the final corner, next month, it will be on to the buildings in the middle and then the border! Yes, well that sounds good, but in reality I'm still on part 7 of 12. This week it's the turn of the Santa tree skirt but I've been enhancing my stash with some more Halloween stuff which I might have to start! Who knows?

A spooky stitching week

2010-09-19T18:03:00.000+01:00

I did, eventually, finish Pumpkin Stew but not on Sunday evening as I had anticipated. Instead it was Tuesday! This was because I had a support evening for parents at school on Monday and the time I got home I didn't fancy doing any sewing. This project was an early birthday present from my Mum and Dad.

This Shepherd's Bush design was stitched on16 count hickory heathfield, as suggested, with the recommended DMC Cotton Pearle #5.

After stitching on 16 count fabric for a week going back to Witches Riding By on 36 count linen was a bit of a shock. Here is my progress on this so far.

This week the witch gained an owl, part of a broomstick and a little more sky.

This weekend I made another attempt at rectifying my lack of Halloween ornaments to hang on my light tree. This is 'Whooo's knockin' at my door?' and is from the chart booklet 'Tis Hallowe'en' by Blackbird designs.

This was stitched on 32ct lambswool, left over from Mary Wigham, using a mixture of the recommended overdyed floss and the DMC alternatives. There are a number of other stockings in this booklet that I would like to stitch so this evening I'm going to choose one which involves a little less work!

Next week on the rotation it should be either the Santa tree skirt or White Nights. 'The OtherHalf' has chosen White Nights so with another late night in school on Wednesday, this time for Open Evening, it will be interesting to see how far I get.

Hope you all have a good stitching week. With a bit of luck, after this week, I should be able to return to my usual two posts a week.

Quick post

2010-09-12T20:24:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to show you what I've been up to this week.

It's Pumpkin Stew from Shepherds Bush and I'm hoping to finish it tonight. More about this project next time.

Stitching update and something completely different!

2010-09-05T19:35:00.019+01:00

WARNING this post is picture heavy but the something different really was very special!

This week it was back to school for me. Things were a little hectic, hence no posts for a bit. Last weekend it was a Bank Holiday here in the UK. We spent it in London. This meant quite a bit of time in the car so I was able to start and finish 'Trick or Treat Tree' by Pat Thode of Heartstrings/The Artists Collection. The chart was published in this year's Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue.

This was stitched on 32ct Crystal Peach Linen with DMC floss. I used glow-in-the-dark Kreinik braid for the ghost and the facial features of the cat and pumpkin. I finished it as a pillow using some left over Mill Hill beads on the edges.

On Tuesday I downloaded the September chart for Sylvia's My Little Heart SAL. I think I've mentioned before that each of these takes an evening to stitch.

On Wednesday it was back to school. I don't remember such a hectic first day back for a long time, and the pupils weren't there! I was leaving just as the caretaker was locking up!

Thursday was a little better I got home at a reasonable time. The Other Half met me at the door and asked me if I would like to have a flight in a hot air balloon this weekend. A friend of ours belongs to The Royal Engineers Balloon Club (for UK readers this is a private club for Army members who contribute towards it ~ no tax payer money is involved). They were hoping to fly at the Llangollen Show this weekend but their pick-up driver, the one who drives around following the balloon in order to help retrieve it when it lands, was not able to go, so they needed stand in ground crew, in return their partner would get a flight. So I volunteered our services. At six o'clock on Saturday morning we were there at the launch site to help out. Here are some of the photos to show you what happens.
Firstly the whole thing is laid out. The balloon part is actually called the envelope.

Next the envelope is inflated using cold air as hot air a this stage would cause the nylon material the envelope is made out of to melt.

When the envelope is almost fully inflated the burners are used to warm the air up. The whole thing is turned upright and after a few final safety checks take off soon follows. Here are some of the pictures I took from the air.

Looking up into the envelope. Yes it was warm when the burner was going and very noisy!

Dawn over Dinas Bran

Close encounters!

This round segment is called the parachute and forms the braking system. The pilot pulls on a rope and the round section folds in like a parachute causing hot air to leave through the top of the envelope. When fully inflated it is possible to stand on the parachute and not fall in!

GPS giving the flight details.

The balloon.

This was a fantastic experience. In the evening the balloon flew again and we were part of the recovery team. The balloon landed in a nearby campsite. Loads of adults and children went running towards it as they thought it had crash landed. Now that's what I call dropping in for tea!

White Nights progress report

2010-08-26T16:12:00.022+01:00

As you know the houses making up Part 5 of White Nights have been getting me down. I started stitching them in January and have managed one house a week on the rotation. One good weeks I've managed to stitch some of the corner sections making up Part 6 as per the cunning plan put forward by my Mum back in January.

At the start of the school holidays my Mum came up with yet another suggestion which was to stitch White Nights during the day and do the rotation pieces in the evening as normal. So for once I actually listened to my Mum and did what she suggested! I am please to report that Part 5 is finished!

As is Part 6.

And half of Part 7!

The whole thing looks like this so far.

Despite all this progress this week has not been a productive week stitching wise. On Tuesday I had to go into work as it was GCSE results day and yesterday we went on a 'Steam Special' called 'The Fellsman' from Preston to Carlisle and back over the historic and picturesque Settle to Carlisle Railway. This was a fantastic day out. I would recommend this trip to anyone as the scenery is beautiful. The weather was on our side. Here are some photos from that trip. Firstly the loco Leander, which pulled our train, standing at Carlisle station.

Next a view of Pen-Y-Ghent from the train.

Some of the people who had turned out to watch the train.

These people, and many more were watching the train go over this...

... Ribblehead Viaduct. Started in October 1870 this viaduct took five years to build. A temporary brickworks was constructed nearby making 20,000 brick a day for the viaduct! You can not get a good picture of a train on a viaduct whilst you are on it yourself so this is one I found taken of our trip here, a spectacular sight!

I will finish this post by returning to White Nights, the success story of the summer. Glass of wine and a happy dance tonight!

Another tree to add to the festival

2010-08-23T19:18:00.006+01:00

Before going away for the weekend I was able to put the final beads into the Victorian Tree.

Over what turned into a busy 'Railway Weekend' I was able to put a few stitches into my Tuscan Gardens UFO.

The replacement pin for Just Nan's Summer Wings Humbug also arrived. So here it is complete with pin.

This week it's back to White Nights progress pics on this one on Thursday.

Happy stitching

The Green Santa is finished...

2010-08-19T15:56:00.007+01:00

... with the exception of a small bit of cording between the buttons and the blue bird's eye, only noticed this as I uploaded the picture. I have made a small start on the next figure.

I still have one more evening to go on this so I'm hoping for more progress tonight. Last weekend was spent away so there was little opportunity for stitching. However, I did make some progress on the Victorian Tree. Only the beading and the candles to do on this one.

Some questions have been asked in the comments to the last few posts. Here are the answers. The frame that White Nights is being done on is an Elbesee floor frame whose rollers will take fabric 36" wide. White Nights is 31" wide so the smaller 30"
frame would have been too small. The frame came from Sew and So and about this time last year (here)stopped White Nights becoming a UFO.

I would like to hang some Halloween ornaments on the light tree but I don't have any. Only two Just Nan WhimZis in their frames which might be too heavy. An excuse for dropping everything and remedying the situation?

The new 'Happy Chair'

2010-08-12T17:50:00.011+01:00

As mentioned in my last post, here is a photo of my new chair.

When I ordered this chair back in April I felt really stupid in the shop, checking out where the legs were and how wide it was. Why? Because the chair had to be narrower than my largest stitching frame and the legs had to be far enough back so that the frame could be pulled as close into the chair as possible. The lady in the shop probably thought I was mad. Anyway, it is the new 'happy chair'(term lifted from Spinster Stitcher's blog) The eagle eyed amongst you may notice some of the progress that has been made since it's arrival!

Last week on the rotation it was Just Nan week. After finishing Floral Fifteen I made a start on her Summer Wings Humbug. I chose this one rather than The Spring Frills Humbug as I thought it would be a faster stitch. It took just over a week of evenings to complete. Here it is before being 'finished'.

I stitched this on 28ct over dyed linen from DoveStitch, I've no idea what the colour is called. The next photo shows the humbug made up but without it's pin as mine had a crystal missing and has had to be sent back. A replacement is in the post.

This week on the rotation it's back to Witches Riding By.

For those of you who are into Halloween stitching check out some of the latest designs by Just Nan. Called 'Spooky Spirits of Tombstone Hill', this is my favourite!

Next week it's the return of the Green Santa to the rotation. He missed out last month with my being away on the field trip. Here's hoping he gets finished and I make big inroads in to the next one. For now it's back to the happy chair for me and
the first episode of season four of Ugly Betty which started last night.

Happy stitching!

Floral Fifteen is finished!

2010-08-04T18:07:00.009+01:00

Here it is!

This is the other side.

I stitched Floral Fifteen using the recomended DMC floss on 28ct Zweigart Antique White and Mint Green Cashel linen. Each small square took just under an evening to stitch and the whole thing the best part of a day to put together. I enjoyed stitching this so much I'm tempted to start Merry Fifteen!

Over the weekend I stitched the August motif for the My Little Heart SAL. This time there was a choice of charts. I chose the sunflower.

I also managed to add some more stitches to Witches Riding By. I'm really pleased with how this one is turning out.

I'm off to choose a 'new start'. progress pictures next time and a photo of the new 'Happy Chair' as Spinster Stitcher would call it!

Trees and viaducts

2010-07-30T18:26:00.015+01:00

This week we have had a few days away in the North of England, Berwick-Upon-Tweed and Durham to be exact. When The Other Half mentioned our plans to a friend from 'The Railway' last weekend he went home and got us a suitable book entitled 'Borders Railway Rambles' and a map showing disused railway stations of interest, many of which have now been turned into homes. Well, that was it. We spent the first two days finding old stations and, more interestingly, disused viaducts! This is a picture of Twizel Viaduct followed by one of the view from it.

The most spectacular was this one. The Leaderfoot Viaduct with nineteen piers, the tallest being 120' high.

We did do other stuff. The Ford and Etal Estate is well worth a visit with it's working flour mill and fantastic buildings. Oh,did I forget to mention, it also has a narrow gauge railway!

I did get to do some non railway related things, like re-visit the Angel of the North.

We also had a fantastic day out at the Beamish Open Air Museum. This is a photo of the biggest digger I have ever seen. The cab was the size of a small house!

I knew that we would be spending a lot of time driving around and I thought I'd packed suitable 'in car stitching'. This was not the case. I had intended to stitch Witches Riding By but the 36ct linen was too small a count to stitch on whilst moving. I did manage to complete the Cardinal Tree form the Mill Hill Festival of Trees range and I've made a start on the Victorian Tree.

I said at the start of this post that we were staying in 'The Borders'. This was an easy walk away from our hotel.

Hopefully, I will have more stitching to show next time!

School's out for Summer!

2010-07-22T18:27:00.006+01:00

Today I got back from the field trip and it was the last day of term. No more school until September 1st, with the exception of going in for results days in August. Unfortunately, it rained constantly for the first two days of the trip. There was a let up in the rain yesterday when the Sun came out for a bit but the rain returned this morning. Despite this I think everyone had a good time and more importantly learned something about ecology.

Here is a picture of where we stayed, on a sunny day!

What with a two hour coach journey to the centre, all the rain, and not being actively involved in the delivery of the sessions, the centre staff do that. I was able to do a fair bit of sewing. As the trip was an ecology one I took Forest Tree from the Mill Hill Festival of Trees series.

I did make a small start on the next ornament bu t not enough to show. This weekend it's back to Wales. Let's hope the weather improves!

Festival of Trees

2010-07-18T17:42:00.006+01:00

This weekend I ditched the weekend rotation, Timeless Elegance ornaments (Saturday) and Tuscan Gardens (Sunday) in favour one of the charmed ornaments from the Mill Hill Festival of Trees range, part of the stash enhancement from last week. This one is called the Snowflake Tree. Measuring 2.57"w x 3.57"h this took most of the weekend to stitch. I say 'most' as I also completed house number 7 of White Nights as well as doing the usual house cleaning etc.

Here is White Nights, only one more house to go! Thank goodness for the rotation as without it I would have been doing these for the last seven weeks! In fact, before starting this project, I did a bit of research and looked at a number of blogs where stitchers were doing White Nights and quite a few gave up at this stage.

This next week I'm on a biology field trip in Betws-y-coed, North Wales. I have decided to take another of the Festival of Trees ornaments with me to stitch as they are small, and being stitched on perforated paper, do not require hoops or frames. Maybe I should have taken this one, considering the amout of time I've spent thinking about what to take. Who would have thought that having stash would be stressful!.

Houses and history!

2010-07-13T17:02:00.005+01:00

The houses are back! In the end I decided to stitch White Nights this week. This is progress after one evening.

Unfortunately I had to frog the first fifteen minutes or so of stitching, the wall to right of the door and the side wall up to the roof, as I stitched it in the wrong colour! When I realised what I'd done I was sorely tempted to put this project away for another week or so and start something new, especially as I have been enhancing my stash recently.

Enhancements featured are, Summer Wings Humbug, Pretty Winder Pocket and Twilight Pearls Leaf Ball from Just Nan, all six Festival of Trees ornaments from Mill Hill, ABC Halloween from Lizzie*Kate. The Silver Needle Night Crabbiest Castle on the Beach was a gift from my Mum. No decisions have been made yet as to which will be the first to be stitched.

And now for the history.

At school, the timetable for next year has been done on a computer. For the last few years it has been done using a combination of computer and peg board, and prior to computers, manually using the peg board alone. The peg board measures about 8' wide by 4' high.

Every member of staff has pegs with their initials on, enough pegs for all the lessons they teach, so at the moment I have 31 pegs. Each room has a peg with it's number on it. We have over 64 rooms and there are enough room pegs for each lesson, of which we have 49 in a fortnight, so that's over 3136 room pegs alone! Then there are pegs for each subject, year group and so on. Thousands of pegs!

What if the board fell off the wall and all the pegs got scattered? Nightmare! A previous timetabler used to take photographs of the timetable whilst it was under construction just in case. Anyway the peg board has stopped being used and is, in the next few days, going in the skip. The member of staff who does the timetable asked me if I would like my pegs. I took one peg with my initials on it, one with my teaching room number on it and a B and an S peg for the subjects I teach, biology and science. Here they are with a DMC floss band so you can get an idea of their size.

It was strange taking my pegs out of the board, I felt like I was deleting myself!

Five more finished and a WIP

2010-07-08T16:38:00.004+01:00

This week it was back to Just Nan's Floral Fifteen. After three evenings stitching I've managed to complete five more squares and am part way through the sixth.

On both Monday and Tuesday evenings I managed to complete two squares but last night only one and a bit. With luck I should be able to finish square six and seven this evening, then next time there will be three more to do and then the finishing off. So this could be the next finish.

As to what I should stitch next week on the rotation I'm still deciding. I only have four clear evenings next week so White Nights is probably out. Really, I should be stitching Witches Riding By but the following week I'm on a residential field trip with my sixth from biologists in North Wales so I might take that project with me. Then again, that week it would be a good excuse to take something else with me, something smaller or with less floss colours. Of course I don't have any WIPs that would fit this description so I may need to start something new!

Hope everyone has a great stitching weekend and that you too have some nice stitchy decisions to make!

The Green Santa is finished...

2010-07-04T18:03:00.010+01:00

... well almost. There's just a small amount of back stitching to do, then it's on to the Cream Santa, but that's next time.

Yesterday morning I stitched the July picture for Sylvia's My Little Heart SAL.

I managed to stitch my Christmas ornament but very little progress was made on that.

This weekend has been a 'Railway Weekend' without actually visiting a railway. Yesterday we went to a 'do' where the majority of people there had some interest in railways and today we have spent a lot of time cataloguing and photographing bits of The Other Half's railway collection. This contains one or two railway posters, my favourite being this one.

On Friday night it was the Sixth Form Leaver's 'Prom'. I put prom in inverted comas because, unlike the Year 11 Prom this one does not involve ball gowns, stretch limos and a disco in the school hall. Instead it is a sit down meal with disco at a local hotel, the students do dress up but the whole thing is o lot more informal yet more sophisticated. I would say that as I'm the organiser. I got my outfit on Friday afternoon, talk about last minute.

Hope everyone has a great stitching week!

Only two more houses to go!

2010-06-28T17:17:00.006+01:00

Yesterday evening I finished house number six! When all eight houses are finished there will be a major celebration around here I can tell you.

We spent the weekend in London, as it was The Other Half's Sister's birthday so no progress was made on the Christmas decoration or the UFO this weekend. However, two long train journeys did mean that I was able to make some progress on the handbag stitching. The first side of the biscornu is almost complete, needing only the buttons and beads and the back stitch border.

On the rotation this week it's The Green Santa, I could do with finishing him off. In fact, I could do with finishing the whole thing off, may be by Christmas!

I'm off to find out how much I still have to do.

Quick update

2010-06-21T18:32:00.005+01:00

In the end, last week, I opted for a new start. Witches Riding By from Lavender Wings. The chart was a Christmas present from 'The Other Half'. I'm stitching this on 36 ct sand linen as recommended. This is about three nights worth of stitching.

Over the weekend my Christmas Ornament, UFO and handbag project all had a little bit of work done on them, but not enough to show. The main achievement on Saturday was finishing the three Secret Needle Night pieces into cushions.

This week it's house number 6 on White Nights. The weather here is great at the moment and I feel I should be spending the evenings sitting in the garden, enjoying the Sun, with a G&T or glass of chilled white wine to hand, rather than being inside with a large stitching project.

Hope everyone has a great stitching week whatever the weather is doing where you are.

Some bits and bobs

2010-06-13T17:25:00.006+01:00

This weekend was spent away so there wasn't as much stitching done as normal. In the car I made some progress on my 'handbag stitching' piece. This is the 'Stitcher's Favourite' biscornu from The Sweetheart Tree.

I did make a small start on my Christmas ornament for Yoyo's Christmas Design SAL.

Today being Sunday I stitched on my Tuscan Gardens UFO for my other blog 'I've started so I'll finish eventually...' I've not worked on this since Easter for one reason and another. I think that the top third of this design is complete.

Next week on the rotation, at the moment, is an empty week so I'm in two minds as to what to stitch. I'm tempted to work on White Nights but with two evenings being spent away from home there's no way the next house will get finished so I might leave that until the week after when I should have four clear evenings. I might start 'Witches Riding By' from Lavender Wings, decisions, decisions.

Four down, eleven to go!

2010-06-10T17:39:00.011+01:00

So far this week I have managed to stitch four of the fifteen squares making up Floral Fifteen. I started with the ones on the mint green fabric. The squares just need the beads adding to finish them off.

This is working out at just over one square an evening. I am hoping to start the squares on the antique white linen tonight, whilst watching the final of The Junior Apprentice.

Earlier this week I managed to finish off Little little village 2, from Jardin Privé. I took this piece into work and did some stitching at lunchtime. My colleagues commented on how different the design was.

This weekend I should start on my next ornament for Yoyo's Christmas Design SAL. I'm worried about her as there has been no activity on her blog for a while and she hasn't replied to my email sending the latest photos, which is unusual. The UFO might also get a look in too.

Hope everyone has a great stitching weekend.

And the winner is ...

2010-06-06T17:16:00.014+01:00

Just Nan's Floral Fifteen. This will be tomorrow's new start. A big thank you to everyone who voted. Scream House came second so that will be my next big Just Nan project after this one, but there may be a few smaller ones in between.

Last week was half term week. We went 'down south' to visit The Other Half's family and to be in London for the Steam Special to York. By the way I did get a full refund. So, instead of going to York, we spent Thursday in London. I hit the shops on Oxford Street and managed, quite successfully, not to buy anything. On Friday we visited Brighton for the day. Here we went on the Volk's Electric Railway, the oldest working electric railway in the world.

On Saturday we made our annual family visit to The Derby at Epsom. This is a picture of the eventual winner, Workforce, on his way down to the start.

Here is The Queen standing on the balcony of the Royal Box.

OK so spot The Queen. She is in the middle of two gentlemen, there are only three of them on her balcony.

For my holiday stitching I started something new. Called Little little village 1 and Little little village 2 these are from a series called Maggi Co's Village by Jardin Privé I used the free chart, available in the website, to join the two charts together. If you have not visited this site then pop over and have a look there is some really nice stuff on there. I have all ready eyed up my next purchase! This is what it looks like so far.

Another design in the Maggi Co's Village range is being done as a SAL here. This is the design. Start date is 14 June.

The artist is Raquel Blasco. Her blog is here.

Happy stitching

Tea With Honey

2010-06-03T16:35:00.010+01:00

On Sunday evening I stitched the June picture in Sylvia's My Little Heart SAL. Called 'Strawberry Girl' she looks quite sweet, no pun intended!

In a change to the original plan instead of starting something new first thing on Monday morning I finished Tea With Honey.

I really enjoyed stitching this, despite the attack of the frogs. The detail on the pins is fantastic. Both the tea pot and the tea cup have 'Tea Time' etched into them and the tea cup actually contains tea! Here is a collage of some of the other shots I took.

The new start has happened. As this post hits the blog I should have been sitting in a train leaving York bound for London, sipping a G&T and waiting to be served a four course meal. As you may have gathered this would have been no ordinary train but one pulled by this...

...Tornado.

This picture was taken by Denis Bradley and is from the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust website here. Anyhow, the loco has developed a problem and the trip has been postponed until Augest, on a date we cannot make. So, buy the time this post is published I should know if I will get a full refund for the trip we should have been on when this post is published!

WIPs, SALs and finishes

2010-05-30T18:21:00.010+01:00

This week it was the turn of White Nights on the rotation. I managed to finish house number five, only three more to go.

This weekend I also managed to complete the cross stitch on the green ornament for the Christmas Design SAL.

So that's it for the WIPs and the SALs. Here are the finishes.

Firstly, Camp Wannasew.

As you can see I decided to stick with the suggested name rather than think up one myself.

Secondly The Autumn Arbor.

Sylvia has posted her chart for the My Little Heart SAL so that will be tonight's stitching project. Tommorrow I'm starting something new!

Happy stitching.

Seven days left to vote!

2010-05-24T18:42:00.008+01:00

Thanks to everyone who has voted so far. At the moment Scream House is in the lead. If you would like to choose the next Just Nan project that I will stitch then there is still time to cast your vote in the poll on the side bar. Details of all the projects are in the previous post.

Whilst blog hopping today I came across a SAL which I thought was quite interesting. Called "En attendant l'été" it is over on Solo Brode.

I am going to do mine on 28 count Flax linen using DMC 3740 and Threadworx 1156, well that's the plan but I don't know when I'll start.

This week it's the turn of White Nights. This is my progress so far this evening.

What shall I stitch next? You decide.

2010-05-20T19:20:00.009+01:00

Here is this week's progress picture of the Green Santa. There is still an evening to go on him.

Next week on the rotation it's back to White Nights and after that it's Tea with Honey from Just Nan. This project is almost finished and should take two or three more evenings. I cannot decide which Just Nan design to stitch next so I have decided to have a vote.

The choice is between Scream House, Counting Bats, Floral Fifteen and Merry Fifteen. This is what they look like.
Scream House

Counting Bats

Floral Fifteen

Merry Fifteen

So, just for fun, help me make a decision by voting in the sidebar.
Thanks.

Camp Wannasew

2010-05-17T18:29:00.002+01:00

This weekend was spent away at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. It takes about three hours to get there by car so I decided that some new in car stitching was required. So with the trip there and back and some lengthy times when there wasn't much doing, we were manning the Buffet car on one of the trains, I started, and almost finished, Camp Wannasew by Brooke Nolan, another Secret Needle Night project from August 2009.

I haven't decided if I should stick to calling the cabin 'Camp Wannasew' or to change the name so I haven't stitched that part. My DMC floss skeins also look a bit on the generous side so I might reduce them down.

Today I went to Manchester for a meeting. I travelled by train, but not the steam veriety, so that gave me an opportunity to get the handbag stitching out. This is the progress so far on the Stitcher's Favourite biscornu from The Sweetheart Tree.

This week on the rotation it is back to The Green Santa. This is where I left him.

Autumn Arbor

2010-05-13T18:39:00.006+01:00

This week's new start was the Autumn Arbor form The Drawn Thread. With one evening to go I'm on the top border. Here it is.

This is one of those fancy, at an angle, shots.

The ladybird needle minder has been attached to this piece all week and I haven't had a visit from the frogs! Maybe this is because she is looking on, hands on hips, saying, 'Don't you dare' and either scaring the frogs away or making me more careful, same thing really I suppose. I asked The Other Half what I should call her and he said Matilda so from now on that's what she will be known as.

I took Grannyanne up on her comment on my last post and also made into a needle minder the bluebird from the same chart.

Big hat, big attitude and the smallest finish ever.

2010-05-10T17:45:00.007+01:00

Now I cannot pretend that the smallest finish ever is an original idea, it's not. Whilst blog hopping the other day I came across a really cute needle minder on Daffycat's blog. A few of her posts later I found the design came from the March/April 2010 edition of Just Cross Stitch. Mmm... my Mum subscribes to that. I also guessed that she would probably have some of those buttons which you cover yourself, about an inch in diameter. I was right. So armed with the chart, a small piece of 28 count fabric and the necessary floss, this morning, on the way to work in the car, I made a start. By the way I was a passenger just in case that last bit didn't quite read right. Anyway, by the time I arrived in school the body was done and on the way home I finished the hat. I have now proved to myself that I can stitch one over one in the car!

Now I thought it would be a good idea to take the shank out of the coverable button in order to make a needle minder, The Other Half was able to provide me with a very powerful magnet. So like a good scientist I tested my idea first. The metal that the button is made out of is not magnetic. So inside the button I have had to put a small washer which is magnetic. OK, so I've gone on for long enough, this is what my needle minder looks like.

This is the ladybird from a design called 'In your Easter Bonnet' by Brooke Nolan, published in the latest edition of Just Cross Stitch. I think she has attitude!

Well election night came and went, although we are still waiting to see who will form the next government. I managed to stay up until 12.40 but did get up at 4.55 for twenty minutes to see what was going on. This is what Tea with Honey looks like.

All I have left to do is the lace in the middle of the tablecloth, the beading, a little bit of green and the backstitch edging. I am almost there but, and you may call me mad, I'm putting it away until next month and I'm going to start something new!

Happy stitching!

Tea with Honey

2010-05-06T21:16:00.004+01:00

Just a quick one tonight before I settle down to watch the election night TV for as long as I can stay awake. This week I have been stitching on Just Nan's 'Tea with Honey'. I've really enjoyed stitching this. Unfortunately, last night, at about ten o'clock, I noticed that things weren't quite as they should be. Further investigation called for some quite serious frogging. I went to bed at 11.15 having done the necessary reverse stitching and some re-stitching. This is what it looks like so far.

As they say I'm on the home straight with this one but will I get it finished before we know who has won the election, or not, as the case may be? Who knows, like I say it depends how long I can stay awake.

Happy election night!

My Little Heart SAL and other stuff

2010-05-03T10:15:00.010+01:00

This weekend was a non working railway weekend which meant that I was able to get on with quite a bit of stitching. Firstly the May picture for Sylvia's My Little Heart SAL.

This is a picture of the project so far. I still have to border to finish.

On Saturday I also got back in to the next Timeless Elegance ornament for Yoyo's Christmas Design SAL.

I have also finished off Barnabee's Quest. Yesterday with the help of my Mum and my Dad's hand held drill I made the three colour cording. Usually I use a pencil to twist the floss but if I had done that this time I would still be twisting today. So impressed was I with the drill that I'm tempted to send 'The Other Half' off to B&Q on 'Wrinkly Wednesday' to get me a smaller version.

This photo is not too good as it is out of focus and the wall is actually yellow and not the colour it appears to be.

The pull ware and the tassel topper are from Just Nan. I made the tassel using the left over cotton perle from the cord.

Here in the UK it's a Bank Holiday. The Sun is shining, although it is a bit chilly, and I'm off to start Tea with Honey.

I hope the Sun is shining where you are.

Progress at last

2010-04-30T22:32:00.007+01:00

Having been in a stitching slump for the last few weeks things appear to have turned a corner!

This week I achieved my goal of completing the bottom two corners that make up part 6of White Nights. Here is a close up of one of them.

This is what the whole project looks like, probably for the last time, as the next time it's on the rotation it needs to be rolled up.

I managed to finish both corners by Thursday evening so I was able to stitch on something else. I decided to finish the Just Nan Winter Hearts Humbug. This is what it looks like before it is made up.

This is a bad photo of the finished humbug. I'll try and get a better photo in natural light next week.

Have a great stitching weekend.

Stitching slump?

2010-04-26T16:46:00.008+01:00

Yet again, as anticipated, next to no stitching was done last week. A small amount, and I mean very small amount, was done on The Green Santa.

This weekend was a 'Railway Weekend'. I was guard on the train on Saturday so no stitching was done on Yoyo's Christmas Design SAL and I was training in the signal box on Sunday so no stitches were added to my UFO. Here is the progress I have made on this so far.

This week I'm hoping that nothing will get in the way of a good stitch. White Nights is back this week and I'm working on the bottom corners. Next week I will be starting something new. For those of you who like surprises don't look at the next photo.

Next week's new start is...

'Tea with honey' from Just Nan.

Happy stitching!

Hiding from Thanksgiving!

2010-04-18T18:23:00.005+01:00

I confess, what with one thing and another, no progress was made on The Green Santa this week but it is on the rotation for next week. However, with a busy week coming up at work it's another fingers crossed job for that particular project.

I have managed to do some stitching on smaller pieces. Another Secret Needle Night project was started and finished. This one is called Hiding from Thanksgiving!

The turkey, in disguise, is my favorite and so has a photo all to himself.

With the imminent release of the next Just Nan Spring Humbug I thought I'd better get a move on and stitch the Winter one. This is all stitched up with the recommended floss. Some of the beads have been attached but not all.

Having done 'school stuff' for the last six or so hours I'm off to have a shower and hopefully later on I will be able to put some stitches into my Christmas ornament for Yoyo's Christmas Design SAL' another project which has also been woefully neglected.

Happy Stitching

TUSAL and two finishes!

2010-04-14T09:33:00.008+01:00

Firstly here is this month's picture of my ort flask. As you can see it was enjoying the sunshine amongst the spring flowers in the garden.

Last week on the rotation it was the turn of Barnabee's Quest. It's finished! I've started to make this into a bell pull but still have a little way to go before it is finally finished.

This is an out of focus photo of the whole thing.

Having had such fun with The Crazy Carrot, last post, my Mum gave me another Secret Needle Night project to do. I think this one is called 'The Haunted Hideaway on 13th Avenue'. I stitched it as charted but added a glow-in-the-dark ghost in the window and by the fence. The ghost is based on the one from Just Nan's Fraidy Frog. I also gave the cat green glow-in-the dark French knot eyes. I'm probably going to finish this as a cushion cover, but then again can a girl have too many bags?

This week on the rotation it should be The Green Santa. As yet not a stitch has gone into him. Maybe I will be able to report some progress in my next post!

Happy stitching!

The Crazy Carrot!

2010-04-06T17:06:00.005+01:00

Over the Easter Weekend I stitched The Crazy Carrot, February's design for Secret Needle Night from The Silver Needle.

Here it is stitched up.

This really is a bright design and used lots of different types of floss, the likes of which we don't see in the UK. Once stitched, the problem was what to do with it? I had a go at making a book bag.

The fabric is suede effect and very thick. I'm not too happy with the way the handles went on but it will do for now, until I find something else to do them in.

Happy Stitching

The first Biscornu of 2010 and other stuff

2010-04-01T18:51:00.007+01:00

The other evening I finished the Anniversary Biscornu, the first biscornu finish of 2010. First there is a photo of the underside and then one of the completed biscornu with my stork scissors so that you can get an idea of the size. The usual mirror shot will be in the sidebar. This took over an hour to make up!

Yesterday, with snow falling, we took a trip to Harrogate. During the journey I was able to stitch Just Nan's Fraidy Frog from the 2009 Halloween issue of Just Cross Stitch.

This week has seen White Nights back in the rotation. I have managed to complete two more houses. Tonight I will do a little more work on the corners, well that's the plan.

Happy Easter!

WIP update and a finish.

2010-03-29T17:08:00.012+01:00

As I predicted in the last post not much progress was made on the Green Santa last week, but at least, some progress is better than no progress.

We went to 'The Railway' this weekend so I had an opportunity to work on my handbag stitching project, the Santa tree skirt being too big to take with me. This is the Anniversary Biscornu from Just Nan. This biscornu is a shop exclusive for Country Crafts in Greeley, Colorado and has been in the stash since last June. This is the first side completed.

The fabric is the suggested 28ct Zweigart Opal Rainbow Dreams Cashel Linen. The dimensions of this biscornu are 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches.

I managed to finish the cross stitching on my third ornament for Yoyo's Christmas Design SAL.

And finally... my Dad finished his Poppy Screen from Millennia Designs. This is a massive project as you can see from the photo here. The only place big enough to show it off is the stairs, hence the funny angle of the photo.

A finish and frogs!

2010-03-21T17:30:00.008Z

Yesterday I finished Open House!

This was stitched as charted with DMC floss on28ct lilac cashel linen. The buttons are from Just Another Button Company and are the ones suggested. The only button I've missed off is a pumpkin one which covers the stitched pumpkin by the steps. I have the companion piece to this, called Three Gables but I will not be starting it until the summer. Here is what it will look like. I will be doing mine on the lilac linen.

My next spooky stitching project is going to be this.

This piece is called Witches Riding By and is from Lavender Wings, it was a Christmas present from 'The Other Half'. It is stitched on 36ct linen using two strands of floss. I've not stitched on this count before. Will two strands make the work look bulky? Two strands have to be used as some of the colours are blends. So do I go with the 36ct or change to something bigger? Any advice would be appreciated.

I thought I would give you an update on my UFO. Michael Powell's Tuscan Gardens ll.

The backstitch really does make a difference. Next week it's back to the Green Santa. However, I know some evenings are going to be taken up with school stuff as it is the last week of term so I'm not expecting to get as much stitching in as normal.

Finally, spring has arrived and the pond is full of frolicking frogs!

TUSAL

2010-03-15T19:58:00.004Z

Here is this month's picture for the Totally Useless SAL.

The threads are starting to go up the neck of the flask, but there is still plenty of space in the flask itself, maybe I should shake it?

This week's dilemma is what to stitch! Should I carry on with Open House, and hopefully finish it, or do the Santas? Strictly speaking it should be White Nights but we break up for Easter next Thursday so I'm going to do that during the first week of the holidays so that I can stitch on it during the day as well as the evenings to progress Part 5 a bit more.

Open House is almost there

2010-03-11T19:16:00.003Z

This week I stitched on Open House. There's not much to do now, only the leaves, the gate and the white parts.

Five things and a finish.

2010-03-08T18:07:00.010Z

This weekend I felt a little bit strange in the stitchy department, maybe it was caused by eating too much Five Minute Chocolate Cake (see previous post). As a result I actually stitched on five things!

On Friday evening I reached my goal for the week and finished Part 3 of Barnabee's Quest. In order to give myself a head start the next time this appears on the rotation I started on Part 2 on Saturday morning.

The finishing kit for this project, ordered from The Silver Needle, arrived last week and I have the Just Nan pull ware for it. I'm hoping to finish this before the summer. To tell you the truth I could have continued to stitch on this but no, Saturdays are Christmas Design SAL days and that is what I moved on to next. I'm now starting to think that when I have finished the cross stitch on this one I will have a go at actually finishing off both this ornament and the blue one.

Sunday was UFO day. I made a start on Tuscan Gardens and then got side tracked in the stash room, looking for my small hoop, as my next handbag project is going to be the Anniversary Biscornu by Just Nan. I actually spent an hour stitching on this but put it back in the handbag has I was feeling guilty because I wasn't stitching the UFO. Now I thought that Tuscan Gardens was the last one, WRONG! Whilst looking for the hoop I came across yet another UFO. So I stitched this one instead! Now there was a method in my madness. This newly unearthed UFO, although stitched one over one, was very small and actually took only a couple of hours to finish.

This keyring kit was on the cover of Cross Stitch Collection Jan/Feb 1996, although I'm pretty sure it's not been a UFO for that long. The picture of the finished keyring is in the 2010 Gallery in the sidebar.

I did eventually get round to stitching Tuscan Gardens and was quite pleased with my progress.

This week on the rotation there is a gap, so I could start something new. Instead I'm going to stitch on Open House, which some would class as another UFO as it's not been worked on since October/November. However, this is definitely a WIP in my book as it has never been 'put away'. I'm over two thirds of the way through with this one. This is where it was left.

Have a great stiching week.

Something completely different ~ a cake in a cup!

2010-03-06T16:53:00.006Z

Apparently, according to one national newspaper here in the UK, this recipe for the Five Minute Mug Cake is doing the rounds on the Internet. We were talking about it at the end of school yesterday, does it really work, will all the ingredients actually fit into the average sized mug?

With a copy of the newspaper article in hand I made a diversion on the way home to get the ingredients I didn't have, I was going to give it a go. After all I am a scientist!

Here is the recipe.
4tbsp (tablespoons) of flour, I used self-raising
4tbsp sugar (caster)
2tbsp cocoa powder
Mix the dry ingredients in a mug.
Stir in an egg, I beat mine first, and 3tbsp each of milk and oil.
Then add a few drops of vanilla extract and some chocolate chips.
Make sure all the ingredients are fully mixed. If you use a mug ensure you get all the flour off the bottom and out of the 'corners' where the base meets the sides

Place the mug, uncovered, in a microwave and cook on high (1000W) for three minutes. My microwave is a 850W one so I cooked mine for three and a half to four minutes. I also checked it was cooked by using a skewer as you would with any normal cake. Let it cool, then tip out on to a plate.

In answer to the original question, yes it does work. The cake has the texture of a muffin or cup cake, funny that, and it tastes fine.

The answer to the second question? The cake above was done using an over large tea cup, holding about a pint of fluid, my first attempt was done in a standard UK mug. See for yourself.

Have fun!

Sunday post on Tuesday!

2010-03-02T17:34:00.011Z

On Sunday evening I would, normally, have posted some photos of my weekend stitching efforts, but not this Sunday. I did, however, manage to email Yoyo the photos of my Timeless Elegance ornaments for the Christmas Design SAL. Here they are.

On Sunday I decided to delay posting until Monday to give me a full evening on my recently unearthed UFO. This is Tuscan Gardens II by Michael Powell. However, we had a disaster, so to speak, on the domestic front. My Candy washing machine packed up in the most spectacular fashion! There were no sparks and it did not 'blow up' as such, but it did make the most fantastic metal crunching noise and yes, it was part way through a cycle and full of wet washing. This machine was about 15 years old so I guess I can't complain too much. So, a good part of Sunday evening was spent sorting out the washing whilst trying not to flood the kitchen! By the time this had all been done the UFO was the last thing I wanted to stitch, strange that. Here it is so far.

Before Sunday all that was stitched of this were the two arches and the terracotta plant pots on the right. You can see a photo at this post. This will also be featured in my UFO blog, 'I've started so I'll finish ... eventually'.

In the small amount of time I had left on Sunday evening I stitched the March picture for Sylvia's 'My Little Heart' SAL.

I'm doing this on 28ct Lambswool Permin linen. I stitched the pictures for January and February over the weekend.

This week on the rotation it's back to Barnabee's Quest. Very little progress was made last night as the washing machine saga was still going on. On the way home from work I went to Currys to buy a new machine. The Other Half met me there with his van and we were able to bring the machine home. The next few hours were spent removing the old machine and plumbing in and wiring up the new one. Getting the new machine out of the van and the old one into it took a lot of effort as those things are heavy! As I've gone on about it so much I'd better show you a picture.

I hope everyone has a great stitching week with no domestic appliance disasters!

The Green Santa, some fabric and a new SAL

2010-02-25T18:38:00.010Z

This week progress on the Green Santa has been so much better than the last time he was on the rotation.

I think this one isn't going to take as long as the others as his coat is short and not the trailing on the floor variety the others are wearing.

A few weeks ago I was sent some samples of fabric by a company called Dovestitch. They specialise in hand dyed fabric, Aida, evenweave, linen in a number of different counts. You can also ask for a number of different finishes, for example, opalescent. Further enquiries revealed that these fabrics are also colourfast.

This is a picture of the sample I was sent.

If you are interested in having a look, click on the logo on the sidebar. Accessing the site via this link should entitle you to a discount of 10%.

This week I came across a new SAL. Called My Little Heart it can be found on Sylvia's blog. The link to the post with the charts is here. I have made a small start, not really enough to show. This weekend it is back to the Timeless Elegance ornaments and, as Mary Wigham Sundays are no more, it's time to get my last UFO out of the Stash Room where it has been festering for about eighteen months!

A finishing weekend and the cat in the bag!

2010-02-21T18:12:00.006Z

This weekend I was able to get two more WIPs finished. Firstly I was able to properly finish the Scaredy Sheep Scissor Fob from Shepherd's Bush. Here it is with it's companion piece, here we go a haunting. This is framed in the usual £3.50 ish photo frame from from Wilkinsons but this time The Other Half stained the frame with black wood stain so that it matched the box.

The Hootzi Humbug from Just Nan also got finished. This was not stitched on the suggested fabric but on something else, I've no idea what, as it came from the off cuts box at The Nimble Thimble. Here it is on the light tree. Bye the way The Other Half has not made any comment about the appearance of the second tree yet!

The next photo is one I had intended to post last time but forgot. This is Oscar, he belongs to friends we stayed with last week, and he is inside my floral travel bag!

Thanks for all your comments about Mary Wigham. Have a great stitiching week.

Mary went back to school!

2010-02-18T19:19:00.011Z

On Saturday, and today, I danced the biggest Happy Dance of the year so far. Why?

Well, on Saturday we travelled over to Doncaster for a model railway exhibition at Doncaster racecourse. We had booked an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn and it was there that I put the final stitches in to Mary Wigham (Happy Dance Number 1). Now Doncaster is not that far away from Ackworth and the Ackworth School were Mary Wigham was a pupil. So, on Sunday morning we went there.

Mary was then put away until today when I finished her. As mentioned in a previous post I had made a serious error when positioning this piece on the fabric. After seeing some work finished by hemstitching on Carol R's blog I decided that I was going to finish Mary in this way. Carol kindly emailed me the instructions. She is, however, in the process of producing a tutorial on this subject. I had just enough material to sew it. This was my first ever attempt at hemstitching. It took me about an hour to set the work up, putting the threads etc and over an hour to stitch each of the sides, hence Happy Dance Number 2. Here she is finished.

For the record this was stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen using Caron Wildflowers, Blueberry. For the finishing I used Gutermann thread, colour 169, a perfect match.

I have had really mixed feeling about this piece. I'm glad that I have been a part of this worldwide SAL and that it has raised a lot of money to preserve the real Mary Wigham sampler but will I be doing another Quaker this big in future, probably not. Although I have enjoyed stitching it, I have not looked forward to the stitching day on the rotation. Don't ask me why because I cannot put my finger on it.

So what else have I done this week? From Doncaster we moved on to stay with friends for a few days. Here I was able to finish the stitching on Scaredy Sheep from Shepherd's Bush. Here is the front.

Here is the back.

I also made progress on the Hootzi Humbug.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Valentine's Day and the TUSAL

2010-02-12T18:57:00.001Z

This year the Valentine's card I stitched for The Other Half was made from a freebie design from The Drawn Thread called Heart Throb. I stitched it, as charted, on 32ct opalescent white linen using the DMC equivalents.

So much for the staging. Here is a close up of the actual work.

Today is also TUSAL day and here is a photo of my flask. The white/yellow orts are from White Nights, the red below is from the Christmas ornament stitched last weekend.

Happy Valentine's Day!