A festive finish

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!

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!

Stitching update and something completely different!

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!

Floral Fifteen is finished!

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!

The Green Santa is finished...

... 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!

Tea With Honey

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!

My Little Heart SAL and other stuff

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.

Sunday post on Tuesday!

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!