Update time!

Last Monday I switched on my trusty laptop so that I could show the world my stitchy progress and the Internet was down and remained so for most of that evening. I then got bogged down with marking, let's not go there, but it's that time of year again!

So, previously, it was the Christmas week on the rotation. At last, Joy to the World got finished.

At the end of that week we went up to Edinburgh, my second weekend there on the run. This time it was to pick up the kilt and various accessories ready for 'The Big Day'.  I was able to do some more stitching on Official Crazy Cat Lady.

Last week on the rotation was Halloween week and I made a new start.  The Spooky Greetings Bell Pull from Waxing Moon Designs.

This week it should be a free week on the rotation but instead I'm going to stitch  White Nights, as next week, it's usual slot I will be otherwise engaged with final preparations for 'The Big Day'.

Whilst in Edinburgh I was given the plate that we decorated on my Scottish Hen Do.  It came out better than expected. See what you think.

With a bit of luck, normal service will be resumed next week with the normal Monday post. Until then ...

Happy stitching!

Spring is here!

It's been two weeks since my last post and quite a lot has been going on on the stitching front.  Firstly, I finished Spring by Jardin Privé.

This was stitched on 32ct opalescent linen in the recommended DMC floss. The only change I made was that I used one strand of thread not two for that more delicate look.

Last week was the turn of White Nights. I was quite pleased with my progress the main buildings and border on the left hand side are finished, there is still some way to go on the right hand side though.

I also managed to do a little more on Joy to the World, which is back on the rotation this  week.

Last weekend I took the Heirloom Wedding Sampler to The Nimble Thimble to be framed. Whilst I was there I indulged in some stash enhancement, a Shepherd's Bush kit and Official Crazy Cat Lady from Raise the Roof Designs.

I stitched this on the train to and from Edinburgh, as this weekend it was my Scottish Hen Night. This involved doing something crafty, and hopefully, I will be able to show you what was created by five of us next time.

Happy stitching!

The Heirloom Wedding Sampler is finished!

As of today there are five weeks and five days to go until our 'big day'.  I finished the wedding sampler on Wednesday evening last week.  Here is the floral heart.

The design has two part rows of stitching at the bottom of the heart but I decided to leave these out as I thought they detracted from the heart itself.  The whole thing is too big to photograph in one go. I will have another attempt when it comes back from the framers.

So, for the evenings I had left last week I did some more work on Joy to the World.

This week is a free week as rotation wise, February seems to have had five weeks in it, strange I know.  So I have chosen to do something which should be quite quick, fingers crossed.  This is Spring from Jardin Privé, another design in the Maggi Co's Village range.

Next week it's back to White Nights as I should have six full evenings stitching!

Happy stitching!

Half term and Hardanger

Last week it was half term and a busy week it was what with spending a few days in Wales, at my mum and dad's, in Yorkshire and then back to Wales for the weekend.  Despite all this I managed to get quite a lot of stitching done.

Firstly the Heirloom Wedding Sampler. I had left it with all the Kloster bock set up for the Hardanger.  So armed with 'Basics and Beyond' and  'Fundamentals Made Fancy' by Janice Love I got going on the Woven Bars, Doves Eyes and Picots followed by Divided Wrapped Bars and a Curled V in a Fan.

As you can see I went on to do some partial and full Greek Crosses.

This section is now finished apart from adding three tear drop shaped beads.  In total, this was two days of stitching.  This weekend I was able to make a start on the final section, the floral heart at the top of the design.  This week is a free week on the rotation so I intend to do more work on this, starting with the remaining bullion knot rose.

In spare moments,  and for a change, I managed to get a few more stitches in to Joy to the World.

So last week on the rotation it was Halloween week.  Whilst in Yorkshire for a few days I was able to stitch the Happy Pumpkin Scissor Fob  from Shepherd's Bush. 

I wasn't too happy with the finishing of this, mainly the ribbon edging and how it was done, and I won't be doing any more of those unless I can find a tutorial somewhere that gives better instructions.  So that's my half term round up. I hope you all had a productive stitching week.

A quick round up!

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!

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!

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

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!

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!

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!