A Finish to Report

A. Fox Original - Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow ...:

Finished on 19th December 2008

Stitched on 14 count Hand Dyed (by me) Aida. I changed the design a bit, including re-charting one of the larger snowflakes.

Latest Update

HAED - Tomboy (Fenech):

24 pages (of 36 pages) stitched which is 69.1%

HAED - Serengeti Glow (Schimmel):

10 pages (of 12 pages) stitched which is 77.8%

Kustom Krafts - Monarch Beauty:

Six parts of the Mystery SAL on the Kustom Krafts group. 36.6% complete.

HAED - Cabin In The Woods (Faulkner):

Half of page 19 (of 42 pages) stitched which is 1.8%

HAED - Sampler Letter R (Fenech):

Page 1 (of 4 pages) stitched which is 40.6%

HAED - Kustom Krafts - Blue Eyes:

Page 1 (of 9 pages) stitched which is 13.9%

Finishes:

Whispered by the Wind - Snow:

Finished on 24th November 2008

Stitched on 14 count Hand Dyed (by me) Aida.

Angel Stitchin - Candle Light:

Finished on 17th November 2008

From Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments 2008. Stitched on 18 count Blue Cloud Aida.

A couple of progress pictures

Lizzie*Kate 12 Blessings of Christmas Flip-it - Faith:

Finished on 2nd August 2008

HAED - Invariance (Bowser):

1.5 of 42 pages stitched which is 4.5%

Kustom Krafts - Monarch Beauty:

This is the first part of the Mystery SAL on the Kustom Krafts group. 1.5% complete.

Two Finishes and Four Updates

First the finishes.


HAED - TT Snow Family (Raisch):

Finished on 19th May 2008

Derwentwater Designs - Cliff Top:

Finished on 28th June 2008

Now the updates.

HAED - Serengeti Glow (Schimmel):

6 of 12 pages stitched which is 58.5%

HAED - Tomboy (Fenech):

21 of 36 pages stitched which is 61.2%

HAED - Desert Princess (Bowser)

1 of 18 pages stitched which is 5.6%

HAED - Celestial Night (Fain)

1 of 36 pages stitched which is 3.6%

I’m back again – well sort of.

Thank you for all the messages and emails. I will get around to replying ASAP.

It was an unplanned absence due to a couple of things. Firstly out of the blue Richard talked about us moving and after a long discussion we decided it would be the right thing to do. We spoke to the estate agent who said he thought our house would sell quickly as there was a shortage of this size house on the market in this area. We rushed getting things ready, doing all the jobs that have been put off. I also had to go through everything I own and try and get rid of half of it as we will be moving to a smaller house. Wow, I have a lot of stuff! As soon as we put our house on the market things cooled down and houses are now not selling in the area (well this size anyway).

Well amongst that I had health problems. I am receiving treatment which is going well.

My stitching has suffered as although I am stitching sometimes, there have been a few weeks when I couldn’t do any at all. In fact this is one of them as I just don’t feel well enough, I am missing it though.

I don’t know how often I will be able to write my blog, but hopefully things will get back to normal (whatever that is) soon.

Even though I haven’t done as much stitching, I still have some to share with you as it has been so long since I last did an update. I haven’t stuck to the rotation, just stitched on whatever, whenever.

I have finished Lavender & Lace Celtic Winter:

This is waiting to be framed now. It looks better in real life, but then don't they always?

Next I worked on HAED – Tomboy:

I have reached the 52% mark which is 18 pages. This was my target for the year. There are only 18 more pages to go!

Lastly is HAED – QS Believe:

This is at 16%, which is just over half of the first page. I was surprised at how much confetti or isolated stitches this had on the butterfly. Maybe it was just I wasn’t feeling too good while I was working on it, so it seemed worse.

I have also just finished Lizzie*Kate Winter Boxer but haven’t taken a photo yet, will show that next time.

I am currently stitching on The Visitor, which is a picture of a fox. It reminds me of the foxes that visit our back garden. I am trying to get the first page finished before taking a photo, so hopefully I will be able to stitch again soon.

Well that’s it for now, thank you for reading my blog.

Week 27

Thank you for your comments and emails I really appreciate them! Sorry I haven't been visiting your blogs this week but there are not enough hours in a day at present to fit everything in. I have undertaken a couple of large projects for both the business and home so when I finish work for the day I am only fit to stitch for a short time before bed. I will catch up with everyone as soon as possible.

I am keeping to my stitching rotation, but because of the above I am not getting a lot done on each project. This week I have been working on L&L's 'The Quiltmaker':

If you click on the image it will take you to see what it should look like when finished. I would have got more done on this if my scanner and PC were friends with each other. I always get an enlarged working copy of the chart so I can see it easily and also mark off where I am going or finished. It took a lot longer to sort out than it should have, but at least I have it now, so there should be more progress when stitching on this in the future.

I also managed to finish Waxing Moon's 'Hitchin' a Ride':

I altered the snowflakes and missed out the backstitching in the sky. I love this design; I think it is such a fun one for Christmas!

Yesterday evening I worked on HAED's 'QS Believe':

Again if you click on the image it will take you to see what it should look like when finished. It was just blocks of colour, so easy to stitch, just what I needed yesterday.

Tonight I hope to bring out HAED's Tomboy for a turn.

Second Happy Dance of 2007

I would like to share my second cross stitch happy dance of 2007:

This is 'Bring on the Snow' by Waxing Moon.

Here is my progress on Tomboy:

Another 1% done bringing the total complete to 43.2%

I re-started HAED's QS Believe last night on 18 count Aida. I only got a few stitches in after gridding so not worth a photo yet.

For those who would like to know where the seven hearts are hidden in the picture I posted last week, here is the answer:

I have just discovered that some emails are not getting through, so if you have sent me an email and not had a reply please re-send it, thanks.

Tonight I will be stitching on Celtic Winter.

Two Week Cross Stitch Progress

I have finished two coasters since I last posted:

This is the top part of the Lizzie*Kate chart "Think Spring". I stitched it on a pearl fleck Aida which looks very pretty. Unfortunately it doesn't show up in the scan. The second coaster is a daffodil from the "Little Ones" range:

I am now stitching a lamb which completes the four spring theme coasters.

My main stitching project this week is HAED - "Tomboy":

This is what it looked like when I picked it up on Sunday. At the bottom of this page I will get to some ivy which is growing over the wall. I can't wait, although it is doubtful if I will get to it this week.

Last week I stitched on the "Pinn" kit "Japanese Beauty (Reading). This is where I got to when I packed it away:

Next week I am adding to my rotation. I am sticking to every other week on "Tomboy" but the other weeks I am going to do a random rotation on four projects: L&L Celtic Autumn (my own colour conversion); Jill Oxton's Giraffe; Lizzie*Kate Winter Boxer as well as Japanese Beauty (Reading). These are the four main projects from my 101 Tasks in 1001 Days list.

A Favourite Quote:
"A mistake is simply another way of doing things."
Katharine Graham

Birthday Flip-it Completed

I have completed #69 off my 101 Tasks in 1001 Days list. The 'birthday' flip-it is now ready to be made into a quilt with all the other Lizzie*Kate monthly and holiday Flip-it's:

I was anxious when I started stitching it, but think it has turned out well. I adapted the 'Birthday Blessings' chart.

I also made good progress with the Pinn Japanese Lady at the weekend:

It will be good when she gets a head!

A Favourite Quote:
"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes."
Oscar Wilde

Progress

I managed to finish page two of HAED - Tomboy at the weekend:

I also managed to finish the Lizzie*Kate 'Hello Spring' freebie for myself and turned it into a coaster (part of #62 on my 101 in 1001 list):

I stitched it onto some hand-dyed aida and changed the colour of the petals to make it a daisy (my favourite flower). It was charted as orange which would have clashed with my fabric. I am really pleased with how it turned out.

I have got to book five 'High Five' of the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series and are still enjoying them.

I spent ages this evening trying to get a countdown timer to work on my 101 Tasks in 1001 Days post but have given up and put it in my sidebar. It is Javascript and I think they don't work on the main blog page, as it works fine in the sidebar.

I am now going to do a bit of stitching before watching an episode of Star Trek Enterprise with Richard. My current stitching project is a 'Pinn' kit of a Japanese lady reading a book.

A Favourite Quote:
"Never think that you're not good enough yourself.
A man should never think that.
People will take you very much at your own reckoning."
Anthony Trollope

Lion Finished

I had a great Easter weekend! I didn't realise how much I needed the break; I feel so much better because of it.

I managed to finish the Kustom Krafts baby lion!

I didn't manage to finish page two of HAED Tomboy, but all being well should be able to this week.

I am currently up to the middle of book three 'Three to Get Deadly' of the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series. I am going to continue through the rest of the series. I didn't think I would enjoy them as much this time but I am.

A Favourite Quote:
"I wish I were a teddy bear - the older they get,
the more they’re worth…"

Snowdrops and Memes

I managed to finish the snowdrop coaster for my mum in time for her to collect yesterday. Here is a scan:

She was very pleased and I have been told it has been put to use already. Snowdrops remind mum of her dad and bring back happy memories for her, so when I saw the chart I had to stitch it for her.

It was also my first attempt at "couching". I was anxious when I first realised it needed a different stitch than I have tried as I usually don't enjoy doing any stitching except cross stitch; but it turned out to be really easy and I enjoyed doing it. It was an effective stitch for the stem.

I have just come across Memes and thought I would start to answer some in my blog. Here is a stitching one:

1. Have you ever tried dying your fabrics for stitching?
Not yet.

2. If so, how did it go, if not would you like to someday?
It is something I would love to try, I have loads of white aida all ready waiting. I am currently trying to find the right type of dye as the one that was recommended to me "RIT" doesn't seem available in the UK. If someone has any suggestions please get in touch.

A Favourite Quote:
"I will honour Christmas in My Heart
and keep it there all year long"
by Charles Dickens

Protection of an Angel

This is my latest finished cross stitch. I stitched it for my sister who is going through a difficult patch. I have made it into a coaster for her.

It is stitched onto gold fleck fabric which has a lovely sparkle although this doesn't show up in the scan. The halo and the edges of the wings are stitched with PB03 gold Petite Treasure Braid and the cloud is edged with silver Cristallina thread; again the effect doesn't really show in the scan.

A Favourite Quote:
"Good Morning is a contradiction in terms"