Pre 2020 finishes and some WIPs

Hello everyone! I'm trying to keep my promise and blog more often so this is the second post this month. I hope you're all settled into the year and have some nice stitchy projects going on. I thought it might be nice to show you a few of my previous finishes. It has been so long since I have blogged that a lot of my finishes have not had a look in whatsoever. This post is quite picture heavy and yet it doesn't cover a fraction of all my finishes! Maybe there will be more to come in future blog posts. 

Now, anybody who knows me can tell you that my stitchy taste is quite diverse and can range from "cutesy" to repro samplers and anything in between. Hopefully there will be something you like on this post! 

To begin with are a couple of Bothy Designs. The Fox and the Rabbit one. I can't remember the exact names for them... Fox in Foxgloves or something like that. I absolutely adored doing these kits on 14 count printed aida (the mud splashes are the printed bit) and I am currently SALing with someone on the Badger one as well. I highly recommend these kits as the detail is superb.

Just look at his face!!

The other kit was from a Russian designer RTO called Kitten on Books or something original like that! This was my first time ordering and stitching a Russian kit and I was very pleased with the result. It looks exactly like it should and the instructions were clear and easy to follow. I bought this from Elena_stitch on ebay and I thought the service was very good. Highly recommend!

This kitten reminds me so much of my cat Pepper!

Another finish last year was this cute couple. This was a stitching commission from Cross Stitch Gold sold in the UK and I was able to get my stitching back after the pictures for the magazine was taken! Bonus! I have a few other commissions that were sent back to me so I will maybe photograph those for future posts.

Love the little robin detail in this picture!

And the two hares!

This was a quick LHN stitch. I saw my stitching friend Lindsey stitch it up and it looked so lovely. 

And this is another LHN chart that was very quick to stitch up. I am not sure what I am going to do with these "smalls". I do have some gaps on my sampler wall so they may get framed. 

This next finish is Trellis Birds by Plum Street Samplers. I think this might be my only Plum Street finish! I know right? Shameful!The fabric is on Wichelt Star Saphire I think.

I really loved stitching on this one. 

Now this next one is unusual. You know where folks on ebay sell torn out patterns from magazines? I never ever buy them but this one caught my eye and I just really loved it. I'm not even sure why I liked it so much. Maybe the gentle pastels appealed to me or the sentiment? Anyway, I actually bought it. It's not illegal as it wasn't a copy and apparently you can sell cut out patterns from magazines! Who knew? I have to tell you though that I didn't enjoy stitching this. It was very bitty and had some fractionals and lots of silly backstitch but I do like the finished piece. It is very pretty indeed. Again, I am not quite sure what to do with it. It doesn't really go with my sampler wall so hmmm? Any ideas?

This next one is the one I began in my last post and is my first finish of the year! I swapped the called for colours for colours I had in my stash (stitching from stash I am indeed!) and I only needed to buy one skein as I ran out of the thread right at the end. If you are interested in my colour conversion then let me know! It is called Quaker Peace by My Big Toe designs.

Next up is a Lizzie*Kate design I started some time ago. There is a problem in that it is lined up wrong and now I am not sure what to do as I have two other seasons to do on it. I don't think you would be able to tell all that much but even so.... I think it is the square border at the bottom is like one stitch out or something. 

This next one is from the Summer Mystery box from Sparklies. The only thing is, there wasn't enough thread so had to wait for more to come. I stopped it at that point as I knew I had to wait for the thread to be dyed again as Kate supplied her own hand dyed thread. Well, the thread arrived but by that time it had been put to rest for a bit so I really need to get it back out and finish it. It is so pretty in real life. I was also doing this as an SAL with Tina.

And what would a stitchy collection be without an ongoing Mirabilia? I actually have two on the go but I'll save that one for another post. This one is Roses of Provence on Polstitches Earth to Sky fabric. I just love LOVE love this fabric for this design. It is so perfect! This is one I really wanted to finish last year but didn't so this year for sure.

This next one is called Cardinal Points by Long Dog and Gentle Arts. It is very bitty and there are so many colour changes but it is beautiful. 

I didn't think I would be getting any stitching stash for Christmas but my hubby asked Sue (Peakside Needleworks) to make me up a box and this was what was in it! Sue happens to be my neighbour and a dear friend and it was my very self that taught Sue to stitch! Now she has a great online store and superb customer service. Highly recommend.

This brings me to my final wip for today's post! This is Kathy Barrick's Deer Heart. I have been itching to stitch this for years so when I got it for Christmas one year I knew I had to get cracking on it. This is going to be my piece I am working on this next few weeks. Hopefully I will have a finish to share soon.

So that's all from me. It's cold over here in the UK so stay in, stay warm and stay stitching!

💗

Is anybody out there?

I can’t believe where the time has gone! It has been over two years since I last posted. I’m imagining not many people blog anymore as there are so many different distractions these days with social media and flosstube and Instagram.  When I look back at my old posts, I remember a nostalgic time where I did actually keep a record of my stitching and days out and children growing up. The blog was a solid thing where everything was kept together; not little pieces of info attached to fb posts and random pictures on Instagram. I’m not against any of these platforms, however I do remember a time when blogging was good. I made many friends and did many exchanges - all of which I’ve kept on my bookshelf. 

Time was and still is another factor. Can I fit time in to blog again? I’m now working full time with a family and having the odd stitching commission deadline to boot! Can I take a half hour a week or every two weeks to upload photos and write bits and pieces down? Hmmm 🤔. 

Then there’s still the disappointment that some of my older posts lost their pictures when webshots was removed. That still gets to me and don’t know how to fix that. 

So, do I return to blogging? Even if no one reads it, it will still be there for my own perusal. 

This is the beginning of not just another year but if a new decade. How did you all find it? Did you all have a good one? We went to Lightopia on New Tears Eve which made a nice change. 

Now onto stitching... There’s so much I have stitched and finished over the last few years there’s simply not enough time now to put everything up so perhaps I will do that in stages. Last year I completed quite a few projects and write them down. 

My last finish as you can see was Winter Time by New York Dreamer. I loved stitching this and decided to teabag it at the end to make it look more vintage. 

I have also had a couple of My Big Toe finishes as well. I decided to stitch from stash and use my own colours for threads and fabric and these are the results:

My new start is another My Big Toe design called Peace. Again I decided to use my own threads as I have so many threads!!! These are my thread choices and my start:

My dear husband also got me a new Inspire bible for Christmas this year and it has blown me away. I can’t wait to get started on this. 

So here we are... my attempt to begin blogging again. There’s so much more to write about: kids, books, walks, crafting but it’s a start. Please give me a wave if you’re still out there and whether you’re still blogging too. 

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️