Exchanges received

Found out that Staci received my freebie exchange in the post today and that she likes it yay!! I made her a mattress pincushion with a freebie from Les Grilles de Maryse. I have had to pinch her pics as I forgot to take some doh!

These are the extras I sent to her as well. I also know that Angie got my Needleroll in the Jayne's Attic Needleroll exchange. I struggled to find a pattern so I rummaged through my old magazines and found a pretty band sampler. I took a few bands out and came up with this:

Sorry the pics are a bit blurry. I was so proud of myself for making one of these and learning the hemstitching. I used it for the Monthly challenge blog too.

Slowly adding to my blog list. Still need to write down exchange dates so I don't forget them. Rachel reminded me she was about to start my pif I signed up for and it has reminded me to get on with Steph's that I have begun. So tonight I am going to finish the stitching on my summer house sbebb exchange then I will do a bit on Steph's pif. I have also got two biscornu (biscorni??) to think about too. I really do need to get organised. Another rotation perhaps??

Have managed to get a babysitter for my big day next week so dh and I can go out for a nice meal. Woohoo! Escaping the house for a night. What a treat!!

Till next time, have a good weekend everyone. Thanks for your comments.xx

Changeover has begun

Alas I did lose some widgets and page elements so in the process of putting them back in. Collecting blog addresses from comments and links to other blogs so bear with me if you're not on. Also need to go and write down my stitching deadlines. Very important!! Lost my blinkies too. I like it though. Will have fun re-doing it. xx

Finished!

Design from Repertoire des Frises

Stitched on 32 count willow green belfast linen

Stitched with Needle Necesseties 135

Thanks for all the lovely comments saying you couldn't see the stitch! Unfortunately it was one of those stitches that makes the rest of the design not meet up at the end. And, as it was a biscornu and had to be perfectly square, I had no choice but to unpick the left hand row. It didn't take too long and had it finished last night. So this is for the monthly challenge blog. So far these challenges have been not too difficult. I am dreading it if the challenge is something really difficult that you might need a machine for or if you have to do loads of sewing in neat straight lines. I think my worst challenge "fear" would be a basket lid!!!

I have finished my abc exchange piece now but awaiting something to send with it. Sally mentioned in her blog that Jacqueline Holdsworth from Needleprint is re-releasing authorised copies of the Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler on ebay. I spent my whole bank holiday waiting for her to put more charts up as they were and are selling like hotcakes!! So, finally, I got my copy. Yay!! Sally, Tracy and I are thinking of doing an SAL on it next year so if you fancy joining us, jump on in!!

I may be changing my blog background soon but the only way I can figure out how to do it is by losing all my added pages and elements which will mean slowly putting them all back in again. I will probably work on doing this this week. I think it's nice to have a background that suits your own individuality. I can only try and see I suppose.

Well it's my birthday next week so hoping to get some stitching stuff this time. No-one tends to buy me that which would be the best thing they could buy me really. Well both my friend and my sister have asked me so I have given them some ideas so hopefully I'll get something stitchy. My birthdays are usually very disappointing days so I am not getting my hopes up too much. I have decided I am going to take myself off on my own and spoil myself and do what I want to do even if only for the evening. It may involve just sitting in the car on my own with a book and some cake but hey that's fine!!

Yesterday I broke the washing machine by putting something in it that disintegrated into the machine so now I'll have to wait on somebody coming round today to fix it I think. :(

Happy stitching day everyone. Take care. xx

What an Idiot!

So here I am happily stitching away at my biscornu for the may monthly finishing challenge blog in a gorgeous colour of Needle Necessities thread. I have worked up the left side and then across the top and down the right side. Hmmm lovely isnt it:


and then I spot this!!!!!!! Can you see the misplaced stitch at the top of the left row before it curls up. Out by one stitch!!!! So I now have some unpicking to do.

It really spoke to me actually about mistakes that we often make in our lives and how sometimes we have to do some "unpicking" and starting again. We have a friend who is getting married soon - her 3rd marriage. We are having a little night of celebration for her and if we have a word of encouragement or a poem or something to give her then we can do it then. I am thinking of giving her this as a gift to help her remember that God is still weaving and embroidering her life even when she has made "mistakes" in the past.

Doh! I sent off two exchanges and completely forgot to take pictures of them. I'll have to wait till they have been rec'd then "borrow" the photos!!

And here's a couple of pics of Lily and Elijah at four and a half months old.




Just got "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory. I only read about one book a year but I am really enjoying this. I love tudor history.

Race is on to unpick and finish this biscornu so I'd better get on with it. Have a good stitching week. xx

quick update

Just a quickie so you all know I am still alive. I have been doing secret stitching so have nothing to show as yet. Exchanges are due to be sent soon so hopefully I'll have pics to show of the HOE Freebie exchange, Jayne's attic Needleroll exchange, SBEBB ABC Exchange. I am working on a little biscornu for the May Challenge on the Monthly challenging blog. Also the Summer House exchange on the SBEBB. Also need to think about doing a couple more biscornu for other exchanges I'm in. I am in the process of setting up a mini exchange with Tracy, Sally, myself and a friend of mine to do a biscornu exchange. My friend loves the idea of doing an exchange but lacks confidence as she is a new stitcher and needs a lot of time to complete something. So I have organised this little exchange between us for Sept/Oct time. So much secret stitching!

Hope everyone is well.

xx

Long time since I blogged!

Firstly a big Thank You to everyone who made a lovely comment about the death of my cat. It did take me some time to get over her. We still have her sibling who seems quite content and happy at the moment and is all over us in the evenings when we settle down.

Okay, so here's some pics of some lovely things I have received recently:
This is a needleroll made by Rachael for the Jayne's Attic Needleroll exchange. I think it is adorable and the fabric is a gorgeous colour. I love it. Thank you Rachael. Rachael also sent me some lovely threads too. Lucky lucky me!! They will get used on my Patchwork no doubt.


And here is a lovely surprise from Tracy!! As if you hadn't given enough already!! This arrived for me a couple of days ago and it is gorgeous and the same colours as Elijah's nursery too.

I love it Tracy - thank you so much. xx

And here's something I made for my very good friend Amanda who I introduced to stitching not so long ago. I think I have her hooked haha. I made this for her birthday. I used Caron waterlilies silk for it and I love it!! It is from the book Repertoire des Frises from Amazon France.


And Yasmin let me know that she received the spring quaker exchange I sent her so here is a pic of what I stitched. It is taken from the Gift of Stitching magazine and uses Polstitches threads. I sent her a few extras too, threads and a chart from her wishlist but forgot to take a pic of the whole bundle. I stuffed it with lavender.


I also got some gorgeous fabric from Stephanie as a rak. Can't wait to stitch something on it. Will show you when I have made something from it. Got an order from A mon ami pierre today as well - very quick delivery. I only ordered it on Monday or was it Tuesday?? She know takes paypal so ordering is easy yay!! However the Euro is very strong against the Pound at the moment and it cost me a load of wedge but hey - A mon ami pierre!!! You can't argue with that. So I got Quaker Amap and Alphabet Amap 8 click for links to the pics. In fact Cari made me the letter H for the redwork exchange and I loved it so much that I bought the chart for the whole alphabet!

So that's me. Sorry it's been a while. I have been really busy with ds who is being very demanding at the moment and sometimes it is just too much for me. I am loving all the new people on the blogs and trying to browse as many blogs as I can. Even if I don't leave a comment be assured that I do visit. Till next time, happy stitching in May! xx

Goodbye Poppy

Today we took our cat Poppy to the vet as she was getting very thin. They told us she had kidney disease and it would be best to put her down. We have had her for 9 years and she went through some rough times of sickness. She had a stroke about 6 years ago due to taking in poison of some sort. Then she recoverd but lost her sense of hearing. I feel too upset to blog properly today. I'm sorry Poppy for the times I treated you wrong. I'm thankful for the many happy memories you brought us and all the presents you used to bring us through the catflap. Goodbye my Poppycat.

Okay, I caved...

I have a new start! I have started A Most Noble Pursuit which is a collaberation of ten different designers. Here is my small start on the first square which is by The Workbasket. It is worked on 36 count lakeside linen and uses needlepoint silks. What's another BAP hey??



Here is my finish for the JA's March Challenge. I made this little pillow and stuffed it with lavender.



I am having a hard time trying to decide which SALs to join at the moment as there are that many going on.
There's

EMS Rose Sampler
Periphaeria Spanish Sampler
Papillon Creations How Does Your Garden Grow?
Ink Circles Book of Circles mystery
Tournicoton Mystery
and probably several others which I am unaware of. If you know of any then let me know and I'll add them to my to do one day list.

Here's some pics of the kids. One of Elijah smiling. Poor lad he now has three teeth that I can spot. And one of Lily doing her Girls Rock thing with her new electric guitar that her dad bought her.




Hope everyone has a fun stitching week. xx

Oooh a finish

I decided to join the Monthly Finishing Challenge blog and make a pinkeep out of an old Lizzie Kate freebie design I had had stitched up but shelved for years. So here it is. I can't remember what the fabric is but the threads are dmc.






It's the first time I have done a padded pinkeep and the first time doing one of those bow thingys at the top. Don't know if I have done it quite right as it is only pinned on and doesn't feel very secure. Apart from that, I think it looks quite cool and has built up my confidence a bit. The lovely trim I got from John Lewis - they have such lovely trims and things and was only 50p a meter which is not bad all things considered.

Oh and I saw this wonderful book on Staci's blog:

Here

which looks fab so I am going to get my dh to get it for me as part of my Birthday present which isn't till June but hey ho! You'll get a better idea of it on her blog actually.

Well tomorrow is reveal day on the Jayne Attics forum for the March Challenge so I will post another pic tomorrow of another finish I have done.

Take care all.
x

Woohoo I got spoiled.

Today I received my Spring Quaker exchange from Edgar from the SBEBB. I am so blessed! He made me this gorgeous pinkeep with lace edging and he truely spoiled me by sending me three charts off my wishlist, four threads, some lovely fabric and a tin of altoids!! The charts are: LHN Coffee Menu, Sampler Cove's Grace Quaker Sampler and Ink Circles' Quackworth. I have been looking for altoids to get the tin so I can make something with it but not been able to find any over here. Now I just need to find a little design to put on it. I'll also need to find some finishing instructions too. Thank you so much Edgar. I am thrilled!



I have some lovely charts in my stash now. Just to decide which one to start next. Hmmmmm....
xx

Quick update

Thanks for all the lovely, supportive comments you gave me after the last post. It's not post natal depression but other issues that have been going on for a while that have just happened to surface at this time. Mainly rejection stuff that I have suffered from for a long time but hey ho you don't want to hear about all that do you?

So the big news is that Elijah has got his first tooth! It has been confirmed by the Health Visitor that the white lump on the back of his gum is indeed a tooth coming through. She also said that his front gums look "ready to pop" too. So poor guy, that is why he has been niggling so much. He is doing really well in getting into a routine now. We put him down at 7.30 and he has a feed at 11 then goes through till about 5 or 6. Not bad going for a hungry, teething boy! As long as I get some of my time back in the evenings, I don't mind.

So I have been able to get a bit of stitching done. I have been working on Steph's pif but can't let you see that yet. I have done the March challenge on Jayne's attic but not allowed to reveal that yet either! But I have also been working on Patchwork so here's an update on that:

I really enjoy working on this and I aim to get it finished this year. I am just using random threads and silks for it so it will be like a real patchwork of threads.

Something else I have done is booked a workshop that a group from Jayne's attic is going on. It is run by the Bedfordshire school of needlework which is over 3 hours drive away. I have never done anything like this before and I am a little nervous but excited too. It will mean an overnight and possibly a 2 night stay in a hotel. Here is a link to the workshop I have booked.
It is a drawn thread sampler and I have never done this type of needlework before so should be good. I have booked a friend on it too so I won't be alone. It's not till June so I have time to get organised.

Sorry I have not commented on many blogs lately. If you have had a comment from me then you are in the minority! I have been savouring any free time I have and have been using it to stitch and watch the series 24 with my dh in the evenings! I promise I will get back to commenting soon. Hope everyone had a blessed Easter and bank holiday. Catch up soon. xx

And the winner is....

As hand picked by my daughter!! Well done Carla. You have won my Needlebook. I don't think I have your snail mail address so please email me it and I'll get it sent off to you as soon as.

So I have had a very hectic couple of weeks and not been on blogland at all!! Last week my dd was in a dance production which lasted all week into the wee hours of the night. We were shattered, she was not. She had a wonderful time dressing up in her costumes and wearing make up and having her hair sprayed with a serious amount of hairspray. She adores being up on stage and being the centre of attention. I wish I had her confidence.

So that was last week and this week has been emotionally hectic. I have a lot going on with my emotions right now and am having to go "see" someone about it. Nothing too serious and I will get fixed but it's been a hard week.

The great thing is that we are now able to start to settle Elijah into an evening routine. It's at the stage where he is crying when we put him down but after about 5 to 10 mins he settles himself. This means I will be able to pick up my needle and thread again! Yippee. I already have made a start. I have begun a pif and Stephanie if you're reading, here's a sneaky peak. Like I said it might take me a while to do.


And speaking of stitching, I am still undecided on threads for the Spanish Mystery that Periphaeria is doing. I came up with this combo of pastels which I thought would look nice on the Cashel Couture linen in Lemon. The Cashel comes ready hemmed and would look good as a table piece I think.


I am still a little nervous about starting an sal when I have so little time on my hands and also when I have never seen it before. The parts are once every two months so I have time to decide when I have seen the first part.

So here is a little pic of Elijah as he is two calendar months old today.

Have a good week.

xx

Another gift and a giveaway!

Hello all. I have not had chance to blog for ages due to Elijah starting to be a bit more demanding in the evenings. I received this lovely lottery piece from Barbara last week but haven't managed to get the time to put it on my blog. I don't know about anyone else but it takes me ages to take pictures (and they're never very good) and then download them onto a host to put on my blog. It always seems to take a long time. So sorry it's so late being put on here Barbara and that the picture's not very good:( This beautiful hanging ornie was made by Barbara for Elijah's room. It's so beautiful and I love it. You can't see the top but it has two little heart buttons attaching the ribbon. She also sent these cute little mittens which Elijah has already worn!


Because of all the lovely, amazing gifts I have recently received from the lottery, I have decided to give away my little needlebook that I made for the lottery. I really like this piece but I feel to give it away since I have been the recipient of soo much stuff.

You can click on the picture to see more pics of it, back, inside etc... The design is from Repertoire des Frises and uses DMC Variegated threads. There are felt pages inside to place your needles. The first needlebook I made was the one with the little house on and I use it all the time. A very practical piece of stitching equipment! So if anyone would like it then just reply to this post and say so. I will do a draw in two weeks time or thereabouts.

I have been agonising over the Periphaeria spanish sal. I dunno what colours to choose. I would like to be creative and pick colours myself but without seeing the design I don't know if the colours I'd pick would be right. Does anyone else have this lack of creativity problem going on??

I am desperate to start something new in my stash but I have been hard pressed to get time to even finish my spring quaker exchange piece. It's a good job I started it early. I have nearly managed to get it done but Elijah has started to be a little more demanding now. I long to start my Collaberation sampler of A Most Noble Pursuit. I have all the silks and fabric for it so it's ready to go. Maybe sometime soon.

Well hope you all have a good stitching weekend and don't forget to put your name down for the giveaway. It's open to anyone.

Hugsxx

Elijah pics and a new mystery sampler

Wow Elijah is one month old today - one calender month that is. Here are some pics of him from today. He looks much cuter irl to be honest!!




I also got an email today from Periphaeria Designs that she is going to be starting a mystery sampler for this year and some of next and best of all it's free. So I would recommend signing up for her newsletter so you never miss a part. After it has finished it will no longer be free. Sounds exciting and can't wait to see what part one is like. To help support the Lady I ordered some of her biscornu charts today and rec'd them very quickly. I got Nita's lace, Courtyard of Alhambra and Beescornu

I also found this excellent finishing tutorial for a scissor case from Linda's blog and I think it is wonderful. I am definitely going to try one of these out:
Scissor Case
And then I spent the last part of the evening browsing lots of new blogs and getting inspired again. In between cradling my baby and being puked on a few times!

Till next time...

Another quick post

Boy I do have a good baby that allows me a bit of time to stitch and post! Wanted to quickly show what I have stitched recently. It was both my sisters' birthdays recently so I decided to make them both a biscornu each to add to some other stuff I gave them. Here is one I made for Fiona which is actually one I started in hospital but didn't get very much done.


And then I felt I had to make one for Wendy, even though she might not be quite into it, I felt I couldn't leave her out. They are both made from threads and fabrics given to me by people recently. This one is from a Periphaeria chart from Outi and uses Atalie threads which she also gave me.


I also recieved this beautiful chart from Jeanne and some lovely baby stuff too. This was a chart on my wishlist which Jeanne had and offered to send me. Thank you so much Jeanne.


I am finding a little time to stitch and blog so I decided that I would sign up for the SBEBB Spring Quaker exchange. I didn't think I'd be able to participate in any exchanges so soon but Elijah is a really good baby and just wants to eat and sleep at the moment. Although I haven't been commenting on every single blog, I have been looking at them and getting inspired. I am amazed how much stitching some of you have done already. Some of you already have quite a list on your 2008 finishes! Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my blog. It is wonderful to know that there is even a single person who takes an interest in me!

Hope you all have a great stitching week. xx

Lots more goodies..

My goodness! I have been inundated with gifts galore! It feels like my birthday every day. Several more lottery pieces have arrived for me.

First up is Dianne's gift which is this cute drawstring bag and inside she has put a bag of Hershey's chocolates. It's so lovely. Thank you Dianne.


Next up is the beautiful biscornu from Mindy who also sent this lovely wooden thread keeper made by her father and also some thread she used for the biscornu. Not only all this but a gorgeous beaded scissor fob too. All lovely Mindy. Thank you so much!!


Outi's gift also arrived and with it she included a Periphaeria design and some lovely floss. Thank you Outi. I love it all.


Leena's piece also arrived and Leena made this cute pair of booties for Elijah too! This is the first flatfold I have ever had and I love it. Thanks Leena!!


Next up is my Frosty Friends exchange that Amysc sent to me. It's so lovely. A beautiful snowman cushion backed with snowman fabric and lots of other goodies too. She sent me 3 charts and a charm for one of them, 2 pieces of fabric and 2 threads. Thank you so much Amy. What a perfect gift.


Now, some time ago I entered a competition on Sara's blog and lo and behold I won!! I guess I was really blessed last year to win so many things. Sara was very secretive about what the prize would be so I was totally blown away to receive this gift today!!

The ornie she stitched is by Teresa Wentzler and she also sent me some sachets of cocoa, hand made chocolates, body lotion, threads and a great Lizzie kate kit in a box which I have never seen before. Really cool stash Sara. Thank you so much.

And just to treat myself, like I really need more treats hey, I bought the Mary Peacock Sampler chart ond these great miniature putford scissors from the Sampler Guild and they arrived the very next day. Wonderful service. I don't know when I'll actually get around to stitching it but it's nice to have in my stash. And I just adore the scissors.


So that's me for a bit. Sorry if I have made anyone green eyed! I have been slowly working my way through blogs and responding to my comments. I was so blessed to receieve so many lovely comments concerning my new baby. Elijah is doing well but unfortunately I have ended up with an infection in my wound which has made it very uncomfortable for me. It was just about healed too when the infection set in. So I am now on antibiotics and cream to sort it out. Hopefully I'll be a lot better next time I write. I have been working on a biscornu and not sure whether to give it to my sister for her birthday or to keep it or give it to someone else. I will post a pic of it next time I write when I hopefully will have finished it. Small, easy projects this year I think.

Till next time, happy stitching.
xx

Welcome Elijah John Henry..... Long post, lots of pics

Here's our beautiful new arrival, Elijah John Henry, who came as planned on the 8th January at 10.15 weighing in at 9lb 3oz!! Yes I do have a habit of giving birth to big babies! Lily weighed 9 lb. I'm recovering well from the section - a lot better than last time. We only got home on Monday due to him having to stay in hospital an extra couple of days as he had jaundice. He is fine now though. He is absolutely adorable and is very cuddle. He likes his cuddles. I'm very tired as I'm only just starting to catch up with sleep after having none in the hospital for 6 days!. I did take some stitching in thinking I might have to wait a while for the csection but they did it straight away.
Here is a video of his first cry!!! Just as he was taken from me. (hope it works)

elijah 041.mpg

Since I have been away I have started to recieve some lovely goodies through the post from the cross stitchers lottery.
Here's what I have rec'd so far:

This is from Stephanie which is absolutely stunning. She even sent some extras - the fabric of which I took into hospital with me. Thank you Stephanie.




This is from Cheryl who also sent me a couple of baby vests too. Thanks Cheryl. I love it.


This is from Carol which is so lovely and is set on a real wooden box!! Very impressive. I can store my threads in there. Thank you Carol.


This is from Edgar. Great fabric and my favourite Season. Thank you Edgar.


This is from Dawn who also sent some extras. I really need that ribbon lol! Thank you Dawn - it's fab!

This is from Aniza - so sweet and I love the fabric colour. Thank you Aniza.

This is from Yasmin. I adore the thread colour. Thank you Yasmin!!

Phew Loads of goodies.

Also as if that is not enough to show I also have finished the Simple Little Quaker design. Here it is stitched on 32 count lavender mist belfast linen using Dinky Dyes Amethyst thread.



Also I can show you what I stitched for Jeanne for the Frosty Friends exchange as she has recieved it now. It is by Beardie Designs and is called Winter pocket. I sent some extras too but didn't photograph them.




So going to be a bit busy now but will try to get on as soon as I can. All the best everyone. xx