And the (very late) winner is...

Hello all - I'm sorry that I'm nearly a week late with the drawing for the LHN needlebook. We had my SIL and her daughter over last week which kept us quite busy, and then things got a bit hairy at work with a few people being made redundant (laid off). So has been a busy week in which I haven't done much of anything stitching related.

But now it's the Easter weekend, and four days of freedom stretch out wonderfully before me, so the very first thing to do is get this draw sorted out!

With the help of my trusty hat and helpful H, I can now tell you, the winner is...



Congratulations Bernadette! Please send me an email or leave a comment on this post with your email address so I can get your contact details and get this in the post to you.

Thanks as ever everyone for stopping by - happy Easter to all!

Happy stitching

The Second Giveaway

In honour of my second blogoversary (last week) and only slightly later than advertised, here it is, my second giveaway!

Continuing on in the Spring theme (my very favourite season) (is everyone else's favourite season the same season their birthday is in?), I will be giving away this:

(please excuse the rubbish photographs, it was quite dark when I was attempting to capture these)






It's Little House Needleworks' 'Season of Hope' finished as a needlebook. I'm quite fond of this one, I nearly couldn't part with it :)

The giveaway is open to absolutely anyone, please simply leave a comment on this post by Sunday 5th April (I'll probably do the draw in the evening UK time). Good luck! And, of course, thank you as ever for stopping by and making blogging such fun :)

Happy stitching!

And the Winner Is...

Whoops, events slightly overtook me yesterday, so here is the result of my first blogoversary giveaway a day late.

With the help of H, I present to you the first winner:



Congratulations Staci and thank you all for entering :) I will post the second giveaway contest tomorrow - thanks as ever for visiting and making blogging such a great experience :)


Staci I have sent you an email to get your snail mail address.

Happy stitching

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Happy blogoversary to me! It's been two years since I started this blog, and although I'm not the most regular of bloggers, I really enjoy being a stitching blogger, particularly in seeing what you're all up to :)


So, in celebration of my second blogoversary, I'm going to do a giveaway. In fact, I'm going to do two. But I'll do them one at a time, so for the first giveaway, leave a comment here on this post - it's open to anyone - and I'll draw names out of a hat next Saturday 28th March in the morning (UK time).


My first giveaway is this:




It's Brightneedle's 'Spring' design from Season Petites, and stitched 1/1 on 28ct pale lilac linen. Not a brilliant photo, but you get the idea.


So welcome to the giveaway; simply comment on this post and I'll post the winner (and the next giveaway) on Saturday 28th March.


Good luck and thank you for making blogging such fun :)

Happy stitching!

And the Winner Is...

Barbara!

Congratulations to you - I'll get the Kitty Cat chart to you in the post tomorrow; I know I have your address as I've just posted your Fair Squares to you last week :)

Happy stitching!

What, Another Giveaway Already?!

I know you’re thinking ‘but you just did a giveaway – what gives?’ Okay, no, you probably don’t think such atrocious puns. Yes, I just had a giveaway, but Clare recently stitched Kitty Cat by Twisted Threads and when I commented on her blog that the design would be perfect for my sister, who loves cats, she very kindly volunteered to send me the chart. So that is now all stitched up and waiting to be finished into a scissor fob as a stocking filler (shhhh, mum I know you’re reading this, so don’t let the cat out of the bag [sorry, couldn’t resist]), and I thought why not pass on the chart to someone else who may have a fondness for cats and stitching small designs? So leave a comment on this post, and I’ll do a draw (if there is more than one of you!) on Saturday 8th November in the evening, UK time.

Here’s the photo of the one I stitched:

Twisted Threads – Kitty Cat
Stitched on Lakeside Linens 36ct ‘Navy Bean’ using a mixture of Carrie’s Creations, DMC and GAST threads

By the way, Sally received the JCS Hallowe’en Ornament issue from the last giveaway (congratulations again Sally!) and I slipped a little gift into the envelope for her:

From Sleepy Hollow – Cross-Eyed Cricket
Stitched on 32ct raw linen using DMC
(the fabric in the photo is the fabric I used for the back and also for the loop)

Finished as floss tag

(But don’t get too excited, because I haven’t had a chance to stitch anything for this giveaway, so it’s just the chart!)

A special hello to all you American voters out there – we’ll be watching with interest into the small hours over here to see the outcome!

Happy stitching!

Giveaway Winner!

I was all ready to stay up last night and wait for H to come home from his European Supply Chain Awards dinner - he was in black tie, which I thought would be perfect attire for a giveaway draw! Alas, I fell asleep before he came home, and so the job has been put off until today. But, a quick trip to http://www.random.org/ and... we have a winner!!

Congratulations to:

!!SALLY of Stitchyangel's Treasures!!

Sally, please drop me an email (email address is in my profile) and let me know your address, and I'll pop this in the post for you straight away!

Another update to come later today :)

Happy stitching!

A Giveaway!

I’d forgotten that last month I had ordered a copy of the JCS Hallowe’en ornament issue – and then Paula sent me that gorgeous Hallowe’en pinkeep for the HOE exchange, remember, and she also included a copy of the magazine. So now I’ve got two! But I don’t need two. So I thought – this looks like a giveaway, smells like a giveaway – IT IS A GIVEAWAY! So no matter if you’re nearby, faraway, a faithful or a first-time reader, simply leave a comment on this post before the end of Tuesday 28th October (UK time) when I will draw a winner. You never know what else I might just slip inside the winner’s parcel :)

Happy stitching!



PS In case you are curious what is in the magazine, it boasts not only Hallowe'en ornaments by Just Nan, Mosey 'n' Me, Sweetheart Tree, Monsterbubbles, Homespun Elegance, Prairie Schooler, La-D-Da, and SamSarah Designs (among others), it also, amongst the usual columns and designs, features a design by My Big Toe Designs and one by Carriage House Samplings. Good luck to all!

Oh My, It's a Long One! (With LOTS Of Photos

It seems like an age ago, but our short break to the Cotswolds last weekend was amazing – the weather didn’t do much, but the village we stayed in was so peaceful and small, we couldn’t help but relax. H mastered the woodstove, and I got to be toasty warm for 4 days (this is a bonus, as my hands and feet are usually like blocks of ice, regardless of the season).

Our cottage (above), below, a view across the fields to the village

Below: looking up the only street in the village

And, of course because I had 4 days at my leisure, I found lots of time for stitching – I managed to finish three, yes THREE ornaments for the mini-SAL that Leena and I have together:

Heart in Hand - Winter Forest

Sam Sarah: Winter Love

Prairie Schooler: Blackwork Angel (with trumpet)

The holiday does seem like a while ago because I’ve been so hideously busy at work, but I was cheered up immensely by finding a mystery package on the doorstep this evening on my way in from work – Suzanne sent me this adorable bourse as a Crazy Exchange, so now I have 30 days to send her back something nice. I will get my needle to the ready! Here is the bourse, and also the extra goodies she put into the parcel for me – thank you so much Suzanne!







I heard from Becky K that she received the giveaway treat that she won about a month ago – sadly, her father passed on this week, so she has not been posting much. My thoughts are with you Becky at this difficult time. But she did find time to send me a very nice email to thank me for the floss tag I made her (but really, it’s me should be thanking her for reading my blog, LOL!). It’s a C Mon Monde design from Boite a Tresors, and the B on the reverse is from an A Mon Ami Pierre alphabet. I think purple is a big favourite of Becky’s, so I changed the pattern to suit.





I also heard that Melissa received the Fair & Square Round 6 squares that I posted her – these are one of the extra little pillow designs from one of the LHN Dear Diary series.


Oh, and I had a wonderful email from Heather letting me know that she got her birthday parcel from me – she was my partner for the Stitching Bloggers’ Birthday Club this year. It was a real delight getting to know her on her blog, and following her quilting and stitching exploits. Check out her blog for an extremely cute photo of her daughter burrowing into some of the extras I put in the parcel for her :) I stitched her the In My Garden needleroll by Shepherd’s Bush.


And, speaking of Heather and quilting, I managed to find some time to quilt this weekend, and finished off my first 6 blocks – whoop whoop! So now I have just to square them up, add sashing and corner blocks, and 3 borders. It’s a snap, eh?!

Last week I managed to find time to stitch a bit on both Awake the Dawning Day and Spanish Wine – my two long term projects (along with Paradigm Lost) which really aren’t that big, but which sadly I don’t seem to be able to find much time for. I seem to be always stitching for exchanges or other people, so stuff for me tends to quickly make it to the bottom of the pile!

And, lastly (sorry, I did say it was going to be a long one!) here is the progress from my last session with Paradigm Lost, which was actually now nearly 10 days ago as I was working late this past Thursday night and didn’t have time to haul it out.


Thanks for bearing with me for this long – it’s difficult to find time to stitch, blog, clean house, work full time, commute, bake, cook, quilt and have 3-hour conversations on the phone with my sister – I don’t know how we all manage!! :)

Happy stitching!

And the Winner Is...

My lovely assistant, my husband, helped draw the winner this afternoon (you see, I told you he likes his sleep - he didn't quite make it out of bed this morning!). And the winner is...



Becky K! You've won the giveaway! Well done :) If you can send me an email (it's in my profile) with your snail mail address, I'll start stitching something for you and soon you can start hassling your postman!



This is the hat H pulled Becky's name out of - my mum made it for me about 15 years ago, and it's my gardening hat so I don't get too sunburned (I live in hope that I might actually be able to get a sunburn in the UK... LOL).

Happy stitching!