Some Goals for December

I had a finishing weekend last weekend, and among all the Christmas ornaments (more on them shortly), I managed to finish some Fair Squares – these are the ones that Mercy sent to me a while back. I finished them into a needlebook. I absolutely love L’R de Rien designs, I must add some to my already overflowing stash ;)

Also on the subject of Fair and Square, Dani received the squares I stitched for her for Round 10. Dani is going to make a friendship quilt from all her squares, so is collecting Quaker-themed squares stitched in red – I’m really looking forward to seeing it when finished, it should be amazing! I chose to stitch her a design I took from part of Examplar Dames 'Honesty'.



I’ve also had a bit of time this week to work on Sailing Home – and it’s going remarkably quickly I’m pleased to report! The design is predominantly in blue, so I have a few letters and numbers, plus the baby’s name and birthdate to stitch, then just a few stars and sailboats. There’s no chance it will be done before Christmas, but early in the new year should see this one finished up. At which point, the child in question will nearly be six months old, but nevermind :)



And, finally, a goal review for November, and some goals for December:

November Goals

- stitch and send Fair and Square Christmas Squares to Barbara – YES
- stitch and send Fair and Square Round #10 Squares to Dani – YES
- Christmas ornament SAL with Leena: stitch one ornament – YES
- Finish 6 Christmas ornaments – YES, in fact I finished 7
- Finish one non-Christmas item from finishing drawer – YES
- Finish Kitty Cat into scissor fob – YES
- Carry on stitching Paradigm Lost – YES
- Carry on stitching Spanish Wine – YES
- Carry on stitching secret stitching – YES
- Carry on stitching Sailing Home – YES
- Carry on stitching AMAP pinkeep – YES
- Start x-box quilt – NO (I never seem to do my quilting goals do I?)

December Goals

- Finish last Christmas ornament
- Finish something from finishing drawer
- Carry on stitching Paradigm Lost with Let’s Stitch group
- Carry on stitching Spanish Wine
- Carry on stitching secret stitching
- Carry on stitching Sailing Home
- Carry on stitching AMAP pinkeep

Happy stitching!

A New Start!

Yes, well, it seemed about time for a new start, and it seemed more than about time to start this particular design, which is intended to be a birth sampler for my friend’s child, now born more than two months ago (whoops). Luckily it is stitching up fairly quickly, so with a bit of application this shouldn’t take too long:

Sailing Home – Blackbird Designs

And better late than never, an update of last month’s goals, and a roundup of this month’s:

October
- stitch and send Fair and Square Autumn Squares to Jill – YES
- Snowbird SAL: stitch Paradigm Lost on Thursdays – YES
- Christmas ornament SAL with Leena: stitch one ornament – YES
- Finish 5 Christmas ornaments this month – YES (I’m especially proud of that one!)
- Start stitching secret stitching – YES
- Start stitching baby gift – YES
- Carry on stitching AMAP pinkeep – YES
- Carry on stitching Spanish Wine – YES
- Finish at least one non-Christmas thing from my finishing drawer – YES
- Quilting: spend at least one day quilting this month – NO

November
- stitch and send Fair and Square Christmas Squares to Barbara
- stitch and send Fair and Square Round #10 Squares to Dani
- Christmas ornament SAL with Leena: stitch one ornament
- Finish 6 Christmas ornaments
- Finish one non-Christmas item from finishing drawer
- Finish Kitty Cat into scissor fob
- Carry on stitching Paradigm Lost
- Carry on stitching Spanish Wine
- Carry on stitching secret stitching
- Carry on stitching Sailing Home
- Carry on stitching AMAP pinkeep
- Start x-box quilt

Don't forget, if you'd like to be entered into the draw for the Kitty Cat chart (see last post), then leave a comment there before Saturday.

Happy stitching!

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Fair Squares

Two days, two sets of Fair Squares! First, the Round #9 squares arrived from Clare. She stitched me these beautiful squares from a Prairie Schooler freebie – I just love them. Check out the really cool signature square as well. I’m thinking of finishing it into a floss holder a la Staci here, once of course I work out how she does it ;)


And then, the lovely Jill sent me my squares for the Fair and Square Autumn Round. I’m a Brightneedle fan, so these are great – also in my stash and not yet stitched so saves me the effort ;)


Isn’t the over 1 stitching on the signature squares amazing? These I’m thinking of making into a floss tag.

I didn’t explicitly set any September goals, and you’ll know from my previous posts that I’ve been quite busy doing exchange stitching these last several weeks, so I didn’t achieve anything goal-wise beyond meeting my exchange commitments. Hopefully October will see a bit more variety in my stitching.

- stitch and send Fair and Square Autumn Squares to Jill
- Snowbird SAL: stitch Paradigm Lost on Thursdays
- Christmas ornament SAL with Leena: stitch one ornament
- Finish 5 Christmas ornaments this month
- Start stitching secret stitching (my ref Munro banner)
- Start stitching baby gift (my ref Sailing Home)
- Carry on stitching AMAP pinkeep
- Carry on stitching Spanish Wine
- Finish at least one non-Christmas thing from my finishing drawer
- Quilting: spend at least one day quilting this month

Happy stitching!

Updates and Goals

I managed to squeeze in a (short) night’s stitching on Spanish Wine – it’s very slowly progressing, but hopefully now that I’ve finished off a couple of larger projects this should start to proceed more quickly.



And of course Thursday was the Snowbird SAL and Paradigm Lost, here is this week’s progress:

Right, so, the monthly goal review:

July’s goals:
Stitch, finish and send a birthday gift – yes, Carol received this
The other gift – finish and send – yes, Marne received this PIF gift
Thursdays – Snowbird SAL – keep stitching Paradigm Lost – yes
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena – yes, I stitched 2
Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day – yes, and I finished it!
Keep stitching Spanish Wine – yes
Finish the secret stitching – yes, and I finished it!
Start the other exchange piece – yes, and it’s nearly complete
Finish one item from the ‘to be finished’ drawer – yes
Quilt – carry on with Vintage Holiday quilt – no
Quilt – carry on with patchwork bag – no
Quilt – start Xbox quilt – no

I also stitched and finished a gift. You can see I wasn’t too motivated with the quilting in July :)

August’s goals:
Send a birthday gift
Stitch, finish and send the other exchange piece
Stitch, finish and send the Crazy Exchange return exchange to Joke
Start stitching the HOE Prairie Schooler exchange
Start stitching F/S Holiday Round Squares
Start stitching HOE Hallowe’en exchange
Thursdays – Snowbird SAL – keep stitching Paradigm Lost
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena – stitch one ornament
Keep stitching Spanish Wine
Resurrect the AMAP pinkeep from my UFO pile
Start stitching the baby gift
Quilting – carry on with Vintage Holiday quilt, carry on with patchwork bag, start Xbox quilt

That should keep me busy at any rate!

I’ve just gotten back from a lovely weekend with the girls being pampered at Hanbury Manor and I’ll post some photos and tell you a bit about it tomorrow – I am too knackered just now :) Also, Hazel’s long-awaited PIF arrived on Saturday, so I’m going to go open that - which I'm totally looking forward to! - I’ll update you on that tomorrow too.

Happy stitching!

Catching Up

So the news wasn’t too bad, the car will cost about £400 to fix, and the leak was sorted out for around £200 – but just think of all the stash I could have had ;) It’s money well spent for peace of mind though!

Mercy has let me know that the squares I sent to her for the Fair & Square exchange Round 7 have arrived safely. Mercy is an avowed Hallowe’en lover – she even has a Hallowe’en ornament tree! – so despite the time of year I thought I would stitch her something Hallowe’en-y – and Lizzie*Kate’s Hallowe’en Flip-It caught my eye:

Design: Hallowe’en Flip-It by Lizzie*Kate
Linen: 32ct Permin/Wichelt 'Natural'
Floss: GAST and DMC as charted

I used the style of the design to chart out a signature square. Now, don’t look too closely, or you’ll notice that I did one of my infamous counting mistakes and the signature square is significantly narrower than the main square – oops!!

I’ve been busily stitching away on my secret, but I did get one evening to spend on Awake the Dawning Day, so here is my progress:


As you can see, I’m nearly, nearly finished this one – I have just a few words, some initials, the year, and 85 eyelet stitches (yes, sadly, I did count them!). I’m hoping that a little applied effort in between secret stitches will see this one finished off by the end of the summer.

And, finally, because it wouldn't be a new month without a goal round-up!, goals achieved (or not, in fact) for June and proposed for July:

SBEBB ABC - finish stitching, finish and send – YES Hazel received this
Fair & Square Round 7 - stitch and send – YES Mercy received this
The other gift - finish and send – NO, still not managed to finish it
Thursdays - Snowbird SAL - keep stitching Paradigm Lost – NO, sadly did not put one stitch into PL this month
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena - finish stitching the big ornament from May – YES, hurrah, achieved a goal!
Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day – YES
Keep stitching Spanish Wine – NO
Keep stitching the secret project – YES
Finish at least one thing from the 'to be finished' drawer – NO
Quilt - carry on with Vintage Holiday quilt (sashing and corner blocks) – NO, didn’t get around to any quilting in June
Quilt - start X-Box quilt – NO
Quilt - finish patchwork bag – NO

As you can see, it was a busy busy month for me, and not much of it stitching or quilting! Hopefully July will be a calmer month, and I will be more productive. Here’s what I’m hoping to achieve:

Stitch, finish and send a birthday gift
The other gift – finish and send
Thursdays – Snowbird SAL – keep stitching Paradigm Lost
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena
Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day
Keep stitching Spanish Wine
Finish the secret stitching
Start the other exchange piece
Finish one item from the ‘to be finished’ drawer
Quilt – carry on with Vintage Holiday quilt
Quilt – carry on with patchwork bag
Quilt – start Xbox quilt

Happy stitching!

Been Awhile

Well, it's been a little while since I've posted - a combination of travel and work still being a teensy bit out of control (don't I sound like a broken record...).

But, here is a quick update for you on what I've been up to (of what I can share anyway!).

Firstly, I got a message from Suzanne on the Crazy Exchange that she received the floss tag I sent to her in return for the bourse she sent me earlier this month. I used a La-D-Da freebie for the front, and stitched an 'S' from an A Mon Ami Pierre alphabet on the back - 'S' is perfect as it represents the both of us.

Design: La-D-Da 'Rose' freebie on front, AMAP alphabet 'S' on back

Floss: GAST as charted, with one Le Fil Atalie substitution

Linen: 40ct Georgia Clay by Silkweaver

Next, H gave me the second part of my birthday present this weekend - I know my birthday was now several weeks ago, but he wanted to take me to our local quilting shop and treat me, and unfortunately the shop is only open Mondays to Fridays, making it impossible for me to ever get there (they close before I leave work in London, and the shop is in Oxfordshire!). Rustic Angels is a wonderful little shop about 15 minutes' drive from us, and I had been looking forward to their open day this weekend for a good month at least! I browsed, compared, matched, ooh-ed and ah-ed over their models and samples and displays, and finally chose the following, along with 2 quilting rulers big enough to let me square up the 14" blocks I'm currently making (sorry for the blurry photos - I only realised after I've put all the fabric away!)

I have a quilt in mind for most of this, particularly the blues and creams, which I've decided to call the X-Box quilt and will hopefully be able to start in June. Of course, I should finish the other quilt top first, but you know how it is...

Last night, whilst watching Britain's Got Talent (I am so addicted to these programmes, and frankly H is at least as addicted as me, if not more so!), I stitched a bit on Awake the Dawning Day. Whoop whoop, I'm on to the words! The end is nearly in sight!

And, finally, here is this month's goal review. I didn't do so well against last month's goals as I would have liked, but nevermind, sadly I can't spend every spare waking moment stitching and quilting :)

Stitch, finish and send Suzanne’s return Crazy Exchange - YES! And Suzanne received it
Stitch, finish and send the HOE Freebie exchange - YES! Posted by the deadline
Stitch the SBEBB ABC exchange - YES!
Thursdays – Snowbird SAL – keep stitching Paradigm Lost - YES! Well, most Thursdays, anyway...
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena – stitch at least one ornament - SORT OF - I stitched half a really big one, to be finished in June
Keep stitching the other gift - YES! I finished stitching it, and just need to finish and send it
Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day - YES!
Keep stitching Spanish Wine - YES!
Keep stitching the secret project - YES!
Finish at least one thing from the ‘to be finished’ drawer - YES! Ah, that's the thing that I keep forgetting to show you - photos below!
Quilt – start the sashing and corner blocks - NO, but now that I have the new rulers, I can keep going with this
Make a quilted patchwork bag - SORT OF - I cut and sewed together lots of blocks, but haven't yet ordered the walking foot for my machine to quilt the bag - this is the final part of H's birthday present to me.

GOALS FOR JUNE:

SBEBB ABC - finish stitching, finish and send

Fair & Square Round 7 - stitch and send

The other gift - finish and send

Thursdays - Snowbird SAL - keep stitching Paradigm Lost

Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena - finish stitching the big ornament from May

Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day

Keep stitching Spanish Wine

Keep stitching the secret project

Finish at least one thing from the 'to be finished' drawer

Quilt - carry on with Vintage Holiday quilt (sashing and corner blocks)

Quilt - start X-Box quilt

Quilt - finish patchwork bag

Ha ha, I'll be amazed if I manage all that, especially as 2 of my weekends in June are going to be spent at hen weekends in Devon and then Galway! Good to have a stretch challenge ;)

Here are the phtoos of my drawer finish for this month: I finished up the very first Fair & Square sqaures that I received from Sue Wild (no blog) - they are a Just Nan design, and I decided to have a go at a triangular scissors case finish, as instructed so ably by Linda here. I discovered as I was doing the backstitch that it turns out the linen that Sue used was an uneven weave (LOL, that took a bit of headscratching and re-counting before I worked that one out!) so the scissor case isn't 100% symmetrical - part of its charm, I'm sure you'll agree! You can see I used the signature squares to line the inside.

Right, well, I'm amazed you got this far, so thanks for bearing with me :)

Happy stitching!

Exchanges and Monthly Goal Roundup

I’ve been away for a couple of days on a work strategy event (yawn), and I was delighted to find a package waiting for me on my return home – it was my SBEBB Garden Exchange from Mama Joan! I’d been admiring Joan’s stitching and finishing, and her trademark project bags and chicken pincushions, so I am extremely pleased to report that I now have my very own samples of all three!! Joan made me a terrific project bag, and stuffed it with not only this gorgeous pinkeep that she stitched – LHN’s Cottage Garden is the design – but also lots and lots of goodies (including the chicken!) – hand cream, some of the same backing fabric she used on the project bag and on the pinkeep reverse, some cute little notecards, a garden-themed teatowel with a stitchable band on the bottom, a little needleminder and a chart with all the floss and buttons required to stitch it. Joan, you have been so generous and kind, and I really love it all!!

And, as if that wasn’t enough, this morning (I so love Saturday mail delivery here in the UK!) another package came through the door – this time it was Melissa C’s Fair & Square Round 6 squares for me – she stitched Lizzie*Kate’s ‘Life’s a Stitch’ which is just perfect, and included some backing fabric, pins, needles and a small tin which had a little surprise in it – a beaded scissor fob! Thank you so much Melissa :) I intend to finish the squares into a pincushion or pinpillow – more photos eventually when I get around to doing it!

There was a special birthday last month – my mum’s! I decided to stitch her something for it, and although it didn’t quite arrived in time (oops), she let me know the other day that it arrived and that she loves it – I stitched Time to Quilt: Winter by Jeannette Douglas as my mum is a talented quilter, and I finished it into a bourse (my first) because I thought she might be able to use it to pop bits and bobs in it when she lugs her sewing machine off to her weekly quilting gatherings. I chose the Winter design in the series because it had the most green in it (my mum’s favourite colour), and also because, being a dedicated golfer, I think she probably quilts far more in the winter (relatively, that is – she pretty much does it constantly!). Enjoy mum :)



And because it’s the beginning of the month, here is April’s goal review, and I’ve of course set a few more for May:

April’s Goals:

Stitch, finish and send 4 exchanges due this month – Yes, sent Vonna the SBEBB Here’s to Ewe exchange, sent Melissa C the Fair & Square Round 6 exchange, sent Heather the SBBC birthday exchange, and sent the SBEBB Garden exchange, which is still en route
Stitch, finish and send Becky K’s prize for winning the giveaway – Yes
Thursdays – Snowbird SAL – keep stitching Paradigm Lost – Yes
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena – stitch at least one ornament – Yes, I stitched three!

Keep stitching the special birthday gift – Yes, I stitched and sent mum her bourse
Keep stitching the other gift – Yes, I did
Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day – Yes
Keep stitching Spanish Wine – Yes
One new start – Yes, but it’s a secret so can’t tell you about it
Finish the 6 quilting blocks – Yes

Here is what I have planned for May:

Stitch, finish and send Suzanne’s return Crazy Exchange
Stitch, finish and send the HOE Freebie exchange
Stitch the SBEBB ABC exchange
Thursdays – Snowbird SAL – keep stitching Paradigm Lost
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena – stitch at least one ornament
Keep stitching the other gift
Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day
Keep stitching Spanish Wine
Keep stitching the secret project
Finish at least one thing from the ‘to be finished’ drawer
Quilt – start the sashing and corner blocks
Make a patchwork bag

Phew, that should keep me busy...

Happy stitching!

Biscornu Exchange and Goal Roundup

I had a nice email from Margie, who was my partner in the Hooked on Exchanging biscornu exchange – she was kind enough to let me know that she liked what I stitched for her, which is always a relief! Here are some photos of the biscornu I stitched, and as per usual I didn’t take a photo of the rest of the goodies, but she has some photos on her blog so go and check those out if you are interested (her photos of the biscornu are also much better than mine!!).

Biscornu for Margie (front above, back below)

Tudor by Cross Stitch Direct

Silkweaver 32ct Periwinkle Mist linen

Carrie's Creation 'Clouds in the Sky'

I’ve been busy with exchanges and finishing, so not much else to show you – I have just started re-stitching my SBEBB Here’s to Ewe exchange as I made a bit of a boo-boo with the finishing! Luckily it is not a large design, so I should have this finished fairly quickly – thankfully, as the sending date is looming!

Happy stitching!

Goal roundup for March

Stitch, finish and send the three exchanges due this month – yes, sent HOE biscornu exchange to Margie, SBEBB Spring Quaker and personal exchange with Becky
Start stitching for two further exchanges – yes, I started my SBEBB Here’s to Ewe Exchange (which, due to a finishing error, I now have to re-stitch – oops!), and one further exchange that I can’t talk about yet
Carry on stitching one gift – no, I didn’t manage to do this
Snowbird SAL - stitch Paradigm Lost on Thursdays – yes, every Thursday like clockwork
Awake the Dawning Day - stitch at least one day – yes, did manage just one day
Spanish Wine - stitch at least one day – no, unfortunately due to the SBEBB mistake above, I didn’t manage to fit this in
Mini-Christmas ornament SAL with Leena - stitch at least one ornament – yes, and I might even keep this one for myself!
Choose what I'm going to stitch for Fair & Square Round 6 once my partner is assigned – yes, and I even stitched 1 of the 2 squares
Start a mystery gift for a special birthday – yes, but haven’t gotten very far with it!
Sort-of-mini-quilting SAL with Nicki – get to grips with cutting and sewing – try to make a whole block?? – well, I’m going to give myself a big tick, because although I didn’t quite finish a block, I’m mostly finished 6 blocks, which is more than I thought I’d accomplish!
Start a sewing project – yes, and finished it too

I also ran a giveaway draw for my blogaversary, which Becky K won, so stitching that one will be included in April’s goals, which are:

Stitch, finish and send 4 exchanges due this month
Stitch, finish and send Becky K’s prize for winning the giveaway
Thursdays – Snowbird SAL – keep stitching Paradigm Lost
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena – stitch at least one ornament
Keep stitching the special birthday gift
Keep stitching the other gift
Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day
Keep stitching Spanish Wine
One new start
Finish the 6 quilting blocks

Round Up and CHOCOLATE PUDDINGS

Just a quick post today, with a summary of how I did against my goals last month:

Snowbird SAL - stitch PL on Thursdays - yes!
Fair & Square Round 5 - stitch and send squares to Marg - yes - and also received Marg's squares to me
Crazy Exchange - initiate one exchange - yes, sent an exchange to Iris and awaiting return exchange
Christmas ornaments - stitch at least one ornament with Leena on our mini-SAL - I stitched two!
More exchange stitching - make a start on 5 exchange projects, and send the one with the February sending date - I started 4 out of 5, and I did send the one with the February sending date, so nearly met this goal
Spanish Wine - spend at least one day stitching this - yep
Awake the Dawning Day - spend at least one day stitching this - yep
Gift - carry on with stitching one gift - yep, did this too

So, here are March's goals:

Stitch, finish and send the three exchanges due this month
Start stitching for two further exchanges
Carry on stitching one gift
Snowbird SAL - stitch Paradigm Lost on Thursdays
Awake the Dawning Day - stitch at least one day
Spanish Wine - stitch at least one day
Mini-Christmas ornament SAL with Leena - stitch at least one ornament
Choose what I'm going to stitch for Fair & Square Round 6 once my partner is assigned
Start a mystery gift for a special birthday
Sort-of-mini-quilting SAL with Nicki - get to grips with cutting and sewing - try to make a whole block??
Start a sewing project

Phew, that feels, um, like a stretch challenge! We'll see how far I get - as long as the exchanges are finished on time and out the door, the rest is just a bonus :)

And, in honour of Mothering Sunday here in the UK and Ireland today, I'm going to share my favourite chocolate recipe with you (I should say, my current favourite - being a chocolate addict means this can change at very short notice!). Happy Mother's Day!

Truffle Chocolate Puddings
Makes 6
Takes about half an hour to forty minutes to make and bake (allow time after for cooling)

(For the Americans - sorry, being an English recipe, it's in weights, not volumes)

150g butter (plus extra for greasing ramekins)
150g caster sugar (normal white sugar) (plus extra for coating ramekins)
150g good quality dark chocolate, broken up into manageable pieces
3 large eggs
50g flour, sifted
6 x milk chocolate truffles (use what you have available - Hershey's kisses would work well - anything smallish and pure chocolate will fit the bill)

Preheat the oven to 200C (that's Gas 6 or 400F). Lightly grease 6 ramekins with butter, and then coat with caster sugar. On low heat, melt the chocolate and 150g butter together. Set aside to cool. Whisk 150g caster sugar into eggs until pale and thick. Stir chocolate mix into egg mixture, then fold in the sifted flour. Spoon half the mixture into the 6 ramekins, drop in a truffle (or whatever small piece of chocolate you are using) into each ramekin, and top up each ramekin with the remaining mixture. Transfer the ramekins to a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes or until risen and coming away from the edges. Cool on racks, and serve when they are still a bit warm. Serve with your choice of double cream, vanilla ice cream or whipping cream. Enjoy!!

More to Show You (Part 2)

Okay, here it is, part 2 of my very long post. This part is the exchange part - hurrah!

First, I received my Hooked on Exchanging scissor fob from Sandra all the way from Barbados! She's done an absolutely top job of the fob she sent me - not only a wonderful choice of pattern and luscious thread, but a great finishing job (check out that tassel!) AND a bunch of goodies! Thank you so much Sandra!!

Next up in the exchange category is my scissor fob that I stitched for Barbara Ana - she doesn't have a blog, but she is a designer (so no pressure there!!) and her website is here and has some really great freebies, as well as showing all her designs. Luckily, Barbara Ana took some photos of the fob I stitched her, because I finished it so late one night and then posted it first thing the next morning, and realised as soon as I dropped the envelope in the mailbox that I hadn't taken any photos of it!! So these photos are courtesy of Barbara Ana. I found out that Barbara Ana likes Prairie Schooler designs and Hallowe'en, so I found some perfect linen in my stash (Pumpkin Patch by Sugar Maple Designs) and stitched her up a fob using some small designs from Prairie Schooler 'Autumn Leaves'.

And, finally, I am so far on track for meeting my goal of initiating one Crazy Exchange per month - Virpi let me know that she received the needleroll I made her. Two firsts there - my first needleroll finish and her first needleroll received! Now I'm looking forward to what she sends me in return :) This is MTV Designs A Touch of Pink Needleroll stitched on 32ct Silkweaver 'Wandering Ivy' linen with Dinky Dyes 'Raspberry Ripple' and Kreinik metallic thread.

Right, phew, we're nearly there! Thursday has come and gone, so that means I have an update to share with you on my Snowbird SAL progress for Paradigm Lost. Getting there ever so slowly! I'm still working on the huge medallion on the right hand side, but the end is (nearly) in sight. There is a ton of backstitching to do on this particular one, so I reckon 2 more weeks and I'll be on to page 4. Yes!

And, finally, a few goals for February:

Snowbird SAL - stitch PL on Thursdays

Fair & Square Round 5 - stitch and send squares to Marg

Crazy Exchange - initiate one exchange

Christmas ornaments - stitch at least one ornament with Leena on our mini-SAL

More exchange stitching - make a start on 5 exchange projects, and send the one with the February sending date

Spanish Wine - spend at least one day stitching this

Awake the Dawning Day - spend at least one day stitching this

Gift - carry on with stitching one gift

Give yourself a pat on the back - you've reached the end! Well done and thanks for sticking with me :) Wishing you happy stitching for the coming week!

Goal Review

So September didn't quite go as planned, stitching-wise. Life got very busy, and suddenly I was stitching a lot of mystery projects, so my normal rotation went out the window! I'm hoping that October is going to be more sensible, but given that I've got a couple of exchanges, just joined the SBEBB and have a lot of Christmas stitching on the horizon, this may not pan out :) I shall simply prioritise, and stitch away happily and not worry too much about goals. As long as I meet posting dates, I'll be a happy bunny!

Here is what happened in September:

Carry on with Northern Lights - No, I am faced with a row of Wisper stitching, so this has immediately burrowed down to the bottom of my stitching pile!
Carry on with Spanish Wine - Yes, I did manage one day on this
Carry on with Awake the Dawning Day - Yes, I did manage a couple of sessions on this
Carry on with Paradigm Lost - No, didn't pick this up
Finish AMAP Pinkeep - ha ha ha, not even sure where this is ;)
Stitch and send 4 gifts/exchanges - I stitched 1 RAK, 2 PIFs - so nearly but not quite managed this goal
Stitch 2 further gifts - I stitched one further gift
Start stitching Orlaith's stocking - Yes, I finished the first third of this project
Choose Fair & Square block to stitch - Yes, hurrah, I have chosen something to stich for Sue and have ordered the skein of floss I need (although the postal strike may thwart its imminent arrival)
Choose Stitcher's Lottery project - Yes, I have finally chosen something! I now need to order the materials for this

Rather a lot of red, huh? :)

Now, for October's goals:

Stitch and send Fair and Square Exchange squares to Sue
Finish Marne's return Crazy Exchange and post before 19.10
Stitch and send a Crazy Exchange for ??
Stitch 2 Christmas gifts
Stitch Santa on Orlaith's stocking
Order materials for Stitcher's Lottery project, and begin stitching
Carry on with Spanish Wine
Carry on with Awake the Dawning Day

I think that should keep me busy?????

Happy stitching all!

Goals for September

September looks like being a busy exchange month - hurrah! So here are my goals for the month:


Carry on with Northern Lights
Carry on with Spanish Wine
Carry on with Awake the Dawning Day
Carry on with Paradigm Lost
Finish AMAP Pinkeep
Stitch and send 4 gifts/exchanges
Stitch 2 further gifts
Start stitching Orlaith's stocking
Choose Fair & Square block to stitch
Choose Stitcher's Lottery project


Phew - I will be kept very very busy if I manage to achieve even half of that :)


This is how I did in August...

continue Northern Lights YES
continue Awake the Dawning Day YES
finish Queen Anne pincushion YES, start a next small project YES
complete eyelet border and corners, and start section 1 of Spanish Wine YES
finish Love Is Patient YES, and, once that is finished start a new project no
finish pages 1 and 2 of Paradigm Lost, start page 3 no (only a few stitches left on page 1 though, and page 2 is completed!)

Overall, not a bad month! Roll on September :)

Happy stitching and thanks for stopping by!

Goals for August

I stitched only such a teeny tiny bit on Northern Lights on Monday, that it isn't worth taking a photo. And last night, Tuesday, I had a bit too much wine to drink at a lunchtime send-off for one of the girls who is taking all of August off (I'm very jealous!), so I didn't do any stitching last night either! I can't quite believe that it's August. The weather is improving, so maybe our summer will start now...


Goals - July


finish pincushion - yes
finish a second small - yes, my first tin top!
start a third small - yes, am working on a pincushion
finish Silver Needle, and start another project - yes and yes, started Awake the Dawning Day
continue Northern Lights - yes
finish entire page 1 and page 2 of Paradigm Lost - no, I think I bit off more than I could chew!
continue Love Is Patient - finish outer border and heart border - yes
continue Spanish Wine - yes

Goals for August

continue Northern Lights
continue Awake the Dawning Day
finish Queen Anne pincushion, start a next small project
complete eyelet border and corners, and start section 1 of Spanish Wine
finish Love Is Patient, and, once that is finished start a new project
finish pages 1 and 2 of Paradigm Lost, start page 3

I think that should be enough to keep me busy!

And, before I go today, a heartfelt thank you to all of you who have dropped by and left lovely comments, particularly the very kind comments about my tin finish :) Happy stitching!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Happy Canada Day all! There won't be much in the way of fireworks or celebrations here in Berkshire, but nevermind, we'll celebrate ourselves :)

Friday night I worked on Love is Patient - I'm really enjoying this as it's the first time I've stitched on a higher count fabric (36ct) and it looks really delicate doing stitching 1 over 2. I love the threads as well - Crescent Colours - they are deep, rich colours, which I love. Here is the progress:

Saturday morning brought Chris, our friendly postman, and his bag full of goodies for me - yes, the spoils of my recent stash-buying. Today it was a parcel from Naomi at Stitches and Spice in Australia, which included, from L-R below: 32ct Spice Blend Heritage; 36ct Spice Blend Sugar Cane Crunch; Mulberry Hand-dyed cotton; 32ct Spice Blend Tundra. I'm really pleased with them all, they are just gorgeous, and I can't recommend these guys enough :)

Saturday we had a very lazy day in front of the telly watching films one after the other - there was (yet again) drenching rain all day, so we just couldn't bring ourselves to get off the couch. It's a recurring theme for our weekends! I worked on Paradigm Lost, finally finishing the alphabet and going on to some of the smaller motifs.

And, finally, a goals update from June and for July

JUNE:

finish biscornu - check

finish scissor fob - check

finish Their Song - check

continue Silver Needle - check

continue Northern Lights - check

continue Paradigm Lost - check

continue Love Is Patient - check

start Spanish Wine - check

I think maybe I gave myself a too-easy task, seeing as I managed to achieve all my goals! So, for JULY:

finish pincushion

finish a second small

start a third small

finish Silver Needle, and start another project

continue Northern Lights

finish entire page 1 and page 2 of Paradigm Lost

continue Love Is Patient - finish outer border and heart border

continue Spanish Wine

Happy Canada Day and happy stitching all!

Goal Update

This is how I did against May's goals:

FINISH:
Busy Bee - check
Heart Throb Scissor Fob - check
Moroccan Biscornu - no, only half finished
Mum's Heart II - check

KEEP GOING:
Their Song - check
Northern Lights - check
Paradigm Lost - check
Silver Needle - check

START: (three of the following, I can't decide which!)
Irish Blessing - Sweetheart Tree
Spanish Wine - Wild at Heart
An Open Heart - Drawn Thread
Fond Hearts - Blackbird Designs
Happy Hearts Sampler - Birds of a Feather
None of these - started Love Is Patient instead, as had all the materials to hand (and still waiting for some materials for some of the above)

FRAME:
Mum's Heart II - check
Busy Bee - no, I haven't found a frame to fit yet


GOALS FOR JUNE:

FINISH:
biscornu
Their Song

FINISH FINISH:
biscornu
scissor fob

CONTINUE:
Silver Needle
Northern Lights
Paradigm Lost
Love Is Patient

START:
Spanish Wine (waiting for fabric/thread)

DON'T START:
anything else - I've got plenty on the go!

Happy stitching this weekend everyone - more updates on Monday from me I think!

It's a Goal! (or 2 or 6)

This is how I did for April:

START:
Their Song - yes - and have brought it on holiday with me, so progressing nicely
Fond Hearts - no, I had a few problems sourcing the fabric so haven't started this yet
Folk Art - no, I ended up putting this aside before I even got going because the charting was proving too fiddly
Find and start a scissor fob design - yes, Heart Throb by Drawn Thread, and also have this in BC with me, so half finished
And also started a 'Moroccan' style Biscornu which is underway

KEEP GOING:
Mum's Heart II - yes, only have about 3 days left on this
Northern Lights - yes, still going
Paradigm Lost (pending thread arrival) - no, thread hadn't arrived before our holiday, so no progress on this
Silver Needle (pending more thread arrival) - yes, thread arrived and worked on this


FRAME:
Mum's Heart I - yes, brought it to BC safely - photos imminently!
Mirabilia 'Titania' - just about - brought it to BC rolled up in a cardboard posting tube, and have delivered it to the framers here - also photos imminently

And now for May's Goals:

FINISH:
Busy Bee
Heart Throb Scissor Fob
Moroccan Biscornu
Mum's Heart II

KEEP GOING:
Their Song
Northern Lights
Paradigm Lost (pending thread arrival)
Silver Needle

START: (three of the following, I can't decide which!)
Irish Blessing - Sweetheart Tree - kitted
Spanish Wine - Wild at Heart - must kit
An Open Heart - Drawn Thread - pending getting fabric in BC (have thread/charms)
Fond Hearts - Blackbird Designs - pending getting fabric in BC (have thread)
Happy Hearts Sampler - Birds of a Feather - pending kitting fabric/thread

FRAME:
Mum's Heart II
Busy Bee

I had a lovely long update post going, with lots of photos of WIPs and gifts and a couple of snaps from our holiday so far, and Blogger decided to crash right as I was typing the final sentence. Grrrr. Once I stop sulking with Blogger, I will re-write the post as best I can and get the photos all up for you.

In April, I will...

Goals for the month:

START:
Their Song
Fond Hearts
Folk Art
Find and start a scissor fob design

KEEP GOING:
Mum's Heart II
Northern Lights
Paradigm Lost (pending thread arrival)
Silver Needle (pending more thread arrival)

FINISH:
Busy Bee
Birthday bookmark for mum

FRAME:
Mum's Heart I
Mirabilia 'Titania'

That should be enough to keep me busy...