What a Week

Whew. What a week. By Wednesday, I had already worked more than my 40 hours, with the prospect of Thursday and Friday to come. It was exhausting - I feel like I've been through the wringer. And we have a friend coming to stay this weekend, meaning all the chores needed to be done (I usually let them slide when I'm having a week like this! I am no 1950s housewife, that's for sure).


So, as a consequence, I haven't much to show you in the way of stitching. Last night for the Let's Stitch SAT, I was running around doing chores until 10pm, so I didn't actually achieve much - so I opted to stitch the very unglamorous (but passing the easy-to-stitch-when-extremely-tired test) right hand border. [Sorry for the oddly-shaped photos - for some reason Blogger won't resize the photos that I'm uploading from Photobucket - if anyone knows why, happy to hear from you :) ]

Earlier in the week, I managed to put in a couple of hours on Spanish Wine, so I'm now working on the central motif. You'll see I've stitched the '2' and the '0' of what will eventually be the year (the next two digits are at the bottom of the central design), but I think I might just leave off the next two, just in case this one goes a little bit into 2010 :)

We've a friend staying with us this weekend, so not sure I'll get much stitching done, but will be having plenty of laughter and wine, so that will make up for it ;)

Happy stitching!

Snow!

Yesterday morning I took one look out the window and headed straight back upstairs for my gloves and hat – snow in October? In southern England?? So how appropriate that for the Christmas ornament mini-SAL this month that I stitch with Leena, I stitched a Just Nan ornament called ‘Snow Faces’.

Design: Just Nan, Snow Faces
Linen: 28ct Sugar Maple Fabrics ‘In the Clouds’
Floss: WDW and DMC as charted

This weekend I was having a bit of a finishing frenzy (all these Christmas ornaments I stitch, now I need to finish! I love the stitching, bit ambivalent about the finishing, it just takes SO LONG to get it just right), and I managed to also finish up some lovely Lizzie*Kate squares sent to me in a distant Fair & Square round (I won’t reveal which one, because then I will feel guilty about how long these squares have been sitting in my finishing drawer) from the lovely Melissa – I used a tuck pillow kindly gifted to me by Becky, and I attached the signature square to the back of the pillow, and did some arty-type fraying. I think it’s turned out rather well if I do say so myself.

After a furious bout of dusting (yuck) on Tuesday night, I rewarded myself with some quality stitching time on Spanish Wine – been a while since you’ve seen an update on this I fear. But I slowly stitch away at it, and I know that one day it will be done. I managed to finish Band 3 (yay!) and get a start on the centre motif.



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!

WIPping along nicely

I managed to put some time in on a few WIPs this past week - Thursday of course was devoted to Paradigm Lost. I promised myself I would finish this medallion this week, and I have! I didn't have time for much else though, as I was late home - work, trains, occasionally everything conspires against me! So here is my progress thus far:



I also managed to get some time on Spanish Wine. I stitched the red flowers and the gold accents around the first red flower (okay, yes, not much progress, I think that was another night hijacked by work).

I am beginning to realise that starting a lot of big projects and then only stitching on them occasionally is not really working for me. I like variety, so I like to have several things on the go, but equally I am only a medium-paced stitcher and I get frustrated by something that takes too long to stitch (especially if I'm only stitching it once a month, and I never seem to get anywhere on it!). So I think my solution is going to have to be to only have 1 large project on the go at any one time, supplemented by some smaller projects for exchanges and such. Theoretically, this should mean I finish the large project much quicker (because my effort is more focused), but don't get too bored stitching on the same thing day after day. What works for you??

Oh, and here are some improved photos of the lovely ornament that Leena sent me for my birthday - the weather has vastly improved today, so the photos turned out a bit better.




Happy stitching and wishing you all a prosperous week ahead!

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!

All Squared Up

Last night the most wonderful parcel was waiting for me when I got home! Marg was my partner for Fair and Square Round 5, and she stitched me these wonderful squares which are just popping with Sping-ability and cheerfulness! They are a Calico Crossroads design, and she used the most beautiful variegated thread. I think I’m going to turn these into a pincushion in Marg’s honour – she has over 100 in her collection!


Marg also treated me to a bagful of goodies – a very cool Cat’s Whiskers chart, some lovely threads, a handmade (by her!) bookmark, and a set of needles for counting stitches – which I just know I’m going to find THE MOST useful tool ever invented as H has an uncanny ability to ask me a question and distract me just when I’m right near the end of a big count. He can manage to keep quiet for 10 stitches or less, but as soon as I start murmuring ’26, 27, 28…’ it’s suddenly imperative that he knows what we are having for dinner. Here are all the lovely extra goodies (note to self, try to ensure that chocolate hangs around long enough for it to make it into photo next time!).



I managed to get my one day of Spanish Wine done earlier this week – I do really love this design, and I think I enjoy stitching it probably more than any other of my WIPs. I wish I had more time to devote to it! Maybe after the summer, as I have a lot of exchanges and secret stitching and one big secret project to finish by then… This is my progress on Band 3.



Thursday was also my weekly SAL day, so here is this week’s update – slowly progressing on page four.


A wonderful thank you also to Nicki who (more than) answered my plea for UK-based online and bricks-and-mortar quilting shops – in fact, it turns out that Nicki has truly impressive enabling skills, and thanks to her I have signed up for two Blocks of the Month clubs from Honeysuckle Cottage. I’m going to keep quiet about what they are, because I think they just might be perfect to make as gifts… Nicki, thank you (and, equally, curse you *grin*)!!

Happy stitching!

So Much to Tell You!

Well, I was feeling quite relaxed after our trip to Prague, and now I've just jotted down a few things that I want to remember to blog about, and would you believe there is just too much for one post! So I'm going to shamelessly serialise it like a cheap Victorian novel and you'll just have to bear with me for a few days :)

So, first, obviously we've made it back safely from Prague - which was absolutely gorgeous, although fairly grey. It's such a romantic city, no matter what the time of year. I've posted a few photos towards the end of this in case you are interested to see some of the sights of Prague! Some highlights included: flying Swiss Airlines and discovering that the complimentary chocolate that they provide on all their flights is GORGEOUS and definitely not to be missed - see, a helpful tip even if you're not going to Prague LOL; the medieval Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square (or variously Atomic Clock or Astrological Clock, if you are my husband and have difficulty with names); gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous food - we ate so well, and only got away with it because we walked for hours on end during our stay; Charles Bridge; the view over the city and the wonderful quiet solitude on the grounds around the Strahov Monastery; but mainly the chance to spend a quiet and happy few days with H celebrating our 2nd anniversary.

And it wouldn't be a holiday without a bit of stitching stuffed in my rucksack now would it?? Of course it wouldn't! I took along a simple chart in one colour, and even managed to finish it! This is JBW Designs' Christmas Sampler Motif on 36ct Examplar linen from Lakeside Linens using Crescent Colours' Apple Fritter floss (does anyone else wonder about the misnomer 'Apple Fritter' for a maroon/dark cherry coloured skein of floss? One of life's imponderables I suppose).

As I mentioned before we left, I was intending to put in a few stitches on Spanish Wine before we left, which I did do. I finished Band 2 in fact (with the grapes) and started Band 3 (the slim cross stitched band directly beneath it). I do so love this design, and I wish I could spend more time on it - that, however, would mean signing up for less exchanges. Such a difficult balance to strike!

I don't think I actually posted my goals for January - but I did have a small list of them, all of which I'm quite pleased to say I achieved! I'll post my February Goals in part 2 of this post.

January:

Stitch, finish and send SBEBB Winter House Exchange - Yes, I did this

Stitch, finish and send Hooked on Exchanging Scissor Fob Exchange - Yes, I did this (photos in Part 2)

Stitch an ornament with Leena - Yes, I did this (in fact I did 2!)

Stitch a gift, and start another - Yes, I did this, one is ready to go and the other is firmly started

Initiate a Crazy Exchange - Yes, I sent Virpi an exchange (photos in Part 2)

Carry on stitching Awake the Dawning Day - Yes, I spent one day on this

Carry on stitching Spanish Wine - Yes, I spent one day on this

Carry on stitching Paradigm Lost with the Snowbird SAL - Yes, I did this each week

Oh, and just before I go, one small piece of indulgence: despite my rigorous (yeah, right) attempts at sorting out my small stash acquisition tendency, I treated myself to a gorgeous new pattern today and linen for it as well - although it won't arrive until after it's formally released. It's Shores of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings and isn't it gorgeous!! (Photo courtesy of the Carriage House Samplings website)

Right, Part 2 of this post will be available in a day or two :) In the meantime, Happy Stitching, and enjoy the photos of Prague:

Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square

Charles Bridge - above, facing the eastern tower, and below, the view of the Charles Bridge from the next bridge over

Above - Prague Castle at night, and below, the main gates of the castle the next day. Below that, we managed to be just in time to catch the changing of the guard




Above: a typical street sign in Prague (incidentally, this street was the one in which Kafka was born, obviously subsequently renamed!). Below: trams are the main method of travel for Prazaks