Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Yay, it's my birthday!! And what better way to celebrate than to take a day off work. Yes, I'm truly relaxing today :)

But, important blogging matters need to be taken care of, because I'm a member of the SBBC, and a package arrived for me the other day, which I managed to save patiently for today. And what a package it was!!

It turns out that Diane was my partner - and I count myself very lucky that she was :) Diane stitched not one, not two, not even three, four or five, but SIX, count 'em SIX smalls for me for my birthday surprise! Isn't that amazing?? I so would have lost the will to live after about four (hope my partner isn't reading this ;)

Here they all are: a pinkeep, a scissors keeper, a scissors fob, two floss tags and an ort bag, all stitched with pale blue floss as a set. I think you'll be forced to agree with me on their gorgeousness!

And that wasn't all, oh no, this wonderful lady wasn't done yet - look, she included some fantastic little extras for me too - a chart from my wishlist, some backing fabric (look, it's the same one that she used for the smalls!), some DMC (again, same colour: clever, eh?), and a beautiful pair of Gingher embroidery scissors - again, matching!


Diane, you have truly outdone yourself and I am delighted with every single thing, and I so appreciate the patience and effort that you so obviously put into making this a special birthday for me - THANK YOU SO MUCH :)

Happy stitching!

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More and Further Birthday Presents for MEEEEEE!

Well, you all know how much I love a Saturday delivery here in the UK, and today is especially good, because the postie brought even more presents for me!!

First, my birthday exchange from Jacqueline came through the door. And what a great birthday present she made me!! She has clearly been hanging out on my blog, finding out about my love of sheep and Drawn Thread, because she made me this amazing wall hanging, and this fob:



And do you think she stopped there? No, of course she didn't! She also made me this very sweet gingerbread pincushion man:


And of course, she was kind enough to put a few stitchy presents in the package as well - some fabric, some buttons, a Shepherd's Bush kit, and some yummy chocolate! I am so spoiled :) Thanks Jacq, I totally love it! Now I just need to find a pretty hanger so that I can hang the wall hanging in the bedroom...


And, because I am the most lucky girl, the birthday presents didn't end there! After a somewhat painful trip to the local Post Office...

('Hi, I'm here to pick up this parcel.'
'We don't have this parcel.'
'Are you sure, the card says you have it?'
'I'm sure, trying ringing the depot.'
'Hi, depot, where's my parcel?'
'Your local post office.'
'Are you sure? They say they don't have it, can you double check?'
'They signed for it on Thursday, they have it.'
'Hi, I've just tried to collect this parcel, and the guy couldn't find it, but the depot assures me that C Fox signed for it on Thursday, so you should have it.'
'We don't have a C Fox.'
'Oh. Well, where do you suggest I look for the parcel?'
'I'm not really sure.'
'Can you check one more time, just in case?'
'I guess so. [Pause while she goes and checks.] Here's your parcel for you.'
'Erm, thanks.')

...I finally got my package and it turns out that it's my SBBC birthday exchange from Anna! She is an amazing crafter, not just a stitcher, as I was quickly to discover! I knew it was gonna be good when I opened the outer parcel, and found this:

She made nearly everything in the parcel herself, including the card:

and the stitched scissor fob (I think it's a Ewe & Eye & Friends design - and I love it!):

AND the beaded scissor fob:

AND this wonderful bag (it's all very chic, with pintucks and EVERYTHING). I tucked the front edge down on the photo, so you can see the lining:



And it didn't end there, she included some DMC variations thread, 2 small Prairie Schooler charts, 2 fat quarters, some linen, and some very clever finger grips for needles (oh, and the scissors that the fobs are attached to, those were in there too!).

Phew, what an amazing birthday day for me!! I've got such a huge smile on my face :) I can't wait for H to come back from Dublin, so I can show him all the wonderful things I got. I am really such a lucky, lucky girl!

And just one stitching update - my progress on this week's instalment of the Snowbird SAL - I really wanted to finish this medallion I am stitching on, but I was so tired after this super long week at work (even though it was only 4 days), that I fell asleep on the couch before I could finish it. Next week, it will be done!

Thank you Anna and Jacqueline, and also all of you who have left birthday wishes for me over the last few days - I love you all!! :)

Happy stitching!

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!