End of year update 2012 with two hours to go!!

Happy 2013 to everyone!

Biscobud from the side

Biscobud from the top

2012 has been a bit mixed as far as stitching was concerned, but I did finish several projects and started several others. This is one of my finishes: a biscobud which I made for a friend who lives in Florida. It's actually quite small, and was very fiddly to put together. I filled it with Christmas pot pourri, and kept my fingers crossed that it would get through customs - which it did!

What I sent

I also took part in a Christmas ornament exchange. Despite frogs moving in, it was completed only one day late, and still made its destination well before Christmas. The picture shows the house from several different angles, and the card was made by a friend who sells them for charity.

The ornie I received from Liz G

The card I received - Christmas tree

MLI Angel for 2005 -  internet pic

I made several starts, and was rather taken by this one from MLI - a freebie. I'm hoping to get that finished by next Christmas  - a present for someone, perhaps if I can bear to part with it!!

My start on MLI Angel for 2005!!

I also tried - mostly unsuccessfully - to get organised into a stitching rotation. Instead, I was attracted by still more Chatelaines and HAEDs, and am now well SABLE'd out.
So, on January 1st, I am planning to start only two more projects. Both are quite large so I certainly won't finish them in 2013, not with all the other projects I have on the go!! I fully intend to be more organised about stitching, especially as my sister's 60th birthday present hasn't progressed since her birthday in the summer. Perhaps that should have a bit of priority!!

My January 1st starts aren't completely kitted up yet - too expensive to do it all in one go - but I have enough to begin, and ended up with a free piece of white cotton/linen fabric as well. I'll keep these projects close by ready to take with me when grandchild #6 puts in an appearance (due date Jan 10th). There might be an occasional slot where I'm not busy in an evening (Ha ha)!!

They are:
(1)Chatelaine - Xmas Mystery 2013
(2)HAED - Muppet, Gabby, Malteazer and Gemm by Lesley Anne Ivory.

I had hoped to add another Chatelaine, but daren't just yet as I still haven't completed my "starts" from 2012, though I have made better progress than I had thought I would. And this year, I am planning to add "Stitching" (along with "Guitar Practice"!!) into my very busy schedule, and not leave it to odd minutes here and there as I have done for the past two years. (A thought: I'm supposed to be retired: I'm busier than when I was working!!)

I'm having difficulty waiting till Jan 1st to start my projects, so I will be working on one of my long-suffering WIPs meantime - like this biscornu.

Framecraft Christmas Biscornu

I hasten to add that this isn't my work, but a pic off the internet when I was struggling to stitch this piece. The pattern vanished for several months, and finally came to light when I was filing some past sermons! By then, it was less than a week to Christmas, and far, far too late to complete for this year. What I'll probably do is stitch the two pieces, and put some Christmas fabric for the bases, so that way I'll have made two presents.

Happy planning and starting to all in 2013, and see you next year!!

Still Keeping on...

Just a quick update as there's not been a lot happening in my stitching life, though I've been busy with other things. Last week I finally cleared the desk I use! not that I use it for desk-work: my sewing machine goes there, and until it was clear I couldn't even think about the curtains which need the tape and linings added. So now I have no excuses. No "before" photo, but here is the "after". Basically, you couldn't see the desk surface because of "stuff".

It has now become very obvious that I didn't finish painting the wall red! Something to do with a grandfather clock which needed moving. One day I will get it repaired, but I have to save up a little as the most recent quote we had several years ago was £500!! Probably more than the clock itself is worth as it's a hybrid!

Still planning my Christmas stitching. I can get down to the stitching in earnest after this coming week once I have been to the Knitting and Stitching exhibition at Alexandra Palace in London on Thursday. Hopefully I will be buying fabric for Herbie while I am there, but he may have to wait till Hobbycrafts in Birmingham. I now have my partner for a Christmas exchange on an online sewing group, so what I have planned for that will have to be kept secret till after Christmas or whenever it has been received.

Next posting will be any stash I buy from Ally Pally!
See you then.

September update

These past two weeks I haven't done as much stitching as I'd intended. I thought it would be interesting - and might give me an incentive to keep stitching -  to add some sparklies to the Fairytale Castle, so I've missed a few stages and moved up to one of the beaded flowerbeds. I was a bit anxious that on 32 ct the beads might be too close together to be manageable, but so far, so good! I'm looking forward to adding some more next week - along with finishing frogging the colour I wasn't satisfied with.

Sparklies added

 I've added a bit more to the biscobud. I decided to experiment a little with Algerian eyelets and Jessica stitches as a change from cross stitches. I think I will put something sparkly between the two outer layers to see what it looks like. This an experimental biscobud, so I will enjoy playing!

Biscobud update

I did start the Westie puppy on pink evenweave. It doesn't look as bad colourwise as I had feared, but so far, all I have stitched is one ear, so not worth a photo.

Last week we spent two days in Harrogate visiting friends. It was lovely to see them again and spend time catching up on family news. (It occurred to me that we have been friends for 45 years on October 4th this year!) We spent a pleasant afternoon looking round Benningborough Hall where I was intrigued by the display of Victorian lace in the laundry room. There were also a couple of pieces of delicate embroidery. The photos aren't best quality, and the light wasn't good because of the window bars.

Some of the Victorian lace and embroidery at Benningborough Hall

Afterwards, we had tea outside in the sun, and were entertained by the antics of several blue tits who came to see what crumbs we had left. (We had actually put some on an unoccupied table next to us.)

Again, not the best photos!! The chaffinch and great tit were too shy to hang around long enough for me to focus my camera!!

A busy fortnight looms, so not sure how much stitching or updating will get done.
Till next time, then, whenever that happens to be!

Just a couple of photos

 Well, the weather hasn't been all that sunny, but I did manage some photos!

UKCS Biscobud challenge

The fabric for the biscobud challenge is much darker than it looks. The stitching doesn't show up very well: I used one of Steff Francis's  hand-dyed rayon threads, and has such a high shine my camera couldn't focus properly! So I did my best by tricking it into thinking it was focussing on something else!

MLI Angel - freebie 2005

The Marilyn Leavitt-Iblum angel is being stitched on cream/gold sparkly evenweave fabric one-over-one on what I believe is 20 ct. I've not done much yet, but so far I like the feel of it. I just have to work out how the beads will lie!

Oh, a-frogging I have been

I daren't post photos of FC at the moment! I've been working on the Castle, and wondering why it was getting a bit boring. Then I realised that in artificial light, all the dark greens looked the same! So I decided to frog one of them before I stitched any more in that colour. Actually, what I did was remove one of the substitutions.  I had used artificial silk (DMC rayon) in the suggested shade rather than the DMC cotton, and I'm replacing it with the cotton. It looks much better now, but I'm still not 100% satisfied. I'm looking at the possibility of a lighter shade still, but have to do a bit more experimenting. My proof that I'm doing the right thing came when I frogged a few stitches of the wrong colour because I couldn't see any difference in shade! Anyway, FC has taken a few steps backwards, so I'll post when it is a bit further forward!

As to other projects, I have started a freebie Christmas angel from Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum and a biscobud, both SALs from stitching groups. Both are in the very early stages, but I might get around to taking photos if we have any sunshine over the weekend. Still looking for suitable fabric for my Westie puppy. I might have to settle for pink as I don't really want to add any more to my stash.

Now to book tickets for Ally Pally in October and Hobbycrafts in November. (And the mending pile is just as high as before!!)

Back from my Break

Well, it wasn't exactly a holiday, but I've not had internet access every day, so I left it till my return to update my stitching blog. I didn't do as much as I had hoped, and was only able to finish one of the Olympic challenges I was taking part in for a group. Well, it wasn't even a proper finish as I was interrupted by a phone call, and missed finishing on time by a handful of cross-stitches and back-stitches. When I came to take a photo today, I found I had missed one stitch - black on navy blue is very easy to miss!! But I am very pleased with the final result, and will make it into a birthday card for a friend. Sadly, the pink for the ears and tongue wasn't really dark enough, so I may have to redo that before October!

Completed 2012 Olympic Challenge: Disney Dalmation puppy

The Fairytale Castle has had to take a bit of a back seat for the moment, but I will pick it up again soon. That will be part of a challenge to finish it by the end of the 2014 Winter Olympics, or maybe 2016 Olympics. Meantime, my Westie puppy is having a rethink. I need to find some dark evenweave because of all the half-crosses and other non-standard cross stitching in it.

Not everything has been stitching-oriented! We visited assorted grandchildren, and got very seriously delayed leaving one set by the construction of a Lego police station! It took over the whole of the dining-room table as can be seen by some of the extraneous objects surrounding it which have nothing at all to do with its construction!

My sister's cushion had a few more stitches added to it. I stayed with one sister in Sussex, and we had some sunshine!! It was lovely to be on the coast for a few days, and my health improved a little while I was there. I spent a day walking along the shallows on the beach while my sister was at work.The beach was practically deserted as it was quite a misty day, so it was a lovely peaceful time and I felt really revitalised. Unfortunately, Derby has a fairly polluted atmosphere, and I can feel I am going downhill again

On one day, we met my second sister and eldest granddaughter in London and visited Buckingham Palace. Because it's the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen's accession to the throne, her diamonds were on display. It was amazing to see all those sparklies, including the little miniature crown Queen Victoria wore after Prince Albert died.

I showed my second sister how far I had got with her cushion, and I think she was quite pleased with it, but sorry I hadn't finished it yet! I must try to get it to her by Christmas.

While I was away, DH sanded and varnished our wooden bedroom floor, something he'd been planning on doing for a while, but had been unable to do while I was around because of my asthma. It looks really good, and I am noticing the benefits of less dust.

Well, that's a fairly lengthy update. Tomorrow's stitching looks like tackling the mending pile. Humph!!
Till next time then!

Catch-up time

Just a quick catch-up with my sewing projects. This past week I've been working on Mary's cushion, and have started on the large blue flower on the left. I'm hoping to get most of this side done before I see her next week. So far, I'm quite pleased with the way it's looking.

Mary's Cushion 31 July 2012

The previous week I spent on the Fairytale Castle. I'm at a less interesting part - hedge rather than sparkly!! But I can still see progress, and hope to spend a bit more time on it after I've been away visiting assorted grandchildren and sisters.

 

 

 

 

Fairytale Castle 22nd July 2012 - part-way through Part 1

Dalmation 31st July 2012

Now the Olympic Games have started, I am taking part in an Olympic SAL: making a start during the Opening Ceremony and aiming to finish by the Closing Ceremony. I've started a Westie puppy for a friend who is seriously ill, and a Dalmation puppy for another mutual friend. Both are kits, and both were on white. I thought they would look more striking on a dark fabric, so have started them both on 16 ct dark blue Aida. I like the effect. The problem with the Westie is crosses across material rather than holes.

Westie 31st July 2012

It may be a couple of weeks before my next update as internet access may be a bit hit-and-miss while I am away. However, it has been quite a long time since I last saw some of my grandchildren, and they are all growing up far too quickly! Maybe in about a year's time they will be living a little closer as our eldest son takes up his first curacy which he is anticipating will be in the Sheffield area. I can live in hope!!

Till next time