Gifted Gorgeousness August

Hey folks,

In an attempt to get back on track with the blogging and not post 3 posts in 48 hours again, I'm preparing my GG post now! Thank you to everyone who commented on those posts and I'm sorry I haven't responded to everyone.

Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo and I'm sure you all know all about it by now!

August has been good to me so far with 6 finishes and big progress on 2 others, but here are my GG finishes, Apologies now, they all fit at least 2 other SAL's so expect to see them again and again!

Tea and cakes 14ct - Finished
Fabric and border floss were gifts and the chart was a free design from Lakeside Needlecraft by Durene Jones. The backstitch was a killer!

Anchor Sampler - Finished
A gift from my In laws and finished on 28th July after 3 years.

Mill Hill Squirrelly - Finished
A gift from Steph and finished this week. It just needs cutting out and a magnet adding.

So on to progress - I was really struggling with motivation for the Maia Giraffe Silhouette that my Mum brought me at least 5 years ago. I love the design, it's not hard but 550 black stitches took it's toll and I decided that I'd do 50 stitches a day so I would have a finish by the end of the year, anyhow, I picked it up yesterday to put in my 50 stitches on the black and thought might as well finish the row it's only another 32 stitches, that leaves me with 1 more row of black and odd ones on the row above that. By the end of the row, I was actually enjoying it and just carried on! I actually got 500 stitches done yesterday! So my plan is to do a week on it and then rotate it. My aim is to have all the full crosses done as about 2/3 of the piece are half stitches so that is about 1600-1800 full stitches to do this week - basically all the black and 3 shades of brown in the bottom third.

Will the 900 ish stitches on the tree be a stitch to far?
Will the quarter stitches be a fraction too much?
Will the 3 shades at the bottom brown our intrepid stitcher off?

Tune in to the next exciting episode to find out!  


Happy stitching friends, see you for Theme-Tas-Stitch next week.

WIPocalypse - July edition

This post might almost be on time!! Wipcalypse is hosted by Measi and gets us working on the projects languishing down the side of the sofa or under the bed.

I have a finish, this is big, big, huge news!! it is the Anchor Traditional Sampler, oh yes the Anchor Sampler that has been a wip since the end of 2013 and was a present from my In Laws in 2012.

This was the first picture I put on my blog of it.

the last picture I posted was a couple of weeks ago for Theme-Tas-Stitch's Just One July...

and a further 806 stitches and 22 french knots later here it is (and in need of washing and ironing!)

Measi also posts a question each month for us and this month it was:

What are your oldest and your newest WIPs?

Well, The anchor sampler was my oldest until earlier this week so now it is...

Blackwork band sampler from Kincavel Krosses - started spring 2015.

My most recent is MLady's Greenhouse Sal by Gaynor French of Stitcher Anon and hosted by Lakeside Needlecraft. This was started last month. 

They are both going to be focus pieces for August. That will leave 12 days of Christmas as my only pre 2017 active wip (started October 2015)

I missed last month's check in but the question was Show us your stitching space!  Where do you sit, and what is going on around you while you stitch (TV, audiobooks, etc)? I wanted to show you my little stitching corner anyway. I usually watch Netflix or something I can happily ignore like a rom com I've seen 100 times before. I sometimes have sport on - I love Tennis and F1 so stitch whilst watching those too along with Olympics and sporting events like that. I watch a bit of floss tube too. I have been known to watch Floss tube on my phone and have sport on TV at the same time whilst stitching!

I have gained a little room when we moved last year so I now have the small table too. I keep a small basket of odds and ends in, it usually has floss waiting to go back into my floss boxes, small finishes, hoops, the odd hair band, earphones and my phone tripod. My chart stand stays up on there and you can see I've been working on Tea and Cakes this weekend, there is a little tub for orts and my thread cards for T & C.

I still have my little unit that has things like my button tin, fray check metallic threads and other stitchy stuff. The two storage draws on top hold beads, needles and other small random bits. I have my two pin cushions - the cactus holds mainly pins and the jar has needles and is full of beads for jewellery making. You can see my wip basket full of the fab project bags I picked up at home bargains and my full DMC collection underneath. My favourite Gromit mug hold a half drunk cup of cold coffee (as always).

So that's all about my stitchy corner too. One more blog post to write and I'm all caught up!!


Hope you all had a great weekend. Happy Stiching

Theme-Tas-Stitch Just one July link up

Hello friends

I can't believe it's link up time already so here is this month's Theme-Tas-Stitch link up post.

This months theme was...

Just one July -

Pick a focus piece for the month and see how much progress you can make - show us before and after pictures if you can.

Well its been Just One gift after another for this month. I was really hoping I would be able to finish my Anchor Sampler because let's face it - it's been hanging around for too long now and I have less than 1000 stitches to go. that will be coming out today
Here is where i left it last time...

And after one evening of stitching

The right flowerpot is done and the second butterfly. That just leaves 726 stitches for the bottom border and 22 French knots in the trellis and snail feelers. I'm aiming for a finish this weekend! 

I did get 5 cards made too for teachers at DD's school. I started them in Maynia...

And here are the finished cards...

I had a biscornu exchange too with Mini, but I'll save that for another post.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you've all been up to. Here's the linky.
The theme for next month is...

Animalia August -

Give some love to those projects with our furry or feathered friends.

Tiff has had the idea of doing Dragons so there are a few of us going in that direction. I'm also hoping to do a bit on my Mill Hill Squirrelly kit too.

Good luck to all the mums embarking on the summer holidays!

Happy stitching

Kerry

Wipocalypse May check in

Hi Friends,

Wipocalypse time again (hosted by Measi) where we work on those pesky wips living down the side of the sofa! And yes, late again for the link up! Only 5 days this time!

For this month's Wipocalypse I worked on all my wips including my quilt would you believe! These are pics of the ones that were the original wips from the start of the year.

Gifted Gorgeousness May

Wow, how is it time for GG already?  I hope you've all had a good stitchy weekend. gifted gorgeousness is hosted by Jo of serendipitous stitching where we show what we've stitched that has been gifted to us or will be a gift.

So I've a few bits to show...

Just Nan Spring frills humbug. A gift from Carolyn. 

Wipocalypse April

Wipocalypse time too (hosted by Measi)and another week late link up! Birthdays, college work (essay on employment rights anyone!) and illness all contributing factors along with the desire just to stitch!

I did loads on Blackwork birdsong which I know is a very new wip. I just need to stitch the metallics and beads that I'm substituting for the french knots.

Progress too on Anchor sampler - I got the right border completed. I had from the green horizontal border down to do.

12 days of Christmas - a start on day 10.

a bit more on the Celtic bird

my new work in progress is my stitching bullet journal!! I'm totally loving creating the pages and have monthly stitching plans, wish lists, inventories and lots more.

Just a really short post. I'm taking part in MAYnia on facebook so I'm working on all my wips and 8 new starts too. SO much fun!

Have a great weekend

Kerry

Theme-Tas-Stitch - March Madness link up post

Hello friends

I can't believe it's link up time already so here is this month's Theme-Tas-Stitch link up post.

Theme-tas-Stitch - Join up January

Hey Folks,

As it is the 21st I though just a quick post to say the sign up is live HERE if you are thinking of joining us this year. The tab gives all the details of the themes and a couple of FAQ's. If you have any other questions, please leave me a comment and I'll try and answer them. 

Just one July - the halfway point

Hello friends

I just wanted to say before I show you my progress that I'm so grateful to have new followers, I'm sorry if I've not followed you yet, I'm writing all my blog posts from my phone and it's really tricky to follow new blogs from that as well as insert links into the posts. 

So on to JOJ. Hosted by Justine where we focus on one piece for the month. My chosen piece is my traditional sampler by Anchor. This is where I was at last Sunday. You can't see the one row of letters I have done in this picture but they are there! 

Here is where I'm up to as of last night. 

I might actually have been a bit further along was it not for the fact I had to frog and restitch the tree and flower as I'd missed a row out on the tree and started the blue flower petals aim the wrong place. Here they are all fixed. 

I love the little dogs and I'm surprised by how much a little bit of backstitch makes a difference. 

This leaves me with about 1200 stitches for the top half along with some back stitching on the flower border at thetop and  French knots on the trellis.  I'm dreading the French knots as mine are so hit and miss.  

I've also been working on the butterflies whenever it's not practical to have the sampler out. I've a couple of stitches. To do on the yellow and red ones, a bit of the blue left and as you can see almost all of the green one. They'll be made up into cards for the children's teachers so I have until Wednesday to finish them. They are not much fun to stitch as the threads and fabric are of lets say typical cover kit quality and the blues are very hard to tell apart. I'm using my own threads for the green one so hopefully it'll be a bit easier. Not the best pics - sorry. 

Hope you're all having a great weekend. 

Just one July - week one

Hello lovely stitchy friends

Just one July is a little sal and the brainchild of Justine. It is basically a month where we stitch on just one project. My chosen project for the month  is my Traditional Sampler by Anchor. 

I've been stitching on the sampler for a week now and I'm really pleased with my progress. I'm completely on target to get the top half completely done. Many of you commented about how the house/church (I've decided it's a church as it has a cross on top) would make up most of it but it's actually only about a quarter. 

So being that we're a quarter of the way through the challenge, here is the church all done. 

As most of the motifs are in pairs I should be able to get a pair done each evening with a couple of exceptions. My plan for the weekend is to get the other urn and fruit tree and then the planter/trellis by the church. 

I also have my handbag project, which is 4 butterflies to make into cards for the children's teachers. I stitch around 15 mins a day on these on the bus. Well try and stitch, it can be a bit bumpy! 

I'll be back on Friday with an epic GG post with 10 stitchy makes that were all gifted in the last month. 

Have a great weekend. 

June GG

Hello friends, 

I've noticed a couple of new followers too so a big welcome to you too. 

Gifted gorgeousness is upon us again so time to share what I've been stitching that falls into the gifted category. Thank you Jo for being our lovely host as always. 

The travelling box is here so I've been making for that. I've made 10 things including jewellery, pincushions and other small stitchery's. I'll reveal all that next month. So back to this month and I've made 2 necklaces using the wooden pendants and been working hard on the sampler too. 

Firstly gifted to others... The necklaces. I made a button and loop closure on this one using some pretty variegated cord I had. And stitched it in Anchor perle cotton shade 1375

Next up was the one I showed you last month, stitched for my best friend's birthday yesterday. I just went with a simple silver snake chain. 

So on to the sampler... As you know gifted to me by the in laws and abandoned for a good 18 months. I picked it up 10 days ago and stitched on it for the weekend and got to this point 

5 days later I was here...

The band across the middle took 3 days. I think it was because it was so tedious. 

Then came the urn and the hedge

And a bit more hedge and what will be steps when the back stitch is added. 

So as it stands today we have a fruit tree

I love the colour it has added. We are calling it the plum tree as my daughter decided we needed to identify what it was. 

So this week I'll be stitching the final square of the ABC sal and finishing up a birthday present. 

Have a great week and happy crafting. 

Long time, no see

Hello lovely stitchy buddies,

Well today is glorious and even the up hill walk to school hasn't dampened my mood. Waiting at the top were all these Ox Eyed Daisies. There were several big patches of them. They've clearly come  out en masse over half term. 

On Saturday I decided once I had finished the latest square of the ABC sal to give a very old WIP some love. So at 4am when I couldn't sleep I put my lap frame back together (as you do). My in laws brought me this kit for Christmas 2013 and I started it summer of 2014 I think. Many of my followers may not have even seen my meagre progress on this up to this point. It's that old. 

So the kit...Traditional sampler by Anchor. It's stitched on 14ct aida and measures a whopping 12" x18". If I was starting the kit now I'd probably swap the aida for some linen or evenweave. 

So this was where I had gotten to. I'm my mind I thought I'd done more but clearly not. 

I decided I'd finish off the top band yesterday which was 532 stitches and today sees it here...

It still needs a bit of back stitch on the leaves. I'm in a bit of a dilemma as the chart shows back stitch around the flowers in red, but the kit picture doesn't show them backstitched. The chart only has 5 other very small motifs with backstitch. The 2 snails and the steps to the house do and that looks fine as it it seems to create a bit of a 3D look. The butterflies have a back stitched outline in red and look a bit odd. So after that long ramble...what you you all think?

I've decided to stitch this for a week then put it aside whilst I stitch a birthday present and then pick it back up for the whole of July. Justine is continuing the success of 'faithful April' and doing 'just one July' where she focuses on one project for the month. She's invited fellow bloggers to join her. I will cheat slightly and have 2 projects on the go as I shall do the sampler for my main project as it falls into GG and wipocalypse and have a small travelling project that will go in my handbag for the bus journeys and sitting at the park at that will be for the smalls sal. I'm actually really excited about seeing how much I can get done. I'd love to get the top half done. It's a huge challenge as it's just over 7000 stitches. 

So I'll see you all for GG next week. Time for another GG - my favourite Gilmore Girls! Have a great week. 

2015 Goals

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for such a lovely welcome back. Im really glad to be back blogging. Life is so busy its great to have an escape. So on to 2015's goals... After a fairly miserable attempt at 2014 where despite the goals seeming realistic at the time - they clearly weren't!

As I will be doing the Internship until September I'm setting just a few goals.

• Progress on Anchor Sampler

• 3 Blackwork pieces- Star, Lady from WOXS and Bird Song

• 12 Cover Kits - any 12 from the 100 or so I have!!! 

• Crochet an Ami 

•  Progress on Hexagon quilt

• Autumn Swap - almost done!!

• Winter Swap - not started, due end of February 

• Fabric box from NEC

• 2 Lizzie Kate charts - both snipitts, cross stitcher in residence and the other is work, trust, pray. 

•  2 baby blankets - 1 ASAP and one for July 

•  UFO's from the basket - x 4 - Japanese Garden, Keep Calm, Donald Duck and Gardeners.

I could carry on for ages but then the list becomes an epic on par with Ben Hur. I think that is achievable if I stop there. I've not put on the travelling box and things like birthdays as I didn't want it to become a timetable too much. So here are the progress pics and some of the projects.

This is where I am at with the sampler and my quilt

These are two of the blackwork kits, both were from Steph, one for my birthday, one for Christmas. 

This is the pin flair box kit and the 2 fabrics I chose for it. Not the best photo as the fabric is much more vibrant. 

Lastly the 4 UFO's. As you can see they're not big at all! 

Wish me luck!

Hopefully I'll be back very soon with my first 3 finishes!!!