Hearts, flowers and a strawberry

Not quite there yet on Hearts & Flowers but I reckon that my next posting will be reporting it as a finish as I plan to just stitch the heart. As you can see, I really don’t have too much left to do……

Look at what I've received from my good friend Betsey (no blog) in a recent exchange. Isn't it lovely? The design is from Dames of the Needle.

Dames of the Needle Strawberry Flower

When I opened the box and saw what was inside I was just thrilled. I have tried to make one of these strawberries and can I tell you, it was a disaster! I made the classic mistake of cutting too close to the seam line where you pull it together at the top so that when I did try to gather it all together it just came apart. Thing was, I knew I’d cut too close but I kept going, you know where you hope that it will work out even though you know that it really won’t?!?!?!?! Can you guess where it ended up?!?! Yes, in the bin with me totally put off attempting another one!! So, I appreciate this even more, Betsey's finishing is so good.

Remember last post I talked about the pink in the toe of BBD Merry Christmas stocking? Well, as you can probably guess, the pink is gone!!! I decided to do that little part in the WDW Lancaster Red which was what was used above it and I like it much better!

Yesterday we were getting warnings of heavy snow through last night and today. I got up this morning expecting it to be a winter wonderland outside only to find that it was a mixture of rain and sleet and no sign of any snow. I’m sure some places had the snow but looks like we’ve escaped it. Rain and sleet? Still good weather to stay inside and get some stitching done!
Until next time...

CHS Hearts & Flowers & sneaking in a little bit of Christmas

Hi everyone! Well, not as much stitching time as I would have liked this week. I did manage to thread a needle every day, just didn't get to thread it as many times as I would have liked! More stitching done on CHS Hearts & flowers and this is where I am with it.

The picture shows the fabric much lighter than it really is. It’s Lakeside Examplar and is a lovely warm tone that works really well with the thread colours. I’d love to have this as a finish in February so that’s what I’m going to be concentrating on this next week I think.

Last weekend I worked on my February ornament, BBD Merry Christmas Stocking and finished it.

I’ve used the suggested CC colours one of which is Clay Pot for the stitching under the year at the toe of the stocking. I'm not sure how clear it is but can you see that the picture on the chart is more a slightly lighter red and not pink as such, or at least not pink in the way my skein of Clay Pot is! I have to admit that every time I look at my stitched piece the pink catches my eye, but not in a good way! I’m considering re-stitching that little bit in one of the other colours before deciding if the Clay Pot is what I want to use. Has anyone else stitched this stocking yet? If so, is their skein of Clay Pot more of a red than a pink?

And finally, here is my totally finished January ornament, a PS one from A Christmas Visit. I know many of you use Deb at Artistic Needle and this is the first time I’ve sent something to her. It won’t be the last! I love what she’s done, I’m so thrilled with this, never in a million years could I have finished this so well!

From PS booklet A Christmas Visit

Well, that’s it from me for this time. I hope everyone has a good weekend whatever they’ve got planned. I don’t have too much planned so hopefully I can fit in lots of stitching time!
Until next time ….

A little bit of this and that with hearts involved

I think this is going to be one of those blog posts that’s about this and that but not really an awful lot of this and that! Ever had one of those weeks when you feel like you’ve found time to do quite a bit of stitching but when you look at what you’ve actually done it doesn’t really seem like all that much?!?! That seems to be the way I’m feeling about CHS Hearts & Flowers. I keep looking at it and feeling like I’m not making much progress. Anyway, here’s where I am with it….

Other than that this week, I stitched a little bit more on my BBD December stocking ornament.

BBD Merry Christmas on 30ct R&R Iced Cappuchino

And that’s what I plan on working on this weekend with the aim of finishing it. Now, that’s the stitching I’m talking about, not the actual making into a stocking which I really don’t see myself attempting. No, that will be going elsewhere to be finished!

It’s been quiet around here this week. Spring is starting to feel like it might just be around the corner, the days are noticeably lengthening now and I’ve noticed the green shoots of the daffodils starting to poke up above the soil in the garden. I'm sure we're not rid of winter yet but it's nice to see a few signs of change. Before I go I do want to say thank you to everyone for all the lovely comments you leave and for everyone who drops by my blog, Valentine’s Day on Sunday and I hope it’s a good one for you all.
Until next time….

Some Valentine finishing and a new start planned

Happy Friday everyone! Almost the weekend! Well, I seem to have had one of those weeks when all I’ve done is putter around and flit from one thing to another. Whilst I was doing that though I came across several Valentine pieces that I’d stitched last year and never got round to finishing. I reckoned that I really needed to get my act together and not have another year go by so, as a result of sitting down yesterday afternoon and having a finishing session, here they are……

First off is this one, an older Goode Huswife, Valentine Sampler, using the suggested DMC but I have to admit I’ve no idea what fabric I used!! If I was taking a guess it looks like it could be a 32ct lambswool.

Then this little one, a Prairie Schooler design using a NN thread, Elderberry Wine on 28ct R&R Oyster Mist.

Prairie Schooler from the leaflet From the Heart

In amongst all my puttering around I did start on my February Christmas ornament, this one…..

BBD Merry Christmas from the Merry December booklet using suggested threads on 30ct R&R Iced Cappuchino

And last but not least, I made up my mind about what my next project is going to be. Another one that’s been in my stash for more years than I care to admit too but one which I think will be perfect to work on in the month of February…….

CHS Hearts and Flowers using lakeside 32ct examplar

Okay, that's it from me for this time. Hope everyone has a good weekend!
Until next time ....