Project Advent Calendar...

Yep you heard right, I have a project for a perpetual advent calendar just started and part one is now terminated. Remember that little teaser photo at the start of the advent season well here is the result.

Stats: 1x1, 28ct red Jobelan, Examplar White Chocolate - HDF
I am also up to date with my  COA, page 20 came out on sat... ;-)

And finally....there were lots of other things I wanted to say in the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about posting...now, I don't feel so good and they have all gone from my little ole brain. So IK will just leave you with the nice pics, and you can think on what the next part of my calendar will be :-)

I'm not likely to post again before Christmas, so for all of you who read my blog, whether regularly or in passing. May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very peaceful christmas with family and friends, and also a prosperous New year in 2012. May the Lord guide your footsteps in every way xx

Advent...

starts in a week!!! Although the shops have been full of christmas decorations for several weeks already! I have a new project all ready to start. It is part of a MUCH bigger project, which I have envisioned and you can watch it grow with me. Starting with this little gem...

I'm sure a lot of you already know what it is ;-) Staying on the stitching, I'm actually keeping up with a SAL at the moment. Page 16 of the COA sal with Wiehenburg came out yesterday, and I'm up to page 15 with only the overlapping three bottom rows not stitched on this row of pages <grin>

Going back to the church...we had a casino night last night, but while having the coffee morning we saw a conundrum and had to take a pic...as the Vicar said 'only in our church'

How do you like it??? come to our church casino if you're struggling with debt! A good time was had by all, and I hear there are some incriminating photos going around!!!
I almost forgot, I have a progress pic of my Antique Lace Band Sampler, it's growing slowly.

See ya!

No Witty title...

With the best will in the world I cannot seem to come back any sooner than 4 weeks it seems...
What with stupid internet connections and having to go do a full time job it seems to be something of a challenge :-)
I have only one picture to show you at the moment..this is my progress on the COA SAL, I am actually all caught up to page 10...I did it on friday when it came out. Let's see if it continues...LOL

Well...that was last week when I started writing this post, I finally had to resort to restoring my system to a couple months earlier as it turned not to be my internet connection...but the blimming computer itself!!! May be time for a new one soon, I'll have to see what the ole bank balance says. Mean time I give you a second view of the fabric surrounding this stitching and will go start on page 12 tomorrow since I already stitched page 11 <big grin>

Green with Envy???

Some may say that is why I joined this SAL adding another piece to my WIP pile...Oh Lord it gets bigger I hear you say.
No, no, no....I say but first have a look at my pic of the CoA, I am on page 2/55 but I am lagging behind woefully. I only joined up last week and today pg6 gets released, so I have some catching up to do if I want to keep up. Last time I joined a Wiehenburg SAL I finished years after the date!!! I am determined not to this time...famous last words??

I am stitching 1 over 1 on a 30ct evenweave ?Lugana from Sparklies This would be what she calls a Solitaire :-). On this fabric I am using thread from HDF in a lovely green and black combo called Becke Green, shade nos 3397/3259/5300/3439.
Enough info???
I give you Red Pots....

All finished, washed AND ironed for your delight...so I have replaced one WIP with another one..neh, neh.
We won't count all the other ones started and languishing in a pile since I will be doing a lot of catching up on CoA...
Dare I mention that I had signed up for another one starting in Oct...a mystery to boot, no idea yet of stitch count or anything, other than it is meant to be RED!!! So watch this space!

Another birthday!!!?

Yep, we just celebrated another birthday and the cake as usual was lush - take a look if you don't believe me

However the sugar junkie was only interested in these...and he ate most of them...as you can see they weren't few!!!

Me on the other hand I did a bit of finishing on a couple charts that should have been finished Long ago <hint>

Then last but not least, there is my progress on the Red Pots which is not long to go now, then I can pick up another WIP to take it's place.

Yes. I know, it is woefully crumpled, but I will iron when It is finished and washed, until then you just have to humour me...and call me all sorts of names...I don't mind :-P

I haven't done much stitching as I am still quite sore, especially after the Physio was done pounding on me on Thurs, but I hope to get to my new start tomorrow. I  found out that my fabric is almost too short, but I can live with an inch and half margin top and bottom since I don't think this is one that will get framed, I'm leaning towards a hanging instead!

For all of you in the UK, have a great bank Holiday w/e, everybody else enjoy what's left of your sunday evening!

I'm back!

Although I didn't go anywhere in the first place but a few good and not so good reasons kept me away...this is going to be quite long and photo heavy - just a little warning ;-)

Where do I start??? well after my last post I did some finishing for my friends ruby wedding anniversary present.

Then another idiot male driver decided not to stop when I did at a roundabout and not only rear-ended me but also gave me mild whiplash which has been giving me headaches and neck and shoulder pain for the last three weeks - so said car will be visiting the body shop again in about 10days!

Meantime said car went in for servicing and air condition was re-gassed etc only for said gas to be all leaked out in a couple days and garage needing to give me this Tin Can while they sorted it ...

On the stitchy front, I got me a lovely little PIF from Sally

Then I went for a job interview - well you know, one must challenge oneself sometimes... I think it went well even though I think they ambushed the three applicants...I got an email saying three people on panel...there were 5, count that FIVE when I turned up. Plus the fact that they all had time to go through my presentation and prepare questions since they insisted no USB, must email presentation before interview date! After all this...10 days later and they still haven't bothered to say yea or nay - not that I'm desperate, I already have a job but the principle!!!

I had some physio on wed and felt able to do some stitching yesterday...so the best news of all is my FINISH.....TA DA I used Isle Green 3207 for the words and letters and Meadow for the rest of the chart.

Started 21 Feb 2009 - Finished 19 Aug 2011. The pic isn't great since the sun keeps going into hiding, I won't be framing this till next summer 'cause I have plans to send it to Vikki's exhibition next June and framed will not be possible due to cost. Now I need to do some cutting and zigzagging for my next BAP start...not like I don't already have a few of those on the go...

This is my floss toss, if there is enough fabric, I have to go measure to be sure ;-)

I did do some stitching on the Red Pots but I don't have a pic and since I will stitch on it over the next few nights at work I will do an up to date pic next week, I hope not to be gone so long again...but I keep saying things like this don't I? Oh well that's life.
For now I'm off to have some wine with my sis, so no stitching today. Don't want the frogs to visit.
Ciao x

Gone Reading!?

Yep...well, and working too...lol
I meant to post this last week but work got in the way...now here we are. I had arrived at this point on QV - now only 1 1/2 pages to go :-)

Then while I was working I finished off the border on the Red Pots.

So I  decided that on my days off - only two mind you! I would start reading this (pic courtesy of Amazon)

Since I hadn't read for quite a while, luckily I was off for two days...cos once I started it I couldnt put it down and did a marathon read in less than 24 hrs. Needless to say the book is really good, otherwise I would quite happily have put it down to go to sleep! Having finished at 5am i then needed a sleep,so had a nice long nap <grin> Cant wait to get number 2 & 3 from the library.
I have to do some finishes this w/e so no stitching on QV till next week at the earliest I think, but I will show the finishes! Mwah, thanks for reading me!

WOW...

I didn't realise it had been three weeks since my last post...oh well life takes over doesn't it??
Well since I was last here I have stitched my little heart out!!! There has been a finish...

And there has been a birthday...! Don't you just love that cake...Mmmm

And some other stitching going on too..a little progress on Red Pots - excuse the not ironed state :-)

and a whole heap of progress on QV......Only 3 pages to go....I best get cracking...

No stitching done yesterday since I spent most of the day surfing and generally faffing about on the computer, and blogger wouldn't let me upload pics so I couldn't post this. So now off I go to put a dent in those three pages for the rest of the afternoon. See you all soon :-)

Update...and a giveaway!

Well I can't think of anything catchy to say and I'm more interested in playing with my new toy at the moment...LOL. Yep gots me a shiny new iphone and learning how to use it is such fun :-)

So I have three new WIP pics for you  first up will be QV and I am officially past the halfway point I am sure of that, 6/12 pages complete (plus a bit more of course).

Next up is a finish...all I have to do is add 2011 at the top notch of the heart and make it up. Will show a pic in a few weeks when it's all done ;-) And this is the GIVEAWAY chart. I offer it to the first person to post a comment on the condition that you pass it on when you have finished with it...DEAL??

Third is the Red Pots Sampler which is of course in PINK <big grin> and about a 1/4 of the border is done now

Finally, I leave you with a pic of Batman...he doesn't stand still long enough for me to take proper pics (I guess he doesn't want his identity blown) even though his cape proclaims him a FROG!!!

Ciao mes amis xx

Naughty, oh so naughty!

I have been REALLY naughty with not one but two starts...eeek. Oh well, at least I am having fun, right?
See the first time I did it was when I couldn't sleep last week, and instead of stressing about how I had to go to work the next morning and winding myself up the fabric was staring me in the face across the room along with threads...so I cut a piece and VOILA....

This is on 18ct aida...and is being stitched with some of the stash I got from Jean not too long ago. Colours will be Anchor 842 and 844 and the chart is that Red Pots Sampler from a few posts ago!
There has also been progress on my T&E mandala and I am now just over half way through as you can see

The heart is also at half way and moving towards a finish soon

But the Piece de Resistance is the start of Catherine Archer (hereafter only to be referred to as Catherine), I started this today after church and noticed a little boo-boo half way through letter B...I was stitching 1 x 1 and I had gridded my fabric for 1 x 2. So I finished my length of thread and did a little test in the margin of  1 over and 2 over and decided I preferred the 1 over anyway so I kept going and this is where I left off for the day

Sizewise if you're interested after all this is I think 34ct - according to my counting and this is how big they look at the mo

This was my floss toss, although the fabric looks quite pink in this light which it definitely isn't...a WHOLE hank of Vikki's Rubbed Red is what I am using...with tons left over now since I am on 1 x 1.

This hank came to me after I paid the ransom of the customs officers, along with some other beautiful red spools

And since you have stayed with me this long, I present to you my Precious...returned to me after his stay at the spa where he got a good massage, and is all shiny and refreshed ;-)

I'm in LOVE!!!!!

Yep...with this nifty thing...can't call it small, but I Lurve it

Some madwife(midwife in other words) couldn't control her car better and backed into mine in the car park at work a few weeks ago. Now her insurance is fixing mine and I got to keep this for the bank holiday w/e, will get mine back tomorrow and have to return this :-( I know it's not really practical since I'm mostly alone and the old ladies in church wouldn't be able to get in if I had to give them a lift, but boy am I smitten...DON'T want to give it back.... stamps feet!
Didn't get to watch much of the wedding on Friday as I was working but did stop long enough to see the dress and it was just GORGEOUS. The simplicity of the dress and veil just made it so much more elegant IMHO and wasn't Catherine radiant. I wish them all the happiness in the world as they embark on this journey.
On the stitching front, I haven't stitched on T&E but I have done some serious work on QV I think. I guess the picture will tell the tale...and now I'm off to see if I can do the butterfly in the corner just above the F (there are actually 2 but I aim for just one tonight ) before I go to bed, gotta cook lunch at church in the morning...it's my turn this week!

For Connie - the last  pic shown in the last post is by this company and it can be found on the pot sampler page, called Red Pots Sampler ;-).
 Catch you later

Procrastination...

is my middle name, or so I thought. I found out differently on Monday when I had two days off and had planned to finish THE essay so I was done and could have a nice Easter w/e. Here was I all primed to go when I find that I needed to have the 2...count that TWO assessments done before I could write...and they were still pending as I hadn't managed to pin my mentor down to do them. WHEN is this work due in I hear you ask? the 26th...yes next Tuesday!!! Well to cut a long story, assessments done, essay just finished an hour ago....hope you all had a nice Good Friday too.

On a good note I have lots of pics for you. My Thread and Eye mandala is growing slowly but surely

I have been putting in the time on QV....hence the name of this post...and I have hit the opposite corner at the Q the diagonal starts going upwards....yay. IT does grow pretty quickly when I sit for a couple of hours here and there.

I have startitis very badly at the moment and am looking to justify all new starts as I pull fabric or floss from their storage and drool...I have one new start and the justification for that is I have just been invited to a 40th wedding anniversary party and a store bought gift just wont be appreciated as much as a little stitched something...and since I had the perfect chart and thread it is all stash and no new purchases. It stitches up quite quickly and will finish in no time - just as well since said party is in July. Enough of the teasing right, this is how much I stitched in one sitting

I think its a 28ct natural evenweave and I'm using HDF of course, one of a few mystery spools I have. This is what the finished piece will look like and I hope to add initials on either side at the bottom and either this year or wedding year at the top of the heart.

The other chart I pulled out when I started this one....and it sits there taunting me every night...I can see it now!! is this one

I have pulled the thread I plan to use for it...Anchor...oh my...and aida fabric...what in heavens name!!! Well I have a ton of said fabric and saw the opportunity to use up some of that 30yr old stash that I just acquired so when I give in to the urge to pull out the sewing machine, cut and zigzag some fabric etc you might just see a few new starts.
Why do I say a few you ask me....well remember that post not so long ago where I had found my RED sampler...well I had fabric...now floss has arrived and the only thing that stopped me from starting was THAT ESSAY...which is now done...oh how I will be stitching up a storm. My stitchy bug has been nipping at my toes for weeks now while the guilt has prevented me from doing too much.
Well spring has definitely sprung in this corner of Berkshire along with the rest of the UK and as soon as I mow that foot and half high grassy area out back that purports to be my backyard I shall be sitting in the swing all day when not at work and J*** next door will not have to wonder if I am ailing as the sun is out but I appear not to be!!! Yes, she was about to knock on my door to check up on me when I appeared out the back door on Monday, oh to be predictable.
I hope to be back in less than a month with a nice short post...instead of an essay. And I sincerely hope that you have not been bored if you managed to get down here xx

Two in one day

Yep I'm on a roll - must be all this sunshine that has been around the last three days. Lucky me eh? I go to work over the w/e and it is meant to get cooler and less sunshine so I have made the most of the sunshine.

Having caught up on my spring cleaning...I think!!! I settled down to work on QV...since the Gp told me last week that I needed to minimise my stress levels seeing that the ole blood pressure is going up even higher than it already was - what better way to not stress <BIG grin> anyway the headaches have been more frequent and I'd chalked it up to being tired and stressed not thinking of other side effects.

So I stitched, and stitched, and stitched, and I finished that big a"^*" motif and a few other really small ones. As a fellow blogger also said earlier this evening...doing a hit and run instead of spending hours on Facebook has done wonders for our stitching and since I seem to be plagued with startitis at the moment I think I need to try and work on a few of the old ones as I also like finishes just as much as putting that first stitch into a pristine piece of fabric

See you in a while...might be a while as there is a long stretch coming up...making up for all these days off that I just enjoyed.
Thanks for coming by my little corner of the world x

A blast from the past

Yep that is what it is. I realized that the last known picture taken of Quaker Virtues was in March 2009...two whole years since I stitched on it and here I thought it was just one. I have made good progress for the last week and half I think, and I hope to progress some more before I have to put it down. It has been my focus when I have been at home the last few days. So without further ado...BEFORE

and this morning

Now, I am off to go work on that big a*^" motif you can just see the beginning of on the right side with the trailing thread. So far I have now done one full and two partial pages, there are twelve pages.

I Scored...

a bunch of threads on Sunday. Having been invited to visit with a nice Lady from the church who used to work with the Royal School of Needle work. She gave me all of these lovely colours, and some vintage threads too...

These are J&P/Coats craft/Anchor colours. You can see the colour families she liked best...lol

A bunch of Pearsalls Filoselle silks...mmm, nice and shiny

This lot is by Cartier & Bresson - took me a fair amount of google time to figure out that this was made by a company that merged with DMC in the early 60's!!! They feel so soft and silky although they are cotton.

Only a few DMC thank god as I already have a ton of it. Of which I don't use heaps of at the moment. Look at the labels on these skeins too, you can see how old some of them are in comparison with others.

Last but not least...you see the labels on some of those skeins!!!!! How old would they be now I wonder, anyone care to enlighten me?
On the personal stitching front, I have spent the last few days stitching on Quaker Virtues which has been sadly neglected for the last year...OMG. Will post update pics in next post.
For this post I will show you my framed pair which I collected from the framers on Sunday, now I need to figure out how to hang them - I already know where they are going :-)

and....

nice eh!!!