Around the World Part Two

Sorry for being away for so long... agin!!! Here is my Part 2 Papillon update :) This months featured stitches are Hardanger, Swedish Split Stitch and the Mordvinian Star Stitch. Another fantastic month I just love this so much!

Around The World in 80 Stitches Part 1

Part One starts in the UK. It features an adaptation of the Norwich Stitch, the Berwick Stitch,the Lindisfarne and the Scotch Stitch.


I will add the beads when I have finished the whole piece :)
It was really enjoyable to learn the new stitches and I am so far very pleased with how the colours work together. I cannot wait for Part 2 :)

Im now off to start cutting the Dino quilt fabric for my Son Thomas!!

Around The World in 80 Stitches-Intro

I know I have mentioned this before but I will give you all the info anyway :)

Papillon Creations run a Mystery Stitch Along every few years that feature lots of speciality Stitches. Some of you may have already come across them. The last one was Castles in the Air. I followed the last one but never actually took part as I had to much on my TO Do list! But I thought it was beautiful so decided I would definitely do the next one, and here it is:) 

This is a 24 part/month SAL. Each month will feature 3 or 4 speciality stitches which share their names with countries, areas or cities from around the world.

They have given a guideline for selecting colours and the finished piece is 237x237 stitches. 

Here is my choices!

I have chosen to stitch mine on 32 count White Belfast Linen.

My Colours-All DMC

Dark Green  -561

Medium Green-562

Light Green -564

Floral 1       -3078

Floral 2       -3688

Floral 3       -340

Floral 4       -255

Floral 5       -211

Floral 6       -3727

Floral 7       -3807

Floral 8       -155

Metalic       -E316

Beads         - Mill Hill Seed Beeds  02001, 02009

The first part of the stitch along is available now at  http://papillon-creations.com. Just sign up for the news letter :) and pay a small fee for Part 1.

Some background: Liebster is a German word, meaning favourite, dearest or beloved and the Liebster is awarded by bloggers to other, newer bloggers, who have fewer than 200 followers, to spread the word and help the new(er)bies gain wider recognition. The award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting:

1. Choose five up-and-coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Liebster to.

All of these are other stitching blogs, with a variety of lovely projects and pretty pictures!( hopefully they haven't already received it before)

1 - Midge at Midge's Crafty Corner  http://midgescraftycorner.blogspot.co.uk 
2 -CathE at Cross Stitch Crazy http://cath69.blogspot.co.uk
3 -Eyani Ryou at Stitchy Stitches  http://stitchystitches.blogspot.co.uk
4 -Good Life to go  http://www.goodlife2go.com 
5 - Veronica at Veronica's Cross Stitch  http://glitter-madaboutxstitch.blogspot.co.uk 


2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

Thank you to Wolfthryth at Stick to My Needle http://wolfthrythsneedle.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.

4. Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

1 My favourite films is Forest Gump. I have seen it a zillion times, know it word for word but am always ready to see it again. A great film for a cry and a giggle :)
2 I got married at 20 years old! 
3 In the last two years I have lost almost 3 stone in weight and I am still going ;)
4 I love fairy tales and was reluctant to believe fairy's weren't real ( I still am lol) even when I grew up! 
5 I have never been on an aeroplane, not because of a phobia, I have just never been able to afford to go abroad  sadly :(

YAY!

A massive sorry for being away for so long! But I kind of had an excuse. I really wanted to start the Around The World in 80 Stitches SAL but knew that I would only get into it if I finished the HAED. So I have spent all my time busily stitching away, but it did mean pretty much abandoning the blog and the forum :(

But here it is, after 4 YEARS!!! It is FINISHED!! *happydancehappydancehappydance*

Now I just need to find the perfect frame.

I am really pleased with the final finish but I certainly wont be in a rush to do another. I don't have much stitching time as a busy Mum so I don't want to take on something that is so time consuming for a while at least :D

I also wanted to say hello to my new followers :) 

Pirate Dragon Update :D

Another page finished, yay! Only 2 half pages to go now before it is finished :)

UFO Week

Starts again today. I will be getting my Owl in Flight out this evening, I'm really looking forward to giving him my full attention for a week. I'm sure I am over half way now so he will hopefully be finished soon :D

A Sneaky New WIP

I know I'm not meant to be starting any new ones until my HAED is finished and I now have a new little pile of To Do's but some members of the forum are starting a new Stitch Along. Some of you may be fimilar with Papillon Creations and their stitch alongs. The last one was Castles In The Air and was fantastic, I really kicked myself for not joining in! This time they are doing Around The World In 80 stitches, basically they release parts of the chart every month ( I think) and it will be based on stitches from around the world. So I will be learning lots of new speciality stitches :)  I will go into more detail when its nearer to starting but if you want to join in check it out their website:here and sign up for their newsletter!!

On a personal note I will be joining Weight Watchers next week and think I will post my weigh ins here just as an extra incentive, so please get ready to cheer me on :D

My First Quilt Top

I am now waiting for the rest of my fabric order so I can finish this! I feel very nervous about quilting it!

It isn't perfect but I am very happy with it and can't wait to see it finished and in my son pirate themed bedroom! I love the colours together too!

I plan to finish a bit more of my HAED before I start the Dinosaur quilt.

UFO Week Progress

I only managed one evening on my UFO this week as I have been piecing my first quilt together :) But I have now re-stitched all that I had to frog and more, YAY!

It funny how that sort of problem can over shadow a project. I almost scrapped this entirely but didn't because I paid so much for the kit! I certainly haven't wanted to stitch it and have been reluctant even on the UFO weeks. As soon as I re-stitched the bit that had to be frogged though I started to really enjoy it again!!! I can't wait for the next UFO week!

It's arrived!!

It actually arrived on Wednesday but this has been the first chance I have had to post :)

I am still waiting for the backing fabric and some plain blue fabric which will be sent when its back in stock!

This one will be Williams for his pirate themed bedroom.

And this one for Thomas and his dino themed bedroom.

I have started Williams first and have just finished all the cutting, which only took two evenings. I will startt machine sewing it together this evening- I am so nervous though, if it goes terribly wrong I have spent ALOT of money.... gulp!

My stitching has gone on hold whilst I concentrate on this one. Then I will finish my page of HAED before I start the next one!

Stash!!

I have been busily stitching away on my HAED but I wont do a pic update until I have finished the page I am working on :)

I have how ever got exciting news! I have all the fabric, wadding and backing that I need to make both my sons quilts for their beds AHHHHH!! I have been busily saving for a few months and had managed to save a grand total of £12!! DOH! LOL!
But my husband decided that he really wanted a laptop for himself as he gets tired of sitting away from the TV when he needs it ( a very expensive, fairly new PC may I ad) and I have a Netbook so sit comftably on the sofa. He asked if I minded- as we have a few pound in savings... so I said of course he could IF I can get my fabric hehehe!! Slightly naughty but now we are both happy :)

So my £200 pounds worth of stash is being processed and will hopefully be here early next week YAY!!
I will definitely put some pics on then :)

My First Hardanger

My practise piece from Mary Hickmotts 'Easing into Hardanger'

All the practise was for this..... My needle case :)

I messed up a teeny bit on the finish as its not quite central but I can live with it, and im proud of my first ever needle case! I really love the green lining fabric. The chart showed lilac but I think the green is perfect!

Owl Update

Here I am after a weeks stitching, not major progress but progress!

I have been working my way through Mary Hickmotts Easing into Hardanger this week. Its alot easier than I thought it would be and it gives really quick results. I will be starting the needlebook next week, I need some fabric to back it though so I am on the look out for something that will match :) 

Owl Update

Its been awhile since I dusted this one off hehe! The stitching forum I visit have a UFO week at the beginning of each month so I will be doing this each month until it is finished.
Here progress up until Jan 31st

And progress up to today- yes I finally unpicked the Owl :(

Im hoping to get the Owl re-stitched by the end of the week!

I also got some more stash :) My 2nd sew and so order of the year arrived containing some anchor pearl cotton and Mary Hickmotts Easing into Hardanger book so I can have a practise before started my needle case with those lovely Caron Wildflower threads! I also got the beads and blending filliment  for another WIP I am planning to start once I have finished my HAED. Joan Elliotts Lady Bird Fairy on Polstitches 'Big Bang' http://joanelliott.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/lady-bird-variations1.jpg

First Finish of 2012

Ok so last time I ordered some stash from Sew an So this was really cheap in the sale so I got one. A Medieval Herb Garden Bookmark. I really love the finished bookmark but hated stitching it. Most of it was stitched with 3 strands of thread and just felt messy. The instructions for the backstitch was a bit all over the place too so I had to keep double checking the colours/strand amounts. I wouldn't be keen to stitch one again.

My favourite square-The bee hive :)

It was also my sons 2nd birthday this week. We had a lovely day seeing family and he was very spoilt!! Here is a picture of the cake I made him of his favourite soft toy(he comes everywhere with us!), It was rather yummy even if I do say so myself!

Blowing out the candles...sitting on he's Nanny's lap.

First Stitchy update of the year

HAED Pirate Dragon

Progress from last year.

And after about 8 evening I have finished another page, Yay.

I am going to have a week or two's break from it now and decide what to do next week :)

1st Stash of the Year

It feels like ages since I have done any 'stashing'. This was from my Sew and So spree. It is mainly bits for my first ever hardhanger project that I am planning to do this year, I will definitely need to do some practise pieces first though, I had a look through the chart pack and just felt confused! Its the first time I have ever had any hand-dyed thread so was very excited about the Caron Wildflower threads. They are also for the hardhanger project. There is also a Lizzie Kate Chart that I feel in love with and a Herb Garden bookmark that was in their sale.

This week in the UK a new part magazine is out called The Art of Quilting. Each issue comes with the fabric to make a quilt block with step-by-step instructions as well as other projects. (there have been similar magazines out for knitting and Crochet) I have bought the first one as I have been looking into quilting since getting my sewing machine. Here is my first attempt:

I have decided that it is far to pricey to subscribe to the magazine (90 issue in total @ £3.99 an issue plus £5.99 every 20 issues for a binder!!! OUCH) but I will get the first 3-4 that will be sold in WHSmiths just to have a practice. If im any good I may have a go at making both my sons a quilt each, and maybe one for me too :)

Happy New Year

Hi all,

I hope you had a great xmas and New Year!
I didn't get any stitchy related gifts (I rarely do, I think it makes people nervous incase they buy the wrong thing!) but I did get given £30 from my Grandparents-in-law. I have decided to spend some on myself and have spent the morning ordering from Sew and So. It feels like ages since I have done any stash buying so i'm very excited. I shall post a pic once it arrives- YAY!

Hope 2012 will be great for everyone :)