My Valentine's Day Stitch...

Jo from Serendipitous Stitching hosted a Valentine's Day Blog Hop. To be involved you had to stitch a Valentine's pieced project and post a photo. My photo was sent to another blog. I thought you might be keen to see the project I stitched so here it is.

I found the ombre hearts pattern on a sweet blog called Little Lovelies.   I used the DMC threads 157, 161, 162 and 809.  I love the simpleness of the design and the effect of the fabric wrapped embroidery hoop to frame it.

Happy stitching…
                      Jan x

IHSW: Castles and Pirate Ships...

Both Bothy Threads Cut Thru's are enjoying new additions thanks to the IHSW (International Hermit & Stitch Weekend) that gave me an excuse to do lots of needle holding!

With the Cut Thru' Castle a moat has been dug, filled with water, fish are swimming and an old anchor is lying on the moat floor. The castle stitches up super fast!

More stitching time on the Cut Thru' Pirate Ship occurred last week.  Shebafudge's daughter might be more convinced now that he is a pirate and not a Morris dancer as she suggested to her Mum LOL when she was reading one of my updates over Shebafudge's shoulder. The Pirate on the right now has a patch and a hat adorning himself and more deck to
dance fight on.

Happy stitching to all…
                        Jan x

A is for Anchor...

I am totally addicted to stitching the Prairie Schooler alphabet. This is the first half of A is for Anchor.  As you might remember I have already stitched L is for Leaves as an individual piece.  I am now  stitching the whole alphabet on one piece of linen.   I am delighted that Kevin and a local friend is also stitching it with me.

Prairie Schooler Alphabet
A is for Anchor
2 over 2 36 ct Zweigart linen "Natural"

Happy stitching…
                    Jan x

2014 February WIPocalypse & GYB Winner...

I apologise for being two days late for the February WIPocalypse update. The problem was it clashed with the previous post for Valentine's day and I didn't want to combine the two together. So today is my WIPocalypse post.

There are two question posed for this update by Measi who host WIPocalypse. Firstly, how many projects do you generally feel comfortable having in progress at a time?  Secondly what are your stitching habits- one-at-a-time or rotation between projects.

In answer to the first question I like to have a few projects on the go but definitely don't like more than 13 which I currently have. Over the last few years I have added a few more WIPs to my list as I have got more involved in blogging, partly because I meet people who I want to join a SAL with or I see projects that I just have to start.  I don't want to start any more right at this moment until I finish some off.  I don't mind having a few on the go as it means that I can switch between projects as I feel like it.  

In regards to question two, I spend the majority of my time stitching the WIPocalypse projects (see below) then one evening per month during the first 10 days of the month I stitch on my Turtle Trot SAL projects. I stitch on a Bothy Threads Cut Thru' SAL with Justine on Wednesdays which I have nicknamed Pirate Wednesdays. Once every fortnight I stitch on the Prairie Schooler Alphabet with local friends (and Kevin in cyberland). This way I can keep moving forwards with all my projects.

Here is my progress for February with my two WIPocalypse projects:

Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Castle 
Before (last week's update):

After: more of the moat is done!

Dimensions Promises Kept
Before:

After: the sheep and lion have been filled in!

GROW Your Blog Competition Winner
A massive thank you to all that visited my blog during Grow Your Blog Linky Party. I am excited to announce that comment number 28 is the winner! So the winner  of the Tassie Treats is Jen Barnard. I will send you an email right away and organise delivery.

Happy Stitching Everyone!!!
                   Jan x

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Photo...

Welcome and Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Jo from Serendipitous Stitching is hosting a special Valentine's Day Blog Hop.  The idea is that a secret  stitcher sends me a photo of a Valentine's themed stitched piece and then reveals themselves in the comments.

Here is the adorable and delicate stitched heart I was sent. Such delicate work with an array of stitches and beading.  So cleverly done on the gingham.

Do you see what I see in the bottom right corner of the photo? A tiny clue as to who it is from.  So Joyse, I think I guessed your secret LOL.

I had a sweet day putting little cut-out hearts in my children's school  lunch boxes and surprising my hubby with chocolate on his pillow.

I am off now to find my Stitching Sweetheart.

I hope your day was just as nice…
                                                Jan x

2014 Turtle Trot: February update

BAP Attack is hosting Turtle Trot 2014.  I am a day late in Australia but I figure it is still the 10th of February somewhere on the globe. I had to spend the actual 10th with my darling father for his birthday and he lives over 2 hours away. To top the day of travel off with my three children, a motorcyclist fell off his bike in front of us. Scary! Thankfully he only sustained minor injuries but enough to remind me of how risky the roads can be and how relieved I was when we arrived home in one piece at 10pm.

Since February 10th I have made progress on six out of the ten projects on my list.  

1. Shores of Hawk Run Hollow by CHS

Before:

After:

2. I Love London

Before:

After:

3. Shepherd's Bush 2007 Christmas stocking

Before:

After:

4. Annet Eriksson's Passion for Stitching Chateau - I have temporarily misplaced this project so I couldn't take a photo. I have stitched two more letters on it.

5.  Christmas House by Bucilla

Before:

After:

6. Designers Forum Needlepoint Rug - no progress this month

7. The Prairie Schooler Alphabet L is for Leaves - FINISHED! I have replaced this project with the whole alphabet. Crazy I know. Stitched on one piece of linen 36 ct two over two.

A for Anchor:

8. Country House Needleworks Santa's House- No progress

9.  Bucilla Touch of Gold- No progress

10. The Prairie Schooler Pumpkin Patch- No progress

How's your Turtle Trot going if you have signed up for it?

Happy stitching…

                        Jan x

Bothy Thread Cut Thru' Updates...

The new school year has started this week which means a week of new starts and lots of driving around again. My daughter is in Year 10 and my eldest son in Year 8. Luckily I still have a little one or I might be feeling grieved they are getting so old! My Tom (3yo) doesn't go to school until next year which keeps me feeling young. So after a busy week with the school run and my work, I have only had a snatch of cross stitching time left at the end of the day.

Nonetheless, I did Pirate Wednesday with Justine which meant stitching on the Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Pirate Ship. I have stitched the legs and torso of another pirate.

I have started stitching the moat with a pretty variegated thread since I last posted about  the Bothy Thread's Cut Thru' Castle.

I hope you gets lots of stitching time this week. My fingers are crossed I do.  At least  tonight is free.
Jan x

Stitching Questions...

No progress to post today sorry. Instead I found some interesting stitching questions on serendipitous stitching blog that Jo found on another blog who found it on another blog etc.

1)      Which fabric do you most prefer?  Evenweave because it is so even. Seriously, I stitch on linen and Aida happily too.

2)      What is your favourite fabric count? 32 count 

3)      What colour fabric do you most enjoy stitching on?  Antique ivory or natural colour

4)      What is your favourite fibre? Cotton and silk but not wool as it makes me itch.

5)      How many of the 450 DMC Colours do you own? Not sure as they are scattered in different project bags. Maybe 150.

6)      Of your last five finished projects—how many used DMC/Anchor as the main floss?  Two

7)      Of the last five projects, if you didn’t use DMC/Anchor—what did you use? One I am not sure as the project was part of a kit.  The others were Weeks Dye Works and Crescent Colours.

8)      What needles do you prefer? 26 or 28s. Jo from Serendipitous Stitching just got me onto 28 Petites from her answers. I love these new needles. Thanks Jo for the tip about them as I can use more of my thread.

9)      What is the UGLIEST design you’ve encountered?  There is not one particular pattern that comes to mind but I'm not a fan of patterns with swear words.

10)   What is the most BEAUTIFUL design you’ve encountered? The Prairie Schooler Alphabet which I have just started!

11)   Who is your favourite designer?  Carriage House Samplers, Prairie Schooler, Little House Needleworks, Shepherds Bush.

12)   Least favourite designer?  I don't have one

13)   Will you/would you support a designer whose personal beliefs offended/angered you?  Only if I absolutely adored the design.

14)   Do you have a lamp especially made for needleworkers/crafters? I own one and I use it in two situations: when I am stitching at a table with friends at Cross Stitch Night or when taking photos of my cross stitch for my blog when the light is bad

15)   What brand of stitching lamp do you have/prefer?  The brand is "daylight"

16)   What kind of environment best suits you when you are stitching?  I stitch on my sofa with my legs up on an ottoman and use the sofa arm to hold my cottons, pattern and scissors. Comfy huh?

17)   Have you stitched any design more than once?  Yes, I stitched a baby sampler twice for friends. The pram was decorated in  beads and had different colour versions for boy or girl.  It is a quaint pattern. I will have to drag the pattern out from the closet and find out who the designer was.

18)   Favourite design you have stitched and finished? This is an easy answer - the Marjolein Bastin Four Seasons Sampler. I loved stitching the variety of animals and different flowers and the colours in it were devine.  

19)   Least favourite design you’ve stitched and finished?  None I have loved them all

20)   Last, but not least, what’s your longest running WIP? Luckily this isn't a quilting question as that would be embarrassing as I think a quilt I am doing has run into a decade.   Cross stitch-wise, the project that I have been stitching the longest would have to be the Noah's Ark cross stitch called Promises Kept that I started in late 2009.

I hope you enjoyed reading my answers. Maybe you might like to answer them too. Let me know if you do!

      Jan x