Arwen's thread

A little snowy stitching

2010-12-04T07:26:00.000Z

Well, the wintry condtions continue here in the UK. We still have lots of snow and it looks as though the cold spell is set to continue here for a couple of weeks or so. We were due to head off to the Yorkshire dales this morning for a week, but we have had to cancel at the last minute as the owner of the cottage phoned to say the it was impossible to get in or out of Cotterdale due to the snow. Ah well, never mind, we still have the week off from work and I am now rather looking forward to a little staycation and the house is warm and we have done the dreaded supermarket shopping and this house is chock-full of stitching goodies! At least this way I don't have to worry whether my stitching chair will be comfy in the holiday house - LOL. We have postponed our booking and will now visit Cotterdale next April for my birthday.

We live in a cul de sac and there was a bit more snow overnight but it has stopped now and we appear to have a little fog .......now comes the decision as to whether we can manage the drive to Manchester to see Sophie and Matt and meet little Thora at long last.....watch this space!

In the meantime I have been stitching a LHN ornament andwas going to attach a photo here, as well as a photo of the first lot of snow in our garden but blogger won't allow it this morning. Ah well, maybe next time!

Thanks for visiting, love Jackie x

So close and yet so far........

2010-11-29T20:53:00.005Z

Hello all,

Carol and I have been making cushions over the last week or so. Mine is finally finished and I am very pleased with it (so close)......... I have tried to buy a cushion pad for it today and cannot find anything even remotely the right size (so far) .....That is very annoying!!! The cushion was easy and the instructions were clear, now all I need is a cushion pad........ Wish me luck!

The wait is over..........

2010-11-28T22:15:00.004Z

I am pleased to announce the safe arrival of our new grand-daughter, Thora!

Thora Urska Smedley arrived on Friday 26th November (which, it turned out, was not Brians birthdayafter all, in spite of my last post..... his birthday is 27th November and always has been for the thirty something years that I have known him :-) For some reason I had it fixed in my mind that his birthday fell on a Friday this year Anyway, back to the baby...). Thora weighed in at a healthy 7lbs 1oz and mother and baby are both doing well!

We have had snow this week, hence the rather wintry feel to my blog. I have spent a large portion of today wrapping Christmas presents so I am hoping that will free up some time to play with my new sewing machine tomorrow evening. I have also been sorting through my stash of Just Cross stitch ornament magazines. Every year I promise that I will stitch a selection of ornaments and every year I leave it a little late ..... okay, more than a little late I agree......oh well, I have baby things to stitch for now anyway....... :-)

Only a few more days of work and then I have a week off and may just get a little stitching done. Then I may even have a picture or two to share, who knows?

Thanks to all those that continue to visit and leave comments!

We wait and wait and........

2010-11-22T22:01:00.003Z

we wait some more and still no sign yet of Sophies baby......... :-) Sophies due date was 13 November and we are all (especially Sophie) getting impatient to meet the little one and find out whether it is a girl or a boy. Brian (DH) is really hoping that the baby comes on Friday 27 because, if so, he and the baby will share the same birthday. Brian would really love that and it would be a fabulous birthday present for him, so I am hoping baby comes on Friday too.....watch this space!

Little Daisy, who was born in February, continues to be the apple of everybodys' eye and has been crawling for a few weeks and has now learned to walk along whilst holding herself up on the sofa - so cute!

I have managed to get in a little more stitching recently than I was a few months ago and have also invested in a new sewing machine as my old Elna decided to start playing up. I am now the proud owner of a Pfaff Grandquilter as Carol and I went on an adventure on Friday afternoon to look at machines. We had a wonderful time and Carol drove to The Cotton Patch in Birmingham and back, on the motorway, in the FOG - what a heroine, she is fearless!!! Actually I should probably mention that Carol also bought the same sewing machine which suits me just splendidly because now we can learn how to use it together!

Carol and I also had a wonderful day together on Saturday making cushions and I will take photos just as soon as I can....... they are very pretty, even if I say so myself.

I will leave you with a couple of photos of stitching that was completed earlier in the year and hope to be back soon with some newer stitching photos and also with some baby-news. Now, for some reason, which is a complete mystery to me, Blogger has published the photos at the top of this post and I have no idea how to move them down ! The first photo is of a little applique piece which Claire made for Daisys' room, the second is a completed Shepherds Bush sampler which I made for my friends grandson (WIP pictures are further down the blog) and the last one is by Plum St Samplers and I love it........

As always, the images are clickable if you should so wish........ Thanks for visiting!

October 2010 - Where did the time go?

2010-10-19T22:08:00.002+01:00

I can't believe that I haven't posted here since January - where has this year gone? I have revamped my blog for Halloween and hope to start posting fairly regularly agan.

Well, I have been incredibly busy at work which has taken a lot of my energy..... so much so, that I have barely lifted a needle all year. Anyway, I am hoping to remedy that situation very soon and, after our recent holiday on the island of Islay I am feeling much refreshed and have now got lots of stitchy plans running around my head.....so watch this space! The photo at the top of the blog was taken on holiday and is a photo of the mountains and moorland on Jura, which is an island which is just a very short ferry ride from Islay.

On the family front this has been an amazing year - I am now 'Granny' to our first grandchild, Daisy, and am soon to be a 'Granny' again in November when our second daughter is expecting her first baby. Just like all grannies worldwide I think my grandchildren are the most gorgeous, clever and interesting babies in the world and I really need to get busy stitching birth samplers, don't I?

Anyway, time to hit the 'publish post' button and head off to bed........

My Christmas gift for Carol

2010-01-20T21:02:00.004Z

Hello All. Thank you to all those that have been to visit the blog recently and an especially huge thanks to those who took the time to leave a comment - I just love to hear from you! Here are some photos of the gift that I stitched for Carol for Christmas......

My stitching is part of a larger design by Renato Parolin and you can see the pattern here. I ordered my pattern from Casa Cenina and they provided excellent service.

I rushed out to Sainsburys the week before Christmas and you can imagine my delight when I saw the frame just sitting on the shelf. It went perfectly with the design and I didn't need a small mortgage in order to buy it! :-)

I stitched it using recommended DMC thread and some pale blue 32ct linen from the stash.

Thanks for visiting, hope to see you again soon,

Jackie x

Happy New Year!

2010-01-11T18:51:00.008Z

Happy New Year one and all, although I must say that the Christmas and New Year Holiday seems a very dim and distant memory already! I thought that you might enjoy looking at the wonderful Christmas gifts that my friend Carol made for me. Imagine my delight when I pulled this beautiful box out of the gift bag............

Unfortunately the photos are not in the order that I wanted here, so here you see the entire gift set in all it's glory - such a pleasure to behold and the smell coming from the little pillows was just gorgeous - cinnamon and spices........

Here are the little pillows before I opened them up - isn't that tissue paper just delightful - I LOVE crows..... :-)

Here is a close up of one of the pillows

And here they are all are, in all their glory - such a wonderful gift; I am very lucky!

I am hoping to get back to blogging more regularly in 2010 as I really do miss reading your comments and I find that displaying my progress here keeps me motivated to stitch more too. I will be back shortly to upload the photos of the gift that I made for Carol....... Thanks for visiting!

Love Jackie x

From me to thee

2009-10-14T20:12:00.003+01:00

Hello one and all..... where does the time go? Since I last posted we have been to Lochcarron in Scotland for our annual holiday. A lovely time was had by all and whilst we were away it was Carol's birthday. Sophie and Matt organised a cocktail party in honour of the day and here are photos of the gift that I stitched for Carol this year. The design is 'From me to thee' by Blackbird Designs.

Thanks for visiting!

A birth sampler

2009-08-11T22:05:00.004+01:00

Thanks for all your comments, I have really enjoyed reading them! This is what I have been stitching on since the weekend. It is 'Borage and Bramble' from the Bramble Hearth leaflet by Shepherds Bush.

It will be a birth sampler for my friend's grandson. I stitched the 'Blue Berry Button' sampler from the same leaflet for his older brother, so I am hoping they will like this one too!

Here is my total progress so far; as you can see, I am not stitching it exactly as the pattern. Once again, the colours in the photo are not showing well. This is stitched on a light sand linen (soft buttery/sandy yellow) and the DMC colours are 778,315, 316, 524, 520, 932, 931 and 823. As always, all photos are clickable if you want to see larger versions.

Bloom where you are planted

2009-08-08T18:44:00.002+01:00

I can hardly believe that I have another little finish to show! This one is 'bloom where you are planted' by Birds of a Feather. It is stitched on Belfast light-sand linen, although you can't tell that from these photos I have worked out how to get clear photos with this camera, but decent colour really eludes me! I had most of the required variegated threads and subbed just a couple with DMC.........

This is quite a colourful piece but nowhere near as brash as it looks in these photos

Here is the overall finished result.......... This was a straightforward, pleasurable stitch and I can recommend the piece, it is very pretty.

I have had a very pleasurable day so far, in spite of being temporarily extremely deaf. I am already completely deaf in one ear and the hearing in my other ear (the one previously known as my 'good' ear by all who know me) has decreased suddenly this week. My GPs surgery advised me to put ear drops in to clear the ear canal and now I have done that I can barely hear anything....well, maybe it has to get worse before getting better and who knows, I may get a little more stitching done if I am not distracted by the sound of the TV this evening? I have been looking through my Shepherds Bush stash today and have realised how many SB pieces I want to start at once LOL. So many lovely things to stitch and so little time.

Many thanks to all of you that take the time to visit me and especially to those who leave comments. I do love to read them all!

Good old Carol......

2009-08-06T17:06:00.002+01:00

Just L@@K what my friend Carol turned up with on Sunday - yum, yum..... fairy cakes!!

They looked so pretty and tasted as good as they looked

.....and, by sheer fluke she had made just the right number to fill up my cup cake holder. Doesn't it look pretty? What a pal and needless to say they have all gone! The family descended when I texted them a copy of the next photo :-)

Thanks so much for my 'cheer up' gift, Carol - you are the best!

Thanks so much to everybody that has commented on my last post, I really do appreciate all your kind words. I did some more stitching last night and so should finishBOAF 'Bloom where you are planted' tonight. I hope to have some photos to show shortly.....

Princess Pamela......

2009-08-05T17:56:00.002+01:00

This post is a very sad one for me as I am writing it to mark the loss of my little dog Pamela who died last Saturday..........

We have had her for 10 years as she was already 2 when we got her. We inherited an extremely timid but loveable little dog who blossomed into an affectionate and fun companion. It is certainly true that she believed that she was in fact a princess and not a dog at all and eventually she managed to bring us all around to this idea...... :-)

Here she is with Maisie who is our lab/collie cross

We will miss you Pamela; we will even miss your extraordinarily imperious ways......... :-)

As always, thanks for visiting.....

BBD finish

2009-08-04T19:18:00.003+01:00

This piece is finished and I am very pleased with it. I used the suggested DMCs and gingham fabric.

I decided to use the same fabric and threads and make a little pincushion. I have wanted to stitch this up ever since I bought the book. It is almost done.....

Thank you for visiting....... :-)

BBD 'A flock of birds'

2009-07-27T22:11:00.003+01:00

This piece is from the booklet 'My heart is true' by Blackbird Designs and Nicoletta Farrauto. I am using the suggested DMC threads and gingham fabric. So far it has been a very easy stitch and is looking good! I might even have it finished before the weekend if I am lucky!

Thanks for visiting.....I hope to see you again soon!

Siren of the sea.....

2009-07-11T09:55:00.002+01:00

My on-line stitching group had a summer exchange recently and just l@@k at the lovely gifts which Danya sent to me! Isn't the mermaid just exquisite?

She also sent a beaded bookmark.......it may be difficult to see in the photo but the flamingo has little 3d wings sticking out from his body - too cute!

Here is a close-up of the mermaid for you to enjoy - all photos are clickable if you want to see larger images. Thank you so much, Danya!

Until next time - have a good weekend, thank you for visiting!

In the Forest by La D Da

2009-05-04T16:15:00.002+01:00

Hurrah, another long-term UFO bites the dust! I finished this piece last week and have since dropped it off at the framers; I can collect it in a couple of weeks!

I couldn't get the linen which was called for so I substituted the fabric and used the NPI silks suggested on the pattern It is very cute!

Thanks to all who left comments about Marys birthday party. Helen, we had the party at Blackbrook House near Belper.

Marys birthday party

2009-04-26T20:17:00.003+01:00

I have had the loveliest day today at Marys birthday party! The venue was delightful, the food delicious and the company extremely enjoyable! What more can you ask for? First up is a photo of me and the birthday girl chatting, which is our natural state..... :-)

Here is the table, all laid and waiting for us all...........

Here is the venue, which is just delightful and with such friendly, helpful staff too!

Such a pretty view inside the front door; the house just welcomes you in......

.......And, because this is a stitching blog, after all .......last, but not least, here is a photo of the pot lid that I stitched for Mary. I used 'Watercolour Heart' from Shepherds Bush.

Framing photos

2009-04-25T08:53:00.002+01:00

"Thank you" to everybody that left a comment about Carol's beautiful box. I love to read your comments and it makes me feel less self-conscious about sitting here rambling away to myself! LOL

Here are the promised photos of the pieces that I recently collected from the framers. This week I finished La D Da's 'In the Forest' (hurrah!) and I will try and take some photos of that piece later today. Our weather is grey and overcast at the moment, so I am not sure how well the pictures will turn out. I have a million things to do today, most of them fall into the category of 'chores' but the bright spot of the day will be stitching a little something to fit in a pot-lid for Sophies mother-in law, Mary. Mary has a special birthday soon and has graciously invited us to her birthday celebration tomorrow...... (Sophie is my youngest daughter). I have a few ideas, so watch this space...... As we all know, pot lids are very small, so I shouldn't have a problem in starting and finishing this today .

I hope you enjoy the photos, which are clickable, as always..... Enjoy your weekend everybody, I also hope that you manage to get some stitching time in!

Carols box.....

2009-04-12T16:52:00.003+01:00

Here, at last, are the photos of the beautiful box which Carol made for my birthday - I just love it! The design is by Blackbird Designs and is one of my favourites!

I am sure that you will agree that Carol has made a fabulous job of the finishing, as well as the stitching.......

She even lined all the inside of the box too - isn't it pretty? I am very lucky, I know :-)

I hope that you are all having a wonderful Easter weekend. Yesterday we went to Crosby to see the art exhibition on the beach. It is called 'Another place' and is by artist Anthony Gormley. If you are not familiar with this exhibition you can find out about it here . When we arrived the tide was in, which meant that the figures started to appear as the tide turned. It was very interesting!

Today I went to the picture Framers to collect 'My Son', have been taking photographs and doing a little stitching on La D Da's 'In the Forest' which I am determined to finish before starting anything else. Watch this space for more photos shortly.......

Somebody cue Stevie Wonder..... :-)

2009-04-06T17:37:00.003+01:00

...... Happy birthday, to me.... hap-py birthday......... :-) It was my birthday on Friday and I have had a lovely birthday weekend with lots of visitors and presents and even special birthday rock cakes with candles made by my dad who also came to stay....... aren't my presents pretty too?

I will be back soon with a photo of the box with a stitched lid that Carol made for me; it is just gorgeous!

Thank you all for visiting and a big thank you to all those that leave me messages, I love to read them all!

2009-04-01T18:35:00.002+01:00

Hello one and all, I want to start this post by thanking each and every one of you that left me a comment about 'My Son', I really appreciate it! The general concensus was that I should just go ahead and get it framed and that is exactly what I have done! I will post a photo as soon as it comes back from the framers!

In the meantime, I have made this little book for my dad and he seems very pleased with it. Iused some mottled hand-dyed yellow linen and a Gloriana varigated silk to stitch it. I also used a hand made paper to line the book and the design is from 'For the Birds' by Drawn Thread. Very many thanks to Loreta for her wonderful instructions for making these little notebooks. Her blog is an absolute joy to look at and I recommend it very highly to you if you are not already a regular visitor!

Here are some photos for you to enjoy..... :-)

It has only been seven years in the making.......

2009-03-08T22:38:00.003Z

........... and I finally thought it was done! I have spent about ten hours working on this today, stitching and unpicking and going boss-eyed with all that backstitch. I was fairly pleased with the result, even though the bottom section is not quite what I originally planned to stitch.... I am not very keen on the look of hardanger and the original chart has a lot of hardanger, stitched in the variegated purple thread, hence we opted for green backstitch at the bottom to echo the top of the piece.

I spoke to my friend and stitching buddy Carol this morning to check what I had graphed out for us both to use back in 2002 when we started this piece (and Carol finished hers - yay Carol! :-) ). It turned out that I had already stitched past the point where we had planned to modify it......

So, nothing daunted (much, anyway!), I re-planned and stitched and ripped and tutted a bit.... Finally, ten hours later I was so very happy with the result until I discovered that I have stitched the bottom backstitch in a different green floss to the backstitch at the top!!!!!!! AAAARGH!

To be honest, I could weep now....... I really don't think I will ever restitch it if I rip it out, so I will wait until tomorrow morning when I can see it in daylight and decide what to do next. At the moment I am telling myself that it is okay for it to be two different greens - after all, both greens are in the pattern, but the perfectionist in me is whispering that it will look ridiculous and everybody will notice. The top green is brighter and the bottom is more of a bottle green. I need to see it in daylight, so only time will tell - I would rather have it finished and framed in all it's two-green lovliness than flung in a cupboard forever because I don't want to restitch it...... Carol would restitch it without a seconds hesitation, but she is much more disciplined than me :-). Oh well, tomorrow is another day I suppose...... I hope you enjoy the pictures! The photos are clickable, as always.

My Son - the photos

2009-02-27T22:06:00.003Z

Here are the photos of my progress on 'My Son', as promised. I really don't have much more to do now, so I should have a finish to share with you before next weekend, I hope! Here is the last progress picture I posted back in September 2008. This piece should really not have taken as long as it has - if I got it out and actually stitched on it more frequently it would have been finished long ago! Never mind, I have enjoyed stitching on it and the Indigo Rose patterns are just wonderful to work with, they are very clear.

Thank you, once agin, to all those who leave comments for me; I love to read them all! Katrina - yes, the framer cut the mount for Little Witch freehand; I am very pleased with it. Brigitte - I plan to have Ghosties and Ghoulies framed just as soon as I can get around to stringing the piece onto a board.

Tomorrow we are on the early train to London to meet up with my daughter and son in law (who actually live in Manchester). The menfolk love single malt whisky and are going to the 'whisky live' exhibition and we girls plan to do a little light shopping and maybe nip into the British Museum for old times sake. We used to visit all the time when the children were little and we lived near London, but I don't think we have been for fifteen years or more now...... I am really looking forward to it! I hope that you all enjoy your weekend too!

'My Son' - The progress continues........

2009-02-23T20:05:00.003Z

......but slowly, oh so slowly! I decided to try a finish something from my UFO pile before starting anything else. I have made some progress on 'My Son' from Indigo Rose this week, but I haven't got a photo to show you - I will try and remedy that very soon. I promise! I have enjoyed stitching on this piece, but I really need to pay attention when I do. I think I could have it finished over the next few weeks if I put my mind to it. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

As I have no recent photo of My Son to share here is a photo of my framed 'Little Witch' by Shepherds Bush. This was the very first piece that I photographed to show on my blog, so it took a while to get it finished and framed...........

Hearts for Valentine's day

2009-02-14T22:47:00.002Z

Woohoo - another finish! This tiny piece has been in WIP/UFO pile for a couple of years or more. I have worked on for two or three evenings and it is finished! It is called 'Heart Blooms' and is by Shepherds Bush. It is very pretty and is the usual soft SB colour palette using the silks from the kit. I have just realised that I have sewn the charm onto the wrong heart, so that will have to be sorted out tomorrow...........

The variegated thread is Thread Gatherer 'Pistachio Nut'

Very many thanks to all those that have visited my blog recently and a HUGE thank you to those of you who take the time to actually comment - I love to hear from all of you!

Hubble bubble, toil and trouble....

2009-02-09T23:16:00.003Z

I think Ghosties and Ghoulies is complete - what do you think? Can you think of anything I forgot to add if you can see a place for it?

I have had such a good time with this piece. For the most part I have followed the pattern, but I have added a few things here and there..... the pumpkin and ghost under the tree and a few extra bats........ now I just have to get it framed before October!

A day off

2009-02-06T09:08:00.003Z

We had lots of snow yesterday and so I decided to book today off from work in case the roads were bad again today. Needless to say the roads are fine this morning, but I now have the pleasure of a whole day to please myself! I intend to take full advantage and catch up with my blogging and do plenty of stitching! Here are some photos of my Christmas present from Carol - isn't it just gorgeous? It hangs in pride of place in my kitchen now. Details of the pattern can be found here. The pattern is called 'Peace and Plenty' and is by Leannes House. I hope to be back again shortly with some more photos. Have a good day!

Ghosties and Ghoulies

2009-02-04T23:07:00.002Z

Here are the photos as promised. I am really enjoying stitching this piece, the house is such fun. The colours are pretty accurate as I took the photos using my daylight lamp to illuminate the stitching. Hope you like it too....... all photos are clickable if you want to get up close and personal with them.... :-)

A snowy evening

2009-02-02T23:08:00.003Z

Good evening one and all from a very snowy England - we even have snow where I live today! I still haven't managed to get any sort of list of ongoing projects worked out, never mind a rotation to get some of those projects finished. Instead I decided to start yet another project last week. I am stitching 'Ghosties and Ghoulies' by Brightneedle. This was offered as an over one class some time back. I have decided to stitch it over two and frame the piece because it will sit forever untouched if I have to stitch it over one! :-)
Sorry to say that due to the poor light here I haven't taken any photos as yet, but I will try and remedy that before too long........... In the absence of a photo of my own here is a photo taken in London today. The story that accompanies it is here

A trip to the framers

2009-01-25T18:37:00.007Z

I am feeling much poorer this weekend after Carol collected my framing for me. I really must not leave it so long between visits next time! I cleared a few pieces out from the drawer in the bedroom, took them to be framed and you can see the results for yourself............ I am really pleased with all of them!

The first finish of 2009

2009-01-12T10:36:00.008Z

Well, Here it is - my first finish of 2009. My dad was here for Christmas and we sat up to watch the New Year fireworks in London. Dad went to bed shortly afterwards and I stayed up until I finished this piece. It was officially finished at 1.30am on Ist January 2009 - my first ever New Years Day finish. It is the top of a bigger sampler from Little House Needleworks, called 'Winter Whites'.

Playing catch-up

2009-01-12T10:06:00.005Z

I always start the new year with lots of plans for getting better organised and achieving more stitching and this year was no different. I went through the entire process in my head and then, sadly, failed to follow through so far..... In an effort to start to tie up some of the loose (stitching) ends from 2008, here is a photo of the completed mail art which I stitched for Carol's birthday back in September 2008.

I have plans to list my finishes for 2008, current UFOs and plans for stitching during this upcoming year shortly, but we shouldn't get too excited as most of this years UFO's were also last years UFO's. Still I finished a few other pieces over the year, so all is not lost! :-)

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T18:32:00.007Z

Here is a photo of the birthday exchange which I sent to my friend Ebeth, back in September 2008. The pattern is a freebie from Indigo Rose and the strawberry uses the same design as the pin keep.

Happy New Year one and all. I hope to be back again over the next few days and one of my new years resolutions will be to blog more regularly............ I hope that you are all having fun celebrating as we are waiting on the verge of 2009. See you soon!

love Jackie x

Happy Birthday Carol!

2008-09-16T20:12:00.005+01:00

Today is my friend, Carol's, birthday and here are a couple of close ups of the motifs I put on a mail-art envelope for her. Carol and I are going to Dartmoor for a couple of days on Thursday but I hope to post photos of the completed mailart when I get back.

That spooky time of year........

2008-09-04T19:28:00.004+01:00

Well folks, it will soon that spookiest time of year again and this last week I have been in the mood to stitch this Halloween piece by Blackbird Designs. I must admit that I love all the patterns in this leaflet and plan to stitch them all eventually. Isn't he just the smartest fellow with his pumpkin? :-) Thanks for visiting and remember that all pictures are clickable if you want to see them in all their enormous glory!

Jackie x

Coming along nicely.......

2008-09-04T18:52:00.004+01:00

This piece is coming along nicely. I have filled in all the gaps and it is looking good - such a pretty piece! :=) I have not got a lot of stitching done in the last couple of months, mostly because I have had my new flower beds and all those pots to look after each evening. That said, we have had a lot of rain in the last couple of days, so I have picked up my needle again. I have put the finishing touches on my friend Carols birthday gift and I have also started and finished Trix or Treat by Blackbird Designs. Pictures to follow shortly!

Thank you very much!

2008-08-04T06:35:00.002+01:00

I have had not one, but TWO lovely surprises this week! I have been given the Kreativ blogger award by Katrina and Terri. Thank you very much indeed, ladies - I really appreciate it and I am smiling from ear to ear now! :-D

Here are the rules of the award:1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.3. Nominate 5 blogs.4. Put links to the blogs.5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Nominating people is the really tricky bit, isn't it? I read lots of blogs and it is hard to choose just five... so many of the blogs that I visit regularly already have this award. Here goes..... these ladies do such beautiful stitching and have lots of lovely photos for me to drool over. This list could have been much longer, but here are just five of the splendid blogs I visit regularly. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

1. Margie

2. Coni

3.Aprilblue

4. Nataliejo

5. Su

I am off to put the first coat of paint on my sewing room walls now - wish me luck! :-)

No stitching for me.......

2008-08-03T22:46:00.002+01:00

I don't quite know where my stitching mojo has gone recently. - I haven't picked up a needle in weeks. Maybe it is because it is Summer and I have been devoting more time to my garden recently....... In the interim I have decided to revamp my stitching room. It has a rather neglected 'junk room' air recently, so today I decided to haul lots of stuff out and get ready to give it a coat of paint. We have dismantled a desk today and I will replace that with a book case and chair. I am hoping that it will become a more welcoming place to browse my stash and get around to some stitching again. I'll try and get some photos as I go along.

I hate to post without photos so, due to the complete lack of stitching photos, I have included two garden photos. The first one is of my 'secret' hosta garden under the acer on our patio. I am really pleased with how it is looking and the second (pink) garden is a fabulous show garden that we saw at the recent RHS flower show at Tatton. I think it is so pretty and I would love a garden like this - so girly! Unfortunately, I didn't take down any details about this garden, but if anybody can help I will be very happy to credit the photo with the designers name and so on.

More on my UFOs

2008-06-20T10:23:00.004+01:00

Ok, here I am again :-) I have been looking around to see how many projects I have waiting to be completed..... For me, it is not too bad, although I have a massive list of new projects which are calling me in a very alluring way! LOL

My list of WIPs is as follows (in no particular order):

My Son by Indigo Rose
In the Forest by La D Da
Nantucket Sampler by Drawn Thread
A Heart Sampler by Shepherds Bush - can't remember the name, but I know which one I mean, LOL
Toy Gatherer by Shepherds Bush
Game Board Sampler by Drawn Thread - not a single stitch in this for a year or so :-(
Beekeepers Cottage by Shepherds Bush

Hmm, looking at this list, I think this needs a rotation - any suggestions anybody? ;-)

I also received a lovely parcel of stash from Drema at Needlcarft Corner this week, which includes one large piece of fabric (30ct Irish Cream) and the threads to stitch the new Loose Threads mystery sampler. I just love it!

Carol and I also have plans to stitch the BBD Sarah Tobias needlecase just as soon as we finish DT Nantucket..... oh dear, temptation is so strong - there are just not enough stitching hours in one lifetime are there?

I am off to try and get a little stitching done on MY Son now...... wish me luck!

Thanks for visiting.........

Jackie xx

My long term UFOs

2008-06-20T09:47:00.003+01:00

Recently, much to my delight, I seem to have been making some inroads into my many and varied long-term WIP/UFOs......... With very few exceptions these WIPS do not become UFOs because I no longer love them, rather that I get distracted by a new project. I would rather like to become more disciplined so that this doesn't happen so often..... wish me luck! :-)

So, to start we have 'In the Forest' by La D Da. When I pulled this piece out of the drawer a couple of days ago I realised that I had not put one stitch in this in around a year!! Such a shame because I love it; I love the design and the thread (NPI silk), although I must admit that, because we had to swap the linen out, I am not as keen on my version (colourwise) as the original. Still, what can you do? I don't *hate* the colours but they don't pop quite as well on the fabric I am using but I do really like the colour of linen - a sort of dark grey green . It's just that I might have subbed a few of the NPI if I had any way of seeing them in real life......... Anyway, I hope that you agree that she is one *gorgeous* little rabbit and I hope to have her handsome friend stitched up before too long too!

The first photo is how she looked the day before yesterday and the second photo was taken this morning.

Then we come to SB Toy Gatherer. Goodness, I just love this piece and just need to get the backstitch (ugh) on the vine done and then I could just skip along with it. My favourite part of this piece is the moon and the rooftops, they just look so magical.......

Last photo, but by no means least, is of My Son by Indigo Rose. This is another piece that has not been picked up in well over a year. Part of the problem with this is that I have skipped around all over the place with it - the top backstitch is not finished and this continues all the way down the sampler. When I looked at it this morning I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of work left to do...... However, I really do love it and want to finish it. I am going to take my inspiration from Terri at http://zoomcity.wordpress.com/ who has recently finished IR Desiderata by stitching on it every Monday for around a year. She gave me the most fabulous pep talk recently which made me think that I really could finish some of these big projects and that I could even start and finish Desiderata myself one day. Her work is superb, go and have a look at her Desiderata. She has posted lovely close up photos of each band as she completed them. Tell her that I sent you!! LOL

So, if anybody else out there is stitching My Son or you just feel that you could offer me some encouragement to get going (and keep going) on it, I would love to hear from you!!

A few small finishes

2008-06-18T14:27:00.002+01:00

AYs necessities - this got buried in my sewing room and is finally finished - hurrah - now I just have to decide how to finish it!

This is a little BBD pincushion, from an old Loose Feathers pattern - isn't it sweet? More finishing to do on this one...... oh dear, I hate finishing!! LOL

This is a Lizzie Kate pattern which I stitched using some of the threads left over from my recent SB etui finish. I got this idea after seeing the version that Su had stitched a while back at Contemplating my Needle and Thread - I hope she doesn't mind! I like these colours, although it was still a little brighter than I thought it would be.

A long-standing UFO is finished!

2008-06-18T13:56:00.002+01:00

Hurrah, I have finished Garland Fair this morning! This project has been a WIP for far too long, I'm afraid. I absolutlely love it now that it is done and have mostly enjoyed working on it - I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't miscounted quite so often and if the thread had behaved better - I seemed to spend far too much time unknotting the thread........ grrr! The weather here today is dull and rainy and, consequently, the colours have not come out as well as I would have liked, but it is stitched on the recommended linen (a lovely green) with WDW Maple Syrup (also recommended). I hope you like it!

Jackie x

2008-06-16T11:45:00.006+01:00

Why does Claire deserve this cup of tea so much?

Well, read on to find out........ ;-)

She is largely responsible for the Magical transformation from this.......

.........to this.......

......resulting in this.......

2008 was the summer that I had planned to try and get on top of the end border in the garden but, due to me having an operation, it seemed as though it might not happen...... until our oldest daughter, Claire, stepped up to the plate :-)

Claire is a very keen gardener and wanted to transform my garden almost as much as I did and what a magnificent job she has done. With some one-handed help from me, the garden now looks just as I had hoped...what a star!! :-) Thankyou Claire!!

2008-06-16T10:48:00.002+01:00

Here, at long last, are the little pieces in their finished state! I am pleased with them -I hope you like them! This week I have been stitching on a small Lizzie Kate piece, called 'Bless Our Home'. I'll take a photograph and post it later.........

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Jackie x

2008-05-19T15:14:00.002+01:00

The final photos for today are an urn of flowers (can't remember the name of the chart offhand) by Ewe and Eye and Friends and Daisy Cottage from Little House Needleworks. I subscribed to all the cottages in the cottage Garden series last year, but this is the first one which I have stitched up. I decided to leave off the border and the wording. I think this may also become a little pinkeep........... The LHN design uses all Crescent Colour thread, which is very nice to use.

2008-05-19T15:08:00.002+01:00

These designs are also by Indigo Rose and are freebies. I just love the hearts design and these two will become miniature strawberris to use as scissor fobs. I've used this design quite a few times and never get tired of stitching it (so far, at least, LOL). The ladybirds design will probably become a pin keep. The backstitch on this is done with WDW 'Ladybug'.

2008-05-19T14:58:00.002+01:00

Thank you very much to all those who took the time to leave a comment about the SB etui, I really appreciate it! Thanks also to all those, on the boards that I frequent, who told me that they liked it. I have been looking in my stitching basket and realised that I had several small pieces which were either finished or almost finished. I am in the mood to 'clear the decks' a bit, so here are a few of the things which I am hoping to have made up by the end of this week. I hope you like them!

The first lot of photos are of Marys Pin Pillow by Indigo Rose. The colours on this are just gorgeous, particularly the overdyed silk which is called 'rainforest'............

2008-05-16T13:13:00.002+01:00

There we are then - lots of photos of the finished etui. I took loads of photos but these show everything there is to see, I think. The colours in the photos are pretty true to life and all photos are clickable if you want to see larger images - I'd love to hear what you think...... :-)

Jackie x

2008-05-16T13:07:00.000+01:00

2008-05-16T12:56:00.002+01:00

My friend Carol and I have finished the Shepherds Bush etuis and here are a selction of photos of the work 'in progress'. Blogger does not seem to be showing the photos in the order that I uploaded them, but not to worry........ All motifs for this etui were taken from a Shepherds Bush leaflet called 'Wandering Vine'. Here is the SB website, (in the unlikely event that you don't already know them): www.shepherdsbush.net/

The design was stitched on flax linen, using recommended DMC thread. We lined the etuis with silk in an eau de nil colour and used gloriana silk ribbon in Bluegrass. I think that covers everything. I will be back with more photos of the finished item shortly. We are thrilled with the end result and we hope you like them too!

2008-05-06T13:32:00.002+01:00

Spring has well and truly arrived in our little corner of England this week and my apple trees look so pretty when they are in blossom. It has been a Bank Holiday weekend here and my husband and I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon at a Tudor National Trust Property, sitting in the sunshine watching the Staffordshire Morris Men dancing to celebrate the height of Spring - it was a very "English" afternoon! :-)

Jackie x

2008-05-06T13:28:00.000+01:00

Here is a little detail from the same piece..........

2008-05-06T13:14:00.002+01:00

Hello All,

I have been off from work for a few weeks now following a minor op and so have little bits of stitching to show for my time. I can stitch a bit, but the wound gets sore if I try and stitch for very long - how frustrating! LOL Carol and I stitched these two pieces back in 2007 but it has taken all this time to get around to the finishing. In the end, the finishing was very easy as the instructions that came with the kit were just wonderful! The piece is alphabet needlcase by Hillside Samplings.

2008-03-25T18:13:00.002Z

Although I haven't managed to put a single stitch into TG in the past few weeks, here is an updated photo of him. I hate doing the backstitch on the arch at the top, but there is not much more of that to go and I just adore this design.....

2008-03-25T17:59:00.002Z

Here are two blocks from Shepherds Bush 'Wandering Vine'. They are the very beginnings of an etui that Carol and I are stitching and making together (one each). Watch this space for further developments!

Thank you all for visiting, I hope you like the photos - remember that they are all clickable if you want to see a larger version. Talk to you soon. love, Jackie x

2008-03-25T17:54:00.002Z

Here is the little pillow that I stitched for Carol as we decided to have a little stitching exchange for Spring. I chose a freebie design from Catherine in France. There are little 'over one' stitches for the water coming out of the can - I only used part of the design, but it is very pretty. I also bought a few bits for Carol, but I forgot to take photos of them, sorry!

2008-03-25T17:51:00.002Z

Just LOOK at all the lovely goodies Carol brought for us when she came to visit on Sunday - aren't they wonderful? :-)

2008-03-25T17:39:00.002Z

I hope that you had an enjoyable Easter weekend and that those of you who, like me, like to stitch found some time to do so! Here are photos of this years Easter/Spring tree, using branches from the apple tree in my garden and the decorations on my little mantlepiece - I hope you emjoy them..............

2008-02-19T18:06:00.002Z

BRRRRR! :-)

Today started very misty and with everything covered in frost and it hasn't warmed up one bit since! The drive to work was just so pretty though because my drive is through the countryside. The trees and fields look ethereal when they are covered in frost and the colours are pretty monochrome - very atmospheric! :-)

Thank you for all the comments about my Toy Gatherer and the tins - I really appreciate them!

Jackie x

2008-02-18T20:59:00.002Z

More Toy Gatherer

Here is the latest image of Toy Gatherer. As you can see I still have to do quite a lot of dreaded-backstitching on the top of the arch... :-(

On the plus side most of the arch is done and the outline of the moon is back in. I am really enjoying stitching on this piece!

Thanks to all of you for visiting and thank you very much for your comments - I love to hear from you all!

Jackie x

2008-02-18T20:23:00.005Z

Toy Gatherer

This was my SB Toy Gatherer at the beginning of the year. It has been in this sorry state (hardly started) for a very long time and I have decided that I really would like to finish it this year. I have been stitching on it for a few weeks now and also had to unpick the moon, because I discovered that I should have stitched the moon using only one thread and I had used two......... The photo on the right is TG on 3rd February this year - he is coming along, isn't he?

For some reason, Blogger has moved the photos around whilst actually posting them.... the most recent photo is now at the top (minus the moon)......

2008-02-18T20:15:00.002Z

Carol and I have spent this past weekend decorating a Marks and Spencers mint tin each - we hope you like them! I have decorated these little tins before, but it was Carols first time..... I think she found it a little fiddly, but she forgot all about that once the tin was finished! :-)

We think that we will start work on an etui using designs from Wandering Vine by Shepherds Bush and then we plan to move onto Nantucket Pouch by The Drawn Thread. It may be some time but I will post photos of our progress! :-) Thanks for visiting!

Jackie xx

2008-02-03T16:44:00.000Z

Look what I started this morning........ it is Marys Pin Pillow by Indigo Rose. Threads and fabric are as given on the pattern. The overdyed silk is 'Rainforest' (Caron Waterlilies). I'm off to stitch a bit more as I am hoping to finish it this evening. I may be being a little over-optimistic as there is an over-one alphabet to finish yet :-/

2008-01-20T22:08:00.000Z

Here is another view of the strawberries so that you can see the wool-felt leaves. We also added some little crystals on the top for extra decoration.

2008-01-20T22:05:00.000Z

Strawberries anybody? :-)

My friend, Carol, and I have spent a couple of days chatting and making these little beauties. Carols is a sort of teal blue silk (Vikki Clayton I think) and mine is stitched with NN 101 (blue) which I happened to have in my stash. I hope you like them!

2008-01-13T18:05:00.000Z

Here are a couple of close ups of the same tin - I hope you like them! Remember that, as always, these photos are clickable if you like (as I do, on others peoples' blogs, lol) to see them better............. This is part of a slightly larger design by LHN.

Thank you to all those of you that visit my blog - please leave a comment, if you have the time, as I love to read them all!

2008-01-13T18:00:00.000Z

As previously promised, here are some photos of the tin that I decorated for my friend Carol. I bought the tins at a shop called Muji and, as you can see, they contain tiny candles in round tins and little incense cones. I thought they would make excellents gifts once decorated............

2008-01-05T21:42:00.000Z

Here is another photo of the etui....... I will be back in a day or two with photos of the gift I stitched for Carol. Unfortunately I cannot share it yet as she has not seen it. I didn't manage to finish it in time to give her on Boxing Day....shame on me! :-(

2008-01-05T21:34:00.000Z

I thought you would enjoy seeing photos of this gorgeous etui, which my friend Carol gave me for Xmas. The design is Drawn Thread..... The colours are just gorgeous and I love the fabric that Carol has used, it has little houses on and the silk and ribbon are divine. I'll post a couple more photos in a while, if blogger allows. In the meantime, enjoy....... (I know that I will ;-) )

2008-01-02T22:14:00.000Z

Two more (completely unseasonal) photos from this years folder. I made three different quaker fobs, using this NN variegated thread and I just love my Easter tree- it's so pretty! They have forcast snow for the UK tomorrow, brr, and these pictures are a good reminder of the brighter days of Spring!

2008-01-02T21:56:00.000Z

Please spare a thought for Caleb (the black and white spaniel in the photo) tonight, as his sister Maisie (black dog in same photo) seems to have shared her tummy bug with him! Yuk!! Poor old Caleb is feeling a bit sorry for himself just now :-(

Thanks for visiting, talk to you soon!

Jackie x

2008-01-02T21:53:00.001Z

I have also worked a little on BBD Garland Fair, but all my other UFOs remain untouched in 2007.

I also started Shepherds Bush Victorian Sampler, Indigo Rose ladybird freebie, La D Da in the forest and SB Beekeepers Cottage......

So, on 2 January 2008 I currently have 14 UFO/WIPs, having started 2007 with only 12 - boo! See, I told you it was depressing! :-)

I have completed 12 stitched items this year - hurrah! :-) Admittedly 10 of them were for gifts or exchanges, but I loved stitching them all and seeing the finished results!

I think 2008 has to be the year that I stitch more for myself, don't you? :-)

2008-01-02T21:28:00.000Z

Happy New Year to one and all, I hope that 2008 is a good year for stitching and blogging!

I have spent this evening looking through some of my stash and looking at my stitching achievements over 2007.....depressingly, I started 2007 with 12 WIP/UFOs and have only finished two of them..... on the plus side, these two are very nice pieces and are Alphabet needlecase and LHN Morning berries . Ah, it looks as though I have no photo of the completed alphabet needlcase. so I shall have to take some!

2007-12-30T11:19:00.000Z

Here is the other fireplace, which I have added to since this photo was taken, I'll upload another image later....

I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas break. I would be enjoying mine a whole lot more if we did not all have a cold - feeling somewhat grotty today!

2007-12-30T11:13:00.000Z

Here is the hall....the mirror is very pretty - shame I am in the photo! :-) I'll try and take another one later.

2007-12-30T11:08:00.000Z

Here is the dresser (next to the fireplace) in the living room....

2007-12-30T11:03:00.000Z

Merry Christmas one and all.....

I hope you all had a fabulous time! Thanks for your Xmas wishes Helen, I really appreciate them! I thought you might enjoy a few photos of how I have decorated the house this year; here is the fireplace in the living room.......

2007-10-23T14:11:00.001+01:00

I received the most wonderful package from Cathy for the Autumn exchange. Isn't the stitched pillow just gorgeous? Thanks Cathy! :-)

2007-10-23T14:08:00.000+01:00

Halloween is on it's way and I have decorated my fireplace accordingly...........

2007-10-23T14:06:00.000+01:00

Here is the inside of the tin............

2007-10-23T14:04:00.001+01:00

Here is a photo of the tin and fob..........

2007-10-23T13:59:00.000+01:00

Danya has received her Autumn exchange package so that means that I can share the photos with you. I used a little mint tin from Marks and Spencers (I think it is the same size as the American altoid tins) and used a little Shepherds Bush witch for the top. I also stitched an SB pumpkin for the wee fob. I am pleased that Danya likes it! How about you? :-)

2007-10-03T19:43:00.000+01:00

I posted a little Autumn exchange gift today and I'll post pictures here as soon as my partner receives the parcel. Remember that all my photos are clickable if you want to see them in all their (huge) glory..... :-)

That's all for now; thank you for visiting!

2007-10-03T19:42:00.001+01:00

and another.......

2007-10-03T19:39:00.000+01:00

Hmm, that's a bit annoying >:-/ I don't know what happened with those photos, they were not merged when I hit the 'post' button. I'll post a couple more single photos now......

2007-10-03T19:29:00.000+01:00

Do you remember that I was stitching on Shepherds Bush 'Wish' back in July? I made it into a pyramid for my friend Sue, in New Zealand and she has received her parcel today. This, of course, means that I can now share the photos with you. I hope you enjoy them. I also included a little bag and brooch from a company called Hume Sweet Hume, who are based on Westray in the Orkney Isles. You will find their webpage here: http://www.humesweethume.com/

2007-09-30T23:45:00.000+01:00

Here is a closer photo of the inside of the pyramid.......

2007-09-30T23:41:00.000+01:00

Here is a photo of the outside of the pyramid that I made for Carol. I hope you like it!

2007-09-27T18:50:00.000+01:00

That's it for this evening. I hope to be back soon with a couple more pictures of gift stitching once it all arrives at it's destination. Thank you for visiting! :-)

2007-09-27T18:43:00.001+01:00

Carol and I both love bears and so when I saw this fabric I knew I had to have it! The whole gift developed once I bought this fabric....... This is the back of the pin keep and I lined the outside of the pyramid with this fabric. It's great, isn't it?

2007-09-27T18:35:00.000+01:00

It was my friend, Carol's, birthday recently and I stitched a selection of goodies. I used gloriana silk and ribbon in 'Topiary' and all the motifs are from Long Dog 'Paradigm Lost' and 'Do Bears'. The pyramid was a real pleasure to make and I found the instructions here:

http://mesfabricationscarto.over-blog.com/

2007-07-27T20:01:00.000+01:00

Here is the latest picture of my La D Da rabbit from 'In the Forest' - she's looking good! :-)

2007-07-27T19:53:00.000+01:00

Here is a close up of Beatrix.....Carol stitched it on 36ct linen, I believe...........

2007-07-27T19:50:00.000+01:00

Here is my friend Carols' version of Beatrix Potter. Isn't it beautiful? Carol chose a DMC coloyr that she liked and then the lady at Mulberry silks provided an exact colour match in silk.......... very pretty!

2007-07-27T19:45:00.000+01:00

At last, Blogger is letting me upload my images. This is a little 'Indigo Rose' freebie. I have used the recommended DMCs for the ladybird and the central backstitch is done with Weeks Dye Works 'Ladybug'.

2007-07-27T19:27:00.000+01:00

I had planned to upload several photos of my recent works in progress this evening, but blogger does not seem to want to upload my photos after all. Here is my progress on Shepherds Bush 'wish'. The fabric is a very pretty hand dyed mottled pink..............

2007-06-17T18:00:00.000+01:00

After a good couple of months waiting, I finally got the supplies to start In the Forest by La D Da. My supplier was waiting, to no avail, for the 18th century blackbird fabric specified in the pattern and we finally gave up and she chose R&R three stitches sagebrush as a substitute to go with the listed NPI silks. I am really pleased with the combination, even though my photographs have not captured the linen colour well - it is a darkish grey-green. This is as far as I have got this weekend............

2007-06-17T17:39:00.000+01:00

What have I been stitching on whilst I have not been blogging? Well several things, but none of them seem to have come on very fast apart from this one, which is by Little House Needleworks. I have stitched this as a present for somebody, so I will have to save the finishing photos until they have recived the gift.......... anyway, here it is..........

2007-06-17T09:06:00.000+01:00

Happy Fathers Day, Dad! I hope you have a wonderful day, full of pleasurable things! Sorry I can't be with you today, but the bungalow at the bottom of my road is still for sale............... we have hardly changed a bit from these photos, have we Dad? :-)

For those of you who have never met my dad (that would be almost everybody of course), he is the best dad in the world, as I am sure you can tell from these photos!

Love you lots, Dad! :-) xx

2007-04-16T23:10:00.000+01:00

more party pics.........