I'm sorry to post so many mini-posts today, but I thought it might be safer than trying to post too many photos and ending up with a real 'dogs dinner' like I did last time. I have no idea why that post looks like it does...... I have so much to learn about blogging, but where do I get the information I wonder? Thanks to all of you that have left comments, I really appreciate it! Also remember that if you double click on any of my photos you can see even bigger photos! :-)

As well as my surprise gift from Carol, I had an enormous box of goodies from Rachel for Valentines Day. Rachel knitted the scarf, beaded the fob, stitched the alphabet sampler *and* made the card....wow, four hand made gifts, she has really spoiled me!

What a lovely few days I have had. My good friend Carol stitched a heart ornament as a surprise valentine gift. I love it!

My friend Jenny has received her birthday parcel, so here are a couple of pictures of the needlecase I made for her. I stitched the freebie,'friendship lamb' by Shepherds Bush, using the recommended DMC's

I was busy making up my exchange gifts last week. I love the stitching but am not so keen on making things up. Once the gifts have reached their destination I will post pictures to share but, in the interim, here is a photo of yet another of my UFO's - Shepherds Bush 'Toy Gatherer'. This piece has been a UFO for years and yet I still love it; I particularly like the backstitched town, it looks so effective! Maybe I could get it finished this year?

We went to visit our youngest daughter in Manchester this weekend, so I did not get any stitching done for a few days, but I am hoping to have a progress picture of Blackbird Designs 'Garland Fair' next time I post.

I thought I had better post a picture of a completed project, so that you would not think that I never finish anything. This one is Cranberry Pinafore by Shepherds Bush, which I finished last year.I think that it is a very pretty piece and I hope you agree......

Thank you to everybody that has visited and left comments on this blog, I love to hear from everybody! I'm hoping to get a bit better at blogging over the next few months and work out how to "pretty up" my blog a bit. Many thanks to SusiMac for her pointers on how I might go about it!

Oh ! Now, why has this entry posted with all the photos jammed together at the top, instead of beside the text? How annoying, I have so much to learn about blogging!

I have had a lovely day with my friend Carol today. We visited two quilt shops and a cross stitch shop and had a wonderful lunch together. I had a list of threads that I wanted to buy today, mostly DMC and four Gentle Arts Sampler Threads. I managed to buy all the DMCs that I wanted but only two of the four GAST were available, grrrrr! Never mind, I have all the threads and the fabric to join the Drawn Thread Sampler Gameboard stitch along, so I will endeavour to get that put onto a frame this weekend. I also have two exchange pieces to put together this weekend and once they have been received I will be able to share photos with you! I have had a couple of parcels of stitching stash this week so, when you add those to the goodies I bought today, I think we can all agree that I have failed miserably at my 10, 25, 50 challenge! Oh well, not to worry.......... :-)

I have a couple of pictures to share of this weeks stitching progress and I love both pieces, I hope that you do too. Before I finish I would like to thank everybody who has visited this blog, but, most especially, those who have left comments. I have really enjoyed hearing from everyone and you have all been very kind! Thankyou very much indeed.........

I am really looking forward to having a record of my stitching thoughts, aims and achievements over the coming year. I have been looking at the 10,25, 50 challenge on the hasturtorres site and whilst I am not sure that I can agree not to buy more stash until I have finished a certain number of projects, it has spurred me to look at my stash and decide which items I would like to stitch from it first.

For the last week or so I have been stitching various exchange pieces, but I cannot share any of those photos with you until they have been received. However, here are a couple of photos to keep us all going. One is Merry Christmas by Carriage House Samplings, which I stitched for my good friend Carol and the other is of one of my UFOs. The UFO is 'My Son' by Indigo Rose. I love it but I made the mistake of putting it into a drawer a couple of years ago "just to keep it clean" and it hasn't seen the light of day since......

In spite of saying that I would be continuing to stitch the alphabet needle case I decided to stitch some more on another UFO, Garland Fair by Blackbird Designs. I spent three hours stitching the bird in the garland, only to discover that I had miscounted and placed it wrongly! I spent the next hour unpicking the stitching, which means that I have no photo to show you of that!

This week I received a couple of fabulous things from the Sampler Guild, including a little book about Ackworth School knitted pin balls. The photography and the colours in this little book are just wonderful. It is a pleasure to own even if I never get around to stitchi

This is the next UFO that I plan to work on. It is called Alphabet Needlecase by Hillside Samplings. I have worked on it a bit during the past few days and now need to chart the personalised text for it. I'll let you know how I get on.......