Happy New Year

 Happy New Year

2021

I wish you all good health, happiness and creativity in 2021

xx

Slow Sunday stitching

 Its the last slow Sunday stitching link party for 2020.  Wow considering we've spent lots of time in lockdown this year the year seems to have galloped by!  I hope everyone had a nice Christmas - Im sure it was different from normal Christmases but I hope it was still enjoyable?

I have one finish this week - just in the nick of time!

It was Octobers Cotton and Twine subscription box and on Christmas Eve I received Decembers box.

I am now three projects behind and really should cancel my subscription but every time I receive one of these boxes I get such a thrill from opening it that I don't want to stop!  I won't start this one until I have completed the Linen and Thread stitch a long.  I'm still working on Decembers section, but there's no hurry, when it done it's done!

We had storm Bella hit the south of England over night with winds of 100 miles per hour off our bit of coast - and boy did it howl!  When we drove out to walk the dog in the forest I had to jump out of the car as soon as we left the drive way to clear the road of tree debris - nothing too big though.

But what a beautiful morning it was.

I am linking up to Kathy's blog and I shall carry on working on the above project.  In the mean time have a lovely day!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Christmas gifts finished

Goodness me where has December gone?  Here we are a few days away from Christmas Day.  So I thought I would share some of the gifts I have made this year. 

My niece is five now and every year I have made her a hand made tag to go on her Christmas present.  Here is this years.

My friends daughter gave birth to a little girl and I wanted to make something with her name on it, using the supplies I already had to hand.  Lyra's mum also loves sheep, so this little Dilly bag with the cross stitch panel that I adapted from a book I have seemed the perfect gift.  The instructions for the Dilly bag came from the Tilda Facebook page.

I've been working on these little bee cross stitches for a while now and wanted something I could easily post to my three best friends (I had to make one for me obviously!)  When I made them into little pillows I added some lavender too.

I am linking up to Kathy's blog for slow Sunday stitching and for the rest of the day I will be putting some more stitches in Decembers section of the Linen and Thread stitch a long.  Have a great day!

 

Well we finally managed to buy our christmas tree and decorate it!  Its a gorgeous plump tree and I love sitting in the evening with the lights on and all the other lights off and smelling that wonderful pine smell - you can't beat a real tree!  I've also made a start on my cards but there's still a way to go with them. But not this afternoon!  My plan is to start watching some of my Christmas films and maybe doing some more stitches on the little Christmas tree hoop.  I think I will watch a Cary Grant Christmas film - The Bishops Wife.  I will link up with Kathy's blog for some slow Sunday stitching before I settle down, so hop on over and take a look at what other people are working on at the moment.

I almost forgot to show the finished Lord a Leaping from the 12 Days of Christmas series from mmmcrafts.  It has taken me 2 years to complete the whole series and I've enjoyed making all of them except the (5) gold ring.  For some unknown reason it didn't go together as well as the others, although I did use a felt that was a mix of wool and acrylic instead of the 100% wool felt - don't know if that's the reason.  I must take a photo of all of them together!

And to finish up it was my step mum's 90th Birthday yesterday.  We did visit (she is part of our bubble) but it wasn't quite the celebration we had anticipated.  But I think she enjoyed herself!

Christmas tree

 Its been another really busy week but yesterday Faye and her husband moved out of our house and into there own house (yay) and then discovered the shower didn't work and promptly came home again today (only to use our shower!) So all is good they have gone again and the plumber is coming tomorrow to take a look!

Because its been full on getting the house ready I have done very little sewing.  I did manage to make three Christmas masks for the family and also put in a few more cross stitches on my little Christmas tree.  

Work in progress

 

Ive been working on my Lord a Leaping from the 12 days of Christmas series but yesterday when I went to draw the face features on to the wooden bead I found my laundry pen had dried up.  I tried various other felt tip pens / sharpie but they all bled, so that means he is on hold until the shops reopen next week and we come out of our national lockdown (yipee).

So yesterday afternoon I started another project (as you do!!) and this is what I will be working on today for slow Sunday stitching.  Hop on over and see what everyone is stitching at the moment!

I'll let you into a little secret, yesterday when I started this I miscounted and started the deer too low down and ended up unpicking him......rooky mistake and very annoying!! And what is even more silly is I never start at the top of a project I always (well nearly always) start in the middle. Oh well lesson learnt? 

Hats for the Homeless and sheep!

 I managed to knit another hat for the homeless.  They are really easy to make (despite there being an error in the pattern instructions - the rib section on the basic beanie hat).  Here is the link to the pattern as there are several hats, socks and mittens included.

I have also finished making the little cross stitch sheep for my friends granddaughter.  As we are still in lockdown I've decided to add it as a panel in a little dilly bag because I have all the necessary fabric to complete it.  Only problem is I can't get into my sewing room at the moment, let alone set up my sewing machine......it is full of boxes containing pram, car seat, carrycot and pushchair section for the pram.  Still its worth the sacrifice!

I am linking up to Kathy's blog for some slow Sunday stitching.  Hop on over and take a look.

xx

Hats for the homeless

Hats for the homeless 

Im not sure this is a good colour for a homeless person but the pattern asked for 100 grams of wool (even then I had to add in a different colour).  As it turned out I only needed 50g so I could have used a darker colour wool from my stash!  Still as my daughter pointed out if it helps keep the cold out I don't suppose they will mind what colour it is!

Cross stitch

 

Its been a rather stressful week (things going wrong in Faye's house), so I am rather looking forward to relaxing in front of the TV, watching a film and participating in some slow Sunday stitching! I have several choices to make.  I could finish my fourth bee (they are a Christmas present for my three best girlfriends), stitching my Lord a Leaping Christmas ornament or putting some more cross stitches in the little panel I started for a friends granddaughter?  Or failing that I could start the Christmas hanging that I received in last months subscription box!

So many choices.....just never enough time!  In the meantime have a lovely relaxing Sunday and hop over to Kathy's blog to see some more slow Sunday stitching projects!

Slow Sunday stitching

 

Another busy week has come and gone!  I was really determined to get Novembers portion of the Linen and Thread stitch a long finished so I could concentrate on finishing some Christmas present stitching.  It meant stitching in the evenings (I generally don't stitch then because despite having a good lamp I still find it a bit of a strain on the eyes) but I did manage to get it done.  Only one more month to go!  As you can see the area still to be filled next month is rather large!

I've also done a little bit of work on the Lord a Leaping.  I would have liked to carry on with him today but I need to soak the solvy from the felt and then it will take several hours to dry, so will have to be worked on next week.

I am linking up with Kathy for some Sunday stitching so do take a look at what other people are working on today.

On a final note it is Rupert the Bears 100th Birthday today! As a child I loved Ruperts adventures and always got a Christmas annual.  I may still have some of those annuals tucked away somewhere.  Maybe I should look them out because a rare old edition of the annual sold at auction for £20,000.  His stories are still published in the Daily Express and the artwork is still beautiful!  Rupert Bear is obviously an English bear and I wonder if he ever reached across the pond?

Cushion + stitch a long + Lord a Leaping!

 

Zara's cushion is completed and delivered to my step mum for when she next sees her neighbour.  Im pleased with how it turned out and Faye has asked for a quilt of the entire alphabet which comprises of at least two animals per letter and each letter has a capitol and a lower case - so this is going to be a big project!  With that in mind I bought some more bondaweb the other day and of course a little bit of fabric!

When I bought this fabric I had in mind to make my two best friends cushions for their new grandsons - Oliver and Edmund.  I have a lovely pattern from the same designer as the alphabet (Don't Look Now) but with cars, tow trucks, motorbikes etc.  But we will see which takes my fancy first.

I should however have time to get some projects finished in the next four weeks as England is going into 'Lockdown' again from Thursday.  Where I am in the south of England the virus is reasonable well controlled but it has been decided that with the strain on the NHS rising, we should all lockdown again.  It is unfortunate because we had hoped to get Faye into her house before Christmas but it will depend now on whether tradesmen will still be working, if the kitchen can be delivered and the carpets laid!  

Between painting skirting boards and walls I have had a chance to finish Octobers section of the Linen and Thread stitch a long.  (Of course November is now published too)

I'm not starting November yet I've decided to get the last part of the 12 Days of Christmas completed.

Felt colours and thread picked.  This will be my slow Sunday stitching today.  Hop over to Kathy's blog to take a look at what everyone is stitching today!

Stitch a long and Zara

 

It's been another exceptionally busy week but it feels as if some progress is being made on Faye's house and now lots of tradespeople have committed dates so it is all good. 

 I had a real desire to get into my workroom (despite the mess - its being used to store lots of paraphernalia, from baby gear to curtains etc) but I dusted off my table and got to work on a cushion for my step mums neighbours great grand-daughter. Last year I made two others for her sisters Lilly and Ava.  Zara is only about a month old but I really wanted to play with some fabric and sew - and can I say it felt really good! 

Last Sunday I cracked on and made some headway with the Linen and Thread stitch a long.  The stumbling point was the image in the top right hand corner.  I really didn't like the original design so after doing some Facebook searching (the Facebook page is dedicated to Linen and Thread) I saw someone else had come up with an alternative and I much prefer it and can now happily carry on and finish the next three images (one big design and two tiny ones)  So this is what I will be doing this afternoon - I've spent two hours painting at Faye's house this morning so I can sit and sew with a clear conscience!  I am linking up with Kathy for some lovely slow Sunday stitching 

Have a great week!

Linen and Thread stitch a long

Again another week has passed with very little crafting having taken place!  Consequently I was trying hard to find something to post about.  Here however is my progress on the Linen and Thread stitch a long - October.  This months section consists of five elements and if I can finish stitching the diamond in the middle at least I can say 1/5th of it is done!!!  But hopefully today I will get more completed. 

I am linking up to Kathy for some slow Sunday stitching.  Hop on over and take a look at what everyone else is stitching today.

Tilda Challenge

Its been a busy week, so again not much sewing or knitting has taken place. We did go away in our motorhome for a couple of days which was lovely and I did get some more of Faye's jumper done.  By rights this should go along swiftly now as all the cable pattern is complete - the back and arms are plain.  Although to be honest it won't be used this winter as she has expanded enormously this last month (she is six months pregnant today!)

I have been following a Tilda facebook page since one of the other sunday stitchers recommended it and in a moment of madness I signed up for a swap!  I must be mad as if I haven't got enough to do......still at the time it seemed like a great, fun idea!  So the swap has to be a little gift, hand made or bought (and doesn't have to be in Tilda fabric) using the initials TILDA.  So seems fairly straight forward I hear you say!  NO (well not for me anyway!!!) I'm in the process of making something for every letter except I (ideas gratefully received!)  This afternoon for  slow Sunday stitching I will sew these apple and pear stamps onto the calico bag - that's A sorted! I will then get on and finish L and T is already done and dusted.  I cheated with D and bought something.  When the challenge is completed I will show a picture of all the gifts before sending them to my swap partner who luckily lives in the UK

I am linking up to Kathy's BLOG for some lovely Slow Sunday stitching !

11 Ladies Dancing!

Here is number 11 from the 12 Days of Christmas felt ornaments finished!  And she is definitely my favourite although I'm told by my husband and daughter that I say that about every one I finish.

The attention to detail in the pattern instructions is so detailed that it's hard to go wrong to be honest.  But what I especially like about this one is her pipe cleaner bun - gorgeous!

Here they all are lined up and then a close up of the last four.  I have just sent away for another pack of solvy to complete the last person.  So watch this space for a Lord Leaping!

I am linking up to Kathy's BLOG for some slow Sunday stitching (I've had a bit of technical support from Faye so I'm hoping that at long last the link to Kathy's might work this week).  My plan is to start the October section of the Linen and Thread stitch a long this afternoon and maybe watch a film.  Have a lovely day!

 

 

Slow Sunday stitching

 It feels like I've had a slow week with very little to show.  I did however make myself two face masks - one for autumn and another one for Christmas, plus a third one for my son in law in grey to wear in class.

 I also received Septembers subscription box from the Historical Sampler Company.  It is the fourth one I've had, although two of them were given as birthday gifts.  There is something nice about the postman knocking at the door with a parcel! They present the box so beautifully, wrapped in tissue paper that it is a delight to receive!

I have also been working on the 11th Christmas ornament from mmmcrafts.  I've definitely been a bit slow in doing this one - maybe because I really don't want this series to end!  I will however be starting to assemble her this afternoon for slow Sunday stitching. 

Hop on over to Kathy's blog to see what everyone else is stitching today!

Happy Sunday.