Christmas!

How long is it since I posted on here...? I've been doing little bits of stitching over the last couple of months, and I've just started stitching the Heirloom Christmas Sampler again...It had reached a standstill when I got to the first hardanger row, but I managed it the other day, and I am now on the next stitching row.

The kids are home for the holidays, and it seems rather crowded at the moment. I didn't realise I had got so used to the quiet! They both go back to Uni on the 9th January, when I'll have been back at work for a week.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas, and all the best for 2010!

Update

Well, stitching has stopped again - I'm back at work, and my eldest two children went off to University last weekend. This last month has been a bit fraught, but we've got there, and the kids seem happy in their new homes.

I'm trying to do at least an hour of stitching a week, but didn't manage any during this last week, due to workload and worry! I've decided on Monday night as my stitching night, as OH is out playing darts (?), so plenty of peace and quiet.

Hopefully I'll be able to post an update photo of at least one piece next week!

Update - Rotation on Hold

I've not stitched any items on the rotation this week - I have been stitching some items for my two children who are off to Uni in 3 weeks:



This is "Believe" from a book that I got from the library a couple of weeks ago - Bewitching Cross Stitch. I'm stitching it for my daughter Rachel, who needs to believe in herself a bit more...



The letter R from an Egyptian alphabet, put in a coaster - for Rachel, who is going to be studying Egyptology and Ancient History at Uni...




The letter S from a Celtic alphabet, put in a coaster - for Steven, who is going to study Computer Games Programming, but I couldn't find a suitable alphabet.

I've also been stitching my first HAED - QS Plum Gothic. I've been looking at some of the HAED designs for a while, but have finally bought one and started to stitch it. Progress picture next week...perhaps...(I'm back at work on Tuesday :o( )

Stitching and Life Report

I've not done a lot of stitching this week due to having to get some planning done for work, and also having Results day...My eldest two children are off to University in a couple of weeks...DD managed to get 3 C's in her A-Levels, and Swansea Uni confirmed her place, whilst DS already knew that his place at Stafford Uni was secure (he did a BTEC ND). It seems strange at the moment - I don't think it is hitting home yet that they are both leaving home...We have too much to do before then, so too busy to think about it.

Anyway, stitchingwise, I have done some work on Noelle and In the Arms of an Angel this week. Here are the pictures:


I feel progress on Noelle has been good - I've decided to do vertical rows rather than horizontal, as there is a bit more variety than doing the background first. The only problem is that there are that many different colours that my Pako organiser isn't big enough to fit them all on!



In the Arms of an Angel is growing nicely - I may start going upwards next time I'm working on this, so I get the 1-over-1 stitching done sooner. I've never done 1-over-1 on linen before, so I'm a bit apprehensive about it.





This is my eldest daughter's stitching (one of her WIPs). It is L&L's Angelica, and she has made great progress on this over the summer. She is going to take all her stitchy stuff to Uni with her - it may come as a shock to her when she has to pay for all the stash herself!

Progress Report

This week's stitching has been hampered by a chronic ear infection - I had 2 days where I didn't touch any of it. Here are the photo's of my progress:


L&L Song of Christmas: I've stitched Santa's arm - it was quite quick to stitch, with metallic braids and beads included. I've also finished the baby's robe (metallic braid and beads again) and the bell on Santa's hat.




VS Heirloom Christmas Sampler: I've completed a few rows and stopped when I got up to this row, as it involves cutting fabric threads...I'm a bit daunted by that, but will have a go later next week.

This next week is going to be a bit chaotic, as I must get some work done for my MA and for school, but it is also A-Level results day on Thursday, when we find out if my eldest daughter is going to University or not...We already know that my son is going, as he has had notification from Stafford Uni (he is going to do Computer Games Programming)...My youngest daughter is going into Year 11 (last compulsory school year) in September, so we will be fraught again next year waiting for the GCSE results for her...

Weekend Stitching

Well, I didn't spend as long as I'd hoped on Noelle over the weekend, due to having Hay Fever all day yesterday...Here is the progress picture:


Page 1 of 16 is finished (more than 3600 stitches), and I've done 220 stitches of page 2 so far. Time to change to the next piece in my rotation...

Have a good week.

Progress Report

I've done a lot of stitching this week...I didn't realise how much until I looked at these pictures:

VS Heirloom Christmas Sampler: Progress as of 7th August. I've finished the tree, and started on the presents underneath. I had to stop this one early, as I had to order some DMC Perle Cotton to continue with it...It arrived in the post this morning!


L&L In the Arms of an Angel: Progress as of 7th August. I love stitching this - there are some nice colours in there.










L&L Song of Christmas: Progress as of 7th August. I hated all the white (B5200) that I had to do - it never seems to sit right on the fabric...but I managed to do the hood. I think I manage to do it OK if I do a bit at a time, alternating with the reds. There are also about 3 or 4 different colours in his beard, so that took a while.





Mystic Stitch 'Noelle': I picked this up again last night. I've not worked on her for so long, and was sorting out my stitching boxes and found her. The first page is almost finished, so I'm working on her for the weekend before adding her to my rotation next week.

Baby Name Plate

Here is the baby name plate that I stitched for my friend's baby. I couldn't put the picture on here until now, as I hadn't given it to her and didn't want her to see it before it was presented to her.

The design is from 'The Bunny Alphabet' booklet from Leisure Arts, and it is stitched using DMC threads on 27ct Linda fabric. It was professionally framed.

Rotation Progress

This is my progress on 'Song of Christmas'. As you can see, not much has been done on this, due to working on the other two, but I have started with the Wisper thread in Santa's hat.


This is my progress on 'In the Arms of an Angel'. I love this design, and it is stitching up nicely. There are lots of areas using the same shade, which is nice. However, I did have to undo some of the green, as I had to use a new skein of thread which turned out to have a different shade than the one I had been using...a waste of about 2.5 hours!


This is my progress on Victoria Sampler's 'Heirloom Christmas Sampler'. It has a lot of backstitch to create the tree, and I've completed the garland using Kreinik braid. The pink 'flowers' were made using silk ribbon - awful thing to use. I don't particularly like my efforts with the flowers, but I'll wait until all the other ornaments are on the tree before deciding whether to have another go or not.

Rotation Change

I've decided to change one of the items in my current rotation. Mirabilia's Mermaid of the Pearls wasn't going well, as I think the fabric is a little neat on the width. From my calculations, it would only have about an inch spare on each side...That was putting me off stitching her, so I thought it would be better to change it for something else and then buy some Polstitches fabric to stitch her on.

My rotation currently consists of:

1. L&L Song of Christmas
2. Victoria Sampler Heirloom Christmas Sampler
3. L&L In The Arms of an Angel

I'll post pictures of progress on each soon...

Hooked on glass...

As part of my Blogging swap with Swap-Bot, I have been introduced to a fantastic glass craft blog: Lazy Daisy Glass

I wish I could do things like that...

Take a look!

Stitching completed during Summer Holidays

These are two of the items I've been working on during the current school Summer Holidays - A freebie Alphabet Heart design, and L&L Song of Christmas (after 15 hours). I've also started on Mirabilia's Mermaid of the Pearls, and I've completed a baby name design - I can't post the picture until the recipient has the framed design...

Away too long...!

I can't believe it is so long since I posted on here! Stitching has definitely taken a back seat to work and now my MA study.

Here are some things I've stitched recently: