New starts and Christmas in July

First of all, how on earth am I suppose to stitch with Smudge taking over my lap?  Honestly cat!  There are other places to sit!  Of course, he is only bothering with me as Colin and the children are away.  Usually he prefers a male lap but will slum it on Rachael if Colin or Luke are not 'available'.  No doubt when they all come back later, he will leave me in peace again!

Smudge is in the doghouse at the moment. I have had the back door open so the cats can just wander in and out at will and he came in, jumped up on my lap which contained my cross stitch and had wet paws. Thankfully a quick wipe with a damp paper towel removed the mark...but still!

So, onto my new starts.  I thought as Colin and the kids are away this week that I would treat myself to a new start and see how much I could get done before they come back.  I chose Bothy Threads Haberdasher's which I had the chart of rather than the kit (hate the fabric, hate the threads but apart from that the kits are fine!)  I found a piece of 28ct jobelan, what else? and away I went.  Don't ask me why I decided to start at the bottom but I did and I have found it made for speedy stitching!  This is progress so far.  The bottom left page is completed bar the backstitch.  The big lilac column is the start of the left middle page. 211 is one of my favourite DMC colours so I am really enjoying this page.

My second new start is the one that Colin bought me to celebrate the conclusion of my degree.  Paris holds a special place in our hearts as it is where we went for our honeymoon (16 years ago next month...yikes!) so I had a look for a Paris chart that I liked.  I was rather taken with Thea Gouverneur's design but wasn't sure about getting a kit and ending up with threads I didn't like as it just says 'stranded cotton' and not what brand they are.  Then I found this one from Artecy which we both liked. I ordered it as a printed chart which cost under £10 including postage from Australia!  What a bargain!!  I  received the chart in around a week, again fantastic coming from Australia. I have never seen an Artecy chart before but it is great.  Nice clear symbols which are large enough for me to see clearly without constantly picking up the chart or squinting at it.

Anyway, this is my progress from last night and an hour or so this morning.  I'm giving gridding a go to see if it will help me, but the jury is still out on it at the moment.  It won't surprise you to know that I am stitching it on 28ct white jobelan will it?

Donna emailed to say that she received her Christmas in July exchange from me (luckily just in July!)  So here is a quick photo of what I sent her.

And a close up of the 3 stitched pieces that I sent her too.  I have never used ric rac as a trim and was reasonably pleased with how it turned out.  It's not perfect but isn't too bad for a first attempt.  Oh, and the fabric was dyed by me too, using coffee.  The designs are Plum Street Sampler's 'Christmas is coming'.

Shock! Horror!

Sit yourself down. Put down that cup. Don't bite that biscuit. 

What on Earth you may be asking. ..

Well, I have a finish!!!!!

I have just put the last stitch in Mary's Sampler.

Turtle Trot - February update (edited to add photos of Cinders)

Turtle Trot time again.  It comes round so fast.

This month I have worked mainly on Cinderella just because I want to get her finished and sent off to her new home as soon as possible so that I don't feel guilty every time I work on something else.  Here is where she is at the moment.  I have started adding the Kreinik and backstitching as I go, the thought of having to do it all at the end is just too much.  I will do the beading at the end however.

I have tried to catch the sparkly dress in the next two photos but it hasn't really worked too well.  Hopefully you will get the idea!

I did a tiny bit on Positive Thinking too - but not a lot!  Progress is progress though, however small :)

I even pulled out my Cut Thru Stable, but the progress on that wasn't even worth the effort of a photo. Approximately 15 pale pink stitches before I gave up and put it away.

Mary's Sampler got a little attention and I made a start on the border.  I got bored of that too though so not much progress.  Still if I did a little each month, it would be finished for Christmas this year!  I have changed the red of the flower in the border as the one I had was a little too strong and I felt it would overpower the actual design.  At one point I wasn't going to do the border but I felt that it needed something to 'finish it off' 

Mary's Sampler - part 5

I would love to say that I am up to date but sadly I still have part 6 to stitch.  Here is progress so far...

Also Colin told me to treat myself last night.  I have been toying with this one for months and months after watching Debbie and Linda SAL together.  Finally I capitulated and bought it.  Thanks ladies ;)

Drac in the Box and Mary's Sampler

First up is Mary's Sampler with part 4 stitched.  Part 5 is downloaded and ready to be done some time this week.  So here is the whole thing so far...

Plum Street Samplers -Mary's Sampler SAL

..and a close up of part 4 too.

Plum Street Sampler - Mary's Sampler
Part 4 close up

 Some more progress has been made on my Drac in the Box.  I am trying very hard to ignore the fact that Jo (Serendipitous Stitching) has already finished hers and that it looks amazing!  I have worked on the body today and will take a photo tonight to show you.  That then leaves the 2 lid pieces, skull, bottom, rest of the arms and the top panel to do - oh and the small matter of making up!  I don't think there is much chance of it being done in time for this Halloween!

Acorn House Designs - Drac in the Box

Acorn House Designs - Drac in the Box

Mary's Sampler - part 3

Well after printing off part 3 yesterday, I thought I might as well get part 3 stitched up.  It was super speedy and only took me about and hour or so, even at my super slow speed :)

Plum Street Samplers - Mary's Sampler (part 3)

The fabric colour is better on this one but the brown is bit more orangey looking and the smokey grey is lighter. I love those little sheep, they are SO cute!

Positive thinking and Mary's Sampler

This is where I am up to with Mary's Sampler so far.  The fabric looks absolutely NOTHING like this AT ALL.  In fact I think if I had used a colour filter, I couldn't make it look less like the real thing than this does. It is actually a Silkweaver Solo 28ct Cashel Linen.  Linen...I'm using linen...woohoo.  Trouble is I hate the feel of the fabric and the 'unevenness' of it and the way it stretches when you hold it.  As it is only a small design, I will plough on with it.  I am also printing off Mary's Sampler II for a later date.

I have also been stitching on the Positive Thinking SAL (part 2) and this is where I am up to with it.  Again, the fabric is nothing like this.  It has been a really gloomy day here in Manchester and we still had the lounge light on at 10am this morning!

Other than these 2, there has been a little progress on Cinderella, but not enough to make it worth taking off the Q Snaps and taking a photo of it.