I'm just a butterfly

The title says it all really.  At the moment I don't seem to be able to settle to any one design so this update is photo heavy as there is a little progress on a few different things.  Before I get on to stitching, if you leave a comment can you mention whether the word verification thing is on?  I am sure I turned it off but just want to check.  I find that I am leaving less and less comments for people as I just cannot be bothered to fight with putting the random words in 2 or 3 times before I get it right.  If I used to comment on your blog but haven't lately this is probably why...but don't worry, I'm still reading!

Ok...on to stitching news...first up is Lizzie Kate's flip it series.  This is January and is either the 2003 or 2004 designs.  I have done a few of the outlines for the blocks but this one is the only one with actual stitching in it.

I have also worked on Papillon Creations Around the World.  I am only on part 2 and I am finding it really tricky.  I have lost the ability to count and read stitch instructions.  On the top tulip the big purple diamond should be all white with the middle in purple and the yellow heart in the bottom one should be white with a yellow middle.  I am trying to decide whether to pull it out or leave it.  It is a three layer stitch and it I take it out I am worried that the fabric may be distorted beyond use and also I really like the effect in real life.  On the other hand though will the colours be too bold to suit the piece further down the line?  I think I may leave it for now and see how the rest of the design pans out.  I can always change it if it starts to annoy me.  Part 2 isn't finished yet so I may pull it back out tomorrow to work on and yet done.  Hopefully part 3 will be easier!  (I am doing the cut version btw).

A happy dance!!!  I have finished Abi Gurden's The Great Escape.  I am really pleased with how it turned out and how most of my specialty stitches look considering most of them I haven't done before.  The colours have worked well I think.  I particularly like the little moths which have a string of beads for the body.  In real life they don't look crooked like they do in the photo.

I then picked up Abi Gurden's latest SAL which is Confetti of Hardanger.  There are already 2 parts out and some of the ladies who have posted their progress have picked amazing colours.  As you know I am a rubbish photographer and the fabric I am working on is nothing like the picture.  It is actually lavender with DMC perle 211 and 554.  The fabric is pretty much DMC 211 itself and looks gorgeous.  This is my progress after part 1.  I had a terrible job with the counting - apparently counting is beyond me at the moment - and have unpicked nearly as much as I stitched!

Another project I have worked on this week is CCN's A Place We Call Home.  I am really hoping that I have enough Cidermill Brown to complete the words.  I think I have but if I need to unpick it, I may not.  I do have another one but it is not a perfect match.  The fabric is really nice to work with and it is nothing special, just a piece of DMC evenweave in ivory.  This was another design that I lost the ability to count on.  The base of the house is 11 stitches and I only stitched 10.  I unpicked the pointed bit of the roof several times before I discovered it was actually the bottom that was wrong and that I had missed out a row.  

Here is where I am up to with Cinderella.  I love stitching on this one and the colours are so pretty.  I know I have to put it down though or I will get bored and never go back to it.  As it isn't for me, that would NOT be good!  In this picture the colours aren't far off being true.

During the week I pulled my sewing machine out and managed to make this.  It's a Q Snap cover in case you're wondering.  I found the instructions HERE which were clear and easy to follow. I only used a cheap piece of fabric that I had in my stash and had to adapt the design a bit as the fabric wasn't long enough.  I am pleased with how it turned out overall and will definitely make some more.  Whilst the machine was out I also took the opportunity to run a hem round all the fabric for my WIP's/UFO's so they won't fray.  I used to ALWAYS do it by hand years ago then switched to masking tape and then finally just didn't bother at all.  Now they all look neat and tidy and it was good practice at sewing in a straight line on something that didn't matter to much if it had a little wobble in it.

And to finish off with I have included a few pictures from the garden.  This is one of my favourite roses which has lost it's tag so I can't tell you what it is called.  It has the most wonderful scent as well as looking very pretty.  Then we have 2 of our gladioli followed by possibly my all time favourite plant, a fuchsia.  It tends to swap between fuchsia's and sweet peas as to which are my favourites!  I have quite a collection of fuchsia's although my best one died about 3 years ago and I have never been able to find a replacement.  It was a small bush type with salmon middle and cream outside called Anita.

Anyone who has made it to the bottom of this mega long post deserves a medal.  Congratulations and please leave a comment to let me know!

playing catchup

Thank you for so many comments sympathising with the loss of my RR.  It is annoying and I believe what goes around comes around.

As far as Honeysuckle Courtyard goes, I will play around with the suggestions people gave and see which looks good.  Don't be surprised to see some mock ups and a poll here!  Now you know why I am NOT a designer...lol.

So on to progress with stitching.  First up is Horse Racing which is a John Clayton design.  It now has approximately 1200 stitches of DMC471 with a lot more still to go.  Once that is done though I will be nearly a third of the way through the design I think and at least whilst it is like this there is quick progress.  The fabric is a Silkweaver but I can't remember which one.  It is a really old one so the fabric is lovely to stitch on unlike their newer fabrics.

I decided that as I had managed to finish a few things recently, that it was time for a new start.  Rachael saw this stitched on a blog as I was reading one day and really liked it.  As it had been sat in my stash for around 7-8 years I decided to make a start last week when Colin took the children out for the day.  It is the first time in my life that I ever wished Henry VIII had been skinny!

I had originally started The Great Escape by Abi Gurden when it was first released but only got to part 3 before getting stuck on a particular stitch and putting it away.  When the Olympics were on I decided to have another read of the instruction and have a go.  Bizarrely I could do the stitch quite easily and then I have whizzed through the rest of it.  I just have some moths, stars and the moon to add to it but I am so pleased with how it is looking.

 

Now the reason I had to get The Great Escape finished is because Abi had released the first part of her new SAL.  It is called Confetti of Hardanger and is really pretty.  These are the threads I am thinking of using but the colours here aren't great.  The fabric is Lavender (not sure whose) and there are some DMC perles 211, 208 and 554.  The loose skein is Threadworx 81125.

I have also been working on Cinderella but haven't taken a photo yet of her.  The colours are gorgeous though and the fabric is wonderful to stitch on.  It is a Polstitches jobelan and is so soft and lovely to work with.

I am also working on part 2 of Around the World.  I had started that already but really hated the way my Mordvinian Star stitch looked.  I have redone it and am much more pleased with it.  Part 5 is already out so I had really better get a move on.

With the children being off school, we have been doing various things.  Yesterday we did some T shirt painting, which they really enjoyed despite the pens not working well.  I emailed sewandso about them and they refunded my money which I was really surprised about as I had ordered the pens over a month ago.  Fantastic customer service!  We have also been to Etherow Country Park for a walk round the lake and through the woods which was fun.  I took them bowling the other day and actually beat them in both games - without bumpers....woohooo!

Luke has been badgering me to play Donkey Kong on the Wii with him so I have played that a few times, or should I say that he has played and I have just lost all the lives.  Funny that, I've just realised that he hasn't asked me to join in the last few day...hmmmm....I wonder why that could be.

I think that's enough news for today....don't want to send you to sleep.  

By the way does anyone have any idea as to why my visitor counter is just showing a number 1 instead of an actual visitor from each country count?  It's been doing it for a week or more and I don't know why.  I have tried taking it off and putting it back again but it makes no difference.  It is starting to annoy me!!!

Stolen RR and a plea

I'm feeling pretty miffed today.  I have finally accepted that the woman who was stitching the last part of my RR has decided that she will keep it.....or should I say steal it?  I suppose I have been ever so lucky with RR's as it is the first one I have had go missing and I have done quite a few.  It seems to have been a rather jinxed RR anyway.  It was the third different RR group to work in it with the first 2 falling apart.  The designs were Margaret Sherry's Zodiac cats which were in old Cross Stitcher magazines so maybe one day I could pull them out and stitch them myself.   I suppose on the plus side at least it is one less WIP as there would still have been one design left to stitch when it came home.

Now I have a plea.  I have decided to do Honeysuckle Courtyard by Patricia Ann Designs for a 50th Wedding anniversary gift but I would like to personalise it for them.  Could anyone give me some advice on where I could put the wording and still have it all looking balanced.  What I want is one line with their names, one with 50th anniversary and another with the dates.  Would I put them as one block of writing or seperate lines throughout the design.  This is a picture of Honeysuckle Courtyard, I can't find a clearer one.

Is there a website anywhere where you can notify bad traders, exchanges or RR thieves?

July Theme-a-licious and 1st August WIPocalypse

First of all a big welcome to all my new followers and a big thank you to everyone who comments.  I do try to reply to comments via email but not everyone has an address provided.  So if I done't respond, hopefully it isn't just me being ignorant, it's because I can't.

Well.......I've had a bit of a finishing frenzy over the last week.  I thought I would get some of my WIP's ermm that would probably be UFO's if I'm truthful.

First up is a Country Companions design from DMC which I think is called It Never Rains...  This may well be my oldest UFO.  I started this in our old house and as we've been here for 10 years, that makes it pretty old!  Anyway IT IS DONE!

It Never Rains...   DMC
finished 23rd July 2012

Next is a Mouseloft penguin.  Now seriously, who could EVER leave a Mouseloft kit as a UFO?  It's no bigger than 2" square.  Honestly!  Anyway it is done and will probably be made into a tree ornie.

Mouseloft Penguin
finished 23rd July 2012

Another long standing UFO but not as bad as the Country Companions one.  This is a little blackwork owl from X-calibre designs.  This was the first one I bought to learn how to do blackwork.  I believe that if you do it properly the back looks like the back...a bit like hardanger I suppose.  I obviously didn't do it properly as the back looks nothing like the front.  Thankfully the front looks ok though!!

Blackwork Owl - X-calibre
finished 25th July 2012

And finally, well for finishes at least, is this little anniversary card.  The writing was red but I thought I would change it so I can use it for Colin's mum and dad's wedding anniversary, which is obviously their golden one...hehe.  Again it was one of those pieces that should NEVER have been a UFO as it just wasn't big enough.

Anniversary card
unknown designer

I then used the random generator to choose my next WIP to work on.  It landed on this one.  I spent a little bit of time working on it but it is 18ct aida which is definitely NOT my favourite fabric to work on.  I am going to leave it out and put 1 strand a day in it to keep it ticking over.

Garden Tools
Fleur de Lis

I have been working on She Sells Seashells as well and hope that will be my next finish.  Watching the Olympics at the same time is not a good idea.  I am doing nearly as much frogging as stitching.


Other news....

********I PASSED********

I got my Open University module exam result on Tuesday.  I got a Grade 2 pass.  As the OU had already admitted that one of the questions was 'unusually difficult' and were 'standardising' the results, I knew it wasn't my imagination that it was a hard exam.  Now I am trying to decide whether or not to continue my degree or not.  I worked really hard with studying and revising for my last module and felt that the exam didn't allow me to show my knowledge.  There were many students who put in a complaint about the exam so it's good that the OU listened and investigated but it left me really demoralised.

That's it for now...Happy Stitching!!

Scissor fob and Olympic football

Way, way back at the start of the year, I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from Bronny of Bronny's Bits.  A few days ago my beautiful scissor fob arrived.  I have to say it was DEFINITELY worth the wait!!  It is really cute.  Thank you SO much Bronny.  It also appears to have been on holiday on its way here as it has taken ages from the customs label date!  I wonder if they stuck it on a boat instead of a plane?  Without further ado here are some piccies of it.  (Not sure what Luke was doing with his cap - he doesn't normally wear it like that!)

Yesterday Colin and Luke went to Old Trafford to watch the Olympic football.  They saw Uruguay v United Arab Emirates and GB v Senegal.  They both thoroughly enjoyed it although it was gone 11pm when they got home so Luke had a very late night by his standards.  The first piccie is of Luke outside Old Trafford.  Then the only Uruguay fans they saw! Finally one of Luke after GB scored.  Luke thought the first game was a better game than the GB one sadly!

2 finishes and WIPocalypse update

Wow...not one but two finishes!!!

I was lucky enough to have the chance to stitch on Lynda's Travelling Pattern - Busy Needle.  I got it stitched up over the weekend and loved it.  Sassy Brass is the loveliest colour in the entire history of thread. I love it!  I have ordered a box from BoxyLady and I will attempt my first ever box finish...eek!

 After that was done, I wanted to work on a WIP/UFO.  I had a flick through my box.  Roots and Wings caught my eye.  A few hours later that too was complete, including the little buttons.  It's lovely, really bright and colourful.

Today we went to Bakewell and did a Treasure Hunt from here. We had a great time although it was actually a bit too hot.  There isn't really any treasure, you just walk round spotting certain things and crossing it off the map until you're left with just one place left which would be where the treasure is hidden.  Here are a couple of pictures of the kids with the clues they had solved.

Some of the clues were in around Bakewell Parish Church which was beautiful.  The church was open to look round.  Parts of it date back around 1000 years.  Inside there was a board that charted the history of the church and detailled when different bits were added to the church.  Even the children were interested!

Lunch was at a wonderful pub called The Peacock.  The portions were HUGE!  None of us could finish them.  Luke and I had a panini, Rachael had a chicken burger (with 3 pieces of chicken, 3!!!) and Colin had a piece of fish - from a great white shark judging by the size of it!  The places were massive but the fish still hung over the sides of it.

And finally...no visit to Bakewell is complete without a visit to Wye Needlecraft.  I was REALLY good and only bought 3 things.  One was High Hopes (Just Nan), Honeysuckle Courtyard (Patricia Ann) and Summer Garden (Country Cottage Needlework).  The Patricia Ann one is going to be for Colin's parents for their Golden wedding anniversary in a couple of years.

All my news - stitchy and non stitchy!

OK first off, a little warning!  Most of this page is a 'proud mum' post.  If you want to read the little cross stitch news scroll down.  There is a line of stars and cross stitch is below this.

On Wednesday and Thursday last week, Luke had his year 6 school production. This year it was The Lion King. Luke had the part of the shamen/magician/witch doctor character and was brilliant, a real superstar. I made his costume for him working off a picture of the musical. I would say it was one of the best shows that I have ever watched. I can't wait to get the DVD of it so that we can see it again.

Sadly we could only see the Wednesday showing of Luke's show as on Thursday  Rachael was participating in the high school Summer Concert. It was basically an opportunity to showcase the school musical talent. Rachael played 3 pieces on the recorder - solo! I was so proud of her as she was so nervous and you could see her hands shaking as she was playing but she still did it.

Luke had his football presentation last Friday and although he didn't win any of the major trophies they got a nice one for being part of the team. The coach gave each lad a lovely speech about their talents which was nice to hear. Rachael found the whole evening incredibly boring though but she got through it!

On Monday it was Rachael's turn for her school awards evening. The trophies are give out for achievement in each subject and for attitude to learning as well. Rachael won the RE trophy for attitude to learning and the MFL (modern foreign languages - or French as we knew it by when I was at school!) for achievement.

The final awards thing we had to go to was for Rachael's Girl's Brigade. There were only a few trophies and it was over with fairly quickly. Rachael won the Inspection Trophy this year, only dropping 2 inspection points over the whole year. She was not amused when I compared this to a racehorse winning the best turned out prize...I wonder why?

My gorgeous son on his last day at primary school. Look at the state of that shirt...I'll never get that permenant marker out...lol.  They were given a lovely year book each and a pen and pencil set by the school. I was quite surprised at how emotional it was for him, usually Luke is not one for getting overly emotional.

*****************************************************
Ok onto cross stitch news.

There is a reason that I have been so quiet. 3 weeks ago Luke asked me to stitch a present for his class teacher for leaving. I was less than impressed as I had asked him a while ago if he wanted me to stitch something and he had said no. The design we settled on was Sheena Rogers Football Crazy so I have had a frantic few weeks getting it stitched up. I finished stitching on Monday evening and then made it up into a little wall hanging. I am so impressed with myself as it is the first time I have used my sewing machine to make something up and it looked brilliant even if I do say so myself.

I have also received the Travelling Pattern and am just waiting for the threads to arrive to get it stitched. It should be a quick stitch I think looking at it.  It is a cute design and I am thinking of finishing it as a little needlebook.

I have also ordered the threads I will use for Abi Gurden's Confetti of Hardanger SAL - because I need something else to stitch...lol.  And of course I had to make it worth the while of doing the order!  I have chosen to do it on a lilac/lavender fabric with DMC 208, 210 and 211 perle threads.  I am really looking forward to starting on it.

I am currently working on part 2 of Around the World.  So far all I have done is the cross stitch outline so I won't bore you with a picture.  I really, really need to get a move on with this as part 4 was released recently. I am already getting nervous about the cutting, I know it will be fine but it's just the thought of it!

I think this post is more than long enough for now so if you have made it all the way to the bottom well done!  I am way behind on blog reading but as it is the last day of work for 6 weeks (yay!) I will be catching up on all the blogs I have missed.

Theme-a-licious update for June

Well this month I have stitched predominately on Helen and Kev's wedding sampler. It is finished but I am not going to post a picture until after they have received it. It's only fair that they get to see it before everyone else does!! I cannot possibly think of a story to tie this one into the theme so it will just have to be a 'fail'.

I also stitched on Luke's cushion - it has grass in it and some animals eat grass - that's my theory and I'm sticking to it!!

I finished part one of ATWi80S and have to say it looks absolutely awesome! Not a word I use often but it does!!

I managed to make a start on Cinderella which my aunt asked my mum to ask me if I would stitch it for my cousin! Nothing like going around the houses to get something done is there?

I have also made some progress on Two Little Love Birds (Love Thy Threads) which is coming on a treat. It is a lovely easy stitch and it is so nice to have a decent size chart to stitch from without first having to blow it up to work out what the symbols are.

On a non stitching front, the exam didn't go as well as I thought it had - well at least I don't think it has.  I have to wait until 3rd August to get my result.  I have lodged a complaint with the OU regarding the paper along with many other candidates.  32% of the mark came down to knowing 4 pages of the course materials.   I was revising a full lever arch file, 3 books, 2 DVD's and the UNCRC. Fingers crossed I have done better than I think...but I doubt it!

Bad blogger...that's me!

In fact at the moment I am a bad blogger, bad stitcher, bad everything.  My whole life at the moment revolves around cramming enough knowledge into my head so that I can pass my exam which is on Thursday.  YIKES! Colin took the kids to his parents so I have had child free time to study which has been good and it's rained the whole time here which is also good as I don't feel like I was missing out on doing something else.

I have done a little stitching this month but not a lot.  The camera battery is dead so I can't show any pictures until later on but I have finished off the licquorice allsorts design which is then going out as a RR. I have done a bit on Helen and Kev's wedding sampler.  This is going to be focused on once the exam is out of the way so that they do finally get it!  If you see me stitching on anything else, shout at me.

Around the World has 1 heart completely finished other than beads.  I will work on that too once the exam is out of the way but of course not until I have finished the wedding one.  I have also put a few stitches into Two Little Love Birds but not many!

My cousin has asked me if I will stitch a design for her.  Now why I didn't find out what design it was first before I said yes, I don't know.  So I have now got the fabric to stitch JE's Cinderella from Cross Stitch Gold.  I did warn her that I was not the quickest stitcher and not to expect it for a good while.

I think that is all the news on the stitching front.  Nothing much else to say unless you want to hear all about my revision...as I don't really, I'm sure you won't...lol.  I have been reading the odd blog between studying but I haven't left comments.  I do feel really bad about that, so please accept my apologies.  Normal service will be resumed very shortly.

And finally....welcome to my new followers, I'm really pleased you're here. x x

Theme-a-licious mid month update

Ha! Late again!  Nothing new there, is there?

I have been really good and worked exclusively on Helen and Kev's wedding sampler...apart from yesterday when I really wanted to work on Around the World in 80 stitches.  So I did!  The first heart is finished apart from the beads.  I have done the backstitch outline of the second heart but that is all.  I'm really annoyed because I have misplaced one of my Q Sanps.  I have my small one but can't find the other one anywhere...grrrr.

This is my pathetic attempt at some arty type shots.  Maybe I should read Colin's camera manual properly!

Apart from stitching there is very little news other than Rachael finally got her music exam result from 28th March.  She passed her Grade 1 with distinction.  WELL DONE RACHAEL :)