Monday, January 30, 2017

Oh my!!!

I felt that this week hadn't been as productive a stitchy week as I had hoped for....until I looked at the progress picture from last week, which looked like this....


and then I looked at today's picture...


 ....wow....quite a bit done...


 ...certainly more progress than I had thought!


What a great feeling!

Hope you're having a great stitchy week.

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, January 23, 2017

Max and more!


So last week I decided that I would be very disciplined and I would finish the back stitching on the second Max panel before I did any stitching on the new lighthouse design. And since I was really keen to get on with the lighthouse design I was actually quite good and kinda stuck to my resolution.....


 ...all the black back stitching....


 ...and all the dark grey back stitching done.........but.......



...if you look closely, well not even closely, you will notice that in my haste to get onto stitching the lighthouse design, I have forgotten to stitch Max's whiskers!

So, my good intentions didn't quite work!

The lighthouse design is progressing well.....


...not as much progress as last week as more of the bottom part of the design is made up of full cross stitches. I wish I could escape into this scene  - that would cheer me up no end....I love the beach and summertime :)

What did cheer me up this week was a lovely parcel in the mail from Rahenna. I was the lucky winner of her giveaway.....


...the gorgeous design  Etude aux Fraise by Veronique Enginger.  This is a truly scrumptious design and you can see Rahenna's stitching of it here

Not only was this chart in the envelope, but Rahenna very kindly added some more charts...


....my 'to-stitch' list just got bigger! Thank you Rahenna for your generosity.....I can't wait to get started on these! 

First order of business today is a trip to the craft store to stock up on some threads and fabric so that I can start on those strawberries (after I have given Max some whiskers, of course!!!)

Until next time...happy stitching!
Rhona



Monday, January 16, 2017

Something old and something new!

Sooo...the tea sampler is finished, now do I complete one of my UFO's or do I start something new? Mmmm....decisions, decisions.

What if I do both......no guilt  and satisfaction....what could be better! Teehee.

So here's my (start!) of completing the UFO's. Here's the before picture of good old Max the cat....


....just waiting on the back stitching to complete him. And here 's how he looks now...


The top panel of Max (there's three altogether) is back stitched and looking good.


And as for the satisfaction of a new start? Well this little design was added to my on-line cart while Christmas shopping......no idea how that happened..... I blame Santa's elves for getting the order mixed up :)


It's another lighthouse design.....you know how I love anything to do with the beach and lighthouses! This one is stitching up extremely quickly. The sky is made up of only half stitches so I feel like I accomplished so much in just one week. The bottom part of the design has mostly full cross stitches so won't be completed quite so quickly. My plan is to do another panel of Max before I do any more of the lighthouse design.....and since I really want to work on the lighthouse, Max will be done! 


And here's a fun crochet project my daughter and I did for Christmas gifts for two Viking lovers in our family....


The pattern for the helmets can be found here. We found that the hats were a bit too large so we adapted the pattern a bit so that they fit better. They were fun to make and I have to say they were a HUGE hit on Christmas eve....well worth the effort.

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona


Monday, January 9, 2017

Ta-da!!!

So....the tea sampler is finally finished! All the back stitch border.....which wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be.... was, in fact, quite therapeutic! (I think that's the first time I have ever said that about back stitching!!!) 

So here's each block...









 


...and if you're counting, you'll realize that there's one missing! I didn't take a picture of the finished purple cup 'Rooibos'....oops!(That was the one that I unpicked and changed the colours) 

And here it is in all its glory...





Doesn't it look wonderful!? I'm really pleased with how this turned out....it looks even better than it does on the picture on the kit.

So here's the details and my thoughts of the kit as I know several readers were looking for the kit.


The kit is by Design Works . 
Number JAS-047 #2596
Design by Krista Hamrick
Finished size 12' x 15" stitched on 14 count aida.

Pros.

- Large black and white chart.
- Clear instructions.
- Nice bright vibrant colours.
- DMC numbers were listed ( but didn't quite match, but helped when trying to figure out what thread was what colour...see cons)

Cons.

- I thought the fabric was a little too short...I prefer the fabric to be 2 or 3 inches larger than the design (For large designs like this, smaller ones  don't need quite so much!)
- Threads did not come pre-sorted. Trying to figure out which was gold, brown and rust etc was a bit tricky.
- I ran out of black thread....luckily black is one that you don't have to match, so it wasn't really a problem!
- the picture on the front of the kit looks like a computer generated simulation....a picture of the finished stitching would have been so much better....might also improve sales?!!!



Anyway...I loved stitching this piece and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. Now I just have to get it framed and give it to my Dad!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona



Thursday, January 5, 2017

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year....and may 2017 be the year of your dreams!

I have to say a huge thank you (and also apologize) to the wonderful, and very talented Helen Philipps who had an amazing giveaway on her blog which I won! If you have never checked out Helen's blog, you really are missing a treat.....just click here to be transported to crafting paradise! 

I have been a fan of Helen's work for such a long time and have a couple of her books.....and now, I'm proud to say, I now have something created by her own fair hands!

Here is what she sent me.....


....of course it was all wrapped up in tissue paper and bubble wrap :)


A beautiful Cath Kidstone mug.....

 ...and Holly the rabbit...


 ....which none of the pictures can do her any justice....she's adorable!


There were also some chocolate  and candy cane goodies which didn't last long enough for me to take some pictures....can't think why!!!!

The reason I have to apologize to Helen, is that I took longer to post about her beautiful prize than I had intended. The weather here has been dull and overcast with lots of snow and I just couldn't get good pictures of her gifts....it didn't help that I have come down with the sniffles....first cold of 2017....what a great start to the new year! Anyway, Helen always has the most amazing photographs on her blog, so if you want to see Holly the rabbit looking prettier than my pictures make her, click here.

So Holly is keeping me company while I work on some new designs...


...and the mug is perfect for using one of my Christmas presents from my daughter....


 ..... cute and practical tea infuser .....yes, it's a mana-tea! :)


I truly seem to have an obsession with tea cups. mugs....and, of course, tea themed cross stitch.....


...the last block is completed!  But you'll have to wait till next week to see the whole sampler! I'm such a tease....heehee.

So once again a big thank you to Helen, for her generosity....and all her wonderful carfting inspiration that she shares with us. Please do go and check out her blog....trust me, you'll not be disappointed!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona