Helloooo!

Yoo-hoo! Anyone still there? It's me....I'm finally back. 

What was supposed to be a two week break over the hectic Christmas period turned into a longer than intended break. Turned out I really needed some 'me time'. So now I'm back a raring to go :)

So what have I been working on since Christmas.....well it turns out to be quite a bit. I'll start with the cardinal cross stitching that you last saw like this.....

I decided to really push on with it as it was fast becoming one of those pieces that's relegated to the bottom of the stitching basket and ends up as being yet another UFO. Here's what it looks like now..

You'll have to excuse the poor quality pictures, but it's a rainy miserable day here and I couldn't get enough light to take pictures with my camera so the cell phone came to my rescue!

This has been put to the side (and not to the bottom of the sewing basket!) to work on some other projects that had/have firm deadlines.  Stepping out of my comfort zone I decided to make a couple of rag quilts for some newborn babies. The great thing about making quilts for babies is that since they are for babies they don't have to be too big and are therefore much more do-able for a newbie quilter like me. After searching on Pinterest I decided to do a rag quilt....great for anyone new to sewing and not sure about their skills with a sewing machine. The first one I made was for my friends daughter....and I totally forgot to take a picture of it! That's what happens when you're out of the habit of blogging! The second one I made is for my daughter's friend....this one I did remember to take some pictures......

I never realized just how difficult it is to take an interesting picture of a quilt....until now. Here's the quilt with the little bunny that was made by the amazingly talented Helen Phillips. You can check out her blog here. The bunny is staying with me and not a gift for the baby but just used as a kind of prop to make the picture a bit more interesting.

To make a rag quilt you have to do LOTS of snipping to make the rag edging (obviously!) It's tiring work, but well worth the effort. I invested in pair of spring assisted scissors which I would highly recommend if you ever decide to make one of these rag quilts. 

The rag quilts on Pinterest had the edge of the blanket snipped, but I thought it looked kind of unfinished, so I decided to add an edging which I think really pulled it together and finished it off nicely.

The baby shower is next weekend, so I'm feeling good about having this finished in time.

And the last piece I have to show you today is a wedding sampler which has been such fun to stitch...

I have the stitching finished and now have to do all the back stitching which is a big part of this design. I loved all the colour changes in the flowers....so many bright colours that don't really show up well on the photograph....

This has to be done in time for the bridal shower (first one I have ever been to!) in a couple of weeks time. Fingers crossed that I can get it finished and framed in time!

Well, that's everything that I have been working on....time now to go and visit your blogs and get caught up with what you have been working on!

Until next time....happy stitching.

Rhona