Waiting room stitching.

Life has been rather hectic again and I've not really had much free time to stitch in the evenings. I have managed to get some stitching done though....yes, I'm spending lots of time in various doctors waiting rooms again! I picked up the free kit with this months World Of Cross Stitching magazine and slipped it into my bag for the first of what turned out to be quite a few different doctors appointments with my hubby.  Thank heavens for these free kits, they are the perfect size for popping into a bag and with the threads already pre-cut and a needle already enclosed, they really are sanity saving!

Here's what I stitched while waiting for my hubby....

...so, looking on the bright side of things, I have made a start on my Christmas stitching! Now if only my hubby had been five or ten minutes longer at his last appointment I might have actually managed to finish all the cross stitching....twelve stitches to go...how very inconsiderate of him to come out before I had finished! ;)

So a few more stitches and then the back stitching and I'll have my first Christmas card made!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Arghhhhh......

... cross stitch kits! The great thing about cross stitch kits is that you can (usually!) start stitching them right away....no searching for threads, no faffing around trying to get fabric that is the right size....even a needle is included. But, the bad thing about kits is that sometimes you run out of thread and can't find an exact match....which means contacting the manufacturer and waiting on them to (hopefully) send replacement threads.

Yup, that's where I am just now...sitting doing nothing, just twiddling my thumbs (yeah, you believe that one, don't ya?!!) hoping that Dimensions Crafts will send me some replacement thread. I've run out of, not one, but two colours! This is where I am at the moment...

Now I'm sure that I'm not a wasteful stitcher when it comes to using the threads provided, I've run out of threads before, so I'm extra careful about  stitching to the last tiny amount left in the needle.  This is how much of the black thread is left from the kit......

...and I've finished all the black stitching! There's just a little bit of back stitching to do using black, and I'm pretty sure that I will only use maybe one or two lengths at the very most to finish the back stitching. Weird how there is so much left of one colour but not enough of the other colours. I can only assume that the model stitcher for Dimensions is even more frugal with her threads (except the black) than I am!!! :)

Oh well...time to look out the old lighthouse design :)


Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

If only I had remembered.....

....to mark off each colour that I had stitched on the chart, I wouldn't  waste so much time trying to decide if a certain stitch was pale blue or very light blue (with my eye sight, they both look exactly the same!!!) and then I would know exactly where I was on the chart, and what colour I should be stitching with!

Filling in those last few stitches in certain areas is driving me mad and resulting in me fudging it when I just can't decide. I do have the decency to feel guilty about it....for a second or two....then I can't realize that I can't tell which bit was fudged and then I don't feel too bad as no-one else will know ......except you, but I'm sure you'll keep my secret...won't you?!!  :)

So I've gone from this (last week's pic)....

...to this...

......almost finished with the reflections!!!  Woohoo! Feeling good....except for the fudging part!

Until next time..happy stitching!

Rhona

Out of sight, out of mind....and a change of attitude!

In order to resist the temptation of stitching  the more colourful lighthouse project, I decided that the 'out of sight, out of mind' approach was the only one that would work for me....in reality it's more a case of it being out of reach rather than out of mind...but hey, it's working! So, the lighthouse project is packed away out of sight (but not out of mind) in another room so that I'm not tempted to pick it up and do "just one length of that lovely pink in the sky" ...which never happens, because just one length of thread then becomes two lengths, then three lengths and then...well you know how it goes!!!

Anyhoo, this is what Twilight Silhouette looked like last week.....

...and the thought of stitching hundreds and hundreds of little black x's on to navy fabric really wasn't all that exciting, as I'm sure you can imagine! I really didn't want to stitch all that boring black, but changed my attitude when I realized that since there was sooooo much black to do, it meant that for great big chunks of the design I didn't have to do any counting and didn't really have to concentrate too hard, soooo, I could really watch a move (not just listen to it) while I stitched....yayyy!! (and yes, I'm enjoying the italics today!!!)

So after a couple of movies (no popcorn though!), this is how these sweet fairies look now....

Quite a change!

Sadly for me though, since most of the black area is done, it means that now I'm back to having to count my stitches and just listen to movies again!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

The problem with colour....

Not only am I having problems finding time to get any stitching done, (these summer nights just seem to fly by!) but when I do get my stitching out, instead of working on Twilight Silhouette, my hand just seems to gravitate to the more colourful  lighthouse design. 

I have been making a big effort to do more of the Twilight design, but progress seems to be quite slow, I think it's because stitching blue threads on blue fabric makes seeing any progress quite difficult....here's where I was last time...

...and here's my progress...

There's actually quite a bit of half stitch done in one strand that doesn't seem to show up on the photograph! Of course, the great big chunk of black to be done at the bottom seems to be so boring and tedious compared to stitching this.....

...all those yummy, scrummy colours in the sky...

Isn't this just gorgeous? You can see why I want to stitch this design with all those beautiful colours that are in the sky.

Yeah, so much for this one being my 'stuff-it-in-my-handbag-to-stitch-while-I'm-while-waiting-for-the-doctor project'! Ah well, you only live once...might as well stitch what makes you happy!

Hope whatever you're stitching is making you happy too!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Chocolate and stitching.

Most of the time stitching and chocolate really don't go together. 

The thought of chocolatey finger marks on your stitching can be real nightmare. I. however. being a freak of nature, don't like chocolate. Can you believe it.... a woman who doesn't like chocolate....weird huh? So anyway, I never have to worry about chocolate and stitching......until now. Yes, I broke down and bought a bar of chocolate. Don't worry, all is well......I'm not sick or crazy. This is the one time when chocolate and stitching definitely go well together

Remember I showed a glimpse of some secret stitching I was working on? It looked like this...

Well here it is now....

And that's the reason for the bar of chocolate! Yes it really is a bar of chocolate in the frame...

This is a gift for my friend's daughter who is heading off to university at the end of August. I thought this might be a nice gift for her dorm room. I have a feeling that I might have to make another one for my friend too.

So, now we know..... chocolate and stitching really do go together! Don't you agree?

Until next time...happy stitching (with or without the chocolate!)

Rhona

Long days with not much to show for it!

So much for the long hot days of summer! It may be hot, but they certainly don't feel very long....I don't seem to be able to get much time to stitch just now.

I have been a bit naughty and started on my new kit. I blame Caitlin at Naughts and Cross Stitches as she is working on the same kit and posted a picture of her WIP which you can see here. Of course, once I saw her stitching, I just couldn't help but start it.....

I can't wait to start working on the sky part of the design, the colours are just gorgeous!

I have also been working on some secret stitching, and I can show you this part of the design....

...it looks a bit weird, but it will make sense and all will be revealed shortly!

Twilight fairy hasn't been totally neglected, just not an awful lot of stitches added to her this week.

I bet you're struggling to see the difference from last week's picture!  :) Hopefully next week there will be an obvious change......fingers crossed as the days are still long!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

A little mouse finish!

Another week has flown by with very little stitching done. Somehow the summer months always seem to mean less stitching time for me...anyone else feel that way? I did manage to get the little mouse design finished...

This came with a cute printed card and I was hoping to have it done in time to send to my mother-in-law for her birthday, but I took too long to finish it....maybe she'll get it next year!

I also managed a few stitches on Twilight silhouette.....and when I say ' a few', I really mean a few.....

....if it wasn't for that little loop of blue on the right hand side, you probably wouldn't have noticed the difference from last time! :(


Hopefully on my next post I'll have been able to stitch enough that you'll see the progress!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

The postie made me do it!!!

So after buying a new kit to have in my bag while sitting waiting for my hubby during his many doctors visits, I've been a bit naughty and started something completely different than planned! 

I blame my postie.....if she hadn't coming running up the path and practically shoved this month's World of Cross Stitching magazine in my hands as we were heading out the door, my new kit would have been started. Instead, I'm stitching the free kit from the magazine. It's so cute and doesn't require the same amount of concentration that the new dimensions design would need, so it was perfect for doing in the doctor's waiting room.

I did change the colours around a bit as the darkest shade used on the mouse just didn't seem quite right....I may regret my changes once I have stitched a bit more, but at the moment, it's looking fine.

Not much stitching to show, but hopefully things will return to normal (what's that?!!) this week! Hubby is feeling lots better and now it's just a case of resting and letting the body heal. Hopefully no more doctor visits....at least none planned for a while! What I do plan to do is get caught up on my blog reading and replying to your wonderful and much appreciated comments......and get some more stitching done!

Until net time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Totally Useless!

Yes, that's me...totally useless at posting on time for the Totally Useless Stitch A Long!

Although there are quite a few orts in my jar, I feel like I haven't stitched for such a long time. 

I have to say a big thank you for all your wonderful get well wishes for my husband.....they were much appreciated.

I did buy a small kit to pop in my bag so that I could do some stitching while waiting for doctor and hospital appointments. This is what I treated myself to......

It's a Dimensions Gold Collection petite called 'Beacon at Daybreak'. I thought it would make a nice companion piece to the  lighthouse I did earlier in the year. You can see the finished lighthouse stitching here.

I bought 'Beacon at Daybreak' online from Amazon as my local needlework store has such a small collection of cross stitch kits and absolutely nothing that I would want to stitch. Anyhoo, I was thrilled when it arrived so quickly (thank you Amazon!) and promptly took everything out of the packaging to drool check it all out and left it on the kitchen table. And there it stayed when we had another mad dash to the emergency room at midnight when hubby lost feeling in his leg!

Even though we were in the ER for six hours, I doubt that I would have made much progress on the design as I was so tired. Hubby has another couple of doctor's appointments this week and the kit is safely tucked away in my bag....hopefully I will get a few stitches done.

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Not a good week for stitching.

I didn't manage to post anything last week even although I had made great progress with my stitching! 

Last weekend my hubby took part New York Ride to Conquer Cancer which was a two day, 150 mile bicycle ride through New York State.  Needless to say I took my stitching to do while I waited for him to complete each leg of the ride. So I was able to spend quite a bit of my Saturday stitching away undisturbed...heaven! On day two, before I had even got my stitching out, I got a phone call to say that there had been an accident and that hubby had been injured and was unable to complete the ride. 

Unfortunately his injuries were more than had originally been diagnosed and we ended up having a mad dash to the ER in the early hours of Monday morning. The rest of the week was made up of driving him to various doctors offices and waiting for numerous tests to be performed. My stitching was too big and cumbersome to carry with me, and a bit too complicated for doing in a doctor's office, so no progress has been made this week.

Anyway, hubby seems to be on the mend... albeit slowly. Broken ribs mend and bruises and road rash fade. The internal injuries are being dealt with and I'm just thankful that it wasn't anything worse. 

Of course there are still many more doctor's visits ahead, soooo, because of that, I have no other choice than to invest in a small portable cross stitch project to pop in my bag to keep me while he sees the various doctors. Hee hee! It's an absolute necessity, it really is :)


So, as for twilight fairy....this was what she looked like in my last post...

....and this is her now....

Quite a difference!

I'm not sure how much stitching I'll manage on her this week, as my main focus will obviously be on hubby. I might even suggest he takes up stitching as he can't really do anything else at the moment!!!! Mmmm, but then he might realize just how much stitchy stuff I have stashed around the house....maybe not such a good idea after all!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

PIZL's

I've got pizl's. 

Don't worry, I'm not sick and it's not contagious...well it might be contagious but you probably already have it....sorry!

Don't know what pizl's is?

Neither did I until a few days ago! I was at my local craft store looking at the rather pitiful amount of cross stitch kits they had for sale. The same kits seem to have been on the shelves forever....never any new designs.....so sad. Anyway, there were two older ladies looking at the kits and they also seemed to be a bit disappointed with the selection on offer. Their conversation went a bit like this...

First old lady (pointing to one of the kits) 'What about this one?'

Second old lady  (shaking her head)' 'No, that's a pizl'

First old lady (pointing to another one of the kits) 'What about this one?'

Second old lady  'No, that's a pizl'

First old lady (pointing to  a different kit) 'Well, what about this one?'

Second old lady   'No, that's also pizl'

First old lady (pointing to yet another one of the kits) 'What about this one?'

Second old lady  'Nope. That's a pizl'

First old lady (still pointing at kits) 'This one?'

Second old lady  'No. That one would end up as a pizl'

By this time I was really confused and rather curious. I don't normally go up and talk to strangers but I had to know what on earth a pizl was.  So, I asked....and found out.

So....do you want to know what a pizl is?

It's this....

Projects In Zip Locks.

You've got them too...right?!! Heehee, gotta love old lady stitchers! :)

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona