Somebody can't measure.....

....and it's not me! 

I went to the craft store to buy some frames for my two lighthouse finishes (normally my finishes languish in a pile that I keep meaning to deal with, but never do! ) and found the perfect frames. Unfortunately they weren't made in the size of the finished stitching, but since I like a mat with the stitching, I went with the bigger sized frame and bought a couple of plain coloured mats to fit.....or at least I thought I did. Now the thing that you have to understand is that I'm really fussy (and a bit indecisive) about picking colours for frames and mats. It takes me ages to decide. You have no idea the problems I have with picking between white, winter white and off white....I kid you not! Any way, after  the trials and tribulations of making such a momentous decision, I get home unwrap each of the frames and mats to discover that......the mats don't fit!!!! Arghhhh! 

The mat which came with the packaging description of 'fits an 8" x 10" frame for a 5" x 7" picture', actually only measured 4½" x 6½ ".....cutting off some of the stitching that I wanted to be seen!

A few night later I was in the local Wal-mart and happened across some (much cheaper!) mats....same problem....they measured only 4½" x 6½"...but..... they also had double mats that when you remove the inner 4½" x 6½" mat, the remaining mat measures.....wait for it.....yayyy, the desired 5" x 7"!!!

And here's how these two stitched pieces look now...

I can't get a photo of the two pictures side by side as the reflections look awful. I think the distressed blue wood is perfect for the sea/ beach subject of the stitching....I'm so happy!

Now all I have to do is find a hammer and some nails and get these two lovelies on the wall.

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

It's finished!!

Woo hoo....I've finally finished 'Beacon at daybreak'! And it's gorgeous......

I'm so pleased with the finished result. The mixture of full and half cross stitches done with different numbers of strands of threads give it a lovely textured effect.

And here it is with it's sister design 'Cliffside beacon'. Both these designs are kits by Dimensions....and wonderful to work on :)

I think they look great together. I really would like to do a third design like this as I love sets of three's (strange, I know!) Unfortunately none of the lighthouse designs that I have come across would fit in with these designs, the colours etc don't match.....but I'll keep looking!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Forget the sewing basket.....

....I have a new project in the yarn basket!!!

All those lovely shades of blue.....even lovelier (is that even a word?!) since there was 40% off the yarn....sweet!

This is the afghan pattern that I'm working on...

 ...and this is the back of it....

The free crochet pattern can be found here. Just be aware that there is a mistake in the written instructions. I only realized after spending several nights crocheting and rattling down all that evening's work thinking that I had miscounted.....only to eventually read the comments and see that other people were having problems getting the pattern to work too!

Anyway, this is going to be a long term project for me. Not knowing how many chains to make in the foundation row, (I thought it would be better to be too big than too small) it's ended up the size of a football field! All the better to snuggle up with a loved one, that's my excuse :)

So this one's not going to be finished any time soon.....I'm slow at crocheting as well as cross stitching!


Now on to some stitching!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Happy New Year!

Now that the hustle and bustle of the Christmas period is over (phew!!!) it's time to get back to normal...or as normal as life will permit!

I have two designs that I have been working on for what seems like forever....and I'm determined to have them finished in the next few weeks....and now that it's written in black and white, I just have to get them done now :)

First off is the lighthouse design.....

...as you can see, Dimensions sent the extra thread needed to finish the cross stitching, so I have no excuse now! There's just a few cross stitches to complete and then the back stitching...not my favourite part, but it will be worth it!

Then project number two....Twilight Fairy....

...this one hasn't got much to be done either....but..... I've run out of one of the blue threads! I think that I may have used the wrong blue colour for some part of it (there are a few blues that are quite close to each other!) as I seem to have quite a bit of one blue thread left......arghhh....silly me! So, yes, I will be begging Dimensions again for some more threads! Thankfully their customer service department is really good.

So hopefully in the next few weeks, these designs will be upgraded form WIP's to finished items...woohoo!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Christmas stuffing!

No stitching to show....only a little bit of Christmas stuffing........

Yes, I've been stuffing Christmas baubles! All my orts from this year have been stuffed into an empty Christmas bauble for the tree.  A quick back stitch label showing the year and then a few snips with the pinking sheers and...voila...this year's ort ornament...

Now onto stuffing the Christmas turkey!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas season....whatever you celebrate, I hope it's wonderful.

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

A quick finish!

I just love quick finishes especially at this time of year! Here's one that was quick ...

...and rather sweet!

This was a free kit from the World of Cross Stitching magazine (issue 236) which came with a  cute die-cut card...

...and who can resist Tatty Ted?

 Now to get on with more Christmas stitching.... before the big day is here!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Or to be realistic....it's the busiest time of the year!  I seem to have been busy with so many other things that there hasn't been too much time for stitching. For some reason, I haven't done very much Christmas themed stitching this year, so decided that it was about time I stitched something festive....so I started stitching one of my own designs....that's a shock. isn't it?!!!  

It doesn't look like much at the minute, but hopefully I can spend a few hours (at least!) working on it this week....will it be finished in time for Christmas? I hope so....but can't promise!!

I also manage to add a few stitched to Max the Cat, who has been sadly neglected for a while....

And also on my to-stitch list (although there is no way these will be done in time for this Christmas!) are my little Gingerbread house designs that were featured in The World of Cross Stitching magazine....

The World of Cross Stitching Issue 236

Immediate Media Co.

... they stitch up beautifully! I have been lucky enough to have quite a few stitchers share pictures their finished houses with me and they look wonderful....so I just have to stitch a set for myself! If I really put my mind to it, I could probably get at least one done in time for Christmas.....don't you think so?

Yes....definitely the busiest time of the year!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Almost finished.....but....

Don't you just hate it when you have to add 'but' to the end of a sentence?  I'm almost finished stitching Beacon at Daybreak.....but..... the thing that every stitcher hates happened.... I ran out of one colour of thread! Grrrr.  Now you have to understand that I, like many other stitchers, have millions of colours of threads stashed away in boxes and tins (ok, maybe  millions is a slight exaggeration!) but of all the threads I have, not one is a close match to the colour I need! How can that be?!!

All that's left to do is that small area in the bottom right hand corner...

I've contacted Dimensions for replacement threads, and they've always been good at getting replacement threads out quite quickly....hopefully this time will be the same. I'm planning on bashing on with the back stitching so that when the threads arrive it won't be too long till I can call this one done!

And speaking about back stitching, here's the Christmas stitching that I was working on in my last post......

...and here it is now...

What a difference the back stitching (and good lighting!) makes! I added some silver blending filament to the white on the snowflakes, but unfortunately the camera doesn't pick up the sparkle....it is rather subtle! 

So at least I have one finish for this week...and it's in time for Christmas...woohoo!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Yayyyy....it's finished!

Finally! For such a small project, this seems to have taken such a long time to complete! The fact that I had to go home for a while didn't help either.....but at last I can reveal what the mystery stitching is.......

....it's a kitchen memo board...

  
And not just any memo board..... a chalkboard one!

I'm going to remove the rope that's attached to the board and add one that holds a piece of chalk so it's always there when you need to  write down some shopping to remember or an appointment etc.

I'm planning to make the same thing again (in a different colour scheme) for another friend for Christmas .....hopefully the second one won't take quite so long to complete!


Thanks for all the well wishes for my Dad....it's lovely to know that so many people are thinking of him......bloggers really are the most wonderful and caring people! 

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Phew...what a week!

Well, so much for having my mystery stitching project finished.....it just didn't happen. I ended up flying back home to Scotland to see my Dad. He was in hospital for a second hip replacement but had complications during the start of the surgery and ended up in the CCU. Thankfully he's home but will have to wait a while before the doctors can attempt the surgery again.

I did manage to grab some threads and fabric and pop them into my bag so that I could do some stitching while with my Dad. Luckily for me, The World Of Cross Stitching mag had arrived a few days before with a cute Christmas chart that was perfect for stitching on the go.  There's not much stitching to show for a whole week, but at least it's the start of some Christmas stitching.....

It really shouldn't take too long to have this Christmas cutie finished....at least I hope not!

And now some good news! I was the lucky winner of  the giveaway from Miistitch. Please do check out her blog here, you'll not be disappointed! Not only will you see some gorgeous stitching, but also some delightful finishing techniques. This is the kit that I won....

 Isn't it lovely? I can't wait to get started on it. 

So, as for the mystery stitching....that will be completed as soon as I get caught up on the mountain of laundry that has appeared....I'm sure it breeds in the suitcase!!!


Until next time....happy stitching!
Rhona

Mystery stitching!

I didn't post yesterday (my usual day for blogging) as I was hoping to have this little project completed today. You will note that I said 'hoping'....that should be your clue that things didn't go quite to plan!

So instead of showing the completed project it's more of a 'to be continued' type post :)

Here's everything that I am using...

...and here's the stitching that I did...

...a close up of the little teapot...

...and that's as far as I got! Don't you just hate it when life gets in the way of your stitching?!!

So...any guesses as to what I'm making? Leave me a comment to let me know what you think it will be.

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

1 stitch, 2 stitch, 3 stitch....and not much else!

I feel a bit of a fraud posting what's supposed to be an 'update' of my stitching as I haven't managed to get very much done this week. If I were to show you a before and after picture, it would look more like one of those 'spot the difference' type pictures....yup, it's really that bad! So instead of showing you the before picture, I'm just going to say here's the lighthouse design so far....

... a bit more of the grass stitched....but not much else! Hopefully this will be the week that I find the turbo charged needle!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona