Starting the month with a finish!

It's a holiday weekend here.....and a three day weekend is always welcomed. Plans for having a relaxing three days of stitching haven't come to fruition but I'm hoping to spend some time with needle and thread tonight....keep your fingers crossed for me :)

I did manage to have a quick little finish this past week....yay me! Another little card added to my stock pile....

This is another design from The World of Cross Stitching magazine. The double sided tape seems not to be holding near the pom-pom of the hat so there's a bit of a gap between the stitching and the card.....and you all know how OCD I am about things being just right :) I think I might have to bring out the glue!

Here's my design that was featured in the magazine this month...

 ....some cute little animals that they made into an adorable bunting....

I also picked up the strawberries design....this one I need to get finished.....

As much as I'm loving this design, I can feel myself being drawn to a new start. This often happens to me when I am getting close to finishing a design but there's still lots to be done.It's almost as if the novelty of a new start has worn off, but the excitement of a finish is too far off. Once the end is in sight, then I have renewed vigor and can stitch all night to have something completed....anyone else like this? Please say I'm not the only one that has this affliction :)

Luckily for me, this design doesn't have too much back stitching, so I'm not dreading having to do it all at the end.

Hope you all have a great week.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Feeling determined!

It's been a crochet week.....I'm determined to finish off my crochet blanket! I finished the blanket to the length that I wanted and started to do a border round the edges. The pattern didn't call for an edging, it was a case of once you had reached your desired finished length, that was it....you were done. I felt though, that it looked a bit unfinished....and after all those hours of work on it, it seemed a shame not to put in a few extra hours to finish it off properly. Here's the first row of the border...

....and adding the second row of crochet in the middle shade of blue...

I was hoping to have all three colours of the border completed to show you today, but as always, I underestimated how long it would take me to do the borders. The blanket is 82 inches square, so it does take a long time to all four sides! It should definitely be finished for next weeks post :)

And since I was on a crochet binge, what better than a quick and easy project to have for on-the-go crocheting. A cute coaster pattern.....

...and one became two...

....two became three..

 ....yes, you've guessed it....four....

...and five!

A great little project for using up those odds and ends of yarn that we just can't throw out :)

These would make a great little gift ....maybe tied up with a ribbon.... a nice mug...and some flavoured teas....oooohh....I can start my Christmas gift making list now!

Hope you're having a great week....thanks for stopping by.

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Dragonflies!

Another week where there was very little crafting taking place. I did manage to get another few rows completed on my blanket....

It's really hard to photograph....I really must check out how other bloggers show off their crochet blankets! Hopefully next time, not only will I have completed it, but I just might be able to dazzle you with a great picture of it too!

Speaking of things that are hard to photograph, dragonflies are certainly near the top of the list. They never seem to stay still long enough to be able to get a good photograph of them, but every once in a while...

mother nature helps you out..

I can see that creating a dragonfly cross stitch design might just be on the cards! :)

Hope you're having a great week!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Butterflies and blankets!

I have a little finish to show you today and a blast form the past that has been languishing in my crochet basket for, well....I don't even want to think about how long!

Here's what I was stitching throughout the week...

What should have been a relatively quick to stitch design took far longer than it should have! First of all, I managed to mix up the thread colours and sorted what should have been a blue and labeled it as a purple....and if that wasn't bad enough, I picked up the wrong pink and started stitching with it (that's what happens when you're trying to watch Game of Thrones while stitching!) Needless to say the frog was firmly ensconced with me this week.

The end result was worth all the hassle and the muttering under my breath that I did...

Hopefully the frog will move on now and not hang around! If anyone would like him, just let me know....I can post worldwide! :)

I also decided that it was time to finally finish a crochet project that has been in my work basket for way too long. I can't even remember when I started this blanket or the last time I even worked on it! I could look back at this blog and find out, but I think it would be too embarrassing to say.

Anyhoo, when I took it out of the basket I was surprised that it as almost finished....why oh why did I ever abandon it?  Of course, I couldn't remember where I had found the pattern or what size of crochet hook I had used.....yet another reason to never abandon a project half way through. 

Luckily for me, in a rare moment of sensibility, I had purchased enough yarn (Caron Simply Soft) to complete the project so I don't have to worry about finding the right shade of yarn. I think that I have only about three repeats of the wave pattern to get to the length that I want and then find a suitable pattern for the edging. I might even just do a few rows of  just double crochet for the edging so that it doesn't take away from the wave pattern....watch this space!!! 

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Strawberries and shy garden visitors.

Summer seems to be flying by and I'm trying to make the most of the gorgeous weather and the time we have with our son before he moves away. Stitching has taken a back seat to sharing time and making memories!

Even on the few evenings that I have picked up my stitching, not much has been accomplished....but, it's not a race or a competition, so I'm not bothered about the lack of progress. 

Working on the strawberries design, I changed the q-snaps configuration as I was using a very large square shaped frame, and now that I'm working on the top right hand part of the design, it became rather cumbersome to work with. Oh, my....those cheaper imitation q-snaps from the craft store were a real pain to change! I was terrified that the fabric was going to rip just trying to get the clamp part off. It was so stiff that I had to ask my husband to help.....even he struggled to do it! Anyway, it's now on a smaller rectangular shaped frame which is much easier to work with....

Here's a closer look at the area I have been working on...

We are forecast rain for the next few evenings (I think) so maybe I'll be able to get some more stitches  done this week!

While we have been sitting in the garden, we have had some lovely visitors of the feathered variety...

 ...a rather shy hummingbird.......

...and an even more shy cardinal..... 

The sparrows, on the other hand, are not in the least bit shy!

Wishing you all a wonderful week.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

P.S. August's stitching log can be found on the previous post :)

August stitching log

A few days late, I know (sorry!)......but here it is....August's stitching log...

Keep a record of all the stitching you have done this month! 

The block for each day has room for noting the project you have worked on (great for all of those who work on multiple projects!) and the number of stitches you accomplished each day. There's room for your stitching goals....they say that if you write them down you're more likely to achieve them! And also  room for any notes that you wish to record. 

It's really great at the end of the month to look back and see how much time etc you have spent on each project.

The log is actually in pale lilac, not grey as in the photograph, but you can print in either grey or colour depending on the settings on your printer

You can get your copy of the August stitching log by clicking here. Please feel free to share on your blog etc, but please link back to this page....thank you.

Some stitchers messaged me and helped me decide what to include in the log, so hopefully I have managed to make something that is useful/helpful...and when I say 'I have', I really mean my daughter as she's the wizard on illustrator, not me! If you want to see more of her work, check out her Instagram account  here. (I'm sure she'd appreciate some more followers ;)  ) If there's anything else that you think would be helpful to add, please let me know in the comments....I'd love to hear from you.

So now it's time for me to pick up my needle and get on with some stitching so that I can fill in this month's log :)

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Lots of strawberries!

It's definitely been a strawberry week! 

First of all, I finished all the back stitching on the adorable Margaret Sherry hedgehog, found the double sided tape (which was no mean feat - you haven't seen the chaos in my crafting space!) and made him into a cute card....

Then it was time to go back to stitching.......yes, you've guessed it.... strawberries! Etudes aux Fraises, by Veronique Enginger. Here's  close up view of the area I was working on...

This was how it looked last time..

...and with this weeks progress, it now it looks like this...

Slowly but surely I'm getting there!

Thank you for dropping by and leaving me your comments....they are always very much appreciated!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Another busy week!

It's been another one of those weeks where stitching has had to take a back seat! I did manage to grab one of those freebie magazine kits and stitch on the odd free moment so, luckily for me, I do have something to show this week...

This was a free kit from the magazine Cross Stitch Crazy....two Margaret Sherry designs with matching cards....cute!

The back stitching shouldn't take too long and I'll have another card finish to add to my stash.

Here are my card designs that were in the magazine . For some reason I didn't share the pic when they were published....which was probably a good thing as I have something to show today when there's very little stitching to share :)

Cross Stitch Crazy Issue 230

Immediate Media Co.

Too bad I don't have any graduates to stitch for this year....but there's always next year!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Finally......it' finished!

I have unpicked the Tea and cakes SAL so many times that even when I started to stitch with the wrong colour, I decided just to live with the mistake!

Last time, you may remember that block three looked like this...

.... I was unhappy with the lettering, so frogged it, re-stitched it and then it looked like this...

....I then decided that the rose was too big, so frogged it and decided to do a different rose and stitch it in yellow.....but....my tired brain didn't so-operate and I picked up some pink thread and stitched.....

....the size of the rose is fine, but I think it might have been better if it had been stitched in yellow! I'm not sure if the fabric would have survived yet another round of unpicking.....so I'm sticking with the pink rose.

Block four was also altered form Durene's original design and this time I picked the correct size of rose and only had to stitch it the once....yayyy!

So a little happy dance was performed at the completion of this  SAL. Details of the free charts can be found here.

Only a few stitches were added to Etudes aux Fraises this week.....but every stitch done means it's nearer to being completed.....

And finally.....my summer sundae designs in this months World of Cross Stitching magazine...

....if only I had a real sundae in front of me now!!!!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Bits 'n' pieces!

It's been a bits and pieces kind of week......I've been working on a few different things...some have gone well....others, not so well!

First of all I decided to pull out Etudes aux Fraises before it had too much dust on it! 

Now that I'm back working on this I'm glad it didn't become a UFO....

...sometimes smaller projects have a habit of creeping in and then taking over!

And speaking of smaller projects...

...another free kit that I decided to stitch as I have a few birthdays coming up in the next few months and have used all my stash of stitched cards....

I just need to get out the double sided tape and this was can be called finished! Yayyy.

The Tea and Cakes free SAL has been driving me crazy.....and it has nothing to do with Durene Jones, the designer, or  Lakeside Needlecrafts who are very kindly providing the charts......it's me! I wasn't too keen on the 3rd and 4th block because of the lettering so I decided to go through some old cross stitch magazines to find some other Durene Jones designs that would fit into the blocks......how hard would it be to find something? Ha....let me tell you....nearly impossible! I did find one design by Durene that with a little bit of manipulation would have fitted, but once I had started stitching it, I decided that I didn't really like it with the rest of the blocks....so I had to frog ...grrr.

So after more unsuccessful searching I decided to just stitch the design as Durene had intended.....

....I'm still not too happy with the lettering....

....I think I can hear the frog croaking somewhere....think he might be visiting me again tonight! Sigh.


And finally another little finish....but not cross stitch...

My daughter's friend is expecting a baby girl next month, so this cute little sea critter was just begging to be crocheted! There are some other little sea creature friends to make a little set so I have the feeling the crochet hook will be quite busy over the next few weeks.

Since the frog seems to be having an extended stay at my house, I hope that your stitching is going well!


Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona 

July stitching log

As promised, I have the monthly stitching log completed and ready for you to print off to log all your stitching for this month!

I have made two logs, one in colour and the other in black and white....I'm one of these people who never has colour ink in their printer, and I'm guessing that I'm not the only one like this! So choose whatever one works for you, print it off and start logging the hours or number of stitches done for each day....or however else you want to use it!

No pictures of it at the moment, but I'll have them for my normal Monday post.

Here are the links for the July log...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4TK-8-FV5HRYVB2WHowSmtZSXM/view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4TK-8-FV5HRbmtNX3NNbkFuMXc/view

Please note that these are for personal use only and are not to be sold, shared or reproduced. By all means share the info about the log on your blog or social media, but please link back to this post....thank you!

And since it's July, I'm starting to work on a way to record my Christmas stitching so that I always know what design I've stitched for family and friends so they don't get the same one twice...or even three times!!!  I'll share the Christmas one as soon as it's completed.


Happy stitching!

Rhona