Christmas stitching

One down, not sure how many to go on the Christmas stitching! I finished the little Christmas bunny that you saw in my last post. I had to unpick some of it as I ran out of one of the threads and couldn't match the colour. Luckily for me, I didn't have to unpick too much. Here's the finished bunny...

This came with a free pre-printed card in the kit but I'm not sure if I'll use that or make my own card....watch this space!!!

I'm still on a mission to finish off the Strawberry design....it feels like ages since I've done anything on it....and in truth, it is ages since I worked on it. Here's the few measly stitches that I managed to put in...

I think I might have to to hermit myself away one weekend and just get it finished in one sitting.

And in case you missed it, the British Craft Awards are here again! Please check out the different categories and vote for your favourites.....my blog is in the running for the Blog of the Year award.....how exciting is that?!

Click here  to go to the voting pages. 

Now that I'm all caught up on laundry and things after our trip back home, I can now get caught up on blog reading! Hope to visit you soon.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Ooooh....exciting news!

It's that time of the year again!!!!  

 

So this little blog of mine is in the running for blog of the year in The British Crafts Awards for 2018.......how cool is that?!!!

So if you fancy voting for me (Please say you do!) head over to  http://www.britishcraftawards.com and click on the 'Cross Stitch' section. There are a few stitchy related questions,and then the all important question about the blogs ....please do check out the other blogs on the list too as they are all fabulous :) The whole thing takes less than a couple of minutes....and if you live in the UK you could win an amazon voucher!

Thanks for taking the time to read this....and hopefully voting for Tangled Threads!!!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

It's been an eventful two weeks!

Eventful....and not always as planned!

First of all, hubby and I had a quick trip to Canada. He had booked tickets to see a football game, which is not my scene at all! While he was at the football match, I was planning to check out the craft stores....two hours of uninterrupted craftiness and, depending on the end score, not having to hide what I bought :) Unfortunately the game was cancelled, but since we had already booked a hotel, we decided just to go anyway.

On our way we stopped by Niagara falls.....

 ...a bit wet, but a spectacular place to visit!

We didn't stay in Canada as long as planned, as we had to book a last minute flight over to the UK as a very close family member was really sick. We headed back to the US to pack and get everything ready for a flight home to the UK. I had intended writing a few blog posts and have them scheduled to appear while we were away. But for a second Sunday in a row, I spent the time in the ER, this time with my daughter! So, as you know, no posts were scheduled.

I did manage to pack some stitching to do while in the UK. I had this Lizzie Kate chart in my stash and it seemed an appropriate design to stitch for my daughter who got engaged while on holiday. Have you ever noticed that there are loads of wedding designs but nothing really for engagement? 

So all that needs to be done is  to have this famed or finished some how......and this time, there will be no procrastinating!

While in the UK, I hit the jackpot when it came to magazines...

Sooooo many craft magazines available.....I was in heaven....unfortunately the credit card was of a slightly different opinion :)

My hometown isn't as spectacular as Niagara falls....

 ....but the sun did shine a few days!

Our flight back to the US was cancelled at the last minute, so we basically spent two days at the airport, which, as you can imagine was no fun at all! I did tell you that nothing went as planned!

For our flight back to the US, I had an old World of Cross Stitching Xmas kit all ready to work on.....

A seven and a half hour flight is a great way to get started on your Xmas stitching! You may be wondering why there are two pieces of fabric stitched......the one on the left was the fabric that came with the kit, but it was awful to stitch on. Luckily I had popped in some spare fabric and was able to start again.....with my fingers firmly crossed that there will be enough threads to complete the design:) The flight was rather turbulent which made it rather tricky to stitch.....my needle kept missing the holes :)  I had hoped to have this completed on the flight, but  it didn't work out as planned....again!

So now, things are back to normal....well, at least I think they are....keep your fingers crossed for me! I'm looking forward to a long boring, uneventful week full of stitching time.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Slow progress this week!

My weekend plan of doing nothing but stitching didn't happen. Instead of just stitching, my weekend comprised of some good things (shopping trip with my daughter) and some not so good things (having to take a good friend to A & E). 

So only a few hours have been spent on the strawberry design, so my hope of having all the cross stitching done didn't come to fruition. Here's where I'm at...

....sooooo close to having it completed....just that little gap in the middle of the design....

There's just a bit more of the leaf to do, a strawberry and some of the more stems....and of course, the back stitching!

I would like to think that I'll have all the cross stitching done by next post, but I don't want to jinx myself :)

Hope you're having a more productive time than I am!!!
Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Gosh....how did that happen?!!!

Even although I seem to be making such slow progress with Etudes aux Fraises, I have suddenly realized that I'm actually very close to completing this design! I think I have been so engrossed in each bit that I haven't taken the time to notice the complete picture....which, as you can see, is almost done!

I have been working on the middle leaf and the unripe/faded strawberry at the top...

....and suddenly, the end seems so much nearer than I was thinking! This design does have some back stitch, but not too much....how exciting (for me anyway!!!)

Suddenly I feel a renewed sense of vigor for getting this completed :)

Another project that is on my to-stitch list is this one from The World of Cross Stitching magazine...

Although this design is in this months issue of The World Of Cross Stitching which just popped through the letterbox  (actually it was popped into my mail box as we don't have letterboxes here in New York!!!) I could have been stitching this one a while ago as I've known about this for quite a few months..... it's one of my designs! I love how the team at the magazine have finished off the stitching....the wooden spoon hanger is just perfect, don't you think?

And I have to share with you the mystery of the vanishing tomatoes! I have a couple of tomato plants outside on the patio, but the tomatoes kept disappearing! I would be watching for the tomatoes to ripen, anticipating the days that they would be ready to eat, but then many of them seemed to just disappear!  And then I noticed this....

Well, at least he's eating healthy!

Until next time....happy stitching!
Rhona

Oh my........where has the time gone?

Gosh, oh gosh....this past week has just flown by and my needle was hardly picked up! Therefore, I have very little stitching to show you this week :(

Progress has been slow on the strawberry project, but even a few stitched done means that I am a few stitches nearer to being finished (which is still a long way off!)

Running out of one of the green threads didn't help either!

Hopefully this week will be a more productive week! Here's hoping you have a productive week too.

Until next time.....happy stitching!

Rhona

Happy dancing!

I'm late posting as I have been suffering from migraines....again! 

I do have quite a bit to show you today, though, so I'm quite happy....especially as I woke up this morning feeling so much better :)

What to start with....(yes, it's that kind of a day!) I think I'll go with the crochet blanket as that was so close to being a finish the last time I showed it...

....all finished....yayyyy!

The three rows of double crochet really finished it off nicely....well worth the effort!

The blanket was crocheted using Caron Simply Soft yarn in three shades of Country Blue. The pattern can be found here, but just as an FYI,there is an error in the beginning of the pattern!

Next up, is a finish finish! And for those of you who are regular readers of this blog will know that that doesn't happen very often! :)

I decided to take the bull by the horns and get working on the pile of finishes that are gathering dust....yes, it really is that bad.  So first design to be tackled is the Tea and Cakes SAL....

After much searching for just the right fabric....you know how it goes...this one's too fancy, this one's just not quite the right shade of pink, that one the prints too big etc, etc, instead of putting it off for another day, I decided to just go with the pink fabric that I had, and it turned out perfect....well I think it did anyway!

A small border of the darker pink and a larger block of the pale pink and a matching pink ribbon to hang it (of, course you can't see it in the picture!). Since the design is quite busy, I wanted the finishing to be quite plain so that your eye is drawn to all the elements in the stitching. 

Yayyy...one down, but a great big pile still to go!

And I'm being good (for just now, anyway!) and am pushing on with the strawberries design. This is where I was last time.....

...and this is where I am now....

 I just never seem to have an awful lot of time in the evenings to get much stitching done.....and I know you heard that before!

Here's hoping for week where there's lots of time for stitching and crafting!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

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