Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Ooops...it feels like it's Monday!

The trouble with long weekends is that we all get the following days mixed up! It feels like it's Monday, so does that still mean that I'm late posting?!!  :)

So, as you know, I'm determined to knuckle down and get the last, not-so-little bit, of the Ice Cardinal design finished. Here's where I was last week...


....and here's where I am now....


I was rather naughty and didn't take my stitching off the q-snaps just so that I would stitch each night....I don't know why I thought that having it stay on the q-snaps would make me stitch more, it doesn't really make sense, but it worked!


I can see the end in sight!


At the weekend I decided to tackle my finishing pile and, of course, as it ALWAYS happens, I was missing the one thread colour that I needed. Don't you hate when that happens? I needed DMC 209 so I popped into my local WalMart only to discover that they don't carry that number. Since I was determined to make headway in my finishing pile, I decided to drive another 35 minutes to the nearest craft store and get this one single skein of thread that I needed.....the things we do for our hobby! Lo and behold....this is the horror that met met my eyes when I got to the cross stitch section of JoAnns....


And there wasn't even a sale on! So many empty sections in their display......I'm hoping that they were just late in filling up their thread displays and not getting rid of the cross stitching section altogether. I'm now rethinking my finishing plan so that I don't have to use the elusive DMC209 thread!

Until net time....happy stitching!

Rhona



Monday, May 20, 2019

What a week!

This was not a very productive week for stitching....even although I was told to just sit and not do anything! I had surgery at the beginning of the week and was all set for a few days of doing absolutely nothing but stitching (sounds like heaven, doesn't it?)...I has my stitching basket all prepared, some books to read, my sketch pad with nicely sharpened pencils at the ready....and felt miserable and couldn't concentrate at all. So nothing was done. I did manage to do a few lengths of thread on the cardinal at the weekend when my head seemed to be a bit clearer and I was able to concentrate a bit more.....


So, a little bit more of one of the branches was done...not much....but it all counts and it's just that little bit closer to being finished!

Here's how the whole design looks so far...


On a brighter note, some little buttons that I had ordered (and forgotten about!) arrived....


Aren't they cute?  They are about 1.5 cm in diameter so the perfect size for adding to little cross stitch projects. Can you believe it...... now I want to tackle my finishing pile and use these super-cute buttons....that's a shock isn't it?!

And talking about super-cute.......I have been desperately trying to get some pictures of hummingbird (which I think are super-cute!) and I finally got a picture that I love...


This is a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird who was coming to our feeder. They are so tiny....only about the length of your thumb and weigh only a few grams! Hopefully they will keep coming back to the feeder and I can snap some more pictures.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona


Monday, May 13, 2019

It's been one of those weeks!

Wow....where did the week go? It was over in a flash and I didn't get much time to stitch.

I guess I must be truly addicted to stitching as it just doesn't feel right to have a day without pulling out the stitching basket and putting in even just a few stitches. Am I the only one that feels like that? 

There were a few nights that I managed to get some stitching time, so, looking on the bright side of things, I did make some progress...

  
Those dark greys on black fabric are a bit boring - you can see why I was so excited to work on brightly coloured small projects the last few weeks. Here's the cardinal design off the q-snaps...


Please forgive the rather crooked picture!  Looking on the bright side of things, I really don't have too much left to do....on the flip side, the bit that's left to do is heavily stitched. Guess there's nothing to do but get the needle and thread out on plod on with it!

Hope you're making better progress than I am!

Until net time....happy stitching!

Rhona



Monday, May 6, 2019

Enjoying the little things!

That could be a philosophical take on life as well as my cross stitching week!

The small cross stitch projects have been calling to me recently (I think I need a break from big projects)  so I have been indulging myself ....life is short, so do what makes you happy - my new outlook on life!

So here's what I've been doing this week. I finished the back stitching on the little card I started last week...


Isn't he cute?!!

The printed card that came with the freebie kit wasn't cut out perfectly so I added some more stitching on the grass and his boots so that the design filled the space better (you know that I'm a bit OCD about these things!) 

  
I also trimmed the card as it wasn't folded perfectly either! You can see on these pictures how the back page shows... a quick trim with the craft knife makes it look perfect.


Attention to small details make a big difference to the end result....


I found another cute little design in my stash of magazine freebies and started working on that...


I'm usually a Aida girl so this is stepping out of my comfort zone and testing my eye sight...all those tiny holes just blur together.....I'm surprised that everything is lining up properly! This little key ring design shouldn't take too long to finish....the making up into the key ring might be a different story though!

Today I am playing  working with threads to get the perfect colour combinations for a new design for a magazine...


I can't wait to show it to you, but you'll have to wait till 2020 to see it.....yes it takes that long to be published!

I think I have managed to get my email problems fixed, so I should be able to respond to your comments....so please do leave some 😉....I love hearing from you.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona