A few happy dances and some progress

I was looking over my blog and realised I've missed a couple of recent happy dances. How did that happen?

Anyway, here are the pics:

This is the second Heartstruck friends, which I started on my flight out to Oregon. I finished it AGES ago!

This one is the completed Quaker Pin Cushions by Milady's Needle. Still not sure how I'll finish them - the wooden pin cushion bases are really expensive!

It's been really gloomy and rainy here. Not like summer at all. This weekend I've mostly stitched. Yesterday we had friends over for dinner, so between stitching in front of Boardwalk Empire we went food shopping and cooked a Morroccan feast. Today we did a few DIY jobs, and (because the sun finally came out) pottered in the garden - but we couldn't do too much, as the soil was so wet. Clay soil = not great when it rains a lot :(. The plus side is that I've made more progress with Gaelic Banner, I've finished the left side of the current page (2 of 6). So that's 3/12ths done... There are a couple of symbols I have to finish, but I won't need much thread, so I'll stitch them when I get to the same level on the other side.

Right, I have a hot date with Gaelic Banner and a DVD - probably Batman Begins, unless something else jumps off the shelf at me. Happy stitching.

A week in stitches...

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post - I was so delighted to win :). I've not had much time for lace making - it just takes a bit too much effort to pick up of an evening, and isn't worth it unless I have a good couple of hours to spare. I'm hoping to see Louise this week - we usually make lace on a Wednesday, but the last few weeks one of us has been busy - I think it's a month since we last caught up!

This week I've made some progress with Gaelic banner:

But to be honest, I really fancied a bit of a change, and a quick stitch. So on Sunday night I started one of the Heartstruck Quakers by Midnight Stitching. I finished it this morning, and after a quick press, it's ready for sharing:

Happy stitching everyone!

Best butterfly

A few weeks ago I went to the working day and AGM for Sheffield Lace Makers. Each year, we have a competition. Any piece of lace completed in the last 12 months can be entered, so I put in my Bedfordshire butterfly, and the Bedfordshire leaf motif that I finished the other month. All of the lace on display was beautiful, some pieces were huge, some pieces quite simple, yet beautifully done with amazing use of colour. Some was modern, some tradition. Some was highly complex, others quite simple in terms of the stitches. What I did NOT expect was to win the Norma Munday Prize!! Norma described my lace as 'exquisite', which I really can't believe. This tells me that the classes I'm taking each May with Christine Springett have really, really improved my technique. Anyway, here are a couple of pics:

I'm still working pretty much exclusively on gaelic banner - I'll post another photo of it soon!

Happy stitching x

Long weekend stitching

Hmmm, I'm getting bad at this blogging malarkey. I blame my hectic job, and desire to sit and stitch rather than surf the web of an evening!! The last few weeks were especially busy - lots and lots of deadlines, a sudden, and especially nasty throat infection, followed by a week-long conference in Belgium. We got back Friday night, after a week of networking, presenting, drinking beer and eating frites, just in time to enjoy the Jubilee four-day weekend. Mostly I sat on the sofa and stitched. Nuff said. So, what has been holding my attention for the last few weeks? It's Dracolair's Gaelic Banner. I love the beautiful blends in the leaves, and the swirling tendrils of the vines. And, importantly for this weekend, the simple border that I can stitch while watching TV with subtitles :) We finally finished watching the Bridge, possibly two of the best characters on TV for ages. Anyway, this is where I am up to:

I also managed to miss a TUSAL a few weeks back, so here's a catch up photo. Guess where all that green comes from ;)

Happy stitching everyone xx

New start

I have, predictably, been a tad busy of late! I have been crafting of an evening and weekend, but only by sacrificing my blogging activities. Which means it is ages since I have visited your blogs, but I do wonder how my blogging friends are getting on! Maybe this blogging app will help me get on top of things a little.

I've been working on my wips, especially the green cardigan I'm knitting - just have the collar to go! I've been working on some lace, but it's just a mass of pins, so not much fun to look at. I do have a piccie of my latest new start: a fairy by Maria vin Scharenberg (I don't have her to hand, can't remember her name). This is what I have done so far. I'm enjoying working on her, but the chart is HUGE and difficult to manoeuvre. And I've not had chance to photocopy it yet. Oh well....

Happy stitching folks

Quaker motifs

I took two projects to Oregon. I did finish the second heart from Moonstruck friends, but the photo I have just taken is really dark and blurry. So I'll share that later. The other project I took was Quaker Pin Cushions by Milady's Needle. I'm stitching all six of these on a piece of Belfast called 'Golden Harvest' - although I'm not sure who dyed it! I'm stitching the motifs in the recommended Belle Soie (so yummy to work with). I don't know how I'll finish them - I certainly won't be buying four wooden pin cushion bases! But I'll finish each on separately.

I missed the TUSAL at the start of the week. I took this shot on my dining room table - guess what other craft I've been indulging in since I got home!!!

I'm also still knitting my green cardigan. I'm finally doing the shaping at the top of the second sleeve. After that it's just the collar to go!

Happy stitching everyone.

Holiday packing

I finally made it to the end of term, which has been a long, tiring slog. My last day in work was Monday, and at 7am Tuesday we left for a holiday/conference in Oregon. Packing was a tad hectic!

Over the weekend I hunted through my stash to find a small project suitable to travel with, and decided on Heartstruck Friends by Midnight Stitching. I found all of the threads and a perfect piece of fabbie - mottled mauve by Jane Greenoff. And started stitching. Hmmmm. I finished the first one before we left!



I started the second piece on the transatlantic flight, and it's about 1/2 done:


The colours are more accurate in the bottom photo.

The weekend before we left it was Emma's birthday. Emma is a new convert to cross stitch, and especially loves the subversive cross stitch book and designs by Steotch. So I made her a scissor fob, and attached it to a lovely pair of scissors that I bought in Bruges last summer. I took a photo before I stitched it together, but forgot to take one of the finished article!



I've not stitched since we landed in Oregon, but I have fulfilled two life-long dreams.

To see the Pacific Ocean:





To paddle in the Pacific:




It was VERY cold, but fabulous!