FF, FNSI & IHSW Round Up

It's Monday.... and time for a weekend stitching round up post!

First up is Friday Frolics.... nothing to report as nothing was stitched on Friday :o(  Epic fail....   We were out on Friday night and by the time we got home it was a bit too late to even think about threading a needle for a few stitches....

And of course you know what that means don't you??  Double epic fail!

Friday night was also FNSI and while I did sign up for this and I was hoping to be home in time to stitch with everyone... it just didn't happen! :o( :o(

But I am an optimist and I also look for that silver lining.... last weekend was also IHSW and I did manage to stitch most of the weekend!!  Having a cold, damp Spring Sunday helped immensely!

Joyce didn't post a sign up page last week.... but I didn't let that deter me.... want to see what I stitched on Saturday and Sunday?

Saturday saw me rummage around in the Stitching Box and come up with "Halloween Sneak Peek" by The Trilogy, which was good timing as I needed to stitch and post my "ghost" on the Halloween Ornie SAL Blog before the end of the month.... indeed before Halloween which falls at the end of the month!!!

I am really pleased with my weekend stitching progress... because not only did I start and finish the Ghost square... but I also started and nearly finished the Jack (pumpkin) square!  (If the Argentina/Ireland Rugby game had gone another half hour I would have probably finished that one as well!!!)

So first up... here is the "Ghost" square

"Halloween Sneak Peek" designed by The Trilogy

After a weekend of stitching on the Ghost and the Jack, the whole piece now looks like this:

"Halloween Sneak Peek" designed by The Trilogy
as at Oct 2015

Not bad progress for Saturday and Sunday, even if I do say so myself!!  I have only one more square (the witch) to stitch on this one and then back onto the border.....  Before I post my Ghost on the Halloween blog I need to do some Halloween decorating... have no idea what I am going to do but I think a trip to Spotlight is called for, or maybe I should just take a photo of the cobwebs and big black spiders that we have hanging around on the back patio and use them as my decorating!!!

I am going to put this one away now so that I can start on my Christmas Ornie SAL Blog piece for October.  Hopefully I will have something to show you all next week....

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs, xx

My Little Black Cat!

Yep, that's right.... this post is all about my little black cat... not a little black book or a little black dress... but a little black cat!! :o) (sorry.... just couldn't resist....)

As you know from previous posts I have been stitching Halloween themed ornies for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2015 - some month's are more successful than others!  The theme for August was Black Cats.

As any cat fan knows there are millions of cat designs out in the big wide stitching world for us to choose from... and while I did do some looking around to see what else was out there, I had always planned to stitch the black cat that appears in the Sneak Peek Halloween design that I am currently stitching.

When you last saw this WIP it looked like this:

"Sneak Peek Halloween" as at 24 August 2015

And as of last night it looks like this:

"Sneak Peek Halloween" as at 31 August 2015

Yes!  Another mini finish done and dusted!!

The theme for September is "Spooky Words" and then we have "Ghosts" for October.  There is a ghost square on this piece so you will see it again sometime in October.

That's it for another spooky stitching update.  Hopefully I will be back again soon with some more kitty stitching to show as this weekend is Detention time for The Alphabet Club.

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

Sneak Peek.... Halloween Style!

As most of you know I have been trying to stitch monthly Halloween designs as part of the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2015 Blog.... most month's I don't always manage to have a finish to show... but....

I am on time this month; I have finished my July "Haunted House", and I have even managed to get a post up by the end of July!!

My Haunted House is from "The Trilogy's Halloween Sneak Peek".  The last time you saw this design it looked a bit like this:

And now with the Haunted House done it looks like this:

Sneak Peek Halloween - The Trilogy
Haunted House finished July 2015

I did make one small change to the colours on this one.... the yellow/orange that the chart called for was way too close to the fabric colour so I swapped it out for DMC 165.... which does show up somewhat better!

With a little bit of luck I will get the Sneak Peek Black Cat finished in time for an August posting.... and my September theme of "Spooky Words" is almost done as well.... oh, does that mean I might be getting organised! Don't believe it!! :o)

Til til next time.... happy Halloween stitching
Hugs xx

Happy Owl o Ween - Finished!

Morning!

So here we are one day short of the end of March.... and I have a finish to show you - just in time for me to say that I managed to finish something this month!

This sweet little Halloween Owl was one of my Crazy January starts (Day 15) and it was also my March choice for the "Owls and Ravens/Crow" theme of the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL blog.

This sweet Halloween style owl was designed by "Needle Bling Designs" and I stitched him on "Rocky Creek Canyon" 32ct Belfast from Stitches and Spice.

The chart is a freebie that is located on their website, but I originally found the freebie via the Pumpkin Seed Stitchers" FB group.

I haven't decided what to do with him yet... he would make a nice little cushion for a Halloween display I think... but that thought is for another day!

Next month's theme is "Tombstones" and as yet I haven't decided whether to stitch on "Dancing in the Moonlight" again and use the tombstones in that WIP as my April stitching... or whether to look for another design.  So stay tuned!

Til next time, happy stitching
Hugs xx

More New Starts....

Yep, I have some more new starts to show you....  You would think that I had more than enough on my stitching plate with all the January new starts without starting anything else.... but no, I am a glutton for punishment or a serial starter - not sure which applies in this case!!

My first new start was at the beginning on the month but I keep forgetting to show you....

This is a Design Works kit called "Birdcage" that I have had sitting in my stash for sometime.  I had originally pulled it out as a possible new start for the January challenges but it just never seemed to get to the top of the pile.

"Birdcage"
Design Works kit

I know it isn't a very big start... in fact it really is only a tiny start but it does register as start in my book!  I swapped out the plain white Aida that was in the kit for a piece of fabric that I had in my stash.  The fabric is from Colour Cascade Fabrics and is called "Bed of Roses" (32 ct Belfast).  I am really looking forward to stitching this one, but I'm not sure about all the silver thread and sequins that will be included to get all that sparkle happening in the dress!

Second new start in February was for a mystery SAL that I signed up for in late December.  I didn't get this started before now as I needed a number of the threads including the dark blue for the border.

The "Deer and Grapes Mystery Sampler SAL" is designed by Jean Farish.  Jean has an Etsy store that you can purchase the most delightful designs from, including the Mystery SAL (I think it's still available).  She has set up a FB page for those of us that have purchased the SAL to that we can post our progress and keep in touch with her and the others that are stitching this lovely sampler.  So far part 1 and 2 have been released with part 3 due any day now.

This is as far as I have managed to get after a couple of stitching days in February...

"Deer & Grapes Mystery SAL"
Designer: Jean Farish

I am stitching this on a piece of "Autumn Glade" (32ct Lugana) from Stitches and Spice.  I have devised a rather cunning plan of marking off my stitches on the border as I go so that I don't mis-count!  Fingers crossed that plan works as I really don't want to be playing with my old friend the frog too much on this one!

And for my final new start in February I have a design that I started stitching as the February Theme for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog.  February's theme is "Skeletons".

Finding a skeleton that I liked wasn't that easy at first... but then I remembered a design that I had put on my "must stitch" list ever since I saw it in the Just Cross Stitch 2013 Halloween Special Edition magazine.

The design is from Praiseworthy Stitches and is called "Dancing in the Moonlight".  I am stitching this on a beautiful fabric called "Riders on the Storm" (32ct Belfast Opal) from Colour Cascade Fabrics.  I just love this design.  I started stitching this last weekend and worked on it until I got to a skeleton!  So here he is.... my skeleton!

"Dancing in the Moonlight"

Designer: Praiseworthy Stitches

Oops.... I just noticed that I haven't quite finished him... for some reason my brain said I had, but I now see I am missing a bit of the dark grey (DMC 3799) in his tummy.... Oh well....never mind I will sort him out when I pick him up again later in the month.

That's it for now... I think I have now caught up with all my latest new starts.  My next post will be my February "Jingles" update and then we will be into March!  Goodness where is the year going?

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

How about a February stitching update!

Hello!  Did you miss me?  After all my prolific posting in January, I seem to have come to a bit of halt all of a sudden!

But I am back again now with a very quick update on some of my WIP's from the Crazy January challenges as well as some updates on my older but much loved WIP's.

Since the end of the January's crazy challenges I have focused my stitching efforts on three WIP's - Lizzie Kate's "Jingles", Joan Elliott's "Faces of JE SAL" and my little Winter Witch.  Below are the latest pics of where they are all at now.

Faces of JE SAL - designed by Joan Elliott
Last update on this SAL was on 16th January 2015 and she looked like this:

Progress as at 16 January 2015

After a bit of a stitching session (SAL within in a SAL) last weekend, she now looks like this:

Progress as at 9 February 2015

I am still way behind in this SAL but eventually I will catch up!  Part of the slowness of stitching on this design is that I decided to stitch the face and skin "over 1".... I am regretting that decision a little bit now as it takes so long..... but I think overall it will be worth it.  As you can probably see I keep taking a break from the "over 1" stitching other parts of the design to give my eyes a rest!

Lizzie Kate's "Jingles" - designed by Lizzie Kate
As you know "Jingles" has been around for awhile now.... and every now and then I do a bit more on them.  I picked it up again the other night and did some stitches, but as I don't officially need to do a "Jingles" update til the end of the month, this will just be a quick sneak peek!

When you last saw "Jingles" on 17th January 2015, it looked like this:

Progress as at 17 January 2015

And now "Jingles" looks like this:

Progress as at 10 February 2015

Slowly but surely this one is inching it's way to the end!  I will try and get a bit more stitched on this section before the end of the month.

and last but not least, there is:

Winter Witch - designed by The Snowflower Diaries
The last time I showed you my lovely little witch she looked like this:

Progress as at 28 January 2015

And after some intensive love and attention Winter Witch and her snowman companion are finished!

Winter Witch - designer: Snowflower Diaries
stitched on "Hocus Pocus" 32ct Belfast from Stitches & Spice
Finished 6 February 2015

So there you go my first finish for 2015!  I decided not to do some confetti white stitches around her wand and instead stitched on some pretty gold beads and blinged her up a bit!

I now have to post her on the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog and I can then tick "Witches" off my stitching list!

I am not sure yet what I will do with her as a final finish yet.... so for the time being she will go in the finished file til inspiration strikes!

That's it for this very quick stitching update.  I will be back over the next few days as TUSAL is coming up soon, as are a couple of other posting deadlines. so til then....

Happy Stitching and no froggin!
hugs xx