Whine & WIPs = Finish #20!!

Guess what...

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"Witch and Friends" is finished.....

I started this way back in 2014 for the Hallowe'en SAL Blog.   When I left it at that stage it looked like this:

October 2014

I then picked it up again on and off during the last couple of months of 2014;

End of 2014

and then again for the Crazy January challenge in January 2015;

January 2015

I was so close to finishing last year but unfortunately I got distracted... and as I heard someone say on Flosstube earlier.. I fell down the rabbit hole with this one!! :o)

So on 8th June I picked her up again... and stitched and stitched and stitched.... each night over the last week I kept thinking I will stitch on something else, but then I kept thinking "no, she is almost done!" so I kept going... and now she is done.... :o)

Finish #20
"Witch & Friends" - Donna Giampa (Vermillion Stitching)

Witch & Friends.... finished 16 June 2016

This lovely lady and her delightful friends is stitched on a Stitches and Spice fabric with DMC threads.  The design was published in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2013 magazine.

Besides stitching and finishing "Witch & Friends" I also finished a block on "Jingles"... and I have picked up "Prancer" again.

Finish #21
"Jingles - Joy to World"

There is only a couple more blocks left on this so I would like to try and get back to it again soon... but who knows!

Nora Corbett's Christmas Eve Couriers - Prancer

I have now finished the Krienik at the bottom and started on the border.... then it's the tail and onto the beading!!

So that's it for this update.... The "Whine and WIPs SAL" has certainly helped me touch some of these old and much neglected WIPs... not sure which WIP I will stitch on next... I certainly have enough to choose from. :o)

Til next time... happy stitching
hugs xx

TUSAL & New Finishes....

Hello... I'm back... and late again!  TUSAL posts were due last week but... unfortunately I was not a very well bunny last week and the thought of doing anything on a computer was way beyond me! (I did stitch though!!)

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Have you ever noticed how chronic fatigue can be so debilitating at times?  (After seeing my specialist a couple of weeks ago I can now add Fibromyalgia to my RA, low iron and menopause issues - great just what I want one more chronic fatigue problem!!) 

Last week was not a good week for me... I left work early on Monday as I thought I had a migraine starting... but it was much more than that in the end!! I needed to take Tuesday and Wednesday off work and barely managed to drag myself out of bed on Thursday and Friday to go to work... (you must be sick when your boss tells you that you look terrible!) but Friday afternoon saw me visit the doctor and one iron infusion later I am slowly getting back to normal - even though my normal is not that fantastic at the best of times!!!  Saturday and Sunday was spent veggie out on the couch again with my stitching as I could not do much more than that and today is the first day in over a week that I have started to feel better... Being a couch potato is not good for the size of my backside.... but great for my stitching!! :o)

But enough complaining.. you didn't come to visit my blog to hear me complain - you came to see some stitching so that let's get the show on the road!!

TUSAL / ORT Report & Stitching Updates:

So first up... one very late TUSAL photo....

I know a bit of a lazy TUSAL photo this month!!  I decided that I had better empty the small tin of ORT's and couldn't get up the energy to take a photo so I decided to take a progress shot of my new start and the ORT's together!!

The new start is "Queen Anne's Lace" by Nora Corbett.  This was a "free" design that was published in the Just Cross Stitch magazine (April 2016 issue).  I started stitching this on 3rd or 4th April and this where I was when I took the photo on Saturday afternoon.

I haven't done much more as I spent the last couple of nights stitching on a card for my sister who is celebrating the big "50" on 25th April!

While I am showing one Nora Corbett... how about I show you an update on another Nora Corbett design...

I last showed you "Prancer" back in December 2015.... when he looked like this:

He now looks like this:

I have been stitching on "Prancer" over the last couple of weeks as one of the Nora Corbett FB groups has been doing a couple of SAL's and you know me with SAL's... I just have to give them a go!!! Once I have finished the Kreinik on the bottom my next step is the Whisper thread for his tail... I have never used that thread so I have been putting it off!!! Then it will be onto the border and bling - and with a little bit of luck he may be a finish in May!!

Finishes!
I have 2 new finishes to show you!!

Finish #13
First up is my Halloween Ornie SAL Blog design - the theme was "Ghosts".  So here is my Blue Ribbon Designs "Ghost".

I continued on with my Blue Ribbon Designs stitching and stitched another small (insert quick) design from the Halloween Portraits" by Blue Ribbon Designs.  This one took me the better part of Tuesday afternoon/evening last week when I was at home feeling sick and miserable!

I do think that he is a funny looking ghost... but a ghost he is!  The bottom on the ghost is confusing me as he looks like he has way too many feet... or is that supposed to be a flowing ghostly robe??

Finish #14
My second finish last week was the April choice for the Christmas Ornie SAL Blog - theme for April was Ornaments/Decorations.

As soon as this month's choice came up on the stitching plan I knew exactly what I wanted to stitch... I found this design in the Cross Stitch Crazy magazine last year but wasn't sure what to stitch them on (perforated paper, plastic canvas or fabric) - I ended up choosing plastic canvas and once I have stitched a couple more of them I will cut them out and make them into felt backed ornies.

The Christmas Bauble is designed by Jody Rice from Satsuma Street.  Love the colours!  The pink/purple colour is just so lovely...  This is the first time I have stitched anything from Jody/Satusma Street.... Another lovely easy quick stitch!

So that's it for now... all up to date once again.  Next scheduled posting date is Friday when it will be GG update time again!

So til then, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

Blue Ribbon Pumpkin

No, I haven't been entering gardening competitions and winning blue ribbons for my pumpkins... but I do have a Blue Ribbon Design pumpkin to show you!

And yes, that also means I have another finish for 2016....

Finish #8
This month's theme for the Halloween Ornie Blog is pumpkins.  I found the perfect quick stitch for this month... "Halloween Portraits" by Blue Ribbon Designs.

This little pumpkin is one of 6 or 7 designs included in the "Halloween Portraits" set.  Besides the cute pumpkin there is also a ghost, witch, black cat, crow, owl... plus a couple more that I can't remember... I will have plenty more to stitch over the coming months for my Halloween themes!  The designs were published in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2015 magazine.

Once I have stitched a couple more on this piece of fabric I will turn them into little pillow ornies... but the final finish may be some time off!! :o)

So that's it for today... all up to date with my posting again.  I still have a TUSAL and GG post to do this week so I will try and be on time for those posts later in the week....

Til then, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

My First Prairie Schooler!

Yes, you read the title correctly!  I have just stitched my very first Prairie Schooler design!  And I loved it... don't know why it took me so long to stitch one!  As usual I am late to the party and I have discovered that I enjoy stitching them just as the designers have decided to stop designing!!

My first PS stitch is "Pumpkin Man".  I stitched him for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog as February's theme is "Mummies and Monsters".  I always have trouble finding designs for this theme as I am not a stitcher of monsters normally... but when I saw this design I thought he was cute and just the thing for February!!

Finish #5
"Pumpkin Man" - The Prairie Schooler

"Pumpkin Man"
Finished 14 February 2016

The design was published in the Just Cross Stitch Magazine Halloween 2015 issue.  He was very quick to stitch, which was great as a quick finish is just the way I like it!! :o)

I have now started another small Prairie Schooler design which I hope to be able to show you in the next few days as I think it should stitch up quite quickly as well.

So that's it for this post... but I will be back shortly with my GG update and another finish!!

See you then!
Hugs xx