TUSAL March 2015

It's TUSAL time again....  another new moon - another month has disappeared before our very eyes!

As you know I have actually been stitching over the last month, and as you will now see the ORT's have been growing again!

But this month we have a slight change!  Gone is the old Maccona coffee jar that I have been using for years...

Today I have a new ORT's holder... but which one of these three is it?

Here they are... in the little suitcase....

The suitcase and the pretty blue box in the background are from the Body Shop.  They were full of yummy Body Shop things, but I didn't buy them for what was in them... I had eyes only for the containers!! ♥

This weekend is International Hermit and Stitch Weekend (IHSW) and for my weekend stitching I want to try and stitch on my Jean Farish Deer and Grapes SAL.

Here it is already to go... right where I left off last time!  The pretty paws needle minder and scissor fob are going to keep me company while I am stitching today!

So that's it for this post.... I will be back again in the next couple of days to show you what I have been stitching on over the last week or so... so stay tuned!

Til then, happy stitching!

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If you don't know (or haven't heard) about the 2015 TUSAL, Daffycat is again hosting the fun Totally Useless SAL (TUSAL).  Essentially we stitch and save our ORT's (Old Raggety Threads) and every New Moon those of us participating in the TUSAL post a picture of our ORT's jar, and then leave little msgs for Daffycat on her blog to show that we have been stitching and have posted our wonderful pics.  Please head over to her sign up page and join in the fun!

New Moons - 2015
18th April
18th May
16th June
16th July
14th August
13th September
13th October
11th November
11th December

Meet and Greet Stitchers from around the world.....

When I read that Mdm Samm from Sew We Stitch was organising a "Meet & Greet Stitchers from around the world" blog hop I just had to join in!

The idea behind the blog hop is to celebrate the first day of Spring in North America and to get stitchers from all around the world to come together and highlight their top 3-5 most beautiful projects (be them big or small) and they can be anything... cross stitch, appliqué or embroidery, or a combination of all three!

Do you know how hard it is to pick 3-5 projects to highlight?  Well, I found it hard to do....  one of the problems I had was that I give away most of my stitching so I wasn't able to re-take photos for this blog hop... but I have managed to pull together a couple of things to showcase today!  These are more five of my favourites rather than five of my most beautiful... although I think beautiful and favourite go hand in hand, don't you?

So here we go....

1. 50th Anniversary Sampler

Regular readers of my Blog may remember that I stitched this sampler to celebrate my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary in February 2014.  My original post is here - on that post I do have some close ups of the sampler including one of the crystal that I added above the swans.  Swans are lifetime companions and mates which makes them a perfect addition to a sampler celebrating a life together. The designer is Joan Elliott and it was originally published in The World of Cross Stitching Magazine (issue 129).

2. Baby Boy Gift

I stitched this delightful little Aussie koala for a blogging friend to celebrate the birth of her baby boy last year.  He went all the way to Portugal!  This was my first attempt at making a flat fold finish... The original post with more pics is here.  I just adore this little fellow! The designer, Carrol Nielsen, is Australian and if you visit her website you will see some of the most delightful designs to stitch.  I am currently stitching another one of her koalas as part of my Crazy January challenge.

3. Honey Pin Cushion

The "Honey Pin Cushion" is a freebie from the Keepsake Stitches website.  I loved this design and it was so simple to put together as a little cushion.  Last year I took part in an exchange and I decided to stitch a theme - Lavender and Bees!  This was the bee component of my stitching.  Sadly I never heard from the lady that received that package so I don't know if she liked it....  I think I may just have to stitch it again....  If you want to see what I stitched for the Lavender part of the exchange, the link to my post about this exchange is here.

4. Hang in There

I stitched this adorable kitten for my husband a few years ago when he was going through a bit of a tough time.  Kitty used to be sitting in the craft room but now that Hubby has moved into the new home office that we have set up in our two front bedrooms, kitty has also moved home!  He now sits in Hubby's office where he can inspire Hubby every day to just "Hang in There"! ♥♥♥

I don't think that Kitty has ever been shown on my blog...  this was a Jiffy kit from Dimensions and the designer is Katherine Neprud.

5. Light The Way

I had to add this little darling to my list of favourites!  "Light the Way" is a freebie from the Gloria and Pat website.  She/he is just so cute!  I have always had a soft spot for the "Precious Moments" designs.  I stitched this one back in 2011 for the charity organisation "Quilts 4 Kids".  My original post about this cutie is here. Sadly the website no longer exists for the Australian charity so I can't show you the finished quilt that was presented to the young girl.

So that's it.... five of my favourite pieces of stitching.  I hope that you have enjoyed a small sample of some of my stitching.

Now for the fun bit.... I am going to do a giveaway to celebrate the blog hop.... it is actually Autumn here in Australia but I will play the game and pretend it is Spring for one day!

The giveaway prize is:

- Shepherd's Bush chart leaflet - Scatter Eggs (looks very like Spring!)

- A bunch of threads...

- and anything else I can think of to pop into the parcel!

Shepherd's Bush "Scatter Eggs" pic from Shepherd's Bush website

To enter my giveaway there really isn't too many rules....

1.  Please comment on this post and let me know which one of my favourite pieces is your favourite

2.  Be a follower of my blog - it would be lovely if you could please sign up as follower (if you aren't already) by using the Google Friends Tab on my side - I can't track new followers otherwise!

Giveaway closes on 31st March 2015.  I will announce the winner (drawn randomly by comment number) on Friday 3rd April 2015.

Good luck everyone!

Now if you would like to continue the Blog Hop and meet some lovely stitchers from around the world - drop into Madame Samm's blog and start your journey... link is here to the "Meet and Greet Stitchers from around the world"

Enjoy the Spring blog hop around the world and I will see you all again soon.

Til next time, Happy Stitching!

Hugs xx

Last Week's Stitching Progress.....

Who wants to see some more Crazy January Challenges updates?

I have managed to stitch on some more of my Crazy January WIP's over the last week.... having some many WIP's is certainly making sure that I don't get bored!

"You are so Loved" - The Snowflower Diaries
Stitched on 32ct Belfast Linen "Fairy Tale" 

I started this on Day 26... and the last pic you saw it looked like this:

I had to frog out most of what I stitched last time as I had started the words in the wrong place!  It now looks like this.....

"Autumn Fab Fob" - Lizzie Kate
Stitched on 28 ct Pumpkin Spice Jazlyn 

I started this on Day 4... it looked like this when I left it

and now it looks like this...  As I mentioned in my January post I was going to re-stitched the ray stitches above the word "Autumn" - which I did.  I found a variegated yellow and orange in my thread stash and replaced them.

"Happy Owl O Ween" - Needle Bling Designs
Stitched on 32ct Belfast Linen "Rocky Creek Canyon" 

I started this sweet Owl on Day 15 of the Challenge, and you last saw him on 4th March.

Since then I have managed to stitch on him a little bit more.  I am planning on getting him finished by the end of the month as he is my March design on the Halloween 2015 SAL Blog.

"Koala" - Carrol Nielsen
Stitched on 32ct Belfast Linen "Olive Grove" 

My cute little Koala was started on Day 6 of the January Challenge.  This is part of a larger design but I am only stitching the second Koala.

I haven't managed to do much more but there was been a small amount of progress on this little cutie!

"Mouton de Saisons - Printemps" - Tralala Collection
Stitched on 28ct Cashel Linen "Fairy Forest"

This gorgeous design was started on Day 8 and I also managed to stitch on "Printemps" in February. This is what the delightful little sheep looked liked when I last posted....

Yesterday I picked up this sweet little sheep again and this is where I left him... one finished sheep!

"Christmas Eve Couriers: Comet" - Nora Corbett
Stitched on 32ct Opal Belfast Linen "Arabian Nights"

Last but not least.... Comet!  I started Comet on Day 5 and left him looking like this.....

I haven't managed to stitch on Comet as much as Prancer recently, but at least there has been some progress this month.

Well, that's it for this update.  So far I have managed to make some progress on quite a few of my January challenges.  I need to finish the Happy Owl O Ween before the end of the month so I will spend some time this week on that design before stitching on another of the WIP's.

Til next time, Happy Stitching!

Hugs xx

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL 2015 - Update #3

It is now the middle of March which means it is time for an update on my "Gifted Gorgeousness SAL 2015" (GG SAL) stitching.  I am only posting pics of the designs that I have stitched on since my last GG SAL update.

Lizzie Kate - Tiny Tidings 
Giveaway win from Kay's Random World - link to Kay's original giveaway post here and link to my post about the giveaway win is here

Tiny Tidings XV - Lizzie Kate

Lizzie Kate's Tiny Tidings XV - "Feeling Festive"

Lizzie Kate's Tiny Tidings XV - "Joyeux Noel"

Moutons de Saisons "Printemps et ete" - Collection Tralala
Gift from Kaye from Kitten Stitching.  The original post of when Kaye gave me these charts is here.

Tralala Collection - Mouton de Saisons

Moutons de Saisons "Printemps"

Halloween Limited Edition Charts - Lizzie Kate
Giveaway win from Carolyn (Taking One Stitch at a Time) - link to my post about the giveaway win is here

Halloween Limited Edition Charts - Lizzie Kate

Lizzie Kate - Autumn Fab Fob

So there we are... a little bit of progress on my GG SAL choices.  More to come next month!

Til next time, Happy Stitching!
Hugs xx

If you're not sure what this particular SAL is all about.... Jo from Serendipitous Stitching hosts this SAL - the link to my post late last year about the SAL is here.... but essentially this SAL is about stitching charts/kits or using fabrics & threads that we have received as gifts, won in giveaways or anything that is intended be a gift or giveaway prize... or anything else that you can loosely use the word "gift" for!!  If you wish to sign up for this SAL, click on the button below or the button on my sidebar and you will be re-directed to Jo's blog.

Look what I found hiding in a pillow case...

I don't know about you but I have a number of WIP's that I started many moons ago - really I think I should now be calling them UFO's!

Some of these WIP's/UFO's I had completely forgotten about until now.... Long story short....
Hubby works from home so we decided to renovate and re-organised 2 of our spare bedrooms for him to use for his office and meeting space - this have been done over the last couple of months.  So last weekend when we started to sort through all the old "stuff" that had been in the bedrooms and was sitting in the lounge during the reno's, I came across an old pillow case that had a number of scroll frames wrapped up in it.... and on the scroll frames were a number of WIP's (now UFO's) that I had started way back in the dim dark ages (late 1990's or early 2000's), which I had put away for various reasons and never picked up again..... as often happens when you move house and change lives!

Now I don't yet know which ones of these I will actually stitch on again, but I thought I would show you them all anyway and bow my head in shame!

1. Country Companions - Emily
This design was published in the UK Needlecraft magazine back in March 1998.  Not sure when I started this but it was probably in 1998 or 1999.  I don't even remember why I stopped stitching on this one...

As you can see I do have quite a way to go... but she is very cute so maybe I will pick her up again soon and try and finish her.  I think from memory that I may have started stitching her when my niece Emily was born.... Maybe I should finish it for her 21st birthday in 3 years time!

2. To Love and To Cherish
This design I started stitching for my brother just after he got married - it was going to be an Anniversary gift for them... but I didn't get very far with it as all the white and cream was so frustrating so I put it away.  Then a couple of years or so after they got married they split up.... so maybe the universe was telling me something when I was struggling with the stitching on this one!!

Unfortunately this lovely design I think will be confined to the "never to be finished" pile....

3. Jingle Bell Joy
What can I can say about this one?  It was almost finished when I stopped stitching on it... The design comes from an old Stoney Creek Cross Stitch Collection magazine.  1996 was the year of the magazine but I don't remember when I started it - about 2001 I think.  I was stitching this for a friend's baby as a Christmas gift (now here comes the change of life bit!) however, when I split from my first husband I no longer saw those "so-called" friends, so "Jingle Bell Joy" was bundled up and put away!  I think I might put this back into my stitching rotation at some point as it is such a sweet design...

Once Teddy is done this would make a lovely wall hanging for Christmas... I don't think I will attempt to turn it into a stocking - the old sewing skills aren't that good!!

4. Beatrix Potter - Storybook Sampler
I love Beatrix Potter!  When I first saw this design I just had to stitch it... I started stitching this for the same family as the UFO above... and for the same reason I stopped stitching it...

One day I will get back to this one as I just love those cute characters.

5. World Maps - Egypt
The map of Egypt.... Egypt is right at the top of my bucket list of places to visit!  I love most things Egyptian and just had to stitch this when I saw the design advertised in a magazine.  This is stitched on evenweave and I suspect (may be wrong) that this was my first step away from Aida....

One day I think I will go back to this one... I only stopped stitching on it when I bundled up all my stitching at the end of my previous life!

6. The Mysteries of Ancient Egypt
Another Egyptian design.... this one was in the UK Cross Stitcher magazine back in June 2001, and I am pretty sure I would have started stitching this around the same time as the map of Egypt above.

I don't really know if I will finish this one...it sort of doesn't do much for me any more.... but then again who knows I might decide to give it another go!

7. "Night" - Maria van Scharrenburg
I have both of these designs in my stash pile - "Night" and "Day" by Maria van Scharrenburg.  I started this one about 8 years ago (I think) and was doing really well.... but as with most designs that have too much white or cream I get bored and put them away when the lack of colour starts to annoy me!  I also found that this one was hard to stitch on as the scroll frame stand that I have it on was giving me terrible back and shoulder pain.... no excuse I know!

I probably should get back to this design - both Day and Night are so gorgeous and would look lovely all finished...

Ok... confession time is now over!  Next post will be all about the active WIP's that I have on the go!

Til then, happy stitching!
Hugs xx