A flyby post.....

Yep, this is a real flyby post.... I have been very lazy lately in regard to my blog and haven't posted for a couple of weeks, and I am so far behind in my blog reading as well. I even forgot to sign up for the IHSW last weekend. No excuses, I knew it was happening last weekend, I just didn't get around to signing up.... But I did stitch.... Sorry no peaking though as it is a surprise stitch and you can't see it til the recipient sees it.... Sorry! Oh, and no hints either!!!

Anyway, the reason for my flyby post. After stitching my little Dracula friend for the Halloween Ornie blog, I signed up to follow the Pickle Barrel Designs blog so that I could see what other gorgeous designs Nancy releases... When I went for a visit to her blog the other day guess what I saw... A post with three new releases and a giveaway! For me to enter the giveaway all I have to do is leave a comment and send a new follower over to Nancy's blog to say hi and to leave a comment to say who sent them.

Please do go and visit the Pickle Barrel Designs blog and say hi and let Nancy know who sent you before 31 March 2014 and you never know I could be the lucky winner of a brand new Pickle Barrel Designs chart. There are 3 new releases being given away. I can't decide which one I like yet.... Maybe "Life Lessons"... Thank you in advance for helping me win... And don't forget to enter the giveaway too!!

Well, my flyby post is now at an end as is my train ride into work.... Hopefully this will post before I hit the tunnel and lose my connection!!

Til next time, happy stitching

Stitching Noni xx

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Count Me In!

Sewing: A creative mess is better than tidy idleness

~ Author Unknown ~

Well hello again!  I am back to show you (finally) my finished February stitching for the Hallowe'en Ornie 2014 Blog.

My February design was "Count Me In" by Nancy Greenburg of Pickle Barrel Designs.  This design was published in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween Collection 2013 issue.  Such a fantastic source for Halloween designs.

"Count Me In"
Started 20th February 2014, Finished March 2014

I love how the orange stands out on the purple coloured Aida.  Very Halloween-ish colours!!

The March theme is Witches.  I have found so many different designs to stitch which contain witches, but I am still not sure which one I particularly want to stitch!  Although the Snowflower Diaries Seasonal Witches are very high on the list.

That's it for the time being.  Unfortunately not a lot of other stitching has been done lately except for the Count!  So now I had better get myself organised with some of my other stitching projects that are either on the go and waiting in the wings otherwise I won't have anything else to show you on the next post!

Til next time, happy stitching
Stitching Noni x




Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2014 Themes
March -Witches
April -Owls
May -Monsters
June -any freebie chart
July -Pumpkins
August -Ghosts
September -Black cats
October - Trick or Treaters
November -Bugs, insects or spiders
December -Free choice

TUSAL - March 2014

There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast

~ Author Unknown ~

Another month has gone by yet again.... and how do I know that!

Well, because it's TUSAL time again!  It seems quite strange doing this report as there was no new moon in February and two in January and I feel as if I haven't prepared an ORT Report for ages!   This month there are two new moons as well, and then things will get back to normal with one a month between now and the end of the year!

So what is in the jar this time round?

TUSAL March 2014

Well, as you can see, there is lots of black and orange and purple.  Those colours are from my Halloween stitching, and there are also some ORT's from my latest Chatelaine.  The pile is growing but I don't really seem to have a lot finished stitching so far this year to show for all the ORT's!  Never mind, I have nearly finished the Count and then it will be time to rotate back to the Chatelaine... or maybe time to start one of the MS SAL designs!

This month's TUSAL photo shows the pretty tin that we bought back from Paris with us.  It was full of yummy toffees and came from the wonderful Angelina Tearooms.  I just love collecting tins like these... full of yummy delights when first bought home, and then refilled with lots of other delights - threads, ribbons, buttons, etc!!!

That's it for this ORT report.  If you would like to sign up and join in the fun this year, then pop on over to Daffycat's blog and leave a comment saying that you're in and start collecting your ORT's!

The next 2014 ORT report will be ready for publication on or around 30th March 2014.

New Moons - 2014
30th March
28th April
28th May
27th June
26th July
25th August
23rd September
23rd October
22nd November
21st December

Til next time happy stitching!

Be Happy

Hugs,

Noni xx

February 2014 IHSW Update

We all need empty hours in our lives

or we will have no time to create or dream

~ Robert Coles ~

Woo Hoo!  There's a happy dance happening... for the first time in months I have managed to remember to sign up for the IHSW!  That's not to say that every weekend I don't park my behind on the couch and stitch - because I most certainly do!  It's just that on the IHSW 3 day weekend I have an official reason (excuse) to do so!!!

And even more surprisingly I have actually managed to get onto my Blog and post some pics.... Things must be looking up!

So what did I stitch on from Friday to Sunday?

Well, on Friday I finally started stitching my Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2014 choice for February (I know it's halfway through the month again and I have only just started it!!) and most of the weekend was spent stitching on my Count Dracula.

"Count Me In" as at Sunday 23rd Feb 2014
Designed by Nancy Greenberg (Pickle Barrel Designs)

My February choice is "Count Me In".  This cute little fellow was designed by Nancy Greenberg of Pickle Barrel Designs and he can be found in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2013 Special Edition magazine. Think I will be stitching a few more designs out of this magazine as the year progresses!

I did also manage a little bit of time stitching on my next Chatelaine - Mini Mandala II "C" - over the weekend as well.  I actually started stitching on this earlier last week, however I have now put it away as I am trying to concentrate on Count Dracula over the next week or so.

Chatelaine Mini Mandala II - C
as at Sunday 23rd Feb 2014

That's it for my first IHSW report for the year!  The next one will occur on the third full weekend of March (21st - 23rd March).  If you want to sign up for these fantastic stitching weekends, all you need to do is check in over on Joyce's blog and then stitch, post and read all the stitching news on Monday or Tuesday after the weekend.  It's all good fun!!

Now before I sign off, I would like to say a big Thank You to everyone for all your lovely comments on my last post and for the good wishes and congratulations to my Mum and Dad on their 50th Wedding Anniversary... it was lovely to read your comments and I will pass on all the messages to my parents.  I have tried to reply to everyone that comments... however there were a couple of "no-reply" bloggers...

Til next time, lots of happy stitching hugs
Stitching Noni xx

Secret Stitching Revealed

Chains do not hold a marriage together.

It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years

~ Simone Signoret ~

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary Mum & Dad

After many hints on previous posts about the secret stitching that I was doing, I can finally show you what I stitched for my Mum and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary.

50 years of marriage is quite a significant milestone and I wanted to find something nice to stitch for them to mark this milestone.  I looked at many designs, rejected more than I put in the stitching pile but I still wasn't happy with the designs I had found!  You know how it is sometimes when you just can't find the exact design that you want to stitch...  To be honest I don't think I really knew what I wanted to stitch.... but I did know that I wanted something simple but exquisite - something meaningful.... 

And then all of a sudden I found it!  A Joan Elliott Sampler from The World of Cross Stitching Magazine (issue 129).  In the magazine it was stitched for a 25th Anniversary, but as the design included an alphabet and numbers it was very easy to adjust it to suit a 50th Anniversary.

So without further ado.... I present the 50th Wedding Anniversary Sampler I stitched as a gift for my parents to celebrate their marriage milestone.....

"Anniversary Sampler" designed by Joan Elliott
World of Cross Stitching, issue 129

In the original design there was a stitched heart above the swans heads, however I decided that I would add a beautiful Swarovski crystal heart instead.

The fabric that I used to make the wall hanging is a Robert Kaufman fabric - The Culture Club "A Passage to India".  The colours in this fabric are just beautiful - such a bright mix of blues and golds and purples.  All the colours in that were in the sampler.

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary Mum and Dad - may you have many more to celebrate! xx

On that note, I will say goodbye....  as it is IHSW this weekend, I am now going back to park my butt on the couch with my stitching and start watching Hercule Poirot in the hope that I will have something to show you after the weekend.



Til next time, happy stitching!
Stitching Noni xx