I don't have fireflies in my garden - which is a shame... only cats, bees, a dog and the odd dragonfly!! So please settle down with a cuppa, put your feet up and enjoy!

Monday, September 4, 2017

It's September and there is a new start!

Image from Princess Sassy Pants pinterest page
September is here... how quick is this year going by?  I can't believe that we are now in the last quarter of the year!

The bonus for us in the Southern Hemisphere is that September means Spring is on it's way and I am so hanging out for some nice warm sunny weather!  I swear to you I think I must be solar powered as I don't do so well in Winter!!  I really do need the sun to give me the energy and spark to get through the day! 😺

Anyway enough rambling.... I thought that I would show you my September new start.  It is a really sweet Little House Needleworks design with pumpkins! So not very Spring like but there was a reason for starting it!

A couple of weeks or so ago I stumbled across a post on the CCN/LHN FB group about a potential SAL for the northern hemisphere Autumn months which I thought would be a great excuse for a new start!  Vonna (The Twisted Stitcher) started up a separate group for the SAL and showed some potential designs that would fall into the category and low and behold I had one in my stash - which meant that I just had to join the SAL!

Little House and Country Cottage Needleworks Autumnal Stitch-A-Long
FB group - link is here
Starts: 1 September 2017
Ends: 1 November 2017

My new start for this SAL is Little House Needleworks "Pumpkins 4 Sale"

image from 123 Stitch
I did have to purchase the Classic Colourworks threads but everything else is from stash....

Pumpkins 4 Sale - Little House Needleworks
Fabric: 28ct Jobelan "Silver Springs" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: as per chart - DMC, Classic Colourworks (Crescent Colours)
Started: 1 September 2017 (start #52/2017)


I continued to stitch on my pumpkin on Saturday and almost managed to finish the first one!

This piece will be my Friday night stitching WIP for September... it would be nice to have a finish at the end of the month but I won't hold my breath!

So that's my latest new start... I have a couple more planned for September so stay tuned!




Til next time, happy Spring or Autumn Stitching
Stitchy hugs xx

August Smalls Update

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

It's time for a catch up on my Smalls stitching for the month of August.  I only managed one complete finish for the month.... very disappointing effort! 😢😞

Free Gift - Cross Stitcher Magazine (Issue June 2000)
Designer: Angela Poole

"Beside the Sea"
Started: 5 January 2016
Finished: 8 August 2017

I love the little buttons that were included in the kit... I very nearly didn't sew them onto this little small as I thought I could use them for something else... but they do just finish off the design. Now I just have to decide how to frame it.... I am thinking something like a beach theme frame with a distressed paint look... but that's for another day!

To see everyone else's Smalls posts for August pop over to Heather's blog and check out the link up post

Next Month – The next Smalls SAL check-in will take place on Friday, 29th September 2017.



Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

August WIPocalypse Update

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings
WIPocalypse is run by Melissa over at Measi's Musings and is now in it's 6th year (amazing!).  The object of the WIPocalypse is to stitch on projects that you want to complete before the end of the world! 

At the beginning of January I picked out 17 WIPocalypse projects to work on in 2017.  The full list of my 17 projects can be found on my WIPocalypse 2017 page.

12 Days of Christmas (Plum Street Samplers)
Fabric: 28ct Jobelan "Gold Digger" - Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: Jodyri Designs (Wuthering Heights, Sense & Sensibility, The Olde Curiousity Shoppe, Midnight Hour)

July 2017:

August 2017:
The target for August was to finish Day 8 - well... guess what! I managed to finish it last night (that's the good thing about posting late I can show you a finished block!)


Halloween Happiness (Sandra Cozzolino)
Fabric: 28ct plain purple fabric
Threads: all DMC

July 2017:


August 2017:
Finished the creepy "L" tree in August.
Working on the creepy "H" tree... didn't quite get this finished in the month of August.. but it will be done by the end of this week!

Deer & Grapes Mystery Sampler (Jean Farish)
Fabric: 32ct Lugana "Autumn Glade" - Stitches and Spice

Continued to stitch on the deer during August...

July:

August:

Question of the Month: How do you get yourself out of a stitching drought?

A stitching drought (or a missing stitching bug) is something that I haven't experienced for quite some time.... luckily!  I do sometimes have the odd day when I can't decided what to stitch from my many WIPs - on those days I will look for something that is either close to a finish or something that might be related to a SAL challenge that I want to get ticked off the list.  Or if that fails... a new start also gets the stitching juices flowing again!! 😃

Next posting date: September 24, 2017
Topic for next time: Which floss (or color of floss) do you absolutely adore and want to stash constantly?

So there you go.... a little bit of an update on my stitching throughout the month of August.

If you want to see what everyone else has posted this month, drop into Measi's blog and check out the August link up page and if you're on Facebook, remember to also check out the Facebook Group for updates as well.




Thanks for dropping by... til next time, happy stitching
Lots of stitchy hugs xx

Monday, August 28, 2017

Late Gifted Gorgeousness Post - August 2017


I have been very remiss in posting for GG stitching for a couple of months.... but here I am at long lost with an update on no less than 3 x GG pieces!

Tulip Time - Just Nan
Started: 4 August 2017 (#48/2017)
Fabric: 28ct Lugana "Malva" Chromatic Alchemy
Threads: DMC as per chart
Fabric was a gift from Tiff (Tiffstitches A Blog)

I showed a start picture in my recent starts posts - I worked on this piece for another couple of hours after the challenge was revealed.


Dream Big - Country Cottage Needleworks
Started: 1 May 2017 (#37/2017)
Fabric: "Dawn of Spring" Jodyri Designs
Threads: mix of DMC, Weeks Dye Works & Jodyri Designs
Chart was a gift from Tiff (Tiffstitches A Blog)

The last time you saw it I was working on the rabbit using the Jodyri Designs thread "check name)
After a couple of days rotation in August it now looks like this:

Now I have just noticed that it would appear that I have never showed this start below... sorry...

Fur-ever Friends - Laurel Burch (Mill Hill Kit)
Started: 17 May 2017 (#41/2017)
Kit Fabric/threads: 28ct black linen with DMC
Chart was purchased using a gift from Linda (Stitching with my Furbabies)
I started this in May but haven't picked it up since... I really must do so soon as the colours are so gorgeous even if stitching on black is a pain in the you know what! 😏

Have a great stitchy week... and





Til next time, happy stitching
Jo from Serendipitous Stitching hosts the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  The GG 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 link here, or the button on my sidebar and you will be re-directed to Jo's blog.

Long overdue new starts update....

Image from Princess Sassy Pants pinterest page
I was going through my blog and realised that there are so many stitchy things that I haven't shown you yet!  So pull up a comfy chair, grab a cuppa and settle in for my New Start Parade!

Nantucket Rose - Lavender & Lace
Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Whole Lotta Love" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Thread: DMC as per chart (#49/2017)
Started: 19 August 2017 (Nantucket Rose SAL hosted by Dena)

Castles in the Air - Long Dog Samplers
Fabric: 32ct Belfast "At Last" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Thread: DMC White (accents will be in gold or silver)
Started: 20 August 2017 (#50/2017)

Tulip Time - Just Nan
Fabric: 28ct Lugana "Malva" Chromatic Alchemy
Threads: DMC as per chart
Started: 4 August 2017 (#48/2017)
Guess What Challenge - Cross Stitch It's Fun FB group
Peacock Lady - Joan Elliott
Fabric: 28ct Opal Brittney "After the Rain" Jodyri Designs
Threads: DMC as per chart
Started: 9 July 2017 (#47/2017)
Joan Elliott July - FB challenge

Debi's Rose - Chatelaine (Martina Rosenberg) Freebie
Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Garden of Eden" Colour Cascade Fabric
Threads: DMC as per chart
Started: 2 July 2017 (#46/2017)
Colour Cascade Fabric SAL

Coffee Saves Lives - Heartstring Samplery
Fabric: 28ct Belfast Opal "Gold Digger" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: Hand-dyed threads as per chart
Started: 17 June 2017 (#45/2017)

Maidens of the Season Pt 1 - Mirabilia
Fabric: 28ct Lugana Opal "Silver Springs" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: DMC as per chart
Started: 28 May 2017 (#42/2017)

Roccoco Ladies - Soda Stitch
Fabric: 32ct Belfast Linen "Fall to Pieces" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: DMC as charted
Started: 16 April 2017 (#36/2017)
Stitch Maynia Tour De Designers SAL April 2017

The Porch Swing - Paula Vaughan
Fabric: 28ct Opal Brittney Linen "Year of the Rooster" Jodyri Designs
Threads: DMC as charted
Started: 26 March 2017 (#33/2017)

I think that's it for new starts other than the monthly SALs which I will save for another post...


Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs xx