A finish and a UFO

Well, it finally happened - I finished Jack's sampler! :D *happy dance* So here it is before the backstitch....



And after the backstitch...



I finished it last month, after taking a humungous 11 months to stitch it. Considering Megan's took me only a month, I am pretty disappointed with that length of time. However, I am pleased with the end result. I'm very glad that I took out the border that would have been of a different colour as it would have spoilt the whole thing. I would've posted pictures earlier but I've been having issues with blogger :(

Anyway, I have now resumed stitching on a long forgotten UFO. My aim is to work through my UFO's one at a time until they are eliminated and then never have any ever again LOL

The piece I have picked up is called Birds of a Feather and is a design by Dimensions. Once finished it will look like this:



This is the last progress shot I have taken, but there has been more stitching since then ;-)



It is a design I am stitching for my dad, and he'll be visiting with my mum in February so I'm hoping to have it done or at least mostly done by the time they get here. Thankfully he doesn't know anything about it yet, as it was one Mum originally bought for him and was unable to stitch it herself. It's done on 18 count Aida and Mum's eyes weren't up to it (this was in the early days of her stitching, before she got her magnifier light. I agreed to stitch it in her place but I started it 8 years ago! It's just been one of those projects that has been put to one side to get other things done first and then I completely forgot about it... Oh well, it's back now and I'm quite enjoying working on it. The cream part of the border is only half stitch so it's coming along quite easily. I did get a little bored by the border though so I have started working on the central design. Gotta vary it up a little :-D This design is also one that I am timing. I am using a stopwatch, but I am not seeing how fast I can stitch (evidently, as it's been 8 years!). Some designs I just like to see how much actual stitching time goes into it. I have a tendency to sometimes have the tv on whilst I am stitching and pay more attention to the tv so a possible 2 hour stitching session might only have about 30 minutes of actual stitching in it. I am simply starting the clock when I begin stitching and stopping it for loo breaks or when I make a cuppa, and then keeping a log of it. I don't do this for every design, mind you as it would completely take the enjoyment out of it. I'll let you know what the final tally is - I think it'll shock me more than anything :-P

In other news, I have changed jobs and moved to a childcare centre a little closer to home. I'm really enjoying it, and an added bonus is that I now get an hour for my lunch break instead of half an hour. It makes it a longer day but it also gives me the opportunity to do somethign with that time. I was contemplating taking some stitching with me but instead I decided to use the time to read and leave my stitching until the evenings when I am at home. I have begun re-reading the Elm Creek novels by Jennifer Chiaverini. They are an easy read, and I just pretend that I am reading about a group of cross-stitchers rather than a group of quilters. I do the same thing with Kate Jacobs' knitting books. I seem to get such a sense of belonging within their groups that I almost feel like I am part of the book. It also makes me feel even more lucky to have the group of stitchy friends that I do.

Anyway, better wrap it up for one night, Little Miss has gone off for the first time ever (at home with me, at least) without her dummy so I'm going to make the most of it. Before I go though, I'd like to welcome my newest followers - I'm now up to the dizzy heights of 20! I hope I haven't bored any of you too much and thanks for reading my little blog. I'll try to keep it a little more updated so you actually have something to follow :D

Happy stitching!

Motivation

I've not really been very motivated to do any stitching for a while. I think the whole having-to-rip-half-my-work-out saga really put the kybosh on it for a while. That and a few issues at work and I really haven't been myself.

However, I have sorted things out at work now (to a point) and I finally got the motivation to pick up my stitching again at the weekend, when I had a stitchy meet with my lovely stitching friends (Belinda, Bek and Cassie). It was a fantastic few hours and as hubby was out watching the footie with his dad I had to take Little Miss with me. I was a bit dubious as to how it was going to go for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was right on her normal sleep time, which meant she was either going to sleep in the car and get grumpy, or she was going to get grumpy due to not having a sleep. Neither of those things happened and I ended up putting her to bed almost an hour early that night and she was straight to sleep! It did make her a bit more tired the next day though so she's not quite ready to come out of her daytime sleep yet :) The second reason was that she's never been around my stitchy stuff before (I've always made sure it was away before she got up so she didn't get attracted to the scissors or needles. Again, I needn't have worried - there were far too many toys to play with at Cassie's place for her to worry about what we were all doing. It was a great afternoon with lovely company, good conversation and of course some stitching!

So now, this is how far I have managed to get with Jack's sampler. Besides the backstitch, the border is complete so I only have to work on the inside picture. Hopefully it won't take too long now as I feel like I have been working on this one forever. I already have my next project lined up too - Ouroborus. It's a design of a dragon, stitched in purple and I'm doing it as a stitchalong with Bek. We got it at the same time and a good friend of ours (who used to be in the stitchy group before she upped and left us to move to Germany) sent us some lovely sparkly material which was just perfect to stitch him on. I would love to get back to stitching on him but won't pick it up again until I have finished Jack's sampler (or it'll never get finished!)



At our stitchy meet, we also floated the idea of going on a weekend away towards the middle of next year, as a kind of retreat. I'm pretty excited about the prospect and have already been looking on t'internet at places to stay. Three out of the four of us are mum's to young children (Little Miss is the oldest at just over 2 years) so we don't want to venture too far away in case we need to get back, but far enough to feel like we're having a complete break. There are a few places that look promising. It'll just be nice to get away from it all, have good company, lots of stitching time and hopefully lots of laughs. maybe even a stitchy shop or two!

I hope everyone else is going well with their stitching - I'm going to attempt some catching up on blog reading, but I may be some time!

Happy stitching xx

The drought is almost over

It seems my bug may have begun to creep back - yay! It's been a long while since I've even wanted to stitch, and I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get back into it. "What am I going to do with all that stash?" was one of the things going through my mind... I think part of me stopping was that I had had a long run of stitching all the time, which tends to happen - I'll stitch heaps and then nothing at all. But this time I think it was also partly triggered by a mistake with the stitching. I was sooo frustrated that I just couldn't bring myself to pick it up and look at it again. The mistake wasn't my fault either, so that made it even more frustrating. I found that when I changed to the second skein of blue for the border, there was a change in the colour. I had bought all the thread at my LNS, but a few months apart and I went back there to get some more, hoping that it would match what I had already done. Unfortunately it seemed I had bought a rogue thread the first time so there was no getting around the fact that I had to rip out an entire skein's worth of border :( That meant I went from this:



to this:



(The stitching along the bottom is in the new thread)

Last week, I asked hubby if there was anything he wanted me to do on my day off (we each have a day where Little Miss is at day care and we have time at home whilst the other is at work. I usually give hubby a list of jobs to keep him busy as I do housework on my day). He told me that I should do nothing and have a break for a change. Who am I to resist that? It was the day before my birthday (when I would be working) and I'd just had a week at home with Little Miss due to the extra long weeknd with public holidays everywhere... I love her to bits, but I just needed some time out :) So, what was I to do with my free time? I spent part of it on the computer (paying bills then getting distracted) and part of it watching tv, and then a thought crossed my mind - maybe I should get some stitching out! So that's what I did and got a few lines accomplished. :D That evening, hubby suggested I could do some more if I wished. I got him to move my daylight lamp from the lounge into the sitting area in the dining room and away I went for a little bit. The light is able to be closer to me there so it makes for better stitching, and that might give me more incentive to keep going with it. :)

So now here we are, and a week later I am still doing odd bits on my stitching and it is adding up to some visible progress! I think I might also be in danger of enjoying it again :P This picture was taken under my daylight lamp at night so the colours may appear different to the other pictures.



I must say I am pretty pleased with my progress now - the sides of the border definitely grow faster than the top/bottom. And now I'll try and get some more stitching done before I get too distracted on the computer!

I noticed that I have a couple of new followers too - I'd like to say welcome and thanks for popping by. Thanks also to everyone else for reading, even though it's been a while between posts. I'll try and get around to catching up with your postings soon :)

Happy stitching!

A big week

It seems to have been all go around here just lately - so much so that the stitching hasn't had much of a look in! The main reason for that is Little Miss. She's been unwell since last Sunday, cutting a bottom molar and having a horrible cough. The cough is persistent and still here a week later so we're off to the doctors with her tonight. It's waking her up bith during her daytime nap and her big sleep at night so no-one is getting much rest. I just hope they can give her something for it with her only being a little one...

The other major piece of news regarding Little Miss is that she started walking yesterday! :D We're on cloud nine at the moment as she is 17 months so seems to be at the later end of starting to walk. She took her first steps on the 21st October and now walked properly on the 31st. I guess it's watch out world from now on!

Hubby has started a new job today, which I think will benefit us all. It's still baking, but that's ALL he'll be doing - no more paperwork to bring home! We will get more time with him, especially as his earliest start will now be 4am instead of midnight so we'll have time together in the evenings. YAY! He's also started up his own blog and will hopefully put the first post on today (he's under "The ramblings of a grumpy old man" in my blog list. :D

As for me, I've been for an interview and trial day at a childcare centre and it looks like I'm going to be doing 4 days a week soon! I also got a call from a closer childcare centre so it seems I'm in demand at the moment ;)

I have done a little bit on Jack's sampler but it's not moving so fast as Megan's did. Purely because of the lack of time I've had to spend on it. I'm enjoying doing this one, so hopefully once we get Little Miss sorted out I will be able to make some headway with it.

Making a start

I made a start on Jack's sampler a few days ago, but had to wait until I had some colour on there to be able to take a picture worth taking - cream on cream really wasn't going to show up too well! I have taken the same approach as I did with Megan's - I am going to stitch the border as I go so I don't have to do it all at the end. This one has little boats in the border and it's going to look very cute. This one also has two stuffed toys to cuddle and the blanket has more colours in it, so it's going to look quite different from Megan's. I am looking forward to having them both side by side when this one is finished though.



I have also been a busy little bunny on behalf of my mum. At the weekend, during our weekly phone conversation, I helped her to set up her own blog. She's been stitching for over 10 years now and has a fair bit of work to show. I think it's also going to help her to keep her stitching going, as this blog has helped me. She's Making Time To Stitch on my blog roll if anyone is interested in having a look.

Now that the warmer weather is coming and we've had a couple of nicer days, my enthusiasm for cleaning seems to have kicked in. If we have a nice day, I feel like I should be getting the washing machine on, dusting, etc. I even went as far as cleaning the windows this week - am I mad? :P

In the past couple of weeks, hubby and I have seriously contemplated moving towards the country. It is something that has been at the back of our minds for some time now, but this is the most we have thought about it. In the end, after all the excitement, we decided the time isn't right for us. So, to try and get it out of our systems, we are going to re-arrange the house a little bit and have a huge clear out of anything we don't need. We're looking at moving the lounge into the dining area and the dining area to where the lounge is. This will mean that the lounge is away from the front of the house but closer to Little Miss's room. Not sure how well it will work, what with the summer looming and Little Miss having her bedroom door open to keep it cool in her room, but we'll see how it goes. If it doesn't work, we'll just swap it back and we haven't really lost anything.

Anyway, thst's it from me for now - I'm heading off to catch up on reading all of your wonderful blogs. Happy stitching!

Megan's birth sampler is finished!

I finished, I finished, I finished! :D It's all a little exciting! I get a bit of a buzz when I finish a design, and I am so glad this one has gone so quickly. It was exactly a month from start to finish, so if all goes to plan on Jack's, they should both be done and framed by Christmas, and that'll be fab :D

I have already cut my fabric and found the centre ready for Jack's, but I think I might end up starting that tomorrow. Little Miss has gone off to sleep without too much trouble tonight (thanks goodness!) so I am about to go and have some dinner and a well earned cuppa. I might even see what's on the telly for a change ;)

Happy stitching folks!

Getting there...

I have now almost completed the backstitch on the main part of the picture, and just looking at it, it has come alive. I am so happy with it. I can feel the fact that the end is in sight - all I have to do next is stitch the flowers in the border, backstitch them and put in the birth details. Looks like I'll be on to the blue one for Jack pretty soon!



I haven't been able to get too much stitching done of late, which is a little disappointing but that's just the way life goes, especially with a 16 month old! Poor Little Miss is having a right old time of it at the moment. She's cutting bottom molars so is finding it difficult to get to sleep (hence no stitch time for me) and is grumpy during the day, making her even more clingy than normal. By the end of the day we're all exhausted. I do hope those teeth come through soon!

The past couple of days have been wonderful, weather-wise. I've even been wearing shorts - shock, horror! I think my lily-white legs must have blinded a few people LOL.It's amazing how much better you can feel about life when the weather is warm and the sun stays up longer. And it's great for the washing too!

Before I finish up, I'd just like to say how wonderful it feels to read your comments. Sometimes I might not get chance to respond to them but I love reading them, and I can hardly believe I have 9 followers now! I know it's not many compared to some, but I value each and every one of you. I didn't think anyone would be interested much in reading my ramblings so I'm glad that you all are. Thanks for making my day special :D

Pink is done!

This weekend I finshed the pink on the border - woohoo! :D I counted that once the border is completely stitched, there will be nearly 3500 stitches in it... That just blows my mind - it's such a small design for that number of stitches....



After all my grumblings of how much the pink was annoying me (probably due to the boredom of straight lines all the time) I am very pleased with how it is looking. I am even becoming a little partial to this tone of pink, but Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone! :P

It feels like I am on the home stretch now - just a bit more filling in, and then on to the backstitch I go! I think I am going to finish the main part of the design before stitching the flowers in the border. I think it'll be hard to say goodbye to this one when the other one is also stitched...

Hubby has also made a little progress on his stitching:



Gotta convince him to get his own blog so he can give more details about it, but I think he is doing well. :)

This weekend has been a bit hit and miss... Hubby organised to take Little Miss to his mum and dad's for a couple of nights to give them some quality time with her and for me to get a break. It was great in theory and the first few hours were pretty good. I had a couple of the girls over for a stitchy meet, so we got a chance to stitch and chat as long as we wanted - especially with the clocks having gone forward on Saturday night, it seemed like the daylight was going to last fgorever! We had a great time - it almost seems like old times, pre Little Miss. It was once everyone left that it seemed weird. The house was soooo quiet! I ended up staying up til about midnight watching a bit if TV and eventually doing some more stitching. I thought it would be lovely to have a lie in the next morning, but apparently my body clock thought otherwise and I was awake at 7am! I fought with it and took ages to go back to sleep and finally got up around 9.45am. The whole of yesterday was very bizarre. Not having to clean up the lounge room every five minutes, having lunch and dinner by myself - I even cooked Stroganoff for myself as hubby doesn't like mushrooms. By the time dinner had ended I couldn't be in the house by myself any more so I went out to visit my friend, Bek. It was good to get out of the house and have some good company and do some more stitching! I came home around 10.30pm and again stayed up late - it was after 1am when I turned out the light. Thankfully I slept until 9.30am this morning so that was good. Hubby and Little Miss arrived back late morning and it was so good to see them. As soon as Little Miss was in my arms she was waving to hubby as if to say "I have Mummy now, I don't need Daddy any more". It's lovely but I feel bad for him when she does that.

They both had a great time away, and I am sure it will be something that will be done more regularly. Maybe next time I will feel better about it too :)

Over the border

OK, so I am now offically fed up with stitching the border on this design. I admit that it is looking lovely, but it is doing my head in! LOL I am so very nearly there with it though, so I am going to finish stitching the border before I get back on to the main design or else I feel that the border will stay unfinished for a very long time...

I will probably end up having a bit of a break from it tonight anyway as I have our 6 year old niece staying with us for a sleepover. Since it is school holidays she is allowed to stay up a bit later so we'll probably end up watching a movie before bed, once Little Miss is settled. She's teething at the moment so has been waking up early (4.20am the other day!) so I think I'll be taking the opportunity for an early night too :)



Hope you are all doing well with yur various stitching projects. Happy stitching!

I am amazed at how well the border seems to be coming along - it seems to be taking an age when I am stitching it, but when I look at the end of a stitching session I can definitely see the progress. I would like to get some of the left hand side of the border done before doing any more on the main part of the design. This will probably be the next couple of days worth of stitching as I am working tomorrow so no stitching time during Little Miss's nap time!

Good stitchy day

I ended up getting quite a bit of stitching time yesterday, so I made a good amount of progress. After lunch, I stitched whilst Little Miss slept and then I needed to borrow SIL's dryer so headed down to her place for a while with my stitching in my bag too. I left hubby in charge of Little Miss so he had some nice time to spend with her without me around. It was good sitting in the quiet with just the sound of the dryer going round. Maybe I should do it more often! Then last night once Little Miss had gone to bed, out came the stitching once more! I had the tv on in the background this time though and it was a struggle to decide what I wanted to concentrate on more! I ended up giving up when I realised it was closing in on 11pm.... Definitely a late night for me :S

I'm pleased with how well this one is going, although I am pretty sure I will have finished the central design before I even get close with the border!



I actually tried to post this earlier but it wouldn't let me upload the photo... I then had a little visit from the frogs during my lunchtime stitching session but thankfully it wasn't too bad - I've managed to recify it tonight so tomorrow I can continue like nothing happened at all!

I took pictures!

I finally got around to getting the camera out earlier on - woohoo! I also found the best spot for taking a picture was our bedroom - the natural light in there is fantastic... It'd be wonderful as a stitchy room. Hmmmm, wonder if I can convince hubby LOL!

So, here's Lizzie*Kate's Home Is... finished excpet for the names - I want to keep that a surprise until it is framed and given :D



It needs a darn good iron too, but again, that'll wait until after the details are put in. :)

I made a start on the first of the birth samplers on Tuesday of last week, so I have now been working on it for a week. I took the piccie before any stitching today, so it is already out of date! Some nights I haven't been ab;e to do any stitching, and some nights have been minimal with stitching time, so I feel like I've made a good start. After confering with the stitchy girls, it was decided that I start on the pink sampler first, so here it is:



I've decided to stitch the border in stages as I go, due to the fact that there is so much of it. I think it'd probably do my head in if I left it all to the end. I'm really liking the colours on this one, whichis very strange as I have never been a fan of pink... They look much better than on the pattern too. I'm really loving that I am back into my stitching, and projects like this one make me excited to keep going too.

New project

Well, in the end, it didn't take me all that long to decide what I would be stitching next. I have decided on my very first Prairie Schooler design that reads "A stitch in time". I thought it would be perfect to head up my blog. It's stitched on 32 count, and I completely forgot how small that is! I'm not having as much trouble with it as I initially thought I would though. The last time I worked on 32 count was 13 years ago, and my eyes were a touch better then!

I told myself that I was going to get everything organised last night to be able to start stitching today. It was quite late when I got off the phone to my mum, so intended to head to bed once I had done that. Well, it turns out that there were other ideas afoot... I had everything ready - threads sorted, material cut, centre found... And then as I was about to put it away, a little voice entered my head - "just a stitch or two to start won't hurt, will it?". I gave it some thought (for about a millisecond or two!) and thought that if I did a couple of stitches I could go to bed content in the knowledge that I had at least made a start. But we all know that I didn't stop at a couple of stitches, don't we? LOL I was still up stitching when hubby got up to go to work, at about 10.45pm, and only put it away at about 11.30pm.... Silly me! I've been tired all day because of that, but here's what I managed to get done: