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!

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!

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.

Must take pictures!

That's a mental note for myself... lol! I have been putting off posting as I wanted to get photo's taken first. Now I have decided I can't wait that long, so I'll post pictures later. I want to have natural light to take the photo's but every time I have chance to think about it, it seems that the daylight has gone... I'll try tomorrow :)

I finished my Home Is piece on Monday evening - yay! - and am now working on one of the birth samplers I have to stitch. I am currently unsure as to whether I am posting pics of these as I go, as the friend whose children they are for reads my blog. I am leaving the decision up to her as to whether she wants to see them as I stitch them or if she wants a surprise at the end. So c'mon Jane - let me know! :D

I have had a pretty good stitchy week, to be honest. I had a stitchy meet on Sunday at Cassie's house which was smaller than usual but it meant that we all got plenty of stitching done (despite the snacks calling out to be eaten!). The company was fabulous and I realise now why we try and make the meetings as regular as possible. It's lovely to get together with a couple of friends and stitch the afternoon away.

On Monday afternoon, I headed over to Belinda's house for some more stitching. She couldn't make it on the Sunday so it was nice to catch up. Bek came along after work and we all had dinner together and then did some more stitching. It was a great couple of days - lots of stitching and lots of good company.

Besides those two days, I have managed to get a little bit of stitching done in the evenings, but not as much as I could have done. Unfortunately, my daughter is teething and has a pretty bad cough to boot, so she's having difficulty in getting off to sleep and staying asleep (understandably) so my time has been taken up with trying to settle her. I'll be so glad - for her sake - when the cough goes and the teeth coem through. How hard it must be to be a little one...

Some finishes

Hubby and I decided that some of our stitching need to be framed this week, so we took a look at what was there. We came across hubby's very first stitched design, and he decided that it was small enough to put into a coaster, so here it is:



It's good to see it being put to use, and it is so neatly stitched - he must have had an excellent teacher! ;)

The next one is mine, and we took it to the framers. The lady there looked at it and said that it looked like it would fit into a standard frame, and it did! I think the colour of the frame really brings out the chocolate in the design. The mat came with the kit, and I think it looks perfect for it. I'm very happy with how it has turned out.



We also took my recent Lizzie*Kate finish in. I chose a dark frame with no mat, and the frame itself has a bit of a carved design. I'll hopefully be getting that back next Friday. I can't wait! Hubby chose to take his Concorde design in. It was his first evenweave design and it looks great. He chose a dark grey mat and a greeny grey metallic frame that compliments the plane perfectly. He's already chosen where he wants to hang it, so all we have to do now is wait for the phone call to say that it's ready.

Lizzie*Kate finish

I finally did it! I finished stitching a design. *happy dance* I really enjoyed stitching with the specialist threads, and I think the button sets it off nicely. I love stitching Lizzie*Kate!

It's been so long since I have finished something, even longer since I have finished something I am going to be keeping myself - it's a great feeling. I'm thinking about getting it framed fairly soon too, rather than add it to the finished designs I have waiting to be framed. It almost feels like jumping the queue, but I'm itching to get this one up on the wall.



I now have to decide what I'm going to stitch next - such a lot to choose from too! I'll have some fun making that decision today.