New Year - back again

Back again. I had a bit of a funk about writing this blog! I really couldn't see the point of sitting here, writing down what I'd been up to ... but thinking about it I'm going to continue. I shall write about what I've been creating, and where we've been.
Mind you - saying that - I should say that I won't post everything I've finished since my last post! That would take too long! I have to say I finished a few bits at the end of last year, maybe I will get round to posting them at some point - but let's start afresh and go from now.

I am currently working on a Heritage Crafts kit of Neuschwanstein Castle. I'd forgotten how they work those partial stitches they use, but luckily I'd bought the kit with evenweave fabric, so it was not too much of a pain. I'm about two thirds of the way complete, but the camera is tucked away, so I'll post a photo next time. Hopefully that will be a finish (or nearly one anyway).

Remember that Hummel piece I stitched last year?

I finally bought some fabric to finish this as a flat-fold. It will be my first attempt to finish in this way - so watch this space!

My dear friend celebrated her 80th birthday in November so I had to stitch her a special card. I loved the meerkats, but was disappointed that the glue I used showed through the fabric - luckily it almost made a pattern! But I was still upset with the finish.

This was a Joan Elliott pattern which I stitched and added to a christmas card for Jessica this year. My intention is to make another similar each year for her to hang on her tree. Now that they have moved house, they have space to put up a tree, so hopefully I can start this as a tradition for her.

I also finished this for Jess this year. I backed it with a red Christmas print and finally found a small enough hanging rod from Sew and So. (Most of them were too big). Although she is still slow in speaking, there is nothing wrong with her intelligence. And she does not yet write her name legibly. But this year she sat with her mum's Tesco Christmas catalogue and had ripped out the pages where she wanted the toys! So she could slip the pictures into the pocket at the bottom. I also printed out some A4 letter headed sheets which purported to come from Santa's desk, so that her parents could write a reply for her and put it into the pocket as a reply from Santa. 

This year we had Christmas at home alone - merely going to a friend's for a Boxing Day meal. And our New Year was quiet too - we sat at home watching Jools Holland on the television. 

The weather here has been very cold, but so far we have not seen any snow this far south and east. I hope we don't get any either! Tomorrow I have to go for a mammogram and have already decided to go to town on a bus so even with a heavy frost I should be okay for that. Then I have to start looking around for some summer wear - my t-shirts are looking a bit sad! We are off to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary in February in Egypt. We are going with a friend to a hotel in Hurghada and a Nile cruise tagged onto it. At least it should be a fair bit warmer than here!

Right - enough of the computer - time to get the bins ready for collection tomorrow - then make dinner and settle down for a night in front of the television with some knitting. I'm making a tunic style jumper in an Aran weight yarn, so it keeps me warm while I'm making it! The front is almost finished, so I hope to cast on for the back tonight.

Take care

Sandie

Full of cold

Glad that cold germs can't come through the laptop! I know they have PC viruses, but hopefully cold germs don't count!

I know why I'm suffering though - this time last week we were sat in temps of 36C - today it's 19C in Colchester, but it's been raining and horrid!

Where were we last week? Egypt! I got an email of last minute deals from Red Sea Holidays, and we decided to opt for a week of sun before the cold winter blues sets in!

This is the Makadi Palace - on the Red Sea coast. Most days we spent the morning on our balcony when the sun was not too hot. After a stroll down to the Sunset Bar for lunch, we spent the afternoon in the bar near one of the pools, before returning to our room to shower and change for dinner! 

While we were away, DH celebrated his birthday. As usual I had left it late to make a card for him. This year I was stumped for ideas. A week before we left I spotted an entry on Avis's blog Sewing Beside the Sea where she'd sewn a card with a ukulele on it for her daughter. I asked her for a copy of her pattern, and I set about making it look a bit like the one my DH bought in Hawaii. Here's his 2 ukes, and here's the card I finished.

 

What else have I been doing? Well I finished the Hansel to go with my Gretel angel I mentioned last time and also a Mill Hill Santa which we bought in Hawaii last time we were there.

And I promised last time that I'd also let you see the birth sampler I made for my best friends' daughter. Myles was born on August 15th and I had the image stitched, ready and waiting for the details to be added. As his bedroom was to be decorated in cool beige/browns I decided to opt for a soft image, rather than the bright colours of many birth samplers. I decided to stretch it over a canvas rather than putting it into a frame. I edged the picture with a pale blue ric rac binding to give it a finishing touch (which doesn't show up very well in the photo!). I was delighted that both parents seemed to be delighted and it's already hanging in Myles's bedroom.

 


And finally I started to stitch the Advent animals free designs from Brooke Nolan Although so far she's posted animals 1 - 7, the intention is for the series to be completed by Christmas 2015, so even I should be able to complete that deadline! Once I have a few done I'll post in the next blog post perhaps.

In the meantime my daughter and her husband have moved house and our granddaughter's bedroom will probably have an owl theme when it's decorated. Needless to say, some of those owl patterns which have been dominant in magazines etc recently might find their way into my sewing pile! Stay tuned for the next instalment to see which make their way to the top of the pile.

'Til then take care - (and stay free of colds!)
Sandie

FINALLY!!!

Morning all

Some of you may guess from my title that I have finally got something to shout about!!

Here was my Egypt piece on 4th November -

And here it is today - FINISHED!! Washed and pressed and ready for framing -

Now I just have to sort out a frame and stretch it square (you will notice the wonky lines which separate each section). That year was my 60th birthday in the November, so not only is it a souvenir of our fantastic trip, but also my birthday.

And on another upbeat note I've managed to finish one of the wrist-warmers I was knitting. I put it down in order to finish the embroidery, now I can get moving on the second one. I am quite happy with how it turned out, but there are a few changes I would make to the pattern if I was to knit another pair in this pattern again. And they are SOOOOO soft! The pattern said to knit 3 cables, but I decided to knit an extra one so that the lower edge comes higher up the wrist - then there's no gap when I wear a coat.

So what am I moving on to next?
Well I decided that while I'm prepping the fabric for my next BAP, I'll get a small one in. Some of you may recognise this kit, as it was discussed on a Yahoo group earlier this year. I'm going to do it as a gift for someone close to me as a Christmas gift!

 

I'm going to add the title - Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil when I finish it too.

And my BAP? - it's really time that I got going on that Baby Cheetah I got from Yiota's xstitch earlier this year. The fabric will be completely covered with stitches, so I've marked out the fabric from the kit with my fabric pen, which will help to make sure that I get all the stitches in the right place and (hopefully) not have too many visits from cousins of my froggy pals above!

 

Here's the fabric marked up, and here are the colours! All pretty similar eh?

 

Watch this space!!!

Finally I had to include a picture as it's Remembrance Day. This picture was posted on Facebook by a catalogue company - a cross stitched picture! 

We remember with gratitude all of the men and women who have given their lives to ensure that we are free to live in the countries we do in freedom. And our thoughts are with the families who have given their loved ones for their countries. 

Until next time - in thoughts of peace

Sandie

Nights are drawing in

Evening all!

Well, half way through October and although the days here have been quite bright (and even warm some days), those nights are beginning to get darker earlier. By the time I sit down to stitch in front of the tv, it's often difficult to see colour changes. I do have a daylight lamp, but that's upstairs on my sewing desk, which is where I also do my card-making. I suppose I could buy another, but it's an expense I don't really want right now.

Last weekend I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Alexandra Palace, London. My local needlecraft shop usually runs a coach trip down there on the Sunday. This year I left it late to go and ask about places, so when I went and asked - their coach was full. However they did have places on the coach which left from their Dovercourt shop, so I booked a place. This meant that I had to leave home at 7am, in order to drive there and park. Then walked to the shop for an 8am pickup. As the coach drove past my home I gave a sigh! The day was absolutely beautiful - brilliant sunshine all day, and I walked round in shirt-sleeves. I lived and worked in the area where Ally Pally is (as it's affectionately known). So I came out early and walked round for a while before getting back on the coach to come home. I got home at 6.30pm eventually and all I could do was eat and stretch out in front of the tv again! My feet ached so much - I'd forgotten how hard it can be just strolling round and spending money!

Here are the piles of goodies I came home with! This year I spent most on knitting wools, so maybe I will knit more in the evenings and do my stitching in the daytime. Being retired I can choose if I want to do housework or stitch. And I don't need to tell you that I live by the old motto "Cross Stitch for ever - Housework whenever!"

I was quite surprised how few companies who sell cross stitch were there. I went with a couple of patterns in mind that I would buy if I saw them - no-one had them! It seems that knitting stands had taken over the place - especially those selling luxury yarns. And I was severely tempted by the new 700 series of Bernina machines that were on display. If I win the lottery I know what I'll be buying!!

I've managed to put a few more stitches into egypt - have a look at what it looks like now!

The female figure is done apart from the backstitch. The male figure is almost half done, then there are just a couple of heiroglyphs above them and the final border above that. So still just about on target to finish for my birthday at the end of November.

Oh well, dinner calls - can't decide what to have tonight. I'll have to look in the fridge for inspiration!

Till the next time
Take care
Sandie

Back again - September Wipocalypse as well!

Hi everyone
I know I keep saying it - I've been missing in action recently - and I think I've finally worked out why! For the last few months I have had a series of doctor's appointments - nothing serious - but following a Health Check, they discovered I had High Blood Pressure. Over the last 3 months I have been on a series of tablets trying to find one which succeeds in bringing down the BP but which doesn't have other side effects! Over that time I have had swollen ankles and hands, a cough, a kind of skin rash - AND a feeling of lethargy!

Now I finally have it sorted - I'm on another different tablet and this time (touch wood) everything seems to be fine. I've had so much blood taken from me to test that it's okay, and last week I had to have an ECG - scary in a way as I've never had to have one done before! But all the tests came back positively fine, so I now have a 3 month trial of this prescription. All I can say is thank goodness over 60's get free prescription drugs here as it would be costing me a fortune by now! My doctor is off on her maternity leave next week, and she's happy to leave me in the care of their Practice Nurse, so - hopefully everything is back on track.

And now I don't feel so lethargic I'm picking up the stitching again on a regular basis.

So what have I been up to? Well I've decided to pull out the stops on Egypt. It will be 2 years in November since I started it, and I want it done by my birthday (which was when I started - on our Egyptian Nile cruise!)

Here is the original picture from the pack -

and here is where I am today -

I had done all the details of the centre panel and to the left of the mask before I lost my mojo - but since picking it up again I now have done the bottom border (you can just see it poking out from the frame), and I'm busy doing the 2 figures. So far I've managed to get in a couple of hours each day since I picked it up again, so toes crossed (I can't stitch with fingers crossed - silly!) I can get it done soon. 

We also had my DH's 65th birthday last week and had a friend over for a meal. She was widowed last December and it would have been her husband's birthday a few days before my husband's, so I was a bit dubious about asking her as I didn't want to bring up too many unhappy memories for her, but she was happy to come and a good evening was had by all I think. I even started baking again (something I hadn't done for quite a while). I made Sauerbraten and served it with homemade red cabbage, broccoli and potato scallops, followed by a cherry clafoutis and cream. Then I baked some scones, and a raspberry and white chocolate loaf cake. Needless to say there's nothing left so I can't show you pictures! 

I've also decided that I am going to try and sell my old Brother knitting machine. I just don't have time to get on with it these days. So I've gathered all the bits together - from the shed, the loft and the bedroom, cleaned it all up and sorted it out. I've advertised it on Gumtree, so if anyone in the UK knows someone who wants to start up - or is looking for a new machine, ask them to have a look. 

Now I had better get back to my "other duties"! I'm trying to organise my pdf cross stitch files via calibre - the programme I use for my Kindle books. It's been quite easy, but does take time away from sewing - so I limit myself to an hour a day on that! You know (I'm sure) how computers eat up the time you have available!

Til next time - love to everyone - and keep safe

Sandie

Long time - no show! And my WIPocalypse entry!

Hi again everyone! Do you have days go by (or weeks even) and then when you look back you can't remember where that time went? Well that's what life has been like recently!

My cross stitch took a back seat - and I still don't really know where my stitchy mojo is? I do a few bits now and then, but the idea of picking up and stitching for hours? No way!! Still I don't feel like doing any stitching - so what's the point of pushing myself? I know we all have times when we don't want to even look at a needle - mine usually involves repairs - but it feels good right now not be beating myself up about it.

My little grand-daughter's birthday was last week, (you may remember me mentioning how hard I was working for it). Her parents had the birthday party in a local children's play centre - with play equipment, ball park and food included. Two hours in total including the food. And of course all the presents were taken home to be opened AFTER the event - so I didn't get to see their faces when they opened my presents :((

Still - finally I can post about ALL the goodies I had made for her!

1. That quilt eventually got handed over. My daughter just sent a text with the word - AMAZING so I think they were delighted with it. As they're talking about putting Jess in a bed soon it couldn't have been better timewise!

2. My Wordle cross stitch picture.

3. I made 6 blank t-shirts into works of art!

Four of them had machine embroidered motifs on them and the other two had applique motifs sewn on. I cut the bits out using my Slice then sewed them onto the shirts. I didn't realise just how difficult it is to find blank t-shirts for kids these days - most of them appear to already have some form of decoration on the. If anyone knows of a good source of BLANK t-shirts - I'd love to know about it.

4. A Hungry caterpillar! Jess already has the book which she loves at bedtime - so I decided to make up her very own story sack to go with it. 

The body was made with circles of fabric, which I lightly stuffed and then joined with velcro - so she can made him as long or as short as she likes! A friend gave me some fabric which had some of the "food" which the caterpillar eats - so again I lightly stuffed those. Then with all the other things I cut out felt shapes, embroidered their name on the front, stuffed and finally made 2 bags - one for the "food" and another for her to put everything into! It was fabulous - even if I say so myself!

5. A Knitted zip-up jacket.

Right - off to play computers! DH has been digitizing old photos and it's down to me to sort it out into something resembling order, otherwise he won't be able to find them again! He's spent most of the afternoon running them through a scanner onto an SD card - now I've got that fun job!

Take care everyone - til next time

Sandie

FINALLY!

I know, I know...it's been ages since I wrote, but life just seems to get in the way sometimes! Even though we've nothing specific going on, I just don't seem to get round to computers lately! Or maybe it's the fact that I've been avoiding my PC!

Over the last few weeks our desktop has been getting progressively slower! So recently we've been investigating a new PC. Local shops have produced one machine, but our son-in-law has suggested that we try to look at custom-built machines. So I've been trawling through local phonebooks and come up with a short-list of companies. Now I've just got to sit back and wait for their quotes after I emailed them a minimum specification list. Watch this space!

On the sewing front - what have I been up to?

Well I swapped some of my patterns from my Items for sale or swap list. Shelley wanted some patterns and in exchange - I got the Tree Frog Trio by Dimensions! Can't wait to get going on it now! Why don't you have a look and see if there's anything you want there?

Tarrah! A new project - and it's FINISHED!

 

I used a Wordle programme and then converted it in my Ursa WinStitch programme to come up with a cross stitch chart. I've stretched it over a canvas frame and stapled it taut. Then to finish it off I've glued bright orange ric-rac braid around the edges. It's another item for Jessica's second birthday.

Got to go now - only a short note today, but now I've got to finish the knitted jacket as another item for Jess. Then I'm planing to make a fabric "Hungry Caterpillar" - it might get done in time for her birthday or it might not! Watch this space eh?

Take care everyone. I'll try and be a bit more regular next time!
Sandie

Tigermum's April WIPocalypse postings

Afternoon everyone.
I have to admit that all in all things have been a bit quiet on the cross stitch front this month. Other things have taken priority!

Over Easter my DD and her family came to see us for the day. It was the first time we'd seen them since before our cruise, and I have to say I've really missed them (even though I enjoyed the holiday). We bought Jess a chocolate bunny - she's really got into chocolate this year! (This photo's taken in a local supermarket cafe on a different day).

When they'd left I started again on the quilt for her birthday - I'd put it away to make it a total surprise for my DD too. I've got most of the body of the quilt done (after a chat with my BF who's a quilter). I didn't have much fabric left, so I decided (we decided) to make a border of small blocks. If I can find some more fabric I want to make it a bit bigger so that it can be used on a "grown-up" bed when she's bigger, but as it stands it's almost toddler bed size. I've found an old quilt cover in cream which had a stain on the front, so I'm going to cut that up for the backing. Here's a picture of it hanging on the front of my wardrobe.

As to the rest of my work this month - I've done a tiny bit on the mandala and a bit more on Egypt. One of these days I'll get to the second side of Egypt and that might spur me on to finish it! (Do you think??)

(Apologies - not very good photos there!)

What else have I been up to? Well, I've decided to cut down the vine which covers the pergola in our back garden, so that's been chopped near the root so that it doesn't grow any more and I'm gradually cutting it back. Last year I made some grape juice from it, but it was so sour - not like the previous years'. And because I left quite a few bunches on the vine we were completely over-run with thrushes who cleared them in a couple of days. It was like a scene from Hitchcock's "The Birds"!! Then I have to clear the fallen leaves away from the patio, so this year I decided that I need an evergreen climber to replace it. Once it's all removed I shall take a trip to the local garden centre to see what's around. Anyone have any experience with climbing plants?? Today I have blisters on my fingers from cutting through the thick stems, so a couple of days rest is planned.

Just bought a program from Create and Craft called Serif Craft Artist. It seems a really good paper-crafting CD, but I need to do a bit of housekeeping (AKA clean-up) on the laptop before I install it. Yet another thing that I need another pair of hands for!

Must go - dinner calls!

love

Sandie

I'm nearly asleep!

It's been a busy day here! I've been trying to sort out our car insurance today. We got the renewal notice and it had gone up - £10 A MONTH! I knew prices would rise - they hardly ever go down - but come on! That much! OK I had to spend a couple of hours trying to find something but eventually I found a good deal at more or less the same cost we have paid for this year. So today I thank the Lord for the Internet!

Our Jessica's birthday party went off well - in spite of a deluge of rain which sort of scuppered the BBQ aspect of it! That will teach us to pick the Bank Holiday weekend - should have known it would be bad weather eh?

Here's my little darling grinning for everyone during a dry spell! She's got 6 teeth now - so don't go putting your fingers in there any more!

My stitching had been a bit slow for a couple of weeks - I was too busy making cookies to take to the party! But I've picked it up again and been working exclusively on my stocking. I'm very aware that it's going to take me a while to actually make it (being embroidery on both sides), so I want to give myself plenty of time to plan it out. Here's what it looks like now...

In the detail picture above you can just see a bit of a sheen on the snowman himself - that's because I'm using the rayon thread there and I think it's a nice bit of texture to it. I'm hoping to get a bit more done this week, but next week we're off on holiday to Germany and Austria, staying in an appartment we've been to about six times before.

Our appartment is on the ground floor, just on the right of this building. This will be the view from our patio.

It's so peaceful and restful I hope to get the stocking finished there, sitting in the sun just watching the world go by. That's if there is any sun of course! It's the time when they bring the cows down from the mountain pastures, so there will be plenty of activites going on - music, food, dancing etc.

We're also managing to fit in a day trip to the Oktoberfest on the way down to Austria - one of our favourite haunts - this will be our eleventh trip! So I'll have a beer for each of you while we're there! (Or maybe not as they serve litres!)

If I don't write before we go - I'll see you when we get back - but that won't be until the second week in October - so take care until then.
Now I'm off to bed - sleep tight. X
Sandie

Thanks for your best wishes

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers for my daughter's op.

She came through it fine - they removed a piece of bone which was "floating" in her knee, but they have said that the ligament is lax and so will need a re-reconstruction in the near future. Once this work has healed, she has to see the consultant again on Sept 1st, to discuss the next steps.

Also may I welcome the new followers I've recently acquired. It makes me feel quite humble that people across the world are interested in my ramblings!

In the meantime I've been busy with part of Jessica's birthday present - we bought her a tabby cat from the "Build-a-bear" shop in town - only I know it's a cat!

We bought an Arsenal football kit for it as both my daughter and my husband are football fans and they both support Arsenal (Erika was a ballgirl once for a Premier League match!) Boots were available, but I made her a pair of boots out of felt!
But to make it into a girl cat I also made a fairy dress for Rosie (what we named the cat!).

Let me also share what I made for her actual birthday for Jessica to wear.

I ironed some interfacing onto a piece of fabric and cut out the pieces with my Slice Die Cutting Machine - it's actually a papercrafting tool, but it seems to work just as well with stiffened fabric! Then I appliqued them to the front of a cheap onesie - job done!
Finally let me share the party invites I made for the party - if you're around next weekend you're more than welcome to drop in for a piece of cake!

Until next time - take care

Sandie :))