Three starts and two finishes!

It's been a busy few weeks since my last post. With a 60s Weekend at 'The Railway' followed by a weeks holiday in Belgium then a few days at home, a couple of days at my boyfriend's followed by a weekend in Scotland.  With all that travelling I've been busy stitching.  Firstly my Belgian holiday stitching was 'In the night' by Jardin Privé. I began when we emerged from the Channel Tunnel in Calais and finished it before we came home.

This was stitched as charted using DMC floss on 32ct opalescent white linen. The only change I made was stitching it with one strand of floss rather than two. For the last twelve months or so I have been framing most of my own work.  This frame came from Wilkinsons and is a 7" x 5"photo frame made out of solid wood. I've used this style frame a number of times and this was my last one. To my disappointment Wilkinsons no longer stock this range so for my next batch of framing I had to buy a different type of frame.  Here it is with 'Trick or Treat'.

And a larger frame with 'Witches Riding By'

It turns out that this range of frames better as the way the back clips on is more secure. So that's the framing over with, back to the stitching. I had a couple of backup projects in my stash bag just in case I finished 'In the night'. The first back up project was the 'Owl Winder Pocket' from Just Nan.

Here it is made up.

This was stitched as charted on 28ct opalescent raw linen with DMC floss. I also started 'Warm Water Wash' from Raise the Roof Designs.

Progress has also been made on White Nights, but not since last week. I hope to continue with this after the weekend.

That's all for now. Happy stitching!

All the threes...

So last week, half term here in the UK, there was a slight change of plan.  I went to my Mum and Dad's for a stitchy Bank Holiday Monday and took with me Witches Riding By. I got on quite well and decided to try and finish it during the week, rather than go back to White Nights.  Late on Tuesday it was mission accomplished. Here she is

This was stitched, as charted, with DMC floss on the recommended fabric, 36 count Sand  Edinburgh linen. I took the one over one option with the face and arms, a magnifier was needed for this bit!  As you may know I like to stitch on planes, trains and in the car, not with this project. The 36 count fabric was just too fine, in fact I don't want to stitch on such fine fabric in the future, if I can help it.  Having said that I started, and finished, a new project on Wednesday and what was it stitched on? 40 count gauze!

This was a Rainbow Butterfly Pin from Rosewood Manor. This is the stitched piece.

Here it is in it's mount.

So that you get a true idea of the finished size here it is with my stork scissors.

Next my third finish of the week!  This is Catgirl & Catboy from Jardin Privé. This was stitched on 32 count opalescent white linen.  I stitched this with one strand of Soir d'Alger 3446 instead of the suggested two strands of DMC 310. The other alteration I made was the noses of the cats. I used pink for the girl and blue for the boy. I also made a major error with this piece, but as it wasn't noticeable I left it in.  The two cats are four stitches closer to each other than on the chart, I can't count!

The next three is my latest start,  the 3 Violets Humbug from Just Nan. Most of this was stitched at 'The Other Railway'.  Here's the proof, taken in Bewdley North signal box on The Seven Valley Railway.

This is the progress so far

Weekend Stitching

This weekend was spent at 'The Other Railway' and involved a very early start, 05.15 on Saturday morning, but it was light, so I was able to start stitching as soon as we hit the motorway. Well to be correct start frogging! I had a bit of a bad week on Waxing Moon's Welcome having to frog the M and the E with their connecting vine. That error was quickly rectified and then I noticed that I had stitched the centre heart in the wrong place. That was the early morning frogging job.  Anyway, the heart was re stitched and the lazy daisy garland completed all before elevenses.

The bespoke frame for this project is waiting at the framers so i will post another photo when it is framed.
I spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday stitching Witches Riding By from Lavender Wings. There's still quite a lot to do on this one but I hope it will be finished soon. I was going to continue stitching on it this week but as I have four evenings to myself I'm going to go back to White Nights.  Here is how I left Witches Riding By.

Happy stitching!

Witches Riding By

Working with children/teenagers has many rewards but it also has its downsides. One of them being that you can catch their diseases. In my case tonsillitis! Coupled with a very bad cold/cough the result has been over a week off work.  So, when I've felt up to it I have stitched on Witches Riding By from Lavender Wings. I am really pleased with the progress.

There is a little bit of backstitching still to do on the owl and the dress.  The unstitched section at the bottom is all white with a verse to be backstitched on top. The face and arms are done in one-over-one. This is my progress so far on her face.

Next week I'm going to start something new but for various reasons I don't know how much I will manage to do. Possibly more in the next post!

Happy stitching

By the way I am now fully recovered.

Spooky Scissor Fob

Last weekend we stayed at my Mum and Dad's so I was able to get a lot of stitching done.  I was able to start and finish the Spooky Scissor Fob from Shepherd's Bush. I finished this into an ornament for the light tree. This is the front.

This is the back.

Last week on the rotation it was the turn of Witches Riding By.  I'm really pleased with the progress I'm making on this one.  The dark parts of the sky, owl, broom and the dark parts of her dress are finished.

At the weekend it was my birthday.  I got lots of lovely things, including some stash enhancements.  The Other Half also bought me some handmade chocolates and a bottle of Champagne.  The chocolates look too good to eat!

I also received a teddy bear dressed as a witch.  Here she is with the Spooky Scissor Fob.

Happy stitching, Halloween or otherwise, to everyone!

A spooky stitching week

I did, eventually, finish Pumpkin Stew but not on Sunday evening as I had anticipated.  Instead it was Tuesday!  This was because I had a support evening for parents at school on Monday and the time I got home I didn't fancy doing any sewing.  This project was an early birthday present from my Mum and Dad.

This Shepherd's Bush design was stitched on16 count hickory heathfield, as suggested, with the recommended DMC Cotton Pearle #5.

After stitching on 16 count fabric for a week going back to Witches Riding By on 36 count linen was a bit of a shock.  Here is my progress on this so far.

This week the witch gained an owl, part of a broomstick and a little more sky. 

This weekend I made another attempt at rectifying my lack of Halloween ornaments to hang on my light tree.  This is 'Whooo's knockin' at my door?' and is from the chart booklet 'Tis Hallowe'en' by Blackbird designs.

This was stitched on  32ct lambswool, left over from Mary Wigham, using a mixture of the recommended overdyed floss and the DMC alternatives.  There are a number of other stockings in this booklet that I would like to stitch so this evening I'm going to choose one which involves a little less work!

Next week on the rotation it should be either  the Santa tree skirt or White Nights.  'The OtherHalf' has chosen White Nights so with another late night in school on Wednesday, this time for Open Evening, it will be interesting to see how far I get.

Hope you all have a good stitching week.  With a bit of luck, after this week, I should be able to return to my usual two posts a week.

The new 'Happy Chair'

As mentioned in my last post, here is a photo of my new chair.


When I ordered this chair back in April I felt really stupid in the shop, checking out where the legs were and how wide it was. Why? Because the chair had to be narrower than my largest stitching frame and the legs had to be far enough back so that the frame could be pulled as close into the chair as possible. The lady in the shop probably thought I was mad. Anyway, it is the new 'happy chair'(term lifted from Spinster Stitcher's blog) The eagle eyed amongst you may notice some of the progress that has been made since it's arrival!

Last week on the rotation it was Just Nan week. After finishing Floral Fifteen I made a start on her Summer Wings Humbug. I chose this one rather than The Spring Frills Humbug as I thought it would be a faster stitch. It took just over a week of evenings to complete. Here it is before being 'finished'.


I stitched this on 28ct over dyed linen from DoveStitch, I've no idea what the colour is called. The next photo shows the humbug made up but without it's pin as mine had a crystal missing and has had to be sent back. A replacement is in the post.


This week on the rotation it's back to Witches Riding By.


For those of you who are into Halloween stitching check out some of the latest designs by Just Nan. Called 'Spooky Spirits of Tombstone Hill', this is my favourite!


Next week it's the return of the Green Santa to the rotation. He missed out last month with my being away on the field trip. Here's hoping he gets finished and I make big inroads in to the next one. For now it's back to the happy chair for me and
the first episode of season four of Ugly Betty which started last night.

Happy stitching!

Floral Fifteen is finished!

Here it is!


This is the other side.


I stitched Floral Fifteen using the recomended DMC floss on 28ct Zweigart Antique White and Mint Green Cashel linen. Each small square took just under an evening to stitch and the whole thing the best part of a day to put together. I enjoyed stitching this so much I'm tempted to start Merry Fifteen!

Over the weekend I stitched the August motif for the My Little Heart SAL. This time there was a choice of charts. I chose the sunflower.


I also managed to add some more stitches to Witches Riding By. I'm really pleased with how this one is turning out.


I'm off to choose a 'new start'. progress pictures next time and a photo of the new 'Happy Chair' as Spinster Stitcher would call it!

Quick update

In the end, last week, I opted for a new start. Witches Riding By from Lavender Wings. The chart was a Christmas present from 'The Other Half'. I'm stitching this on 36 ct sand linen as recommended. This is about three nights worth of stitching.


Over the weekend my Christmas Ornament, UFO and handbag project all had a little bit of work done on them, but not enough to show. The main achievement on Saturday was finishing the three Secret Needle Night pieces into cushions.


This week it's house number 6 on White Nights. The weather here is great at the moment and I feel I should be spending the evenings sitting in the garden, enjoying the Sun, with a G&T or glass of chilled white wine to hand, rather than being inside with a large stitching project.

Hope everyone has a great stitching week whatever the weather is doing where you are.