2013 Review

Hello all,

Welcome to my new followers and thank you all for following my blog this year.

On a personal note before I go into my stitching review, the accident that my Sister, Nephew and Mum were in brought home to me how much I love them all and although my Mum is still recovering at home, we were very lucky it wasn't a lot worse.  So 2013 has been one of reflection and celebration, my Nephew was born on Boxing Day last year, christened in October and my Sister, his mother got married in June.  My other Sister has bought a house and has found love so everything just seems to be slotting into place.

So enough of all the emotional stuff, here is my stitching review.

In total, I've stitched (so far) this year 323 hours!

So I start with my New Starts.

First Up is Lakeside Village:

I love this design and it's sure to feature again next year!

Next is QS Heather (HAED SAL):

As it happens, I did actually finish this one too!  I love how she turned out.  This year HAED aren't doing a SAL which is fine by me as although I've loved doing them over the past 3 years, it will free me up to focus on my other designs in particular the other HAEDs that I have started which I will mention in my targets post.

My next new start was Greek Steps:

I started it when on holiday in Cyprus, I've not made much progress, but as it's such a small design I'm sure I'll get a lot more progress in 2014.

Another one that I started and finished in 2013 was Holly and Hearts which I've just posted about.

My final new start I can't actually show you a picture as it's a secret project as it's a present for someone.  I can't even give you a clue because I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!

So that's 5 new starts in 2013, I certainly didn't predict that!  And only 2 finishes so my current WIP list is up to 9.  That's not including Think Pink which I want to re-start this year sometime.

So onto current WIPs with progress:

County Durham:

I've made a fair bit of progress this year, but hope to finish it next year as I'm about half way through at the moment.

Samantha:

I've been stitching this one since 2006 so one of my old timers! I hope to make a great deal of process and possibly finish it this in 2014.

And that concludes my review of 2013.  I hope to do even more stitching this year, although my card orders don't look like stopping any time soon!

My Preview and Goals of 2014 will follow shortly after this post.

Happy Stitching!

At last a finish!

I've not done much stitching since my last post due to making all of mine and a lot of other people's Christmas cards!

However since Christmas Day I've been stitching non stop and have finally finished Holly and Hearts for the Lizzie Kate Christmas SAL:

I'm going to draft my final blog of the year next which will be a review of all my starts, progress and finishes - so watch this space!

In the meantime... 

Happy Stitching!

I'm a star again!

I'm officially Blogger of the Month in the World of Cross Stitching magazine!

So if you're new to looking at my blog - welcome!  I hope you join as a follower as  if I get to 100 followers I will be doing a big giveaway!

So here's an update of my latest project Lizzie Kate Mystery Christmas SAL. 

I've actually done a bit more than this so I'll post another pic tomorrow, I've been so busy making cards I've not had as much time to work on it as I wanted.

Happy Stitching! 

A Finish and a new start!

Hello all, it's been a while since I last blogged, partly because of my Mum's accident.  However i am please to report that she has recovered so far really quickly and was released from hospital on Friday and she called me that evening!  It was the first time I had heard her speak since before the accident because she was either sedated or had a tracheotomy in so couldn't speak then. So really good news!

Anyway back to the stitching which really helped me over these past 4 weeks, I finished Heather last week and here she is:

I really like how she turned out even though that last page had an awful lot of confetti in it!

So onto the new start - the Lizzie Kate Christmas Mystery Sampler!  Here are the materials that came with it:

Unfortunately I've not had much time to work on the 32 count linen because I've been working on a course for work, but it's finished now so can spend the whole afternoon on it!

I'll post some update pics as soon as I can.

Happy Stitching!

Update & Sad News

My rotation continued with County Durham:

And then onto Lakeside Village which I'm loving stitching as there's so many bright colours in it and when I get bored of the greens I can move onto the blues etc;

Now onto my news, my sister, nephew and Mum were in a car crash last week and although my sister and nephew are fine, my Mum's been in a coma since it happened. She is now breathing for herself and should regain consciousness over the next couple of days. 

I'm keeping busy with my stitching and looking forward to the 4th and final page of Heather, my first finish of the year! 

So take care all and happy stitching. 

Xxx

Rotation update

I've been having fun with my rotation but it seems to be drawing me to my non HAEDs which isn't such a bad thing!

Up first was Lakeside Village for 25 hours:

I've made so much progress and looking forward to going back to it. 

Secondly was Greek Steps for 10 hours the design I took on holiday, I'm pleased to say I made it to the far end to inject some colour into it!

I'm going to get Hubby to draw out another design later today - I hope it's a HAED this time but on the other hand it's progress right??!!!!

Hope you all have a lovely stitchy day!

Page 3 finish!

Well it's been a while but I've finally finished page 3 of Heather HAED BB SAL.  So here she is:

I don't get the 4th and final page until the end of August so am filling in the time going back to my other WIPs, I'll let you know which one a bit later.  I really can't decide so I've put all the names in a food bag and going to bet hubby to select and another selection for how long I'm going to do it for everything from 5 hours to a page finish is there!

Should be fun!

However I'll have a new start in September because I've signed up for the Lizzie Kate Mystery SAL, I'm really excited about it because it's a Christmas design and I'm already getting a bit excited about the festive season! :)

http://www.cross-stitch-heaven.co.uk/ekmps/shops/bluegroove/images/now-closed-mystery-sampler-2013-22323-p.jpg

Happy Stitching!

Winner of Competition!

Hello all!

Firstly let me apologise for the delay in announcing the winner of my competition, June was a very busy month!

Well drum roll please! The WINNER of the competition is Kerryp77!!!!

You win my beautiful design of Love is Best!

Are you going to add it to your stitched pattern?  Please let me know your plans for it!

Please e-mail me your address, I think I had it before, but have lost it.

So the reasons for my delay, firstly it was my sister's wedding and here is the framed A Good Marriage by Lizzie Kate.  I'm please with the finished piece and think the frame finishes it off nicely.

Secondly I went to Cyprus on holiday and decided to make a new start, obviously!

I chose Greek Steps as i thought it was very apt.  I didn't do that much on it, as I was busy reading a very gripping book (Until You're Mine) and spending time on the beach and in the pool, but thought I'd let you see some progress on it!

Next for me is going back to Heather since I got page 3 though at the beginning of June and the final page is out next month.  She's stitching up a treat and hope to give you an update this weekend.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful stitchy time.

Happy Stitching

xxx

Giveaway! 50 Followers!

Hello all my 52 followers!

In celebration of me getting to 50 followers, I am having a giveaway and the best thing is that you get a choice of prize!

The choices are from top left - All Occasion Charts and threads, Christmas Charts and threads, Blue Tit mini kit with threads, fabric and chart, Love is Best when you Give it Away finished piece (I will wash and iron it before sending)

If you want to enter, you must be a follower (new followers welcome) and make a comment here stating, All Occasion, Christmas, Kit or Design.

Please share the news because if I get to 60 followers I will give away 2 items!

So what have I been up to since finishing page 2 of Heather?

Well I returned to my 10 hour rotation and finished 10 hours on Lakeside Village.

Not much to show, but i'm sure once I've done my next 10 hours that you'll be able to see more of the building behind the arch.

And next was Beacon Ridge, believe it or not I started it in July 2010 and not even finished the first page.  I suppose it was what it symbolised - my MS getting worse that year in the warm summer months, however in recent months I've really longed to get back to it so I did another 10 hours on it this week.

Next is to do as much as I can on Samantha before the next page of Heather. It should be a small straight forward page so I can get back to my rotation probably in July since June is a busy month in terms of cards for Father's Day and it's my sister's wedding too! When I have my framed piece back I'll post a picture on here I hope you all approve! 

Page 2 finally complete!

Well here she is! Page 2 finally finished.

I'm going to make cards today and possibly a bit on lakeside Village.

As an aside, I've noticed that I now have 51 followers!  I promised a competition/prize draw when I hit this mark, but I can't think what to do, so I'm giving you a choice!  I'll post a picture later, but here's the general choices:

• Free mini kit (from magazine)
• Chart book and 2 x threads (from magazine)
• My completed 'Love is better when you give it away' design which I did last year

All you have to do is post a comment and say which you want - Kit, Charts, Design.

Please spread the word as if I get over 60 followers I will be drawing 2 winners on 1st June 2013.

Happy Stitching! :)

I'm back! (very good reasons!)

Hi all, sorry I've not been on here at all for the past month, I was busy making Mother's day cards for colleagues but the funds will go towards my millennium frame that I'm going to get some time this year, I also got into a super good book which I read on a weekend away called Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.  I'm giving it away on World Book Night this year.

Anyhow back to stitching, I did get some of Heather done and hope to get loads more done tomorrow as it's a Bank Holiday!

And as it was being done on one of my Facebook groups, here's my messy back! 

I've also just noticed that I have 49 followers! If I get to 50, I will have a giveaway!  Not sure what it'll be, but I have loads of free stitchy gifts that I'll never get around to doing.  But of course it could be a copy of my World Book Night Book depending on preferences!

Happy stitchy Bank Holiday Weekend! xxx 

Heather BB SAL Page 1 COMPLETE!!!!!

Well this took me rather longer than I expected! But here she is, first page complete of Heather:

I'll be returning to Lakeside Village to complete my 10 hours with it but I'm going to have less stitchy time because my colleagues at work have found out I make cards so I'm currently inundated with Mothers' Day card requests!

I'll be posting pictures on my sister blog.

Short but sweet, but I'll be back with a picture of Lakeside Village!

Happy Stitching!

Heather Update!

A short but hopefully sweet update from me today!

I hope to have finished all the hair this weekend as I'm not going out in all this snow!

Thought I'd post this picture today so we can all see how much I actually get done!

Happy Stitching everyone!

HAED SAL Heather Update

Hello everyone, hope you are having a fantastic start to the New Year.

I've not had a fantastic start to my stitching since work has been super busy and by the time I get home all I have energy for is to eat and bathe before bed!

But I have started Lakeside Village (picture to come when I've done a bit more) and here is Heather.  Unlike most HL stitchers, I prefer to rotate the black with a colour as I'm so frightened of miscounting even though I use magic guide!  But also I think just doing the outlines would do my head in and I'd loose concentration!

I'm going to stick with my rotation plans and after this page is done, finish a total of 10 hours on lakeside Village before moving onto the County Durham sampler for 10 hours.

I don't know about you but I'm really looking forward to a Stitchy Year!

Happy Stitching,

Sam xx