Catching up

Well time is flying already.
 We have just had a flurry of snow , but everywhere is very wet so it hasn't stayed. Kids will be disappointed ,but I'm quite pleased as I have to go shopping tonight ,lol.

 A little bit of stitching has been going on .
I have completed two squares for LQUK

Good news is that three of my any child squares are going onto quilts in the near future.

 Now started another dragonfly , this time to make into a cushion cover for my daughter. Only a little bit done yesterday , so no pics as yet. I've also been stitching small butterflies for another charity group , but no pics of them either . will show next time .

 I am warm and snug at the moment  ,wearing my hand knitted socks that I got for Christmas. Also got a pair of hand knitted mittens so I am very blessed .

 Sharon , Donna and I are just about to start our Sister Stitcher exchange year , looking forward to that .
Thanks for dropping by , I will be back soon .

Cath

Sister Stitcher Exchange 2015

Would anyone be interested in joining in with a Sister Stitcher exchange next year ????

 The idea would be to send a number of gifts to someone through out the year ,I'm thinking maybe 5 gifts over the twelve months .

 I will leave this open until the end of the year , so if you wish to join in, just send me an e-mail with your info and I will add you to the list .

 Thanks 
Cath

Stitchers' Secret Santa

Hi everyone ,
 I have been running a Secret Santa for my hubby via his blog for a couple of years and thought I would give it a go on here .
 So , is anyone up for it ?

 The idea would be for you to send to your recipient one stitched gift and a few other stitching related or otherwise items.

 Details are yet to be finalised depending on how many peeps want to join in and what they want to do . We could either have a set number of items or a recommended spend .

 I am going to say that this is restricted to well known bloggers or people I know as I don't want any problems . Any doubt , give me a shout and I will confirm if you are eligible or not .

  This will be left open for join up until the 28th September , so spread the word to your bloggy friends if you want you.

  You can leave a comment here , but if you want to join , please e-mail me as well . Any no-reply bloggers , please include your e-mail address .

 If you blog , I would request that you put up a wish list on your blog for your Santa to have some ideas. Non-bloggers will be asked for a list to be e-mailed.

I would like at least five or six people to join to make it worth while running , otherwise I may just end up doing a small exchange group .

 Thanks for reading ,
 Cath

Christmas in August .

I organised a Christmas in July exchange, but due to a few interruptions, Gaynor and I ended up exchanging in August . (Chemo brain on one side and PO closure for refurb. on the other ,lol ) .  Coincidentally we ended up posting and receiving on the exact same days , so it all worked well in the end .
 This is what I sent to Gaynor .

 Note book , to - do list and ribbons.

 LHN Sheep Virtues "Hope" , stitched using mostly recommended threads , apart from BS5200 instead of Ecru for the snow and snow flake and Wispa thread for the sheepie.

 The backing fabby.

Gaynor excelled once again , with a fantastic design and amazing finish .

  Love this design and what a great idea to fix it to a stash box.

 Wrapped goodies .

 Lots of treats

 Stash !

Thanks again Gaynor , for a great exchange. I love it all . The choccy is going down well with everyone ,lol .

Well , that's all for now , got to get ready for the girlys' swimming lesson, but have lots more bits to catch up on ,so should be back soon.
 Take care ,
 Cath x

Christmas in July !

Exchange anyone ?

 Ok , I'm opening up  a Christmas in July exchange for bloggers and those known in the blogging world.

The idea is to stitch , make up and send a Christmas ornament(or similar) to your partner. Extras are optional .

 Sign up will be open until the 30th May and I will try and send details out as soon as possible afterwards.
Last posting date will be 14th July so hopefully everyone will receive their package before the end of the month .

If you want to join in , please e-mail me (in my profile) with your name ,address and any preference on theme , ie , religious , santas etc to give your partner an idea .

Catch you later ,
 Cath

Birthday Thread Exchange

I am opening a birthday thread exchange for next year .

The rules will be pretty simple, send a card (handmade or other) and three threads to other members on their birthdays.
 You must follow this through all year unless you have a very good reason for not doing so. Anyone without good reason will be named and shamed. Sorry to be blunt but it is unfair otherwise.
 To join, you must have a blog , be well known in the blogging community or have someone who is one of the previous two willing to vouch for you .

 Anyone wishing to join up , please leave a comment here and contact me via e-mail (in my profile) with your full mailing details , birthday and thread preferences ie DMC/Anchor and any other choices you might have .
 Please be aware that not everyone has the same access to funds/threads so while one person my send luxury threads , someone else may only send usual ones . If this is a problem , then don't join in. The idea is to spread a bit of fun and stash for our birthdays , not to get upset over spending a little more than you've got in return .
 This is open to anyone world wide , so be aware of postage costs .
  Not sure how many people will join in , but when I last mentioned it , there were five definitely interested and a few other maybes . If it turns out that a lot of people sign up , I may split into two groups to avoid lots of postage costs ,but I will confer with everyone first . If that happens , you could join both groups anyway .

 If you have a blog, I will ask that you post about your birthday threads , if you don't, please send me a picture and I will post on here .
  I will leave sign ups open until end of November , then it will be closed so I can sort out in plenty of time for next year in case of early birthdays.
 Thanks
Cath

Thread exchange anyone ?

  I am wondering if anyone would be interested in joining in with a birthday thread exchange to start next  year ?

  The idea would be to send a stitched card and a couple of threads to all members who sign up , on their birthdays . I am opening it up for discussion etc now so there is plenty of time to get organised in case of January birthdays etc .

 Due to the nature of trusting in this , I am also going to restrict joining up to people with regular blogs and/or those already well known in the blogging world , unless you have one of the above willing to vouch for you .

 Please remember though , if this does go ahead , you are expected to carry through for the whole year and for everyones' birthdays . Anyone failing to do so , without a very good reason WILL be named and shamed. Sorry to have to put this , but it would be really unfair for someone to send out just until their own birthdays or something .

 Without wishing to state the obvious , it is worth bearing in mind that lot of people will then have your address , so please think carefully before signing up if this could cause any problems .

 I am also debating on whether to have just for UK , or worldwide , so any comments/ideas would be very much appreciated.

 Also , would you prefer to state what colours you would like , or take pot luck ? Types of threads would also be up for discussion. I would not want to say just specialised threads in case of financial difficulties , but some people might want to send them , so personally I would just say whatever you want to send , and accept that you may get different ones in return.

 Please take into account the cost of postage .

 I would possibly open up another blog to showcase pics of cards received etc .

 This is just an idea at the moment, so please feel free to put in your two pennorth worth . If I do decide to go ahead , I will post again with sign up details .

 Thanks ,
 Cath

The three B's

 Birds , Bees and Butterflies .

I recently took part in the Birds , Bees and Butterflies exchange through the Stitched With Love Exchange blog. The gallery is now up , so I can show what I sent and received.

 This is what I stitched .

 The little butterflies are made with straight stitches gathered together in the middle, very effective . I added the eyelet stitches for a bit more detail 

The back looked a little plain , so I added a felt butterfly with beads for the body .

 And this is the whole package .

I haven't heard back from my partner yet , but hopefully she likes it .

 This is what I received from Kim. It was a totally gorgeous package , and I love it all. The kids are both after the stitched hanging , and I really like the owl pendant .

So cute .

All three b's ,lol .

 Thanks again Kim for a great exchange . Lots of lovely goodies . I do like a good exchange .

 A quick note for Margaret Sherry fans , I have listed my bookazine on e-bay . The item number is 321183610546 .

 I will be back soon with more news .
 Thanks for dropping by,
 Cath x

Autumn exchange

I can now show the autumn exchange parcels I sent and received . The exchange was organised by Lainey at Stitched With Love Exchanges , and I really enjoyed it.

 I loved the piece I stitched and am looking forward to stitching it again for myself.

 The design is called Acorns and Owls and is a freebie from Blue Ribbon Designs. I used the recommended DMC threads apart from the alphabet which was stitched using a variegated thread from 21st Century Yarns. I made a cube type finish , my first and though it is a little wonky ,it came out ok .

 Luckily , Fiona who received it liked it too .

This is the package as a whole with the other goodies I sent.

And this is the gorgeous package I received from Lynda. Such lovely gifts , everything was so right for me .
Chart, ribbons, buttons,bookmark,thread and a very glittery pumpkin that my kids loved.

Scissors , fabric and a lovely leafy tea towel that went straight into use, so pretty .

Gorgeous red leaf. Mine !

And the lovely long legged Autumn bird pin keep.

I am a very lucky girl .
 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

Animal Antics

The last parcel of the Animal antics Exchange has finally made it to its' destination , so I can show what I sent and received .
 My partner asked for birds,sheep or .... something else , can't remember now ,lol , but not cute .

  I went for the bird option , and as she pretty much asked for a Christmas package , I chose to stitch this from the JCS mag

I changed up some of the colours to suit the stronger colour palette asked for , and used beads from my stash . It was made into a pillow finish .

I struggled to find Christmas things in September , so added other gifts that I thought nice , this is the pillow with the other goodies I sent .

And this is what I received from my partner , I asked for owls , cats or chickens.
 A lovely owl chart ,which sadly got a bit crumpled in the post , but is still usable, stuffed owl, socks, peeps and a q-snap cover . All I need now are some q-snaps , lol  . And of course ,the stitched item , a cat biscornu .
 Thanks again to my partner , Greta .

 I am almost ready to post out my Autumn exchange , but got my son's birthday tomorrow so that has been keeping me busy , along with the stomach bug we all got last week .. Not nice !
 So , be back soon.
 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

Friday...

was a good post day .
 I received my JCS Christmas ornament issue. I like it a lot more than last years' issue I have to say, I had a quick flick though at the time then perused at my leisure over the weekend . I am grateful to be able to order these things , but why do people feel that they have to make money on the postage ? I was charged £2.50 for P&P , and it cost £1.20 to post. I'm pretty sure that a plain brown envelope does not cost £1.30 . I have found this increasingly if buying things on line ,and it really annoys .
 We all know the benefits of on line auction sites etc. , but people are getting greedy and trying to make more money off purchasers .
 On the other hand , I must praise a company who only charges what it costs to post your items . Thread Bear are great and do not charge until your items have been packed and they know how much it is going to cost to post out .
 Well, I wandered a bit off track there ,lol . Back to the post day .

  I also received the JCS Halloween issue that I won in Lorettas' giveaway , so thanks again Loretta. I wouldn't normally buy this one , but it is really nice and I've found a few things I'd like to stitch .

A couple of charts from the Christmas issue , love this first one .

And from the Halloween one . I can see myself doing this one more than once ,lol .

There are lots more , but these have really caught my eye .

 I also received my Animal Antics exchange parcel from Stitched With Love Exchanges , but can't show it yet . It's a secret exchange so I don't know who sent it , so Thanks mystery partner.

I have just finished stitching my Fall exchange piece ,and I love it . Got to stitch this one for myself , but can't show that yet either ,lol . Lots of teasers, lol .

 Thanks for dropping by ,
 CATH

More exchanges

I mentioned that I recently took part in an exchange via the Stitched With Love Exchange blog , which was set up by Lainey , and I can now show some pics. My partner was Nataly , and this is what I stitched and sent for her.

I am so pleased that the mug and tea light holder arrived safely . Thank whoever invented bubble wrap , lol.

As you can see, I went with a cupcake theme, making a cupcake pillow using a chart from one of the stitching mags , think it was Cross Stitcher. The chart matches up pretty well to one of the cupcakes on the mug , which is cool . I also included magnetic notepads , a smelly thread cupcake kit , and some WDW thread , with lovely food names ,lol and a little lady bug bag , as there are always bugs on a picnic. I really could have done this exchange two or three times over ,as I found loads of cup cake themed items, it was great.

My stitching partner was Colleen, a new to me blogger , and I'm so pleased that I have a lovely new blog to read as well as some fantastic goodies and a lovely stitched pillow from her.

The pillow is a mix of two designs, French Country Basket from JBW and the wording is from TSG .Didn't Colleen make a lovely job of it ?

She themed the exchange with a Garden Party idea , so as well as the pillow I got some lovely floral buttons , and butterflies , floral scissors , gorgeous blue threads , my first ever Dinky Dyes , looking forward to using them and lots of other fantastic gifts .

So a big Thank you to Colleen , and also to Lainey for organising the exchange ,she did a brilliant job.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Stitching and Swapping

Hi everyone , and welcome to the new followers . Good to see you , please feel free to drop me a line if you want to.

Well , the Old McDonald's' farm quilt turned out to be needed sooner rather than later , so I offered to stitch up all the remaining squares for it. As some had to be duplicated , I changed the colours round a bit , lol.

The little dog was originally charted facing the other way , and was a tan brown colour. I thought black and white was more apt ,as he'll look like a sheepdog , lol.Daisy as charted ,And as a slightly different colour . I have to say , I prefer this colour way . Petal facing the opposite way .Neddy as charted Woolly facing the opposite way ,and different colour . I hate stitching white on white , so this one is 3865And this one is ecru . I enjoyed stitching them , but I'm glad they're done ,and on their way to Jane to be made up into the quilt . I hope the little boy likes it when it's done. (And no , they weren't given names , that is me being odd , lol. )

In other stitching news , Lisa and I have just completed our private exchange ,and it was lovely.

We agreed on the exchange earlier this year , but I wanted to wait until June to make sure everything was sorted from my year long exchange with Lainey , and get a few other bits done. Funnily enough , I posted mine out the day before Lisa , yet I got mine from her a few days before she got mine , lol.

Anyway , this is what I received

I love receiving these kind of parcels. Look at all the goodies.Fabby , pins , buttons,kreinik thread and a gorgeous reindeer.A lovely chart I've never seen before . Also , I've never made a needle roll , so lots of firsts for me in this package.Lisa chose to stitch me CCNs' Cherry Hill , using the recommended threads and made it into a pin keep. I'm sure you will agree that it is gorgeous. I didn't have anything by CCN , and this is my first pin keep , and I totally love it.Isn't he fabulous. I'm going to have to keep an eye on him though, my Daughter has been dropping hints. She loves pretties ,especially sparkly ones , and she loves Christmas.

This is what I sent to Lisa. the chart is a freebie from the Workbasket , I'm fairly sure it's called Quaker Hedgehog. It was my first choice of charts to stitch , and after several times changing my mind , I came back to it.He's finished as a kind of pin keep , with a pocket for scissors at the back.The scissor fob is the centre of the hedgehog chart made into a full motif, I thought it turned out quite well.And the other goodies : Two pieces of even weave , DMC linen threads, a chart from Lisa's' wish list , notebook and a Tudor Rose Pin. I'm very pleased that Lisa likes it all , so another successful exchange . Another big Thank you Lisa , I've really enjoyed this.

I also took part in Lainey's' Summer tea party exchange, which I have received ,and I think my partner has received hers ,so hopefully we'll be able to show pics soon. There has been some delays with the problems with Canada post , but hopefully it will be sorted now.

Still no news re. my husbands' job. The company that bought them out are too busy dissolving their other recent purchases (Habitat and HMV) at the moment ,so will get round to letting them know what's happening at some point.

Thanks for dropping by everyone ,

Take care ,

Cath