Ooops , I did it again !

Square finished for Love Quilts.

 But , I also finished this , and love it.

 The stripes in the water were getting me down a bit , but I love the end result.

   Had a couple of questions about this , but some of your blogger profiles are set to no reply so I couldn't e-mail back .  Anyway , the design is by Jody Rice and is in Cross Stitch Crazy issue 226 March 2017. I stitched 2 over 1 on 19 ct fabric using the called for DMC threads.

  So , finishes mean starts right ?

 My latest project is another dog for my boy .

 What it will look like

I have another sign up for Love Quilts , but it's not due until end of May , so I'm not starting it straight away . I want to get more of the dog done before allowing myself to be distracted by anything else .

   In other news , after eight months or so of trying , I have got a job . No start date of yet , should find out from Thursday onwards when I can get cracking , but really looking forward to it . I will be working as a domestic at the local hospital three mornings a week. Ready for a new challenge.

Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

Out with the old.

In with the New.

Happy New Year everyone , I know I'm a day late . I was going to post last night , but then hubby asked if I wanted to watch a DVD with him while having cheese and crackers . Can't turn an offer like that down , so blogging had to wait ,lol .

Anyway , time for the recap and plan post , so here goes.

 Last year , I read 114 books , a huge improvement on the last couple of years , so I'm pretty happy with it , especially as it did not look like I'd get anywhere near that at the start of the year.
 I had a lovely pile of books for Christmas to help me get a good start in this year .

I've already read the two on the right and made a start on the third.

Stitching wise , I had 44 starts , and 48 finishes , which again I'm quite impressed with especially as some of those finishes were old UFOs .

 I stitched 28 squares for Love Quilts , and a card  , a card for hubby , 4 bookmarks for my lovely kids , two other finishes for me , and two UFOs finished ,and one of them was finished on the 30th December , so you haven't even seen it yet !

 I have one WIP , which will probably be left for a while as I had a new start yesterday , but that comes in with the plans bit ,so more in a short while . First , the ORTs !

 My ort jar from two angles , lots of pretties in here , but it's now been emptied out all ready for a new years worth .

So , my big finish at the end of last year was my oldest UFO , started in 2009. I was stitching on it when my cousin was killed in a car accident and just put it down . I've picked it up on and off occasionally , but decided that it needed to be finished . After I finished up my owls earlier on last year , I admit I did put this off a bit , but once I got going it wasn't actually that bad . I have changed a couple of things ,and added some personalisation , and overall I'm quite pleased with it.

Forgive the bits of paper , I don't post my familys' names on line. It is also in need of a good press , but as it's going to be put away for a few months I'm going to leave that until I'm ready to have it framed , probably around my birthday  ,then it will be ready and waiting in time for next Christmas.
 I'm quite excited about it now it's done , this is my first seasonal stitched piece .

Plans ,well , I don't make definite plans , just have ideas of what I'd like to do .

My new start yesterday was a HAED , which I'm doing for the FB challenge of stitching a page between Jan 1st and April 7th . It was going to be until 3rd March , but they extended it . I'm stitching TT A Pale Comparison for my Daughter , and she's quite excited about it.

This is my progress from yesterday and today .

My other plans are really to do more personal stitching . I do love stitching for Love Quilts and will continue to do so , but I need to get more of my own projects done . I have so much stash , it's shameful . Also , I want to do more for my kids , so once this one is done , I'll be starting a HAED for my son. I'd also really like to complete Rosita, so three HAEDs on the go ,lol .

I am planning on stitching Pumpkin Patch Inn this year too , and hopefully Holmseys' Winter Wonderland , and probably Promise Of Spring by Silver Creek Samplers which I bought from the lovely Mouse .

 So , looks like I'm going to be fairly busy this coming year .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

A big TA DA !

Something I have been promising for far too long, I finally got round to finishing my oldest UFO.
 Not entirely sure , but I think this was started either late 2008 or early 2009 , before I was blogging at any rate . And , now it is done .
 It didn't take too long once I got down to it. I enjoyed the last bit a lot more than the rest and I'm glad it is finally finished , so without further ado , I will present ...
   Three Little Maids .

I will hopefully be working on my Christmas UFO from next week onwards. Time to get them out and sorted.
 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

Frosty mornings

I love a good frosty morning. I would much rather it be very cold than it be wet . You can wrap up warm , but staying dry on the school run is virtually impossible.
 Anyway, frosty mornings are even better when welcomed with a sky like this.

  The pictures do not even begin to do it justice , and it got even better .

  Sometimes ,we need a little reminder of why it's good to be here .

  My latest stitchy finish , completed this afternoon.

 I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.
  Busy day tomorrow, and exciting. Once the shopping is done , I'm off to the framers to pick up two of my stitched finishes , then later we are off to Sheffield arena to the Young Voices concert , as my Daughter is singing with our school. All good stuff.
Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

Shock , Horror !!!

I forgot to post my projects for last year ,lol.

 Never mind we are still only very early in the New Year.
So in 2015 , I finished 42 cross stitch projects , 25 of those were Love Quilts squares and 4 were for another quilt that is to be made for a music cradle at a respite centre. I also spent most of November working on my current HAED , so not too shabby.

 Books wise, I only read 70 last year . This is lower than the year before and way down on previous years. I kind of lost my way with reading towards the end of the year and couldn't decide what I wanted to read so ended up with nothing. Anyway , hoping to at least equal that this year , but it would be nice to improve.
 Already made a start with my first book finish .

 My lovely nephew bought me this and two other books for Christmas . Have to say , it is quite bizarre , but still an enjoyable read .

  Also had a couple of stitching finishes.
Started this New Years Eve , it's a cover kit from World of Cross Stitching mag. Hubby will be receiving this tomorrow as we will have been together twenty years (makes me feel old).
 We have had some pretty tough times over those twenty years , but got through it together, and I wouldn't change what we've got. We have two amazing kids and are very happy together .

 And I finished my Daughters' tiger . Love it now it's done , but it did get me down a bit at times.

 Have to say I was spurred on a little by the arrival of this:

Now I can kit up my next two HAED starts. Very excited , but still determined to finish those UFOs first. I think I will be eagerly stitching on them very soon so I can get to the next ones ,lol.

 Thanks for dropping by ,

 Cath

A couple of finishes .

 I'm on a roll here folks .
 I finished up ABCD by La-D-Da yesterday. Very happy with how it turned out, this time ,lol. I originally started with a totally different colour ,and didn't like how it came out one little bit .
   I think it is the wishy-washy pale green/grey that put me off, but it just wasn't working .

 So , I pulled out some four stranded thread by 21st century yarns that I bought at Harrogate a few years ago , and it was much better . I just used one strand of thread as it is thicker than standard stranded cotton, but the coverage is quite good .

  This is stitched on a random piece of even weave that was in a bargain pack from Readicut a few years ago. I think it is something weird like 26ct , but looks quite nice.

  A better idea of the colours , though I have struggled to get a good picture with the horrible weather we are having at the moment.

  Ta- Daa!

 My attempt at a panoramic shot ,lol .

 So , all done and dusted and the chart will be zipping back up to the Mouse House next week .

 Todays' finish requires a little explanation . In my Daughters' class at school , they have a "Star of the week" every week, which is decided on Fridays. My Daughter was chosen on the last day of term , so it continues until the first Friday back at school .
 As "Star" she got to bring home Freddy the Fish. We were originally going to make him a Christmas Stocking , but time kind of disappeared and I am now pretty much done with Christmas ,so we decided to go with a sleeping bag instead.
  My lovely girl decided after we had made the sleeping bag that she wanted his name on it, so I found out a bit of aida band and made it up as I went along . Then she decided that she wanted a picture of him on it too.

  The completed sleeping bag .

 Freddy

 and his likeness, which I think is pretty good for the size of it .

 It fits !

 LOL, My Daughter was very happy with it , so it was worth the afternoon and evening spent making it up.

 As I said , I am pretty much done with Christmas. The tree is still up , but hopefully only until tomorrow .

  My new wreath , made by MIL will stay up a little longer though .Very pretty .

 And , I can't believe I forgot to show my new pretty . Though actually ,it's understandable in a way as it was put up out of the cats' way to try and keep it safe .
  My new cup candle , with a pair of antique scissors attached. Not sure what the perfume is , but it smells gorgeous , and I love it . Still debating on whether or not to remove the scissors.

 Well ,think that's about it for now . Stay safe everyone , the weather is being pretty horrible to lots of people at the moment .
 Take care ,
Cath

Pretty Butterflies .

Yep, today at 2.03 pm saw the last stitch go into Butterflies.
 I am happy it is done , but to be honest , it's a bit of an anti-climax after so long feeling like I wasn't getting anywhere. It doesn't help that there is no-one here to admire it. Hubby at work (probably until late) and kids at school ,so I have come to show off here.

Excuse the wrinkles , she is fresh from the bath ,lol.

 I will hopefully get better pics when she is dry and ironed , though she will then go away for a while waiting to be framed .

 I will not be starting another one straight away , though the urge is there. I want to try and get my WIP/UFOs cleared up, though making no promises ,lol.

 Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Another grey and wet day .

Yesterday morning saw the last of the back stitch on the snails, so another UFO/WIP crossed off the list.
 Mind you, I didn't have to look far for inspiration. Along with the rain , came teams of snails to overpower my garden. The yellow broom was full of them.

 Need a few closer looks?

And here is the nicer version .

 This was originally going to be made into a bag , but my son has requested a stand up frame ,so got to go hunting for one to fit now.
 My daughter asked for a flamingo to start with, but she has changed her mind so often , I lost track of what I was supposed to be stitching for her . Now the snails are finished , she has asked for a tiger , and what do you know? Look what else was in the black hole of started and abandondness.

 So , this will be getting some work done on it very soon, though she is still asking for a bag (at the moment) .

 So ,a finish means a new start , right ?


 Here is Pink Owl on a Branch by Cherry Hill Stitchery. Started 28th May and finished 29th May . Stitched with the recommended DMC threads on 16 count aida .

A little flower detail .

 I loved stitching this , and can see it in so many different colours , so expect to see much more of this little owl ,lol .
 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!

 And an end at the end .

 After feeling that I hadn't accomplished much this year with my crafty finishes , I set to yesterday , late afternoon and all evening to stitch on LK ABC Lessons , and... finished it! The last stitch went in at 11.21 last night, and made the end of the year for me .

  I am really happy with the finish. I made a few small changes with colours, but overall it is as charted.
 I have to say though , that I was unimpressed with the threads. The colour variegation was hardly noticeable at times, which was a little disappointing. Lettuce Leaves was very blue , I hope I never get lettuce that colour , lol , and at least three times the thread just snapped as I was stitching, the ends also got very fluffy .
 I did end up with over a full skein of Cocoa Bean left , so if anyone is stitching this and buying the threads separately, if you are careful with thread, you will only need four of these .

   So , this brings my stitching project total for the year to 41 completed.
 They are , two large, LK and Calm Seas , three squares for LQUK , three medium projects and the rest are small or small-medium. Less than in previous years, but I haven't been churning out the charity squares as much , and there have been a lot of times when I haven't stitched for weeks on end , so not too bad .
 I have read 120 books in the year , and made seven swirly scarves .

  And here is my ort pot for the year , now I am hoping to start again today with a new project ,lol .

 I will be back soon with hopefully pics of that new start , plans for the year and pics of the new stash ,lol .

 It has taken me over two hours to read all the posts for the last 24 hrs, everyone has been busy ,lol .

 Take care , and enjoy the start of the year.
 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

A finish and some stash

I've been a busy little bee over the last few days and finished my square for LQUK yesterday .
 Here it is

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I bought the kit a while ago as it was really cheap , but had to use bigger fabric for this square . Luckily it lists the DMC colours , so I could stitch it again if I want to as some point.

 Well, I have jumped on the HAED band waggon . Recently they had a big sale which ended with 50% off ,and as I had some birthday money waiting to be spent , I put in a rather large order (for me anyway ,lol).

 This one will be my first start, and soon as I am itching to get on to it. But, I will make some progress on at least one WIP first .

  Love this little guy , and just had to have him .

  This has been on my wish list for a while , so cute .

  Love the colours on this one , this will probably be my second start for me/my daughter if and when she sees it ,lol.

  This will be started early next year. My oldest niece turns 21 next October. I was going to stitch "Fragile" for her , and change the colour , but then I saw this . It is called "The Key" and is perfect for her .

  Bought this one with my daughter in mind .

  This one is for me .

  Then , when I saw the 25% off sale for Black Friday week , I decided to splurge a little more and bought these two lovely charts .

  Again , I love the colours in both .

 So, you will hopefully see one or two or more of these next year. They will be part of my "Big Project Year".
 I have more on my list to do next year , but need to finalise the to do list and a rough time line , then I will share more .
 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath