P&P by The Sampler Girl & a BIG new start!

I'm just dropping by once again to share a few stitching photos. I know my posts are rare these days - but I will stop by when I have enough stitching photos to share.

I finally finished a design by The Sampler Girl! Why oh why it's taken me so long to do that I don't know, as I absolutely adore Tanya's designs and love her wonderful blog. I don't see this one stitched up often enough - and it's very pretty, take my word for it - the scan doesn't do it any justice at all.

Pride & Prejudice by The Sampler Girl
Fabric: R&R 32-Count Crème Brulee linen

As it wasn't intended as a wedding/anniversary sampler I decided the most appropriate would be to use Elizabeth & Darcy's initials instead, and I kept in the year that P&P was published. Just enough specialty stitches to make it very fun to stitch too.

And my new (big) start - Le Marquoir de Justine. I've wanted to stitch this for many years, so I can't tell you how excited I am to have made a start.



For those who don't know the story behind Le Marquoir de Justine... This is a reproduction sampler charted by Anne Pelletier-Pauleau. The original sampler I believe is in a museum in Provence. The original was stitched by a little girl, Justine Matthy, aged 8 in 1818, when she was preparing for her First Holy Communion. She sadly died only two years later at the age of ten.

I would guess that I'm about 1/3 into it. I'd love to keep stitching on, but I'm getting a bit frustrated by the size. I don't like to stitch in hand, and using q-snaps on something this big can get a bit messy at a certain point! So to avoid pulling my hair out, I'm going to take a wee break and stitch on something else for a while instead. Though I can't wait to get back to it!

This is mostly being stitched with NPI silks. There was one NPI I had to switch as it got lost in the fabric - I couldn't find another NPI in my stash that worked, so I subbed it with Crescent Colours Little House Brown instead (an odd choice, but it seems to be working). I'm using Lakeside Linen 40-Count Vintage Nutmeg that I've seen a few other stitchers use and absolutely fell in love with.

I already know the exact spot I'll be hanging this up when it's finished too! :-D

Some Drawn Thread & Sheepish Designs finishes!

Oh my - I thought I'd forgotten my password there and couldn't log in! Yup, that goes to show how long it's been since I tried to log into blogger... oops! I'm not going to be back to "regular" blogging, but I was uploading some stitching photos to Flickr earlier and thought I'd pop in to say hello and to let you know that I'm still happily stitching away when I get the chance. :-)

Toccata Number One by The Drawn Thread
Fabric: Ivory Belfast Linen
Fibers: Mostly silks (NPI, Gloriana, Waterlilies)
Many more photos of this at my Flickr album.

I haven't done the hemstitching border yet and I'm not sure whether I will or not. We'll see. I have a hard enough time taking scissors to fabric just to cut the right size piece for a project, let alone for hemstitching or hardanger or anything scary like that! ;-P The only change I made to the original design was to Block #6 (the block directly below the letter "B"). I could not get the Honeycomb Filling Stitch to look right no matter what I tried (and I frogged it twice) - it was so untidy looking and absolutely horrible, so I ended up replacing it with the exact same stitch that was used in Block #26 (I forget the name!). It used the same holes for the pulled work, meaning I wasn't left with big gaping holes in the block! Yay!

I can't tell you how much I loved stitching this and how sad I was to finish it. I've pulled out Toccata Number Two and I'm debating about whether to start it straight away or not. I've also moved Toccata Number Four way up to the top of my wish list. If only they weren't so darn expensive! It's sooooo exhausting ;) talking myself into spending so much money on a stitching project when I have so many other beautiful projects already kitted up. Sighs. :)

And before I started Toccata #1, I finished up my Sheepish Designs project that I talked about in my last post way back in April!

Alpha Birds; Alpha Menagerie; Alpha Sheep by Sheepish Designs
(on one piece of fabric, of course)
Fabric/Fibers: 35-Count Crème Brulee linen with NPI silks (1 over 2)

As you see, my photography skills have not improved in the months I've been gone. There are some other photos here, at the end of the album.

I'm only stitching on average I'd say maybe 5 or 6 hours per week. It's amazing how much you can accomplish even with that! The Sheepish Designs project took me 3 months and Toccata Number One about 3 or 4 weeks.

Well, that's it from me. I will drop by again at some point with stitching photos. I hope everyone is well.

A finish, a new start, and taking a wee break...

I have some stitching photos to share, so time for me to get one of those rare (of late) blog entries in.

Evening Shades the Garden
Blackbird Designs (Loose Feathers #3).
Fabric: Cream Quaker Cloth Linen.
Stitched Over-1.

Photo below to show how tiny it is.

I adore Blackbird Designs (and particularly the Loose Feathers series). I've been collecting the Loose Feathers since #6 was released. I found No. 1 & 3 on eBay recently, so I pretty much have the whole collection. I'd better get my stitching skates on if I want to stitch them all. :-)

I also started another project a wee while ago:

Alpha Birds by Sheepish Designs.
Fabric: R&R 35-Count Creme Brulee Linen.
NPI silks (mostly 1 over 2).

I've wanted to stitch this for a very long time and finally got it out of the box a few weeks back. I plan to stitch the three in the series on the one piece of fabric.


Now... I've been thinking about this for a wee while, and I think I'm going to take a wee break from this blog. Do I post enough anymore to even justify saying that? ;-) I'm thinking not :-) but I will all the same, just in case anyone wonders where I've disappeared to. Asides from the fact that I'm going to be super busy over the next couple of months, I don't think I'm really stitching enough at the moment to make this blog very interesting. I also think I generally just need a wee break from the blogging world too. As I said in my last post, I feel awful that I'm not commenting on many blogs anymore right now (even my most favourites) -- and I DON'T want to be one of those people who starts off each and every blog entry with apologies ;-)

Thank you for the lovely and supportive comments in my last post. I'm still reading your blogs, and I *will* eventually start leaving comments again when I get the chance, I promise!

I'll be sure to update my Flickr album whenever I have stitching updates (I still update Webshots too - I really do need to pick between the two to save myself from uploading everything twice... I mean how daft is that?!)

I'm keeping up with a few of my stitching friends on Facebook (I guess that's another reason why taking a break from blogging doesn't seem that bad!) I've grown to really enjoy Facebook over the past year or two. I've never been into any of the other social networking sites, but everyone seems to be on Facebook these days. I'm back in touch with many old friends and colleagues, not to mention family around the world that I don't keep in very good contact with otherwise. This keeps me up to date with everyone - more so than my blog does (where only my stitching buddies really read it due to the content). I also feel more comfortable with the privacy of Facebook too, so I don't mind putting more information about myself on there, as only my "friends" can see it.

I'm sure I'll be back soon enough, but until then I hope everyone has a lovely spring (or autumn depending on where you are) and I'll look forward to catching up with you on your blogs or Facebook often. :-)

Tina x

Still Here...

I know it's been a while. Nothing is wrong and I'm still stitching (albeit not as much as usual). I guess I just haven't felt much like blogging lately and I do feel a bit bad about that. Though honestly, what makes me feel worse is that I haven't been commenting on everyone elses blogs lately. I do a "catch up" on my favourite blogs every 2-4 weeks or so. But by that point, I have so many to catch up on that I find it difficult to leave everyone comments. :-( I'm truly sorry if I haven't stopped by your blog in ages.

Just to show that I've still been stitching a little, this is what I've completed lately.

Morning Birds by Plum Street Samplers

Stitched with NPI silks on Lakeside Linen 40-Count Navy Bean
Loved stitching this and absolutely adore the designer
(love her blog as much as I love her designs!)

Moon Garden by Blackbird Designs (Loose Feathers #8)

Stitched with GAST on R&R 18th Century Rook Linen
I couldn't get a decent photo or scan of this in any way! :-(

If anyone is still reading, thanks for dropping by. :)

I've been stitching - really I have!

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in such an age! I've actually been stitching (I have proof!) - I just haven't been blogging. Usually if I don't post for a while it means that I haven't been stitching very much - but I got a decent amount in last month.

First off though I wanted to share the beautiful floss tag that I received as a gift from Karen.

Isn't it beautiful? Karen also sent me those gorgeous Vikki Clayton silks that I can't wait to use. Thank you again Karen, you are such an angel!

Instead of indulging in "Guilt Free January" this year, I decided to look through my WIP pile. I was really happy not to bring any 2008 starts into 2009 with me, so I then looked through my 2007 starts and I'm happy to report that I finished two!

Quaker Samplings I by With My Needle
Fabric: Lakeside Linen Maple Sugar
(with Crescent Colours Milady's Teal)

Winter Blues by Just Nan
Fabric: Legacy Linen Winter White
(with all the recommended silks)

Some more detailed photos below...

I did have one new start in January (didn't say I was an angel or anything!) I'll share that next time. :-)


I started re-watching ER from Season 1 a few weeks back. I've been collecting the DVDs since they started being released, but haven't got around to actually watching them until now. I thought as the series was coming to an end over the next few months that this was the time to start re-watching. This was my favourite TV show for quite a number of years when it first started -- there wasn't anything else like it on TV at the time. Coming to the end of Season 1 I've absolutely loved watching it again. I haven't seen any of the last few season at all (possibly the last 3 or 4), so I'm looking forward to seeing those eventually too, even though I know they'll be nothing like the "old days".

Did anyone watch the Australian Open Final today? Oh my gosh, how sad for Roger Federer! He was inconsolable. I so want him to beat the record held by Pete Sampras of the most Grand Slam wins. You'd think that he could still do it, but you have to wonder (a wee bit anyway) after today. Though having said that, how amazing is Rafa Nadal? I've been following tennis ever since I was 5 or 6-years-old, but I can't remember two players as amazing as these two. I don't just mean their talent, but what gentlemen. It's always a treat to see them in these finals together: I don't think you'll see a rivalry like this one again for a long time to come. Federer just needs to win another Slam (or two!) this year. ;-)

Thanks for dropping by -- if anyone out there is still reading. ;-)

Happy New Year!

Just a very quick post from me to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I hope you've had a lovely Christmas and have a wonderful 2009.

Also a quick (and appropriate?) finish to share - Miss New Year's Fairy!

Miss New Year's Fairy (LE Kit by Mirabilia).
Fabric: Silkweaver Reflections Precious Metals linen.

A little close-up to show how heavily beaded she was (I hadn't realised until I started stitching!)


This was a very quick stitch and is much more pretty in person than the photos show (as I think is the case with most Mirabilia designs).

I was looking over my finishes for 2008 and was surprised at how many projects I've managed to complete (23), as there have been a few periods where I haven't stitched much. What I'm even happier about is that I'm not carrying any projects over from 2008 - everything I started in '08 I finished in '08. That's not to say that I don't have projects started from before 2008 of course. Four of those I should be able to finish with no problems fairly quickly if I put my mind to it.

There's also of course Village of Hawk Run Hollow that I'm 50% of the way through. It seems I'm destined to complete this by stitching three squares a year! Seems like very little, but I guess if it works for me, and I'm not in any rush to finish it, then what the heck. I usually stitch the three squares in quick succession and then get a bit fed up and don't touch it again for 6-9 months... BUT when I do get it back out I'm really enthusiastic about working on it again. Yeah, didn't say that I wasn't weird...

Stitching NY Fairy also made me wonder why I don't work on Mirabilia's more often than I do. I haven't really stitched many over the past couple of years... and I really love to. I think I'll have to pick one out to work on in 2009.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!

I thought I should get a quick post in here otherwise I'm probably not going to get the chance before the new year. I do luckily have a finish to share (so perfect excuse to say hello!)

This is all I've pretty much been working on since I last posted. It took me quite a while to get into it really (not until I'd finished the first band) and then I really enjoyed it, though it was a bit of hard work - I'd forgotten all the instructions that go along with this designer. :-)

So, here is Victoria Sampler's Jingle Bells Xmas Tree Farm.

The Photo (which as always is too dark at this time of year!)


And the scan (which is a wee bit better, but the whole thing wouldn't fit in the scanner!)


I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Merry Christmas!

Framing!

I had my hands very full coming out of the framers on Friday, and I was so pleased with everything.

First up, all six (though it actually adds up to 15 designs!) Little House/Country Cottage Needlework pieces:


And here they are individually. Though none of the photos came out particularly well unfortunately - no natural light (all taken with my daylight lamp).

Snoopy insisted he be put in here - says he hasn't had much blog time lately!

More close-up photos...

Unfortunately I didn't get any decent individual shots of Ice Cream Sundae or Gourmet Garden.

Then.... remember A Pennsylvania Christmas Sampler? That one was framed in this haul too (and it's the only one of the bunch that's all for me!)


This is definitely one of my most favourite designs ever.

Phew - I think that's them all! No (new) stitching photos to share this time... I unfortunately haven't had the chance to stitch much over the past week. I'm happy I managed to finish my Christmas cards and a couple of letters I wanted to put in along with those cards this weekend. I'm all up to date with that now. Yay!

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post. I hope everyone is having a good December.

Christmas-y Stitching

I love this time of the year. December is definitely one of my favourite months. I normally do the majority (if not all) of my Christmas shopping in November, so that I can enjoy December without the stress of figuring out what presents to buy everyone! I much prefer to pick up gifts when I come across something I like for someone anyway, rather than feeling pressured to buy something just for the sake of it because time is running out.

And of course December is also a favourite month for stitching, when time allows. I got a head start on my Christmas stitching this year with a couple of finishes already!

Christmas Tea by Plum Street Samplers
Fabric: 40-Count Vintage River Willow (Lakeside Linens)
Stitched with the recommended Belle Soie Silk (lovely silks!)

Yule Sampler by The Primitive Needle
Fabric: 40-Count Heritage Linen (Picture This Plus)
Stitched with the recommended Crescent Colours

I hope everyone is having a good start to the upcoming holiday season. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it very much. :-)

November - The month of Little House Needleworks!

...and a wee bit of Country Cottage Needleworks, too! Yes, I've really spent all of my stitching time in November on LHN & CCN designs. I'm sure I've mentioned before that one of my "projects" for this year was to stitch a bunch of these (adorable) designs for mum's kitchen for either her birthday (which is on 2 December) or Christmas... It took me longer than I expected to finish them up, so to avoid panicking, I've decided to give them to her for Christmas instead. ;-) I'll be taking them all in to get framed tomorrow.

To share those that I've finished this month (though I may have started some of these before November, but I didn't take any WIP photos).

The Tea Series
(Herbal Tea; Iced Tea; Spiced Tea)
Designer: Little House Needleworks
Fabric: Vintage Country Mocha Belfast Linen
more detailed (scans) below...

Coffee Menu
Designer: Little House Needleworks
Fabric: Vintage Country Mocha Belfast Linen

Ice Cream Sundae
Designer: Country Cottage Needleworks
Fabric: Vintage Country Mocha Belfast Linen

Gourmet Garden
Designer: Little House Needleworks
Fabric: Vintage Light Examplar Belfast (Lakeside Linen)

And those I finished earlier in the year...

The Coffee Series
(Caffe Latte; Frappuccino; Cappuccino)
Designer: Little House Needleworks
Fabric: Vintage Country Mocha Belfast Linen
You can see more detailed scans here and here.

Sweet Treats
Designer: Country Cottage Needleworks
Fabric: Vintage Lentil Belfast (Lakeside Linens)

I didn't love the colours in Ice Cream Sundae... I started at the top and it took me a while to get into a groove with it. I still don't love the colours and it isn't a favourite, but it grew on me and it's actually really pretty IRL. And I admit that I did get a wee bit bored towards the end there, but that was more to do with the fact that I only stitched these designs for about 4 weeks. Otherwise I really did love stitching each and every one. :)

At the current time, my mum has THIS up in her kitchen:

I stitched this when I was 13! Time to take it down, mum! (hopefully at Christmas!) ;)

Thanks for stopping by! I know I'm dreadful at updating my blog these days, so I appreciate anyone that still drops by from time to time. :)


P.S. I notice Boomspeed.com has been up and down lately, hence a few of my photos aren't always showing (i.e. the header photo!) Hopefully it'll sort itself out, otherwise I'll need to move them over to another photo hosting site.

A Happy Tina!

I wasn't expecting anything nice in the post this weekend, so you can imagine how excited I was to receive a little package from Barbara (one of my favourite people and bloggers - I always feel happy when I read Barbara's blog... between photos and stories of her beautiful family and her amazing needlework, who wouldn't smile when reading her blog?)

And then when I opened the package I was even more excited and touched!


A Brightneedle chart I've wanted for ages, a gorgeous van Gogh bookmark and the Tulip Pynkeep floss tag I'd been admiring on her blog only a week or two ago. :) This is more beautiful in person than any of the photos show. Though there is a much better photo of it on Barbara's blog here.

Thank you Barbara, you're an angel.


I'll maybe be back later on today with some stitching photos (yes, I really am still doing some of that!)

Happy Halloween!

I've been so quiet on my blog (and on the stitching front) lately that you probably thought I was going to pass on the Halloween stitching for this year, right?

I couldn't do that! Not that I'm big on Halloween, but I *love* to do a little bit of Halloween stitching every year.

Trix or Treat by Blackbird Designs
Stitched on 32-Count Crème Brulee linen (R&R)

A little note found on the chart: "In the early to mid 1900s postcards were sent to offer holiday wishes. Barb found several from the 1940s celebrating Halloween. These old cards spelled trick differently. She decided to use the old spelling "trix" for this small sampler. We wish you treats not "trix" this Halloween!"

Halloween Spot by The Drawn Thread
Stitched on 32-Count Lambswool Jobelan

Halloween is a Hoot by Heart in Hand Needleart
Stitched on 32-Count Lambswool Jobelan

Those were fun! Is it too early to start some Christmas stitching now?

I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the lovely comments and e-mails I received after my last post earlier this month. Our stitching community is such a wonderful place. I'm only sorry that I haven't been more involved these past months.

My eye has been absolutely fine since that horrible weekend. Having said that though, I've been trying not to overdo it either. So far so good!

Happy Halloween!!

A Finish (Yay!) and Eye Strain (Ouch!)

Yes, some stitching content at long last! The last time I shared some stitching photos was way back when Rafa Nadal won Wimbledon: and how long ago was that?! I did take quite a break from stitching this summer. I didn't mean to and didn't plan it, but with the summer being as busy as it was... and then when I haven't stitched in a while it's difficult to pick it back up again.

But finally, here's my Sweet Treats finish:

Designer: Country Cottage Needleworks

Fabric: Vintage Lentil Belfast (Lakeside Linen)

I should add that I took this photo at night with the Daylight lamp - IRL it's not as dark as this. I'm planning to do a bunch of food & drink designs (by Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks) for mum's kitchen. I'll give them to her for either her birthday (in December) or Christmas - so I'll need to get a move on now if I want to get a few more done.

I was finally starting to get back into stitching a bit the week before last when after just a few evenings of doing it I woke up one morning to the MOST awful eye strain I've ever had. :/ I used to suffer from eye strain quite a bit about 4 years ago. I put it down to lack of sleep due to opening up the new business and being so busy. As soon as that settled down (and I was able to sleep for more than 4 hours a night), I didn't get it very often anymore - maybe once or twice a year at the most. When I suffer from it, it's usually if I'm woken up suddenly (from e.g. the alarm). As soon as the "air" hits my eye when I open it, it's agony. It takes about an hour to get over it: the only way to recover is to relax my eye - ideally go back to sleep for an hour or so if I'm able to. Sometimes the eye feels a bit delicate for the rest of the day, but there's no pain.

However the week before last - OMG it was AWFUL. It knocked me out for the whole day. I was in so much pain - I couldn't even open the eye that wasn't in pain, because it effected the other one. And I'm honestly not a big wimp when it comes to pain. So from 7am through to 3pm I pretty much couldn't open either of my eyes. It was starting to ease up a bit by 2.30-3pm, so I took a nap for an hour and when I got up I could open my eyes again without being in complete agony, but there was still some pain and discomfort for the rest of the evening and the next day. My eyesight isn't bad. Sure, I've been wearing glasses since I was about 19, but I can see fine without them too (i.e. if I forget to take my glasses with me somewhere it's not a disaster). I'm good at getting my eyes checked regularly - I got new glasses six months ago and I'm always told I have healthy eyes. I got some drops for my eyes and I was fine after that, but I've been very careful since: trying only to do the minimum on the computer (which I need to do for work) and no stitching until this weekend (and only a little). I've also bought an anti-glare screen protector for my monitor - which I should have done a LONG time ago, as I have a feeling the monitor is the main cause of this.

So let's hope I have no more eye strain episodes and that I'm back stitching regularly again, because I sure have missed it. I also need to catch up with so many blogs - I've missed that just as much.