Primitive designs - help needed please

Donna...if you're reading this...please don't go any further :)

Everybody else, please scroll down a bit









I am stitching a prim design, well it's a set of 3 actually.  I know there is something that people do to make the design looked prim and sort of aged, but I don't know what it is.  I haven't had any joy with googling it, probably because I don't really know what I am googling so can anyone give me any links to what you do please?

Thank you!

A recent finish

More finishes?  What is that woman up to I hear you cry?  I can also hear the thud of you all fainting.

This is the exchange piece that I sent to Mary for our Friendly Stitchers exchange.  We both chose a summer theme (as opposed to a 4th of July or Canada Day one).  This is the bottom section of Summer Sampler by The Victoria Sampler.  It is SO cute and I will (one day) stitch the whole thing for myself.

Barring 4 french knots, I have also finished Santa's House by CCN which is the first of the Santa's Village series. It only took me 18 months!!

Stitch from Stash - June update

£37.27 + €100

Well last month, my post had barely made it onto my blog when my finger accidentally slipped on sewandso.co.uk and ordered 3 pieces of fabric.  I wasn't sure which colour would be best so that's the reason for 3 pieces.  So that was £14.49

Then Thread Pickerz on facebook had some really pretty threads, so I thought I would try some.  That was another £9.30.  Oops!

Oh dear...and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse I bought a new Q Snap frame and some Sulky Sliver to try gridding with. That was another £13.45.  I wonder if Mel would let me have another free month if I smiled sweetly?

I suppose I also should declare that I have signed up for Gaynor's (StitchersAnon) cross stitch retreat next year too. The stitching retreat is a bargain at 100 Euros.  I am so excited already, and it's not until May next year!

***Edited to add***
I have just received Bothy Threads Cut Thru Noah's Ark and Bothy Threads Kings and Queens but my mean, nasty husband (yes, Colin...that's you!) has put them away for Christmas.  I also received £10 of threads from The Patchwork Rabbit today seeing as we have extra money this month.  This has been added to my total above.

*****Edited yet again*****
Q Snaps don't count!!!!!  So I get to take £9.95 off my total.  So that brings it down to £37.27

Cross stitching, bits & pieces and a lovely Friendly Exchange

The last couple of days, when I have been out and about shopping, there have been a few bits and pieces that I have found that celebrate cross stitching.

Firstly this, Keep calm and cross stitch notebook and in Sainsbury's there were some mugs and another notebook.

So there you go, if you want to track your cross stitch, there are a couple of cross stitchy books you could use.  Of course, you can imagine the embarrassment I caused Rachael by taking photos in Sainsbury's!!

Anyway on to some proper cross stitching now.  I have worked on Bothy Threads Cut Thru Stable a few times and have never taken a photo so as I had the camera out, I got a quick pic.  This really needs an iron! I have been working on the left hand side with the hanging basket and whatever the tall flower is too.  Sadly the greenery on the tall flower has had to be stitched, unstitched, restitched, partially unstitched and finally partially restitched.  I have also stitched the green bucket and part of the girl.

I recently took part in a summer exchange that was arranged on Friendly Stitchers.  My exchange partner was Mary and she sent me a gorgeously stitched biscornu with a design by Just Nan on it along with some lovely backing fabrics.  I love the card she sent me too! Thank you Mary!!

Instagram

I've just joined Instagram.  I don't have a clue what I do now I have joined, but I've joined!



Feel free to give me some advice on it, if you have any!

Blogoversary giveaway

Rhona finally received the giveaway I put together for her to celebrate my blogoversary back in...er...March and seems to have quite liked it.

Gaynor (StitchersAnon) very kindly designed me a chart of a No Ironing chart which with finishing my degree off took me ages to stitch and make up.  On the plus side it meant that every time I went shopping, I saw little bits and thought 'ooh, that would be nice to add to the package'.  It started off as iron/candy and developed into other bits too.

So without further ado, here is the design before I made it up.  I think it is about 6" x 6" when stitched on 14ct. (Yes Jo, 14 ct aida...lol).

The bizarre thing is, and I didn't realisz it until I was ironing the fabric to make it up, the iron is pretty much the same as my iron in real life!

designed by
Gaynor French (Stitcher's Anon)

This is the wall hanging I made for Rhona.  It was really odd when I looked at it because actually in the quilting fabric there were red, blue and yellow irons but with the exception of a tiny bit of red iron here and there, the rest all ended up being the blue and yellow ones.  It wasn't planned like this, it just happened!  I forgot to take a photo of the other backing fabric I used too which is really cute.

This is a photo of the goodies I sent to Rhona, which I have shamelessly stolen from her blog as I forgot to take one of everything together.  Glad you liked it all Rhona. 

WIPocalypse

This month I have put a few stitches in Bothy Threads Cut Thru Stable but not enough to warrant a photo, other than that I haven't stitched on any of my other WIPocalypse pieces.

I have never had the chance to go on a stitching retreat but have just signed up for Gaynor's in Ireland next year.

The only places I have ever been to that are stitching related are shows.  I have been to Manchester three times, Birmingham once and Harrogate once too.  Every time though there has been less and less stitching stuff and more for other crafts.  I think unless I was going to meet up with someone that I probably wouldn't go again.

Shock! Horror!

Sit yourself down. Put down that cup. Don't bite that biscuit. 

What on Earth you may be asking. ..

Well, I have a finish!!!!!

I have just put the last stitch in Mary's Sampler.

Turtle Trot update - 10th June

I have made progress!!!  How about that?  Me...making progress!! Whatever next?

I worked on Mary's Sampler and now have less than 2 sides of the green bit of the border to do and most of the red bit.  I did take a photo but can't find it!  I have a slight problem in that I have stitched about 2/3 of  the top bit of green border one stitch too high.  As I am running out of GAST Endive I will have to try and unpick it carefully and use some Thread Heaven to straighten it out a bit or something.  I wouldn't usually reuse threads but I really don't have enough otherwise.

I have also worked a few threads into my Cut Thru Stable, sadly not enough to warrant the effort of taking a photo of it though!  

A total mish mash of the week's events!!

On Thursday, I became the mother of 2 teenagers!  How that happened I have no idea.  It doesn't seem 5 minutes since they were both born.  The birthday boy had us all up bright and early so he could open his presents, the main one being a keyboard. I have to say that the One Republic tune he has been learning at school sounds pretty good. Excuse the mess on the window sill.  We have been sorting out lego for the last few weeks.

Luke didn't want to have a birthday party but did ask if he could be allowed a Choccywoccydoodah cake. Here it is in all its glory!  I have to say it's nice but not as nice as the ones the kids have made this year.  The thick layer of chocolate is quite tasty too!

On to stitching news!

Yesterday, I finished StitchersAnon's 'Every stitch is from the heart'.  It is stitched on Sparklies 'Spring Greens' 28ct something or other.  I can see this as a cube finish with some green shamrock backing fabric and emerald green ribbons. I loved stitching this as I thought of Gaynor and her girls on their stitching retreat.  I have already signed up for next year's stitching retreat and have my passport forms ready to fill in!!!

I also finished my first Crazy January Challenge piece too.  It turned out really cute and I turned one of the little reindeer into a Rudolph.  I stitched it on white so had to change the colour of the reindeer but think it looks ok.  Oh and there should have been a heart on top of the tree but I changed it for a star. 

I made a little progress on 'Oh Christmas Tree' but there is only so long that I can stitch one colour for before getting bored and moving on to something else.

Very quickly, look who was in our garden this morning!  Soaking up the sun on our potatoes.

Now if you have got this far (well done!), I have a dilemma for you.  I have joined a facebook SAL and need a fabric.  Originally I saw the 2nd piece of fabric (Polstitches, Cosmos) and thought it was the perfect piece - except it is too small and would have to be done over 1.  As Jo pointed it out, it would lose bling and beads if I did that. However, I could always order a bigger piece of that!  I then chose a piece of Permin aida in Almond which would be plenty big enough  - but is that boring?  So I had another look and found a piece of Zweigart lugana 'Lavender' but again that would be over one or finally there is a SMF 'Summer Twilight' that might work but is again only big enough for over one.  Arrrrgggghhhhh!  What do I do?

From September (not stitching related)

I was called into the Head's office for a meeting on Thursday to discuss what I would be doing in September.  That really surprised me as I was expecting to get made redundant!

Anyway, I am going to be covering PPA for year's 1 - 6 on 3 afternoons a week and management time for 2 of the senior leaders on 2 mornings a week.  I have talked the year 5 and 6 teachers into letting me teach science which I love and I am hoping that the year 3 and 4 teachers will let me do science too.  Science in our school is SO boring at the moment and I would like to make it more engaging.

I'm still job hunting though as in all honesty I am not sure that I really want to be teaching and have a feeling that the way it seems to be set up for me at the moment things are so slip-shod that I will be frazzled by Christmas!  I am toying with applying to work in high schools so that there is no risk of working in foundation stage which I hate.

So if anyone knows of any good science resources websites, please let me know!!