November - just

Hello friends and fellow crafters.

Well, somehow I didn’t manage to put up a post in October and, as I didn’t want November to slip past in the same way, I’m squeezing in a last minute update now.

How can it possibly be the end of November already? The days and weeks just fly!

Time is always an issue for me these days as I no longer have as much of it to dedicate to crafting as I used to have.

Anyway, let’s have a look at what I’ve been working on the past couple of months.

I seem to have lost my cross stitching mojo yet again. I had big plans of having a bowl filled with lovely pumpkin themed pillows but, in actual fact, I only managed two and the bowl never happened.

Anyway, here they are…..

The first is Pumpkin House by Pansy Patch Quilts and Stitchery. I stitched this on 36 ct linen using mostly the called for threads

The next one is I Love Fall Most of All by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread.

Stitched on 36 ct linen using mostly the called for threads.

Both pillows are of a similar size and both are backed with the fabric you see them lying on which, incidentally, is a newly finished project bag.

I used a Victorian Motto Shoppe chenille trim from deep stash 

Still with the cross stitch Autumn Keeper by Barbara Ana stitched on 32 ct evenweave again using whatever is called for and my own substitutions here and there.

The final piece of cross stitch is one of my oldest UFO’s finally finished after about 18 years in the works

It is a design by Papillon Creations. I’m not even sure if that designer is still in business. I think it must be a 32 ct linen and I don’t know what I was thinking but I used two strands of Vikki Clayton silks. It is not an easy thing to stitch with two strands of silk as they were sliding against each other.

Just put it down to my then inexperience

Now onto some knitting. I’ve shown these already on Instagram but am putting them here too just for the record.

A pair of socks for my daughter using King Cole Zig Zag yarn

and a pair of fingerless mitts using West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply yarn in the colour Autumn Leaves

Finally, a knitting project bag in Christmas fabrics 

The light is really bad for taking pictures so I’m going to leave it here.

Anything else will appear in my next post.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post.

Happy crafting,

Margaret

September Round Up

Hello friends and fellow crafters,

I have such a pile of stuff to fully finish and I was hoping to get some things done to show on here before the end of the month.

Well, that hasn’t happened so I’ll just post what I do have for now.

One thing I did get fully finished is this pillow I stitched earlier this year. It is one of the  WTNT Seasons of the Heart.

I didn’t want to use the paper tag idea shown on the pattern so I just charted the word spring instead.

I used Lady Dot chenille trim in the colour Rainy and I believe the backing fabric is Lynette Anderson

Still with With Thy Needle and Thread I made this project bag which was offered as a pre printed panel. The tiny strawberry zipper pull was a bit of a fiddle to make but I got there in the end.

The Queen of the Needle pillow is also WTNT and was finished earlier this year

I also made another project bag from a very old fabric line that I can no longer remember the name of.

I couldn’t decide which I liked better - front or back but I intend making another bag which will be pieced with the many scraps I have left so the front and back will be more or less the same next time.

As always, there must be a finished pair of socks. I used the Hermione’s Everyday sock pattern which is a free Ravelry download. Yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature  4ply and the contrast yarn was a hand dyed leftover from another project.

The socks are shown lying on my current crochet project  which is the Almost Autumn blanket

which is a free pattern by Made by Anita.

I’m using the yarns/colours called for in the pattern. I was getting on great with this blanket and am about three quarters of the way done with it. Then we got an unexpected heatwave and it was just too hot to work on it any more. I haven’t picked it up since it has cooled down to what is normal for this time of year.

I thought I’d show my little tiered display of smalls that were all stitched and finished many years ago. 

The last thing I have to show is this five year diary I bought on Amazon. I have had the Book of Days for the last couple of years but this diary has pretty much the same layout and was loads cheaper.

So that is about it for now. I hope everyone is well and enjoying your crafting.

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post. I didn’t think anyone would be reading but it’s lovely to see I’m not alone here and talking to myself.

Margaret

End of August

Hello friends and fellow crafters,

How come it is almost the end of August already? The year has flown so far.

I haven’t given up on this blog. I would love to post more but time is always an issue these days as I’m a full time carer for my husband.

I’m not on Instagram that much any more. It has changed a lot since the early days.

These days it is noisy with so many reels and adverts. I am not shown the feeds of the people I used to enjoy following so I’m reclaiming this quiet space and if I’m the only one here that’s OK.

I’ll just keep this blog a record of my projects and life in general.

Here in the UK Summer was a total washout. After a hot spell in June it seemed to be endless rain and grey days with the exception of a few sunny days here and there.

This picture was taken during the June heatwave. There hasn’t been much opportunity for sitting outside ever since.

I seem to have lost (temporarily I hope) my stitching mojo. Projects are sitting untouched in their bags until I get inspired again.

Meanwhile I’ve been working with yarn. I crocheted a baby blanket and knitted a little hat with the leftover yarn.

I also finished a pair of socks for hubby knit from West Yorkshire Spinners yarns.

a cardigan and hat for one of my granddaughters. My friend Sandra in Northern Ireland sent me the buttons from her button jar and they are just perfect. 

and a jumper knitted in Deramore’s anti pilling acrylic yarn. The pattern is free on the Drops website.

I think it is called Agnes.

Right now I’m knitting another pair of socks that I will hopefully finish 

I made a sock knitting project bag with some lovely sunflower fabric

I also made a cross stitch project bag using French General fabrics.

Well, I think that’s about it for now. I hope it won’t be so long between posts n future.

Happy crafting,

Margaret 

2021 - A good stitching year

Hello friends and fellow stitchers,

Thank you so much for your kind comments on my last post. It had been so long since I had posted anything that I was sure there would be no one visiting here so I was pleasantly surprised to meet up with friends old and new.

I’ve a bit more progress on my Winter Rose Manor but not really enough to show yet.

Instead, I’ve decided to put up pictures of some 2021 stitching. I had two major finishes in 2021 so it must have been a good stitching year.

The first is A Saviour’s Praise by Shakespeare’s Peddler. I stitched this on 36 ct linen using all the called for threads one strand over two.

I didn’t want to stitch the fictitious name of Emma Seabrooke so I substituted my own wording instead.

I really loved stitching this sampler and missed working on it once it was done.

The other big piece is a design by The Scarlet Letter. Margaret Gibson 1839.

This was a WIP for many years til I finally decided to make that push and finish her.

The piece is stitched n 36 ct linen using the DMC conversion that was included with the chart.

I think the colours are beautiful and it just goes to show you really don’t have to have the fancy floss or silks to stitch something beautiful.

I think you can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.

,I have one other smaller sampler to share today and this one is by The Scarlett House Little Deeds Sampler. I stitched this one on 35 ct natural linen using mostly the called for threads one strand over two.

and now for some sewing. In my last post I showed a zippered pouch and I’ve just finished making another one. The pattern is by Sotak Handmade and the name of the pattern is the Lola Pouch. You can purchase the pattern as a pdf from her website.

It’s such a great pattern that I want to make more. For this one I used some Tilda fabrics although the striped base and lining fabrics are just oddments from stash.

I did quilt as you go and quite enjoyed trying out something new to me.

So I think that is about it for now. I hope to be back soon!

Happy crafting,

Margaret

Back to Blogger - maybe……..

Well, it has been a long, long time! About six years in fact since I posted anything to this blog.

I, along with so many others, defected to Instagram and I have to sayI loved it for the  first few years.

Recently though I’ve become more and more disenchanted with the bombardment of ads and reels none of which are what I’m really interested to see.

So here I am with the idea of resurrecting my blog. Just as a place to record my makes and, hopefully, visit some of the blogs I used to enjoy that are still active.

Trouble is I’m just so rusty and have just about forgotten everything I ever knew about posting!

So my plan is to keep this post short just while I get back into the swing of it.

So what have I finished of late and what am I working on?

I’m currently working on Winter Rose Manor by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread.

In the first picture you can also see the project bag I sewed up from the fabric panel that Brenda offered

I’m really enjoying this project.

One other thing I finished recently is a zippered pouch using a little cross stitch called Socks on the Line from October House Fiber Arts. This was a fun stitch but I almost ruined it with the rookie error of getting the red thread wet when pressing. It’s not too bad but I’ll be more careful in future 

Finally a pair of shortie socks from the Rose City Roller pattern which is free on Ravelry.

So I think that is all for now just til I see if this posts OK.

A few things I've been working on

Hi everyone,
In spite of my good intentions to be a better blogger I haven't had time to post for a while.
It's just that time of year where there is so much to do in the garden but I'm here now with a few pictures of what I've been working on recently.
I'm happy to have a small finish. This is a design by Plum Street Samplers Serial Bowl Collection which I intend to finish as a pillow once I can get to my sewing machine.
I stitched this piece on a piece of 40 ct unknown linen using Classic Colorworks overdyed threads. The small section of over one stitching was a nightmare to do on the 40ct - never again!



Next up some small progress on my Just Nan Needle in a Garden. This is a UFO from way back when and I haven't done as much as I would have liked but any progress is better than nothing right?



I have another finish. This is Spring from a set of four seasonal design kits by Elizabeth's Designs. Everything was included in the kit - linen, charms and overdyed threads. I've been stitching these with Brigitte who also has these kits in her stash and we are now making some progress on the summer one which I will show when it is finished.



Another SAL I'm doing with Brigitte is Houses of Hawk Run Hollow. I started this when the design first came out so it's another ancient WIP.
Here is the progress I've made on the block I'm currently working on.



This is stitched on Pearled Barley linen using the Vikki Clayton silk conversion.

I've been doing some crochet on a little blanket for the next grandbaby which is due early August.



and finally a gorgeous little wall hanging that was made for me by my friend Sheila in Spain



So I think that is all I have for today. I'm way behind in reading and commenting on blogs but hope to catch up in the next day or two.
I hope you are all enjoying your stitching and other crafts. Thanks as always for visiting.
Margaret

Revisiting the UFO's and a Prairie Schooler Finish

Hi everyone,

I'm happy to have a finish to share.
This is The Birdhouse Sampler by the Prairie Schooler. It's in the Garden Samplers book #45 which is now OOP.
It is stitched using the recommended DMC threads on 32ct linen and I'm very happy with the way it turned out



Following on from my last post I have continued to dive into deep stash to revisit my shameful pile of UFO's.

Once upon a time I started Celtic Banner by Butternut Road. This thing is 42 inches long and I really don't know what I was thinking at the time although it must have been all of thirteen years or more.
Anyway I pulled it out to look at and decided that I could crop this to just the alphabet and the Celtic border. I have only the bottom border to do so this will be worked on at some point in the near future and hopefully finished.



I no longer remember what linen this is but I used some of it for the Birdhouse Sampler that I showed in the first picture.

Still deep stash diving I pulled out my Houses of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings. This is almost at the halfway point and I'm happy to be stitching on it again in a weekly SAL with Brigitte
This is stitched on 36ct linen using the Vikki Clayton silk conversion



I'm happy to say that the mystery from my last blog post is solved. The design is Needle in a Garden by Just Nan. It's such a pretty design I have no idea why I stopped working on it but the plan is to finish it. I ordered the chart again from Sew and So and I already had the Scarecrow charm.
Threads are just DMC and there are lots of specialty stitches to hold my interest.



You should be able to click on any of the pictures for a better view if you wish.

Finally Nancy of the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe
has another of her amazing giveaways going on for 10 20yd skeins of her newest colour floss. There is still time to enter.

So that's it for this time. Thanks for your continued visits to my blog and for your lovely comments.
Happy stitching!
Margaret