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

Deep Stash Diving

Hi everyone,
First of all a big thank you for the kind words and welcome back. I really didn't expect anyone to leave a comment as it had been so long so it was a lovely suprise to hear from so many old friends.
So, as promised, this time there is some stitching content. In fact, it's all stitching content as now that I've found my stitching mojo again I can think of little else.
I have two finishes to share. First is a little pillow from a Shepherds Bush kit that friend Angela gifted me one time when she visited us in Spain. Angela doesn't have a blog but she does beautiful stitching and you can see her work in her Picturetrail album which is linked in the sidebar of this blog.

This is Flock of Pins by Shepherds Bush stitched on 32ct linen with the silk threads provided in the kit

I think it should be possible to click on any of the pictures to enlarge if you wish to

My next finish is Home of a Needleworker by Little House Needleworks. This had been on my want to stitch list forever and once I got going on it I stitched it in just under two weeks which is something of a record for me.
Fabric is 32ct cream evenweave using mostly the threads that were called for in the chart

I've been pulling out a lot of projects that were started a long time ago. I've managed to do some stitching on Sunflower Bell Pull by the Drawn Thread. I would like to frame this piece rather than finish as a bell pull so will omit the v shaped stitching at the very bottom of the chart

and finally a very ancient UFO that I pulled out while deep stash diving. I wouldn't like to say how long ago I started this and now I don't even know what design it was so I'm hoping that one of you might be able to tell me.
I'm pretty sure it is a design by the Prairie Schooler but I've been on their website and various Pinterest sites devoted to PS designs and I cannot see anything that resembles this. I would really like to be able to finish what I started but I don't have the chart and have a feeling that it must be one of the OOP ones.

So that is all I have for now. The aim with the blog this time around is to try to do little and often posts. Let's see how well I do at this.
As always thanks for visiting my blog. I am almost caught up with replies to those of you that left such nice comments last time.
Happy stitching!
Margaret

How long?

Wow! Has it really been so long since I posted to my blog.
Since my last entry I have moved back to UK from Spain first into a rented apartment for six months and then into our own house last August.
It's been busy but I've still managed to craft. However it has been mostly about knitting, crochet and sewing.
I've taken up my needle and thread again after a long break and will post something stitchy related soon.
Meanwhile this is my latest sewing finish.

Here is how it looks on the inside with a zippered pocket

and with the little fabric I had left I sqeezed out a zippered pouch

So it's not much of a post but a small start. I hope to be back with some finished stitching soon.
If there is anyone still reading here thanks for visiting :)
Margaret