Stitching on Sundays & Mondays

Here's the first of the ornaments I've stitched from Spirit of Christmas Set 2 by Lila's Studio, so sweet.

I'm stitching on 36 count Summer khaki linen with most of the recommended threads. The plan is to stitch one of these lovely designs every month, there's 8 in total.

Next up for #santasundayxs and #merrymondayxs is Merry Old Soul by Brenda Gervais.

I've been wanting to stitch this for absolutely ages. I'm using most of the recommended threads and the fabric is 32 count Smokey Pearl Belfast linen. 

For tomorrow's post I'll have an update about all the Blackbird Designs I've been working on over the past few weeks.

See you soon x

Be Merry & Bright

This past weekend I spent a few hours at my sewing machine, making some face masks and also getting some recent stitching projects ready for some finishing.

This is Be Merry & Bright, a lovely chart from the Scarlet House.

I used most of the recommended threads on 30 ct hand dyed linen. For the backing, I used some of my favourite fabric and vintage chenille trim by Lois from Lady Dot Creations.

See you soon xx

Peppermint Pals

Peppermint Pals, a design by Brenda Gervais With Thy Needle and Thread, has been my #merrymondayxs project for the last few weeks.

I stitched the design on 32 count vintage blue whisper belfast linen using most of the recommended threads. The fabric is a lot bluer than the photos are showing.

It's not long now until I can get some Jolly July stitching started.  Jolly July is a festive stitch along throughout July started last year by Kimberly from the Fat Quarter Shop and Priscilla and Chelsea of Stitching with the Housewives. You can read more about it here.  I've already picked out several ornaments and other festive patterns, just need to spend some time sorting fabric and threads. In the meantime, I'm trying to get a few Stitchmaynia projects finished, so far so good!

See you soon xx

Merry Monday stitching

This year I've decided to continue with #merrymondayxs, a stitchalong on Instagram started by Priscilla and Chelsea. This is a left over from last year's Christmas ornaments, not quite finished in time.  I have several of the Prairie Schooler yearly Santas on my to stitch this year.

See you soon xx

Fa La La La

This is the Christmas design I picked to stitch for my lovely Mum, Fa La La by Lizzie Kate, a kit from several years ago.

My Mum is a massive Christmas time fan and her favourite Christmas colours are bright red and limey green, like in this design, so it's the perfect choice for her.

I used most of the recommended threads and trimmed the pillow with some Lady Dot Creates Sizzle chenille trim.  The fabric was a great match, found in a small pile of fabrics gifted to me last Christmas by a friend.

I'm so happy that I've nearly reached the end of all the Christmas gift stitching on my list - I'm aiming for the end of November to have it all done and then I can move onto something other then Christmas stitching, lol, or perhaps even finish some of my Jolly July starts.  We'll see!

See you soon xx

Wee Santa 2019

This is Heart in Hand Needleart's 2019 Wee Santa. I used the recommended threads and my favourite vintage mocha Belfast linen.

I found this lovely black and gold dotty fabric recently at my local sewing shop so decided to finish this as a small pillow.

A bit cute don't you think?

See you soon x

A New Start & Special Family Occasion

Once I finished a few of my Jolly July starts, I kitted up a new design that I've decided to stitch for santasundayxs and merrymondayxs, hashtags you can follow on Instagram.

This Christmas design caught my eye awhile ago and I was so pleased to see you could purchase the chart as a PDF and then download it, to start straight away.

Little Dove Designs can be found here: 

I'm using all the recommended DMC threads and my linen is 28 count China Pearl Jobelan, which is a very pale grey colour.


Week 1:

Week 2:

Last Sunday we headed up to Havelock North for the day to celebrate a special family occasion, Glenn's parents' recent 50th Wedding Anniversary. 

We had a delicious lunch at Piku, which we all enjoyed :

Then it was onto Birdwoods Gallery & Cafe for a visit to the old fashioned Lolly shop and gardens.

We ended our day out with a trip up to Te Mata Peak, for the best views of around Hawkes Bay. As it was a lovely day, there were lots of other people up there taking in the views.

It's the first week of the school holidays here, and earlier in the week I took a few days leave off work to spend with Hannah as she had her dancing exams. I am so proud of her, with all the extra practices and everything else she had on at school last term, she coped well and everything went fine with the exams.

This coming weekend we're off on a trip south to Palmerston North, for a few days away, visiting my cousin Donna and family.  Looking forward to some shopping too of course!

See you soon xx