Hello friends, it's time for a stitching update - as always, I have lots of things on the go, makes life interesting ha ha.

Sampler September, a stitch along on Instagram,  is underway and unlike previous years, where I've started a new project, this year I've chosen to concentrate on getting one or two of my current works in progress possibly finished, fingers crossed.

I've made some great progress on the Light of Winter by Brenda Gervais. This is being stitched on 36 count Ballet Slippers by Fox & Rabbit using the recommended threads. I started this at the start of December 2023.

The light isn't so good on these photos sorry.

These next two fully finished pillows are some Easter stitching.  This little pillow is from the Jelly Bean Jubilee booklet by Brenda Gervais, stitched on 40 count vintage mocha Belfast linen.

Spring Awakens, also by Brenda Gervais, and stitched on 36 count vintage mocha Belfast linen.

For both of these, I twisted some DMC chenille to make the trim.

Here's Christmas Bird, from the Pastel Collection by Country Cottage Needleworks, finished as a flat ornament.

This is going to be the first Christmas ornament for our friends' new baby grand daughter, born on the 14th August, Margot Florence. I can't wait to have baby cuddles when they come to visit in a few weeks time.

 

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon x

World Knit in Public Day and more

Last Saturday morning I went to our local library for Worldwide Knit in Public day.

My friends Clare and Sonia came along too and we had a lovely morning chatting and knitting away, and meeting some new friends.

Our library is a wonderful space, it's way more than a library with lots of other services operating from there and activities happening. The staff that work there are amazing, always so chatty and friendly and they go out of their way to be helpful.  We do have two libraries in our small district, the other one ten minutes away is just as amazing, I love going there too.  

And the great thing about Saturday? I've joined a new knitting group, how fun! We're going to meet up monthly on a Saturday morning.

Now for some recent finishing and stitching.

Cup of Cheer by Brenda Gervais was stitched earlier in the year, it was started during my summer holidays. 

I used the recommended threads and 32 count Flax linen, natural ric rac for the trim.

Next up are some recent ornament finishes.

Mistletoe Kisses by Erica Michaels, this design has been kitted and in my stitching bag for quite some time. Stitched on 32 count vintage mocha linen with the recommended threads.

From Country Cottage Needleworks Pastel Ornaments Collection, Christmas Bird. I used the recommended threads and 32 count cream linen.

This year's Prairie Schooler Santa  - I loved stitching this, recommended threads and 36 count vintage mocha linen.

Have a happy week, see you soon x

February Ornaments

Hello friends, I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend, we certainly enjoyed our four day break. The weather was pretty good so we got lots of jobs ticked off our list, caught up with family and friends, and we had a day out shopping with Hannah and her two besties, which was lots of fun, giggling girls. We didn't get to have our usual Jamieson Easter catch up with our nieces as they were in isolation for the week but we're planning a catch up as soon as possible.

I also spent a bit of time at my sewing machine finishing my March Christmas ornaments and I've been making a new project bag from a recently finished cross stitch. Photos to come.

In the meantime, here are the three designs I stitched during February:

Christmas Birdhouse by Country Cottage Needleworks 

Prairie Schooler Santa 1986

Jolly Claus by the Real Housewives of Cross Stitch

See you soon x

Santa Sunday Finishes

Here's two finished ornaments from my recent #santasundayxs stitching.  #santasundayxs is a hashtag you can follow on Instagram.

Prairie Schooler 1993 Santa  - stitched on 32 count vintage mocha belfast linen using DMC 221 for the trim.

Dear Santa by Country Cottage Needleworks - stitched on 32 ct cream linen

See you soon x

Christmas Cushions & Stitchmaynia?

These two lovely Christmas designs by Country Cottage Needleworks were two of my 2019 Stitchmaynia projects, Santa's List, and Merry and Bright and finished last year.

I had been debating how to finish both designs when Kimberly from the Fat Quarter Shop posted a tutorial, here, on how to turn a stitched piece into a pillow. Perfect!

I started putting these together ages ago then finished the cushions during the first week of lock down. I had to make some small pillows for inside using calico fabric.

For both of the stitched pieces I used 32 count vintage mocha belfast linen and mostly the recommended threads.

Are you participating in Stitchmaynia this year? I'm not 100% sure yet as I have several projects on the go already and haven't even thought about what I might like to stitch.  I've got several small designs that I didn't complete last year so might just add them to the list to work on during May. Decisions, decisions.

See you soon xx

Merry & Bright

Here's another finish from a few days ago:

Merry & Bright by County Cottage Needleworks, stitched with mostly the recommended threads, 32 count vintage mocha belfast linen.

This was one of my first Stitch maynia 2019 starts so I'm pleased to have it finished.  I just the colours on this design.

See you soon xx

#Santasundayxs

The last few Sundays I have been stitching on Merry & Bright by Country Cottage Needleworks:

I'm using a mixture of the recommended threads and DMCs, and my fabric is 32 count vintage mocha Belfast linen. 

#santasundayxs is a stitch along on Instagram if you would like to join in on the fun!

See you soon x

A finish & a catch up with stitching friends

This project is quite well traveled, having come with me to both Sydney and then the Gold Coast, and I'm pleased it's finally finished!

Santa's List by Country Cottage Needleworks was started as my first Stitch Maynia project back in early May. I used most of the recommended threads and my favourite coloured linen, 32 count vintage mocha belfast linen.

Just before I went away on holiday, I spent the afternoon with my stitching buddies, this time we met at Val's house. It was a miserably cold afternoon, later in the day I'm sure it looked like it was trying to snow! Kath came down from Napier so it was wonderful to catch up with her.

After some delicious soup and savouries for lunch out came the treats - there's always lots of treats when we get together!

I just love hanging out with these lovely friends of mine, a good dose of friendship, laughter and always the best time being together.

See you soon xxx

Stitch Maynia 2019 Wrap Up & other news

This past weekend was a three day weekend for us as it was a public holiday on Monday, Queen's Birthday. We had visitors Saturday night, my cousin Donna and her boyfriend Jess came to stay. They haven't been over from Palmerston North to stay with us since September last year, and we'd only seen them at the beach during summer, so it was good to have a catch up and enjoy a meal out at our local Indian restaurant. 

The weather here finally took a turn towards winter this weekend too. We'd been so lucky this autumn, it's been a very mild autumn here.  We woke up Sunday morning to see snow on the ranges to the west of town, giving a real icy chill to the air.  Perfect stitching weather and that's what I did Monday afternoon, sorting out some of the projects I'd started during May for Stitchmaynia 2019 while catching up on some Netflix.

My tally of new starts ended up being 9 new projects, including this last one - Blessed Bee by Brenda Gervais. 

I did take some stitching with me to Australia but only managed one or two hours on the project I had with me, Santa's List by Country Cottage Needleworks.

I've set up bit of a stitching/crochet/knitting plan for June, where I'll try and get some of the Maynia projects finished.

Crochet - I have my Cosy stripe blanket to work on and would really like to have this finished by mid August to give to my Mum for her birthday.

Knitting - Hannah's socks, the baby blanket for my cousin's new baby, and I've started a Rewilding Shawl which is going to be a gift too.

Almost forgot, I have several red work stitchery patterns traced and ready to go to, these will be Christmas gifts.

Nothing like a bit of variety! 

See you soon xx

Last Week's Stitchmaynia

For my second week of Stitchmaynia, I worked on several new projects as well as adding a few stitches to my Wips.  Over a couple of nights I also made some progress on the Cosy Stripe crochet blanket, Hannah's socks and the baby blanket I started a few months ago.

So first up, newly started Merry & Bright by Country Cottage Needleworks :

A few more stitches on Birds and the Bees:

Working on the border of Merrily Merrily We Welcome Spring:

New start for #merrymondayxs, Be Merry snippet by Lizzie Kate

O Tannebaum by Pineberry Lane for #santasundayxs

I had a quiet Sunday afternoon at home in front of the fire catching up on some of my fav TV shows from during the week so I decided to start The Stitching Bee by Little House Needleworks.

This is the latest club kit from the Silver Needle's Friends Stitching circle. Isn't the needle minder gorgeous?

See you soon xx