2017 Q1 Finish-A-Long - Proposed Finishes

Hello

It has been a while since I have been here but I have not stopped making things (check out my Instagram for what's been going on).

Over the last year I found I was feeling weighed down by all the projects I had to do but kept starting new ones (please tell me it's not just me who does this...).  I wrote a list of all my projects and I want to finish half in each section before I start a new project. After writing I discovered another cross stitch lurking in a bag (a Tatty Teddy with blue flowers) so at the beginning of the year I had 19 WIPs on the go.

There were a couple of quick finishes in the Christmas ornaments....

....and the white baby cardie.  But that leaves 17 projects still on the list.

I noticed that Charm About You is part of the team hosing the 2017 Finish-A-Long. So I have decided to take part. I have been a bit ambitious and want to get 8 (!) projects done this quarter.

First off I have a pair of socks in West Yorkshire Spinners Kingfisher yarn.  Just need to turn the heel and finish off the foot of the second sock.

My baby girl sampler from Bothy Treads just needs the name, date, weight and time added to it and some embellishments and it is done.

Rocky coast cardigan - at the moment this needs a sleeve and a half knitted me the front band. However, it has been sitting in a bag since 2014 and I have a funny feeling I may need a bigger size now.  Need to do some measuring before I decide if I want/need to frog it and if I have enough wool to knit it again.

Cross stitch advent calendar - this was from World of Cross Stitching Magazine last year and I have 9 days to finish before stitching up.

Christmas tree skirt - I really want to get this out of the way.  I have had this extra fabric from my Christmas quilt lying about for ages and decided in December to start a tree skirt. Needless to say it didn't get finished before Christmas.

Typewriter cross stitch from issue 290 of Cross Stitcher Magazine. This has been on the go for a while (2015 I think) and quite far through so hopefully won't take too long. Although I think the problem with it was I was using two skeins of grey for the keyboard and they must have come from different dye lots so I may have some ripping out to do first....

Tatty Teddy kit - just needs the back stitch finished.  I hate the back stitch on these, it's a complete pain. Which probably explains why it says that the rest of the stitching was finished in 2005.....

Lastly my RICO cushion kit I was given for Christmas. This stitches up quite quick but we will see how far I get....

Right that is a long list so I had better get off the computer and get started..... speak to you soon x

Stalled works in progress!

Sometimes you come across works in progress that are really just projects taking up space in a box, things which you had completely forgotten about and probably would not buy now. 

Well that’s what happened with these two cross stitch kits which, according to the date I had written at the bottom of the paper pattern, I started in 1997!

I found them in a box at my folks along with a load of Country Companions kits, some Disney ones, some fish (no idea why I wanted to make these!) and a whole bunch of random wee kits.  Yup I used to buy a LOT of Cross Stitch kits when I was wee. 
 

These were supposed to be for a Christmas present for my Aunt with my mum working on one and me on the other. Neither of us got very far.  All we had managed to do before they got shoved in the box was the Jack Russell's nose and a very small amount of the Westies chin!

Despite the 17 year gap from purchase to rediscovery (!) I thought my Aunt would still like them so decided to finish them up, as intended, for Christmas.

To be honest once I got started on them they really did not take long to complete.  The Jack Russell was finished first.

 

Then the Westie, which was not as bad as feared - off white and grey does not make for exciting stitching!

I think they both turned out great. I also decided to try framing them myself as last time I got things framed I found it to be really expensive. So I got a couple of nice frames out of Debenhams, acid free mount board out of a local art shop, double sided acid free sticky dots and set to work.

Now I know you are supposed to lace the backs but I figure these are unlikely to be removed from their frames and I was being lazy!  The glue dots worked really well and were so much easier to use than traditional double sided sticky tape.

Spot the sticky dots!

 

I was really pleased with the finished result and she absolutely loved them which is the main thing.

See you all soon  x

P.S. I love to chat so feel free to leave a comment!

A (very) late New Year post!

Happy New Year!  Ok the year is not very new anymore but better late than never right?!

Like most people out there in blog land I have been doing quite a bit of reflection about 2014 and thinking about what 2015 may hold.   Last year was absolutely fab and contained a number of big events (such as getting engaged and married in the same year) along with smaller things like participating in my first OWOP and making clothes that I actually wear outside of the house!  Needless to say quite a lot of my original plans got put to one side.  I also found that I began to get myself all stressed out about rather silly things, including the overwhelming feeling of having too many projects on the go/planned/on the wish list!

This year I am determined to not get myself in a tizz about having too much on (especially for those non essential projects on the to do list)!  I know I am never going to get right to the bottom of the WIP list but (and here is the catch) I am going to make a concerted effort to rid my list of all those thing which I now feel a bit 'meh' about and not feel bad about it!  I can't be the only one with projects on the list or started which were fashionable at the time but the moment has passed.  Going to have a good old clear out of the stash and see what is there - may even share some photos!

I could also do with running down my craft/fabric supplies as well so unless it is a present or I need it to finish a project then I ain't buying till at least June! 

In the mean time I have been doing a lot of fast finishes to start clearing the decks!  Apologies if you are on Instagram as you will have already seen most of these.

More bunting for a work colleague.

A drawstring bag for my nephew to take on his holiday made using this tutorial. Its the same fabric as the drawstring bag (Michael Miller les monieurs en ville blue from the Bead and Button Company) as I bought extra - it was too cute not to!!

Napkins to go with our wedding china.  I did wish we only had 6 place settings rather than 8 when I made these.  I would also make them a bit bigger next time.  I cut out squares of 45cm before hemming this time.

A I-pad mini cover for a friend using fabric I purchased from Remnant Kings on one of my lunchtime wanders.

A helicopter cross stitch - random gift for a friend who said they 'wanted a helicopter'... don't think this is what they had in mind though!

More lavender bags.  I really wanted to finish the rest of the lavender as it was getting in the way so it had to be done. Some were gifted but most kept......!

Some more tissue holders.  How cute is the princess one?!

I have also been progressing my wedding sampler (Love Blossoms by Bothy Threads which I purchased from Sew and So) and the Sew Crafty Sampler from issue 287 of Cross Stitcher Magazine.  These have been good projects for doing while watching the TV and not wanting to create much mess (we have had a lot of guests round recently)!

You will notice from all the photos that there is a distinct lack of clothes being made at the moment.  Like most people the last few months have been heavy on the eating/drinking and light on the exercise.  This means I need to take some new measurements and not really feeling the love for that at the moment! Anyone else get that or is it just me?  Hopefully that feeling will pass soon as I miss the challenge with making clothes.

Right that is enough from me for one day.  I won't be away long this time as I have a few posts about some of my larger Christmas makes lined up.

See you all soon x

P.S. I love to chat so feel free to leave a comment!

Happy Holidays!

It's Christmas Eve and I have a couple of finished projects to share before the festivities really start.

Doesn’t seem that long ago that I was hanging up the Advent Calendar and now the last sweet is about to be munched!  This was actually a present I started making for the OH while we were busy with wedding prep.

I don’t get the chance to make things for my OH much.  The only other things I have made him in the last three years are a Christmas Stocking and cover for a Kindle.  That’s it.  He is fine with that and is not spending the days claiming that I am neglecting him – although he would prefer if I made more cakes and less dressmaking/cross stitch!

It was relatively easy to put together, albeit a bit fiddly at times.  

I could not decide how to quilt it for ages and settled on stitching round three sides of the pockets again so as to not interfear with the design.  This worked fine until I realised that I now had 48 knots to bury in the quilt!  Not such a bright idea after all- thats a lot of knots! 

Quilting the top and adding the bias binding round the sides ended up taking a whole Saturday.  Had a good few goes at adding the binding as I was trying to get rid of the green border on the original panel. No idea why it took so long to get right and I ended up just cutting the green border off. 

The OH was really pleased with the result in the end though which is the main thing.

I also just managed to get my Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery Christmas Celebration Sampler finished in time for Christmas.  Love how cute these patterns are and it will be good to get it framed and displayed ready for next Christmas.

That's all the crafting done for Christmas now too which is a relief.  We are spending the day with family tomorrow so a nice relaxing evening with a bottle of bubbly before Santa arrives is in order!  Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

X 

Time flies

Wow can’t believe how quick the last few months have gone and that it was September when I was last on here. 

Life has certainly been busy in the meantime. We got married…

….went on honeymoon….

…got ready for Christmas….

…. and to be honest just life in general has just been a bit crazy.  I have also managed to break the camera (both the camera and I got soaked by a wave on honeymoon – it didn’t survive!) and laptop (currently in the computer hospital) which has not helped.

I have, however, been managing to do some crafty stuff.  Those of you who follow me on instagram will probably be bored of seeing the updates on the Christmas Celebration Sampler by Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.  Fab wee pattern and I do love being involved in a stitch along but the border is taking an age and has had to be put on hold while the Christmas sewing takes place.

Stitching Christmas ornaments when I was supposed to be gift sewing (another Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery project – Cozy Gingerbread Snow Globe)

Despite promising not to do many crafty projects for Christmas I seem to have been very busy making gifts!  I have a couple of posts lined up for after Christmas so I won’t share them just now.  However, I have been making loads of lavender bags and tissue holders as gifts – an idea which I have stolen from Mrs King Sews!

I have also made some more bean bag chairs as a favour for a colleague at work (they looked a lot better in real life - and were very comfy).

While I have been doing a lot of crafting, I have not touched the dressmaking in months.  The closest I have got was buying £45 dress for £8 out of Oasis as the seam had come away at the zip.

I know this seems very small but it is not something I would have even considered doing before.  A little bit of interfacing to reinforce the seam where a wee hole had occurred and away I went.

It was a bit fiddly, and the OH was a bit amused that the night before we go on honeymoon I decide to fix a dress, but I think it was worth it (photo doesn't do it justice!).

That’s enough from me for one day I think! 

Will be back soon  x

P.S. I love to chat so feel free to leave a comment!