April Smalls SAL update....

Oh, I have a couple of very happy dances for you this month for the Smalls SAL... ...

First up is Henry Viii...

Historic Royal Palaces Kit (gifted to me my by the gorgeous Jo)

28 ct Willow linen

Own choice of floss and beads

Finish #11 for DUCJFC2016

Secondly, is my Christmas Ornament for April - the horse from Nordic Holiday... ...

I used these two gorgeous Sajou cotton floss and stitched it on 28ct white linen.

This fulfills three other SALs as well -

Christmas Ornie SAL 2016

Christmas Ornament SAL 2016

Prairie Schooler SAL

                                              and is, of course, another finish for  DUCJFC2016.

Then, lastly for the Americana SAL, I have now finished five states for "America, Land that We Love" which is the American Sampler by Jean Farish which I am currently stitching for the SAL blog.   The blocks for each state are quite small - on 29 by 29 stitches - so I am counting each one as a Smalls SAL finish.

So, in all I have had a very successful Smalls SAL month, I think (it helps being semi-retired - so much more time for stitching and planning for projects - lol!)

Remember, if you want to check out what everyone else has been up to for the Smalls SAL, please click on the link.

hugs, 

Gifted Gorgeousness_ April update....

"Oh dear, I'm late, I'm late for a very important date"

Yes, another late post for Gifted Gorgeousness (although better than March, as I never made it last month!). If you click on the link, the lovely Jo will fill you in as to what GG is all about.

I have three GG items this month.

1.  These lovely counting pins which the most Vibrant and Vivacious Vickie made just for me as a RAK.  Aren't they darling?  

Thank you so much, Vickie, they have been in constant use since their arrival.  They were accompanied by this very sweet "V" card.

2. As I was blog prowling several weeks ago, I saw a very sweet Noddy design on Marvellous Margaret's blog.  She kindly has gifted me the design.

Thank you so much, too, Margaret, I have some young friends who are expecting their first child later this year, so I think that Noddy is going to make an appearance very soon.

Update:  Penny from Larkspur Lane has made me realise that not all of my readers may know who Noddy is!  

Growing up in Australia in the 1960s, life was still very "English" and all middle class children read Enid Blyton stories avidly:  Noddy, The Faraway Tree and the Famous Five to name but a few.

As I was doing this internet search, I discovered that there is even an Enid Blyton Society.

Now, I have to address the elephant in the room re poor Enid, as while she was beloved by generations of oblivious children, educators, other authors and the BBC slammed her books as being racist, xenophobic and simplistic - you can read all about it here.  I am not denying that this is so  - I can see that now as an adult - but I must admit as a child I never saw it and I have grown up to become a very fair and tolerant adult.  So go figure!

Who else read Enid Blyton whilst young and what do you think?

3. The Sensational Serendipitous Jo, knowing my fetish for everything Tudor, several months ago gifted me with this great Henry Viii design.  It is now finished - yay!  Happy Dance around the house.

Now I just need to find a sweet square frame for him.

Thank you, Jo, for feeding my Tudor passion.

Well, that is my GG for this month.

If you want to see what the other GGers got up to, please click here.

Have a great weekend everyone.

hugs, 

Midweek stitchy update....

Just thought that I would update you with what else has been going on in my stitchy world....

1.  Outlander (and more....!)

The day after I purchased my two new samplers - Song of Solomon and the Skyros ship - see this post here (scroll down).

These goodies arrived in the mail:

Outlander Sampler by The Sampler Girl

and the first two designs in the To the Beach series by Hands on Design.

Now, as I had the first episode of Outlander all recorded and ready to go and TraderVic was out last evening!  I decided that I would stitch on the sampler every time I watched the show.

So far I have stitched the "F".

So, this is Season 2, Episode 1

28 ct overdyed linen

Floss: GAST Purple Iris

Then, I had a brainwave - Season 6 of Game of Thrones is about to start - wouldn't it be cool to stitch something for that while I watched?  

So, a quick internet search later, I was the proud owner of:

(See, that phrase "instant download" gets me every time!)

I have until April 24 to get my ducks in a row on this one.

2. America, Land that we love ...

Monday night was 'Merica Monday, so I stitched on my American Sampler for the Americana SAL blog.

I finished my second state - Alaska

... North to the future  (State motto) ....

49th State to join the Union - January 3rd, 1959.

I am so enjoying stitching on this every Monday, however  I would like to pick up the pace a little as it would be wonderful to finish this sampler by the end of the year.

"Alaska, northwest of Canada, is the largest and most sparsely populated U.S. state. It's known for its dramatic, diverse terrain of wide-open spaces, mountains and forests, with abundant wildlife and many small towns. It’s a destination for outdoor activities including skiing, mountain biking and kayaking. Massive Denali National Park, home to Denali (fka Mt. McKinley), North America’s highest peak, is a site of animal-viewing tours."

Capital: Juneau

Area: 1.718 million km²

Population: 736,732 (2014)

Stunning, isn't it?  One day I would like to go there to view the calving of the icebergs - I am sure it would be a majestic sight.

3. Lizzie and Lizzie's Dad....

Dear Lizzie has returned from the Framers and I am so pleased with how she turned out.

I chose a triple mount and I am so glad that I did - it came up beautifully!

... and my prediction two week's ago that Lizzie's Dad would be finished in one more evening of stitching was so wrong!  He is still a WIP but I am hopeful that next Tuesday will see him finished!  Fingers crossed.

So, that is it for me for today, have a good one!

hugs, 

April TUSAL and a stitchy update....

So, a slightly late ORT report for April, I am afraid to say... (seems to be the story of my life, I am always apologising for late blog posts - lol!)

Anyway, here it is - travel ORTs on the left and home ORTs on the right.

... and here is the year so far....

If you want to check out everyone else's TUSAL reports for this month, just click on this link here.

Now for some updates on my stitching - this is all SAL blog related.

1. Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics ...

This Friday for my Frolicking, I went to my Girl's Nest and randomly put my hand on this WIP - Just Nan's "Frosty Hopes".

Here is the before pic:

The After FF pic - look Furio has snuck in somehow!

"Frosty Hopes" is a companion piece to "High Hopes", which I stitched in 2004 - oh, my goodness, that means I have had this piece in my UFO pile for 12 years now - Bad Kaye!

I personalised this piece by stitching my Cameo tortoiseshell cat, Coco, and changing the phrase from "High Hopes grow here" to "My cat Coco lives here".  So, I will personalise this new piece as well, adding the phrase "My cat Furio lives here".

I am going to have to look for a third similar design, so that I can stitch one for Milo.  I just looked at the Just Nan website and couldn't see anything suitable so if anyone has any good suggestions, I would be most grateful.

I am continuing to stitch on it over the weekend, so watch out for an update on Monday morning.

2. Americana SAL ...
One state down ... only 49 more to go! lol!

America, Land that we love

Jean Farish Designs

28 ct linen

Mainly the suggested DMC threads

Hopefully, I will finish Alaska tomorrow night (my next 'Merica Monday stitching night) and get started on the next "A" state - I think maybe it is Arizona but I could be wrong - I will let you know - are there any other "A" states?  Not sure, but I think that I am going to know them all very well by the time I am done!

(Note:  Just googled it and yes, Arizona is next but I forgot about the fourth "A" state - Arkansas!)

3. Tudor Tuesdays SAL ...

... so, while I hopefully stated in my last post that Henry would be done in one more evening of stitching - well, I was wrong - off with my head! lol!

However, I am hopeful of a finish very soon...

Anyway, that's all for me now - heaps to do today.

Happy stitching everyone, 

hugs,