Rules for Life as at 22.04.12

I started my new project Rules for Life by Kincavel Crosses on 20th April 2012 and I've done 10 hours stitching on it.  I've completed 3,172 stitches which means it is 13.84% complete.  I am stitching on 22 count cream hardanger - 2 over 1 full crosses.  I'm going to keep a record here of the colours I use for this project as I am making it up as I go along.

All colours are DMC.  The outline and all the symbols are done in 4215 which is a variegated thread.  Rules for Life is done in 157.  Trust is 153, Hope is 157, Keep your Promises is 333 and Dream is 553.

I'm really enjoying stitching on this and already thinking about how I might get it framed.

I'm rotating back on to my Baby Sampler project next as this is my focus piece.  I should hopefully have it finished in the next month.

This week I finally received the flowers I won for the Letter of the Month in Cross Stitcher Magazine.  I had to chase it up a couple of times which I was a bit disappointed about but at least I got them in the end.  I don't mean to sound ungrateful but if I spent £25 on these flowers I would be very disappointed.  I am enjoying having them in the house though and they are a gorgeous colour - especially the gerbera which is my favourite flower.

I also had a lovely surprise when I came home from work today.  My husband had taken the day off work to look after our little boy and he found time to hang my latest framed piece for me.

The nicest thing was I hadn't had to ask him to do it he just did it off his own back!

Yiota's Cross Stitch - Review

I was recently asked to review a kit from Yiota's cross stitch.  I was thrilled to be asked and spent a long time browsing through all the lovely cross stitch kits on her site.  I finally settled on Praying Hands as I really liked the picture and it is quite different from a lot of the other things I stitch.

When I received the kit it was very well packaged in an envelope which would fit through the letter box.  This is important to me because I find it frustrating when things are packaged so that they won't fit through the letter box and you then have to take time out to go to the post office to pick them up.

On opening the envelope I was very pleased with what I saw.  The kit contains a picture of the finished design, two A3 sheets of pattern which are very clearly printed, a piece of 14 count aida on which to stitch the design, a needle and all the threads required for the project.  For me the best thing about these kits is that the thread comes prewound on bobbins.  I hate it when you get a kit and all the threads are lumped together and you then have to spend ages trying to work out which colour is which.  This is even more important for this kit as it is a black and white design and it would have been a nightmare trying to sort out which shade of grey was which.

I'm looking forward to starting stitching on this project and am going to try and fit it in to my rotation somewhere.  I'll definitely be going back to Yiota's site for any future purchases.

Disclosure: I was provided with a free kit to provide a review but all the words and opinions are my own.

Baby Sampler as of 20.04.12

I've been working on the Baby Sampler by Cinnamon Cat and am pleased with my progress so far.  I've now stitched 7,665 of 11,068 stitches which means this project is now 69.25% complete.

I also picked up my Lizzie Kate Living with Charm from the framers and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.  I'd definitely recommend anybody in the UK to try Maxim Picture Framing in Cleveleys.  I found them extremely friendly and professional to deal with and they turned my project around very quickly for me.  I'll definitely be going back there to get future projects framed.

I've made a new start as well - I know the last thing I need is a new project but hey ho I am a serial starter after all.  My latest project is Rules for Life by Kincavel Crosses.  I'm going to do the border and symbol stitching in DMC 4215 and then do the words in solid colours complementing the variegated thread.

Giveaway

The Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe are having a giveaway and you can win 5 of there lovely hand dyed threads.  To enter the give away click below and if you mention I sent you I get an extra entry!

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe: Floss winners and a new floss give-away!

The drawing for the winner will be done on 15th May 2012.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle as of 09.04.12

I've spent another couple of nights stitching on Sleeping Beauty's Castle but I'm not able to stitch any more until I get some of the silks I've ordered.  I am loving stitching this design up to now and can see that I am going to want to stitch more Chatelaine's in the future.  The think that draws me to them is the repetitiveness and the symmetry.  I think I have a touch of OCD as I like things to be lined up and organised and I think that's why I am loving stitching this so much.  So here's the photo of where I'm up to now.  If you want to see the pictures in between my last update and this one please see my Chatelaine page.

 I'm rotating now onto Baby Patchwork by Cinnamon Cat.  I saw the baby again today who I'm stitching it for and it's spurred me on to get some more stitching done on it.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle as of 07.04.12

I took the plunge last night and started my first Chatelaine.  I want to take a lot of pictures of my progress for my own benefit but don't want to bore you all with each stage.  So I've decided to set up a page on this blog for all my update photos and then I will just post here the photo showing the most progress.  If you want to see all the updates please look at this page.

So I am stitching on 28 count Jazlyn in the March 2012 Ltd Ed from Crafty Kitten Fabrics.  I am using all the recommended threads and beads.

I also wanted to share with you the chart Grace chose for her giveaway prize.  One thing that always amazes me about all the designs on Heaven and Earth is that even though I have spent hours and hours browsing through the patterns on their website I still find ones that I am sure I've never seen before.  I let Grace choose any chart she wanted but as this will be her first HAED I did suggest she chose a Quick Stitch, Story Keep or Mini to start with so she wasn't too overwhelmed.  The chart she chose was QS Iris by Josephine Wall.

I think it's a gorgeous design and I'm looking forward to watching her progress when she gets round to starting it.

A strange thing happened when I went to get the chart for her as another chart mysteriously lept into my cart and insisted on being bought.  So I got Mini Bookworm Fairy by Hannah Lynn.

It's a chart I've wanted for a long time and even more so when it was made into a Mini.  Goodness knows when she'll be started but for now I'm happy to have her living in my computer.

WIPocalypse - 06.04.12

So here's my next WIPocalypse update.  I've changed my format so I only publish pictures/information for the projects I've actually made some progress on.

Cinnamon Cat Birth Sampler - started 21.12.11 - 6,499 of 11,068 stitches - 58.72% complete.

Nativity - 3 parts fully complete - 8 to start.

Secret Project 1 - Ink Circles - I won't be able to publish any pictures of this project but will update my stats - 18.64% complete - 8.148 stitches done since last update

Hanging Loose Christmas Ornaments - Cross Stitcher Magazine (November 2011) - as of 05.04.12 25% complete.

Giveaway Winner

I've decided the prize for my giveaway would be a HAED chart of the winners choice.  If the winner doesn't want a HAED chart then I'll try and think of something else.

There were 12 entries for the giveaway and the random number generator said entry number 2 was the winner which is Grace.

I've e-mailed Grace to tell her she's the winner and ask which chart she would like as a prize.

Hope everyone has a lovely Easter weekend!

Nic

Update 01.04.11

Since my last update I completed my 10 hours on my Ink Circles secret project.  I've now done 21,248 of 114,000 stitches which is 18.6% complete.

I've also completed another of my Christmas Ornaments so I've now completed 4 of the 24.  My goal was to stitch two of these a month so I would have them completed by Christmas but I'm a bit behind.  I've two nearly completed but not quite.  Here's the photo of the one I did finish.

I was supposed to be rotating back to stitching on Baby Patchwork as that is my focus piece at the moment but I've been naughty and started a new project and it's a BAP.  It's Celtic Grace by Brigid Ashwood and I got it from HAED as part of their reward program - for every $200 you spend on the site you get a free chart.  Here's the picture of what it will look like when I finish it (probably in about 20 years time!)

I'm trying parking for the first time with this project as well so it should be interesting.  Only did just over 200 stitches on this last night so no picture for the time being.

Today was also the day of the release of part 1 of the Chatelaine Anniversary Mandala - Sleeping Beauty's Castle.  I am so excited to start it but also a little overwhelmed with the speciality stitches etc.  Would you believe it that my printer has run out of ink so I can't print it off - typical.  Oh well I'll just have to stitch on one of my many existing WIPs tonight instead of starting another new design.

Don't forget as well that if you want to be entered in my giveaway - for an as yet undecided prize you need to leave a comment on this post.