Learning to cross stitch again...

Well, that's what it feels like anyway!

I ordered some Q-snaps from the USA a couple of weeks ago and they have arrived!  I love the way my stitching looks on them, but I feel like I'm stitching soooo slooowly.

I have always stitched in hand, holding the fabric rolled up in my left hand and stitching over and under with my right.  I'm still using one hand as I can't figure out how to hold the Q-snap otherwise, but I can't put my left fingers under the fabric to help guide the needle, as I'm used to.

Here's my JEC SAL stitch for March still on my dinky 6 inch Q-snaps...

And something else I've been working on, this time on 11 inch Q-snaps...

Singin' in the Rain by Madame Chantilly

I had to change the colour of the hen as DMC Ecru didn't show up on the gorgeous White Chocolate linen I'm stitching on.  I think 612 is a good colour for a hen, don't you?

That's all for now, and may be for a while unless I speed up!

Until next time

Justine

Gifted Gorgeousness February

Hi everyone!

Today is the 15th and that means it's time for my Gifted Gorgeousness update.  If you don't know what the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL is, please head over to Serendipitous Stitching to read all about it.

First up today is a gift I received from the lovely Sarah in Stitches when I was the giveaway winner on her blog recently.  I have shamelessly pinched the photo from her blog of all the goodies she sent me as I have already used all the vintage cotton reels to put my ribbons on!

Frederick the Literate Dimensions kit, vintage cotton reels, fabric and threads and best of all...

This gorgeous pear made by Sarah herself!

Thank you Sarah, I already have plans for the fabric and threads and have no doubt that Frederick will be putting in an appearance later this year on another Gifted Gorgeousness post!

Next up is a finish (woohoo!) of one of my new starts for Debbie's Crazy January Challenge.  This beautiful chart was gifted to me by Mii Stitch as part of the Tutti Frutti exchange last year.  I really really enjoyed stitching this and it's even more beautiful in real life than in the cover photo.

Garden Pleasures by Little House Needleworks

Stitched on 28 count Cashel Linen Platinum

using recommended Crescent Colors, GAST and DMC threads

Started 10th January 2015, finished 14th February 2015

Here are a couple of close ups just because I love the detail and colours in this one...

A little gardener...

Those bees are so cute!

Thank you Mii, I really loved stitching this.

Head over to Jo's blog now to see all of the other Gifted Gorgeousness being shared on the interweb today!

Until next time

Justine

How I slayed the Red Dragon (and a little pink poodle)

I have two finishes for you today!

First up is Red Dragon which will be a bookmark for younger son. I stitched most of this last year but was almost defeated by the backstitch, which was barely visible while I was stitching it, and over fractionals too. Cheered on by Thoeria I finally finished this up today...

Looking at the photo on my blog now it looks a lot more impressive than it did while I was working on it!  The backstitch seems to really stand up.  Here's a close up, just for Thoeria...

So the dragon is slain and those fractionals didn't defeat me!

I have been in a "doing" kind of mood this week, you know where you just have those weeks where you just feel on top of things?  So, I got round to finishing our Joan Elliott Calendar SAL piece for February, only 12 days late.  The JEC SAL is hosted by Mii Stitch and there are 5 of us stitchers taking part and attempting to stitch each monthly design from this gorgeous calendar which was a freebie with World of Cross Stitching Magazine at the end of last year.  Here's my finish for February...

Isn't it cute?  It wasn't one of my favourites before I started stitching it, but I really love it now it's done!  Funnily, Mii and I both chose the same 28 count Brittney pink evenweave to stitch on.

Do you like my fabric and trim choices?  Of course, by taking a photo like that I am fooling myself that I will actually get round to finishing this piece at some point, and it won't just join the stitching roll of shame with all my other forgotten pieces.

I'll be back on Sunday for February's Gifted Gorgeousness when I will be sharing some gifts I received this week and also hopefully a Gifted Finish!

Until then

Justine

YOTA Update February 2015

Hi everyone

Today is the day for our YOTA update.  If you don't know what YOTA is, go here to read all about it.

My plan for YOTA is to pull one of my UFOs out and work on it until finished.  I used the random number generator thingy and it chose this one for me...

Clocks by Lanarte

Here is what it looked like last time I worked on it, which was Summer 2014...

And this is how it looks now!

As you can see, I stitched two of the clocks.  I "only" have two clocks left but they are the two big ones.  The big question now is, do I carry on with this one for next month, or change to another?  I am finding the beige/brown colours quite boring, but I do love the effect once the backstitch goes on, and I would like to get this one finished.

I would like to apologise for not reading/commenting on blogs and replying to emails this week.  I normally keep up to date on my train trips to/from work, using my mobile phone.  However, can I just warn you that mobile phones and bathrooms don't mix?  I have had to buy a new phone and for some reason the blogger dashboard screen doesn't load properly and it won't scroll up/down.  Very annoying.  I have just spent an hour transferring my reading list to bloglovin so hopefully I will be able to follow you all from there!

Until next time

Justine

Oops I did it again!

Yes, another new start!  And it's a HAED!

I know, I'm crazy, but this design just spoke to me and my younger son.  Here's where I'm up to after a couple of evenings...

It's a Storykeep and "only" 23,775 stitches.  I'm learning so much from stitching it that I will be able to transfer when I work on my larger HAEDs.  I wish I had started with this as it is the smallest chart HAED do, I think.

I will still be working on Mini Christmas Mailbox and of course all my other Crazy January starts and Unfinished Objects.

But for now I'm obsessed with watching the teeny tiny crosses start forming themselves into shapes...

Until next time

Justine