1800 To Go....

I've no pics to show this time around I'm afraid. The reason being is that I have been working diligently on Tomboy since last week and I'm now down to 1800 stitches to go before I have a huge happy dance! I've made up my mind I'm not taking anymore pics until she's finished, and I have a daily goal of 200 stitches which I'm managing to stick to so far. I started her way back in 2006 and it's been a long hard haul with her as if I'm honest she hasn't been a whole lot of fun to stitch. All the different shades of grey and the huge amount of dreaded kreinik blending filament have made for some naughty words and her being hidden in the cupboard regularly, but thankfully I've finally reached the point of no return with her and am determined to keep going til she's done. It's great being able to mark off those stitches each night and then when I finish another couple of blocks I've been cutting them off the chart, so my piece of paper is getting smaller everyday lol. HAED are having a sale which started yesterday and is running until the 9th Feb, so I'm really really trying hard to finish her before the sale ends, in which case I'll treat myself to a chart as a reward. Any cheerleaders out there need a job? lol
Yesterday I was excited to receive Sally's RR through the post. Her stitching is lovely and the Friendship Book she has chosen to stitch is really pretty. Yesterday I had to fight the urge to start on my part straight away, but it's going to have to wait til Tomboy is finished then I can give it my undivided attention.
Hope you're all having a good week. The weather here seems to have picked up a little bit, we've at least had a bit of dry and bright weather which is very welcome, but it's cold out today. Thanks to everyone who reads my blog and those who take the time to comment, I really appreciate knowing that people are interested in my stitching. Hugs.

Quaker & Cirque

I finished stitching my two pages on my Quaker Pattern Book for the RR last Thursday, but have only just got around to taking a pic. I am stitching mine 1 over 1 on 28ct antique white evenweave using DMC 99 which is a lovely variagated pink. I have so enjoyed stitching my pages and can't wait til Sally's piece arrives with me to start stitching on.

Then the last few days I've been working on Cirque Des Cercles for the sampler SAL on the HAED BB. I had got a bit bored of this the last time I worked on it but I really enjoyed getting it back out again and had forgotten how nice the colours are. I have finished the first page now and am working downwards and onto page 4.

I have to admit that my former rotation which included several single evenings on different projects just didn't work for me, it made me feel all at sea and I couldn't seem to get into a rythm on anything, so I'm going back to making Tomboy my focus piece (she's up next) and will just see how the mood takes me as to what I work on in between, but intend to spend a few days on each of my wip's as they come up.

Hope everyone is surviving the terribly wet weather we're having here in the UK, areas very near here have been flooded for the first time in my memory this week, it's really scary.

It's My Birthday!!!!

Well, today is my Birthday and I can't believe another year has gone by so quickly.
I was woken at 6.15am with DD bringing in my cards and presents and a choc cake with a candle on for me to blow out. She was upset when I said we weren't having cake for breakfast lol.
My main pressie from DH and DD hasn't arrived yet as it's coming from the US. DH gave me the go ahead to order the kit for Chatelaine's Egypt Garden for my birthday as I've wanted it for about 3 years. I was hoping it would have arrived as I ordered it on 3rd Jan, but at least I've still something to look forward to. I did also get a lovely plate that DD and DH made for me specially at a paint a pot shop near here which is really nice.
My mum got me a watch and sent me some money, my aunt got me some books I've been wanting, DH's nan sent me some money as well, my friend/boss got me a HAED gift certificate and a lovely necklace and I got a Boots gift card from the girls at work.
I was then very spoilt by my wonderful stitching friends Sally, Julie, Karen and Claire. Sally sent me the pretty pinkeep, Julie sent me the lovely tin and Karen sent me the fab mirror. Claire sent me a gift certificate to Down Sunshine Lane so I will have great fun browsing their later.
I am also taking part in a Birthday Thread Exchange on the Stitch & Stash BB and I received some lovely threads from Dawn, Dusty, Jayne & Lindsey. Lindsey was also kind enough to send me a stitched card which I'm definitely going to turn into something else in the future so I can make good use of it.
All that is missing is some nice weather and a good stitchy session. I hope to stitch later on but don't think I'm going to be lucky with the weather, guess I can't have it all lol.
Last night was UFO night on Stitch & Stash and I worked a bit more on School Of Dolphins. Again not a lot of progress but I've filled in the dolphin's nose a little bit. Tonight is QS SAL Night on the HAED BB so I'll be working on Always Dreaming again, then tomorrow I have a free night and will be working on my Quaker RR again which I'm really looking forward to. Til next time....!

HAED Monthly SAL Challenge

Friday to Monday this last weekend has been the Monthly SAL Challenge on the HAED BB and so it was time to dig out Sara Butcher's Romeo & Juliet from the UFO pile.
Looking in my photobucket album the last time I worked on this was October 2006! And that was when I first started it I think. So I think it really is about time that it gets some attention again this year lol. The pics are the before and after.
When I first started it even though I'd gridded the page I started stitching it cross country and I have really regretted that this weekend. I also found out that I hadn't even fully kitted it up when I did start it, I'd just pulled the first half dozen colours. So I spent 4 days filling in holes in the stitching and pulling some more threads so I could carry on, not fun!

Anyway, I know where I'm at with it now and have the threads I have pulled properly organised so it should be much easier to work on next month and hopefully there will be more progress.

Tonight it's back to School of Dolphins for UFO Night on Stitch & Stash and although I'm not really looking forward to it it will be good to make more progress. I find it very strange working on aida now I'm a confirmed evenweave/linen girl and the aida seems very stiff. If this wasn't for DH and the only stitching project he's ever really shown a huge liking for I think it would highly likely have been resigned to the bin by now lol. But as it is I am going to keep going and hopefully with enough Tuesday nights it will get finished eventually.

Well, that's it from me for now, hope everyone is having a good week and the weather is not being too awful to you (it's high winds and heavy rain here, yuck). Hugs.

Progress!

Dawn said I hadn't updated in a while so I'm doing as I'm told and posting my progress pics on some of my rotation pieces this last week lol.
I started the Quaker RR I'm doing with Sally, Chris, Jane and Tracy last Thursday and it took a while to prepare my fabric and then grid the page separations, but on Friday I got to start the stitching on my two pages and I am loving this so far! As you can see I've now finished my first page and started the second. I'm stitching this on 28ct antique white using dmc 99 which is a variagated pink. The dmc is really nice to stitch with and has a good effect. I'm stitching this in between the rest of my rotation so it went away after Monday night but it will get more attention tomorrow.
Last night was UFO night on the Stitch & Stash message board, and Mr Stick was out making sure everyone was working on their UFO's. I was actually a very good girl and turned the pc off alltogether so I could concentrate on my stitching on Cross My Heart's School Of Dolphins. The idea behind UFO night is to pick a project you haven't worked on for a long time for one reason or another, and just spend one evening a week on it. Last year the girls who took part made great progress on their ufo's and some even had finishes! So I'm hoping it will help me make good progress on my dolphins, and maybe one day soon I'll actually be able to give DH the piece he asked for years ago lol.
Now tonight is the QS SAL on the HAED BB and I will be working on my Always Dreaming QS by Molly Harrison. Again this is a one night a week thing, although you can work on your wip more often if you wish. I picked this back up last week for the first SAL of the year after a LONG break from it.
Thanks to everyone who reads my blog and comments, it was wonderful to get so many comments to my last post as it's great to know people are actually interest in my waffling sometimes lol. Love and hugs to you all. xxx