End of July Update

First of all, I want to say a huge welcome to all of my new followers. I'm now at 66 followers, and thank you to everyone old and new for reading my blog! I'm sure I've said this before, but I do read your comments and your blogs and I really appreciate your comments and being able to watch you stitch too. I do most of my reading on my phone, though, and the Feedly app isn't great for commenting, otherwise I'd comment more, but I do really love seeing your progress.

If you haven't already entered my giveaway then you have until the end of tomorrow (31st July) to do so! I'll get the drawing done as soon as I can - I've got a busy few days ahead.

Whilst I still have your attention, check out the first ever Snowflower Diaries giveaway which, frankly, looks amazing, and Cucki's giveaway which also looks amazing.

I've been remarkably busy over the past few weeks, particularly for someone who, nominally, isn't doing anything this holiday. I was doing choir stuff all weekend and other various things for the past couple of weeks. Most of it, actually, was stitching, but I sorta lost my blogging mojo. I have more pictures, though!

TARDIS by Jodyri Designs

No update on this one, but this is a better picture than the last. Really enjoying the colours on this one - Jodyri threads are gorgeous!

Clematis Bookmark by Textile Heritage

Started this on a trip down to the beach because it was small and easy to carry in the car with me. Loving the colours!

Unnamed by Janlynn

Only the backstitch left to go! I'm putting this to the side for a couple of weeks.

The Quiltmaker by L&L

Filled in another chunk of skirt. This one has also been put to the side for a while so I can take Passenger Train out again.

Lesbian Love by Austitch

Jody of Austitch asked if I'd do some model stitching for her, so I chose this one to start off with. She has a huge range of amazing and unconventional designs available, and I entirely recommend checking them out! This is done on 18 count cream aida in DMC 310.

Still Young In Dragon Years by Dragon Dreams

This will be a present for my grandparents who both turn 80 this Autumn. I was going to start in a couple of weeks by mum started nagging me to get on with it so she could get it framed before she gets out there. Fabric is Aurora Borealis by Jodyri Designs.

Into The Deep by Passione Ricamo

I picked this one up again after parts 3 and 4 were released. There's some sparkle in there too now, since my PTB arrived. This is going away for a couple of weeks.

So what now? I've got Lesbian Love and Still Young to finish, and my rotation (yeah, I've tried to reestablish some order to my stitching) for this week is H, so that's what I'll be doing now. As for the rest of my rotation? You'll have to wait and see ;)

Happy stitching!

Heather xx

A Few Minor Updates

First of all, I'd like to say a big thank you and welcome to all my new followers! Welcome back to my old followers, too, of course - don't forget you can enter my giveaway, which is open until the end of July and open to new and old followers.

This weekend I ran (part of) the Race For Life, which you can read more about here. I'm (mostly) still in one piece, despite not being a runner. Maybe I'll actually train for next year's, like I'd planned for this year's!

I admit I've not done a huge amount of stitching over the past week - but there's a great reason. I've taken up knitting! I started off by finally finger-knitting the scarf I picked up yarn for during the Great Hobbycraft Expedition of May, and when I had most of the ball left, I figured I'd better do something with the remainder. Here's the finger-knitted scarf...

And I'm making a bear scarf with the remainder. It's a bit of a sampler scarf, by which I mean I'm using it to play around with (and subsequently cock up) stitches and stitch combinations:

Gotta learn to knit somewhere! I saw a free Despicable Me minion pattern which I want to be able to do eventually, so I have high hopes.

Here's what little I've done of stitching recently:

TARDIS, by Jodyri Designs, done on a blue evenweave I had lying around using Dematerialising TARDIS by Jodyri Designs.

Unnamed Janlynn Fruit Piece, done with bits from a kit. There're some marks on the fabric, as you may be able to see, but I'm hoping those will come out in the post-finish wash.

My stitching plans for the foreseeable future are:
1) Finish the "fruits" piece by the end of the week
2) Catch up with the PR Mystery SAL - parts 3 and 4 came out this Monday and I still haven't finished part 2
3) Work on H, in the hope that I might eventually finish it before I start wanting to burn it
4) Continue Passenger Train while the Gentleman Friend is on holiday
5) Begin Still Young In Dragon Years by Dragon Dreams - my grandparents in the US turn 80 this fall, and my mother thought this would be perfect to commemorate it

Hopefully there'll be more stitchy updates soon!

Happy stitching!

Heather xxx

Passing on Some Giveaways

I'm not the only one having a giveaway at the moment - the online cross stitching community is so generous, so I'm not surprised at all! I thought I'd share some of them...

DAPHNE of Daphne en de Wereld is giving away a gorgeous crocheted ice cream keychain and some surprises! This closes July 25th.

BERNADETT of Petite Armoire is having TWO giveaways - one is giving away a notebook and a lavender heart, which look lovely and very summery, and the other is a mug warmer, a teabag pouch and 4 teabags! This one cloess July 31st.

KIM of Wisdom With Needle And Thread is giving away some lovely stitchy treats...

Just Nan's "Queen of the Needle" with embelishments, and a scissor pouch. You have until July 25th to enter this one.

I should really start a "giveaway" box on the side of my blog and just update that periodically - the stitching community is alway so kind to be gifting things like this! :)

Stitching update is on its way...

Happy stitching! :)

Heather xxx

Updates... and My Giveaway!

Once again my blog has been slightly neglected - I've been watching Wimbledon! I even, as I mentioned, had the pleasure of going one day, and managed to see Del Potro, Radwanska and Djokovic all play on Centre Court. For those of you who don't follow tennis, our British Number One defeated the World Number One in a stunning three-hour, three-set match on Sunday. It was beautiful.

The good news is, tennis is pretty good to stitch to! The bad news is, in the second week of tennis, I did a lot of staring at the screen and swearing loudly when things didn't quite go my way - and less stitching. (The saddest bit is, now that it's over, I feel like my life is empty - what am I going to stitch to NOW?!)

I haven't touched H. I'm a bit bored of her, to be honest, and just want her to be done. There's still work to be done on her, though. I also haven't done what I meant to on the latest part of the PR SAL. Instead, I've picked up a couple of new starts because my brain needed a break, and I'm really enjoying having something a bit different to work on. One's so close to done:

Heart Of My Heart, as of 10th July 2013; teal and DMC 310 on 28ct Waterlilies jobelan

This is Papillon Creations' freebie Heart Of My Heart. I'm doing it as a Facebook group SAL, and I'm enjoying having something smaller and un-complex to work on. Originally there was a blackwork Celtic knot in the middle, but the notes on the pattern also suggest replacing it with an initial to personalise it - which is what I did. It's also supposed to be two shades of the same colour - I used black and teal.

This is my second "start"...

The Quiltmaker, as of 10th June 2013

This is a piece very close to me, Lavender and Lace's The Quiltmaker. It was actually started by my mother about 20 years ago, but she then put it to the side and didn't touch it. It was always intended to be for me, since my mother is a quilter, and I was a young child at the time, so it was very symbolic of us, and when I picked up cross stitch a couple of years ago, she mentioned it and told me I was very welcome to finish it. I plan on doing Passione Ricamo's "Romantic Stitcher" as a companion piece for this, too. Just gotta wait until I'm off my stashban.

Which leads me (it doesn't really but whatever) to another point - I've finally reached 50 followers! So, I'm proud to announce my very first GIVEAWAY! Wanna see what's up for grabs?

Two very nice notebooks from my favourite stationery shop, Paperchase! Maybe you can document your stitching in them. One is intended to be a travel journal, but let's be honest - you can use it however you want; the stationery police aren't gonna track you down!

Some decorative tape, also from Paperchase. For if you enjoy making finishes up into cards and generally prettifying things!

And, because I'm British and drink an absolute tonne of tea, some tea! Calming Camomile, for those really stressful days, and Revitalising Lemon and Ginger, to bring you back to life to do that stitching you absolutely have to do when you find yourself exhausted.

So, here are the rules:
1) Be a follower - new followers welcome!
2) Leave a comment telling me you want to be entered.
3) If you share my giveaway on your blog, come back and tell me about it and I'll give you another entry. Don't forget to come back and tell me about it!
4) Entry closes July 31st, and I'll be picking a winner shortly after.

I'll post internationally, too! Now, go forth, my minions! *cackles like Wicked Witch of the West*

Happy stitching!

Heather xx

P.S. Here's a picture of the first ever cross stitch I did, at age 7 or something. Done on 7ct aida... my mum still uses it as a bookmark.