country companions progress

This is my progress of my country companions birth sampler piece I am stitching for my nephew. I started it three weeks ago and I can't believe how much I've completed already. I've been stitching alot of a night, and at the same time watching a new tv series my Mum gave me called 'downton abbey' which I've really been enjoying. This is how much I've done.

It's coming along really nicely, and it's an easy stitch. I also made a trip down to spotlight (our local crafty superstore) the day after I got the kit in the mail and challenged myself by buying 32 count belfast linen to stitch it on instead of using the 16 count aida which was in the kit. I was a little apprehensive because I'd never stitched on linen before, only evenweave and I knew it was going to be a little harder than evenweave with all the uneven slubs. But as soon as I started stitching on it, I loved it. It feels just like I am stitching on evenweave, you just can't pull the fabric as tight. It's more delicate, I love the old vintage look linen has.

If I keep up with the progress I am making, I might have it done before Christmas! I am sure I will have it done before then. Then I can start on Adrian's wedding anniversary present with the yummy threads. :-)

I am also hosting the next stitchy meet at my house, I think the last time I did that I was heavily pregnant, and it was in December last year. I am looking forward to it. It is going to be Saturday the 12th of Nov, hopefully Tabitha allows me some stitching time. :-)

Until next time,

happy stitching xx

Thank you postman.

This morning the postman arrived with my parcel! What a lovely suprise on a Friday morning. Here are the cross stitch kits I ordered.

I took a close up photo of the waxing moon kit as I am so excited about it!! Look at the pretty fabric and threads! The fabric is crystal mystic cashel linen (28 count) I love the names of the threads too, pixie dust, snips and snails, crushed pineapple and hydranger. I love how the thread colours melt into one another, it's so pretty. And I love the little moon button. I've never worked on such dark fabric before, but I am up for the challenge. I am itching to get started on these beautiful kits. Tomorrow I might make a trip to my local needlework shop to buy some 32 count evenweave for the birth sampler so I can make a start. And Adrian's suprise will have to be stitched when he's at work. Shh, don't tell. I might even start this today. :-) How exciting!

Happy Stitching xx

Baby powder.

It's taken me a good few months, more than a few actually, but last night I finished stitching my nephews birth sampler. Yay!! :-) It feels so great to have completed another design. I really enjoyed stitching this pattern. I think you are either a lover or a hater of Tatty designs, but I love them. I'm not afraid of the backstitch because I work on evenweave which makes it soooo much easier with all his scraggly hair. It would be a different story on aida. So, without further ado, here is the little bear.

I took a close up photo too as I think he is so cute! He is very cheeky puffing out the baby powder like that.

I stitched this design on 28 count evenweave, with the kitted up anchor thread. All that has to be done now, is washing and ironing the piece and having it framed. I hope Baxter likes it. I've decided I am going to wait to frame it as I want to complete my other newphew's birth sampler first and then have them framed together.

For my nephew Lennox, I picked out a gorgeous country companions piece which is just adorable. I jumped online and made an order on 123 stitch the other night. Along with that, I also ordered a waxing moon design I mentioned in my last post called 'love you to the moon and back'. I am going to stitch it for Adrian for our wedding anniversary which is in March next year. Hopefully I get it done in time!! The piece isn't that big which is good. I am very excited about stitching with cresent colour thread as I've never worked with them before. They look so pretty! Who knows how long each piece will take me to stitch, but I can always juggle them. Lennox's sampler doesn't have a deadline like my anniversary piece, but I don't want to hold off too long on his either. I would like to have it stitched by the end of the year, or at least January so both the boys can have them hung up on their walls.

So now, I am waiting for my postman to arrive with my parcel. I am very excited, I love starting a new cross stitch. After both of these pieces are completed, I can stitch whatever takes my fancy next. At this stage I am thinking either halloween fairy by mirabillia or another design I have in my stash. I can't remember what it is called though.

I will make sure to take a photo of my kits when they arrive, and my progress on both of them too. Now that I've made myself a cup of tea, I am going to catch up on my blog reading.

Until next time, happy stitching xx

I'm still here, anyone miss me? :-)

Hi everyone,

that's if I have any followers left? probably not since I last posted in April this year. Where has 5 months gone? I can't believe it's been that long.

Well, I can believe it's been that long since I last posted, I've had my hands full the last 5 months. I've been spending all that time with the love of my life, my beautiful daughter Tabitha. She is 7 months old now and growing every day. She's so much fun and I am loving being a Mum and able to spend time with her to see her grow and learn new things every day. Time really does fly when you're a Mum (as I'm sure it does when you're not a Mum either, haha) but it really does!

I've been floating around on blogger and checking up on all your beautiful stitching, haven't had much time to post but I have been stitching a little here and there. I made it to the last stitchy meet my friends held, hadn't been to one in quite a few months, so that was fun and I did some stitching. Currently I am stitching my nephew a birth sampler, it's a tatty teddy one called powder baby, he is sweet. I am close to almost finishing the cross stitching so will soon start on the backstitching. After this sampler I will start on my other nephew's birth sampler, who was born in June. I have yet to pick one.

I gave my parents 'Achoo' all stitched and framed and they loved him! He is now sitting proud as punch on their lounge room wall. The framing I chose, compliments their lounge room really well too, so I picked well. I'm glad I found a nice home for him.

My plan for my stitching is, after I have stitched the two birth samplers I want to stitch my husband a wedding anniversary gift. Our 2nd year anniversary will be coming up in March next year and the traditional present is to give each other a gift symbolising cotton. So I wanted to stitch him a gorgeous pattern I've had my eye on for ages called 'to the moon and back' by Waxing moon designs. It's not too big, so I think I can handle it. We will see. :-)

Amongst all my stitching I am scrapbooking an album for Tabitha which I am also loving. There is not enough hours in the day for hobbies, and as much as I would love to stitch all night, sleep wins hands down. :-) Haha.

I will get myself moving onto taking some recent pictures to show you, but at this stage I just wanted to let you know I'm still here and stitching slowly. It's always nice to see what you have all been stitching too, will post again soon.

For now, happy stitching.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone that celebrates. :-)

We are having a busy next two days with family. Today we are having a lunch at my in laws and tomorrow we are having lunch with my family. It is Tabitha's first Easter which is very exciting for us, I think the Easter bunny has brought her a special egg. Tabitha is exactly 3 months old today! Three months has flown.

I am happy to say I finished stitching a message on achoo for Mum and Dad and finished off Tabitha's birth sampler finishing in her details. They both look really good and I am going to wash them next week and hopefully take them to the framers sometime soon. I also ordered a baby sampler to stitch for my nephew Baxter. I ordered a tatty teddy design called 'powder baby' from 123 stitch which is very sweet. Now I am just waiting for it to arrive as it will be my next project.

I hope you all have a lovely long weekend and happy stitching. x

Finished!

Last night I finished Achoo! I am so happy he is all done, I wanted to post about it last night but it was getting late and I really needed to get to bed.

He is so cute, and I would love to keep him but he is for Mum and Dad and I can't wait to give him to them, I am excited about it. All I need to do now is date it and I want to write a little message in the corner.

Here he is here in all his glory.

I started achoo on the 10th of November 2010 and finished him on the 13th of April 2011. I think 5 months is pretty good, well good for me anyway. I am not the fastest stitcher there is out there. I found achoo a very easy stitch and I enjoyed it. Once all the cross stitches were done, the half stitch stitched up quickly and the backstitch took no time at all, so if anyone was wanting to stitch achoo at all one day, I recommend it.

He is stitched on 29 count jubilee evenweave and the brand is dimensions with their own dyed thread.

Here is a close up of achoo.

Isn't he cute? :-)

I think the backstitch really brought achoo to life so I've taken a photo of the backstitch to show you, even though you probably won't get a great view of it.

Now that he is done, I want to finish the details on Tabitha's birth sampler so I can then get the birth sampler and achoo washed, ironed and taken to the framers. I then want to start on my nephews birth sampler which I am going to have to order in the next few days.

Thank you for all your comments on my last post, you helped motivate me to finish achoo, and I am glad you all loved the photo of Tabitha. She is a cheeky girl, and that is one of my favourite photos of her.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and get some stitching done. I am off to a day spa on Saturday as Adrian bought me a day spa voucher for our first wedding anniversary back in March and I am going out for a few hours by myself to spoil myself, I am so excited!! :-) It's nice that he will be spending time with Tabitha on his own too.

happy stitching everyone. xx

Nearly done!

I have almost finished stitching Achoo!

I have finished all the cross stitches and just finished all the half stitches last night. I stayed up three hours after Tabitha went to bed to finish off the half stitch and thought to myself I will probably regret it since she will be up in a few hours and she was!! I was pretty tired when I woke up this morning after not getting enough sleep. But it was worth it really as I only have the backstitch to complete. This is where Achoo is at now.

I've really enjoyed stitching this little guy, he is very cute. And he's not taken me that long either. Tabitha has been going to bed at a reasonable hour at night and it's given me time to stay up for an extra hour or two to do my own thing, which is normally stitching or scrapbooking. I really want to get this finished for Mum and Dad so I can start on my nephews birth sampler. My nephew Baxter was born on the 5th of March, he is so cute! Only 6 weeks behind Tabitha. It's been nice stitching of a night again as I find it very relaxing and it's time to myself.

Tabitha will be 11 weeks old on Sunday, now I believe when people say how quick time flies, it really does. I can't believe she will be 3 months old soon. I don't want her to grow up too quickly. Here is a photo I took of Tabitha this week.

She is very smiley. I am so in love with this little girl. We are off to her first real birthday party on Sunday, it's her cousins Heidi's third birthday party.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend, and of course happy stitching xx

I will post back when I've completed the backstitch.

A little stitching

I have actually managed to complete a little bit of stitching on Achoo, I had half an hour one day last week when Tabitha fell asleep in her pram. It was nice to be able to get a few stitches in. It's amazing how busy my days are now with a little one, and I thought I was busy before in my day job, haha. When Tabitha is sleeping, it would be lovely to sit down and stitch for a few hours but it is hard when there is so much else to do around the house etc..or sometimes it's nice to get in an hour of shut eye myself.

When I picked Achoo up again I hadn't actually noticed how much I had done on him whilst I was still pregnant on my maternity leave.

I am enjoying stitching this little puppy dog and he is really almost finished, only have a few more full cross stitches to put in and then the rest is half stitch which won't take up much time at all. I know that Mum and Dad will love him.

This is Achoo at the moment.

Tabitha is 8 weeks old today, and two months has just flown by really. I am loving being a Mum, it is a big job but well worth seeing her grow every day. She is always changing and the best thing she's been doing the last few weeks is smiling. Her smile melts my heart all the time.

I hope everyone is doing well and getting in much stitching time. It is so lovely to see what everyone has been working on. Hopefully I will have another update soon.

Happy Stitching x

Thank you!

Hello to all my followers,

I just wanted to thank you all for your lovely comments on our baby daughter Tabitha. Things are going well and Tabitha is exactly one month old today! Time does go fast, she's growing every day and has just started smiling which melts my heart. :-)

I've not had time to stitch of course as when she goes to bed at night I do too. And when she naps in the day there are other things to do. Hopefully I get a chance soon, but in the meantime I am enjoying catching up on all your lovely blogs when I get a few moments even though I haven't been commenting. Thank you for sharing all your lovely stitching.

Happy stitching xx

Tabitha Faith

Achoo

I have been getting in quite a bit of stitching time while I've been home on maternity leave, I could get used to this. Haha. :-) I am sure my relaxing time won't last for long, so I better make the most of it while I can. I've also been scrapbooking a fair bit to get through my photos before bub arrives, but I have millions of photos so I know that is not going to happen. I am scrapbooking the photos I've wanted to scrapbook for ages though.

This is my recent progress on Achoo.

I think he is looking so cute, don't you?

I love his little innocent face, but the patches on his coat are gorgeous. As you can see I am working on his second leg now, so he is coming together quite nicely. I am enjoying stitching him. I've been settling myself on the couch with a cup of tea watching movies whilst I've been stitching, it's been really nice.

Our baby's nursery is finished now, I love it. On Saturday Adrian and I applied the wall sticker to the wall we bought and it is so bright and cute. We chose a tree with animals and flowers all of it, and would suit either gender. Everything is set up and I've put the baby's clothes away in the cupboards Adrian painted, so now we just have to wait for the little one to arrive. :-) Only 7 days to go now till I am officially due.

Thank you for all your lovely comments about the baby and well wishes. Oh and not forgetting to mention my baking skills. :-)

I hope you are all getting in some stitching time. I've enjoyed seeing everyone's progress, keep up the great work and happy stitching xx

Stitchy Sunday

I've always loved baking but since I've been on maternity leave I've baked twice so far in a week. I got a lovely fancy mix master from my Mother and Father in law for Christmas and it's something I've always wanted but never could justify

buying myself since they are so expensive and we couldn't really afford such a luxury.

So I decided last week to bake biscuits for the stitchy meeting I was holding at my house on Sunday. While I was at it, I decided to bake a lemon tart for a dinner at a friends house we were going to last night, and I am so glad I did because it was all eaten up very quickly. Not a slice left over. I was very pleased with that.

I was pretty proud of my work so I took a photo of my lemon tart. I made the crust too, which I was happy with. :-)

Here are the white chocolate chip cookies with milk chocolate on top and sprinkles. The girls seemed to enjoy these at the stitchy meeting.

I had such a lovely time at the stitchy meeting yesterday. There were 6 of us all together which was nice for a change since many times not everyone can make it every month. We had one special member who came all the way from America just for us, haha (kidding of course) she is in Australia for a summer holiday to see her family. Stephanie was a part of our stitchy group two years ago but then had to go back home so we hadn't seen her for two years. It was really special to have her back yesterday sitting with us again. It was like she had never left, we were all chatting just like normal.

We had an afternoon of cross stitching of course, chatting and eating all the yummy food. Here are some photos I would like to share with you of our afternoon.

This is Melody stitching away in between running after her 15 month old daughter Lily.

From left to right: Stephanie, Bek and Gayle.

And lucky last, this is Cassie and I. I am the one who looks about to pop. :-)

This past week I have managed to get quite a bit of stitching done on Achoo and I have finished half of the pattern already. I did get more done on him yesterday too which was good so he is coming along nicely now. He has such a cute face, I've been looking forward to seeing his face come together. I was wanting to get him finished by the time the baby is born but I don't think that is going to happen somehow.

Here is my progress of Achoo at the moment.

I just wanted to say hello to my new followers too, thank you for joining my blog. :-) I hope you enjoy seeing my progress pics. Since I am a one at a time pattern girl I can understand my pics might get a bit boring seeing the same pattern all the time. Oh and I will be sure to post a photo of our new little one who should be arriving in two weeks time.

A new year

Happy new year to all my blogger readers, thank you for taking an interest in my blog and taking the time to read my posts, I really love and appreciate all your comments that you leave me.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and new years, it sounds like you did from the posts I read.

I am very excited that it is now January, December was a crazy month for me at work and at our house, everything was a bit upside down with our renovations and I finished up work to go onto maternity leave, which still doesn't yet feel real. I still feel like I will be going back to work next week, but I am very excited I won't be. I am now 37 weeks pregnant, so Adrian and I will soon be meeting our little one. I can't wait, it is going to be such an exciting yet I'm sure challenging time. It felt so good to finish up at work, my clients were so generous with giving our baby gifts, very thoughtful. Now that I'm in my late trimester I am glad I finished work when I did as the last week definitely took it out of me. Now I am sorting out things at home, getting the nursery ready and packing my hospital bag and the baby's bag. I always have these ideas to do around the house like cleaning out the kitchen cupboards but my motivation is a little low at the moment, although I did manage to clean out my bedroom cupboard and I gave away 4 bags of clothes to the salvation army. That felt good. :-)

So due to my lack of blogging, that is the reason why. I haven't had time to stitch as much as I would have liked, but I still have something little to show of Achoo.

It doesn't look like I've accomplished much, but I can see a little bit. I am hoping I get some stitching time in before bub arrives, which I am sure I will. I don't set goals at the start of the year for my stitching as I don't like the pressure on myself, but I am sure I will be getting Achoo finished and framed for my parents, and two baby samplers stitched up. I will see how I go of course with a new baby and all. I would also love to dig into my stash and start a new project this year too but I will have to wait and see. There are two projects I have in mind.

I hope you are all getting in some stitching time,

until next time, happy stitching. xx