Autumn

Autumn has well and truly arrived here. The days are shorter, it's getting darker quicker, the days are becoming cold. I love a few things about this season.

1. It's not as cold as Winter
2. Out come the cosy clothes
3. Cosy nights by the heater
4. Cups of tea
5. Comforting morning coffee
6. Hot cross buns
7. A bigger motivation to stitch
8. Comforting stews

We not long ago celebrated Easter. To me it felt like we had just celebrated Santa coming down the chimney. My two girls woke up early excitedly with their Easter baskets in hand waiting to go downstairs for their Easter egg hunt. To their delight the Easter bunny sure had visited, so chocolate was indeed consumed for Breakfast.
My favourite hot cross buns are the mocha ones from my local bakery bakers delight. A mix of chocolate and coffee, mmmm two of my favourite things. They always bake them the week of Easter, so I made sure to get myself a pack which I had every morning for breakfast that week. Now I have to wait a whole year to get them again. To those who celebrate I hope you all had a lovely Easter too.

I have had a emotional few months. I lost my beautiful dog Matilda in early March. She was 14 years old but she was my baby and a much loved member of our family. She was quite sick in the end so it was a difficult decision to let her go. One that we made for her so she wouldn't suffer any more. I miss her dearly. Just the little things like hanging out the washing, she used to sit with me in the sun. Her feeding times, the company of a night. I have to look back on the wonderful memories we had together though. Especially the memories I have of her when she was a puppy, I rescued her from a dog shelter and we were the best of friends. It has been a very upsetting time for us all.

MATILDA (11 years old)

We are also in the middle of moving house, it's time for a bigger house now for my husband and I and the girls. It's an exciting time but also an emotional one and a very time consuming one packing up etc...but our new house is beautiful and I am so very excited to move in. Memories will always be remembered in my old house of course.
Losing Matilda and how busy it was with getting ready to sell our house entailed the start of the year with my stitching put on hold, I lost my motivation and didn't feel up to it at all even though I know it is very good therapy and has helped me through things before. It was frustrating though because I knew my baby sampler wasn't long off being finished. It doesn't help though with how much I am hating this backstitching!! I normally love back stitch but I HATE back stithcing this pattern. It is quite a challenge and hard to keep motivated. I have had a many few moments of being completely frustrated by it haha. My daughter is lucky she is loved so much, haha!
But of course I have kept up with it and I would like to show you what I am up to.

Backstitching the hair on the baby was a challenge, but it paid off, she looks so cute!!

I will be happy when I have finished his pattern though, I am itching to start something new. I have always been a fan of the Lansvit fairies which I have two of as my lovely husband bought them for me a few Christmas's ago now. He gave me....

In a sunny mood

and

In a lilac mood

But they have recently released two new fairies down below. I am in love with them of course!!!! They will be going on my wish list. I have no time to stitch them haha but even so they shall be mine. Just gorgeous, such character and fine detail. In a sunny mood will be going to my daughter Tabitha and in a lilac mood will be going to my daughter Violet (hence the colour).

In a Autumn mood

In a Winter mood

I will be sure to post pictures of my finished sampler whenever that will be. 

Until next time....happy stitching xx

2015

Happy new year to all my followers! I hope the year ahead brings everyone happiness, good health, love, peace and of course lots of stitching time.
As usual it's been a few months since I last posted. I have good intentions of being a bit more regular with my posting but it usually comes down to the fact of lack of time for me at the moment. It doesn't mean I haven't been stitching though. Maybe 2015 will be a better year for me with my posting.
Today is a rainy day here in Melbourne, my baby girl is asleep and my toddler keeping busy so I have a chance to actually post photos of my progress.
This is where I am up to on my current baby sampler. I am happy to say I have finished all the cross stitches, I am now just up to working on the backstitching as you can see and then I will be up to the birth details.

I am still in love with this pattern, and I am very happy with it. I was aiming to finish it before my daughter's first birthday in December but unfortunately that didn't happen. A few things happened in my family and it's also been a busy last few months so I didn't get as much stitching done as I would have liked. But at least now I can see an end in sight which makes it more exciting to knowing I can have another start very soon. A new start is always fun!
I also have two other stitching gadgets to show you that my good friend Gayle gave me a few months ago. She bought me a needle minder which I have never had before. Now I don't know how I lived without it of course haha.

She said she had to buy it for me after she saw the print. Hence my blog name, haha! Every now and then  I do find myself putting the needle in my mouth when changing threads and have to slap my hand to remind myself to use my needle minder. Haha.
She also very generously bought me this gorgeous scissor fob which I love and is very me. Lots of sparkle and cupcakes. She knows me well. I have 3 fobs now, these two stay on my scissors generally but I can start to swap them around with different projects.

Anyway that's all I have to share today. I will definitely post when I finish my baby sampler.

Happy Stitching xx

S is for Spring! And September!

I can't believe it's been four months since I last posted. Well I take that back, I can believe it really because time flies, this year has flown. We are now in the first month of Spring and we have had some really lovely shiny warm days, but also some cold ones! The flowers are out and look beautiful. The girls and I have had lovely afternoons at the park sitting on a picnic blanket enjoying the sun.
It's definetly been a busy year with my two girls, Tabitha is a very busy 3 year old learning new things all the time, Violet is 9 months old now, crawling around while I watch her like a hawk. She is such a busy little girl exploring her surroundings and new tastes and textures.
I've been stitching which has been really nice and relaxing for me. I've made progress on Violet's baby sampler, it's actually quite big but it's getting there and I have been enjoying it.

As you can see I've moved upwards on the pattern and am now onto stitching the Mother's hair. This is the piece rolled out from the bottom to show what I've stitched so far.

I hope to have this finished before Violet's first birthday! I plan on taking it away on a mini holiday we have coming up in November. I do love this piece and can't wait to have it finished. I've been keeping up with my blog reading every now and then and I hope all my readers are keeping well. Until next time,
Happy Stitching x

May already!

Is it really May already? where did the past four months go?

It is now Autumn here and the leaves that are falling on the ground are just stunning. I love all the colours I am seeing on the ground, beautiful browns,oranges,yellows,reds,greens. Autumn really is a beautiful season and seeing Tabitha playing in the leaves and throwing them in the air makes me smile. This week we've had an unusually warm week. It's been creeping up in the low 20's and the sun has been shining. I've been getting quite a bit of washing dry on the line, which has been a nice change of not having to put the clothes out on the clothes horse in front of our heater to dry. I've been walking a fair bit lately especially this week I've been trying to get out for a good hour and I've been having to walk in a singlet it's been that warm. It really feels like Spring/Summer here at the moment. I know I must enjoy it now though as it will come to an end before I know it.
It's been almost four months since I last posted on my blog but I have been keeping up with my friends blogs and I have been stitching!! Oh it's been so nice to stitch again. Violet is five months this coming Monday and has been establishing more of a routine of late so I have been sitting down of an evening with a cup of tea, a good show and my stitching. It's been very therapeutic after a long day looking after my two girls. I have made progress on Violet's birth sampler which has been really nice watching it come together. It is going to take me awhile to complete but that's ok. It's quite a big pattern. Without further ado, here it is.

I love the colours in the fabric, so pretty and girlie which is just right for Violet. I am currently stitching the teddy bear which is hanging over the Mother's shoulder, it's lots of fun to stitch. I really love this pattern, there's something about the love you can see between the Mother and the daughter which is so special. Talking about the love between Mother and child, we celebrated Mother's day on Sunday which was really lovely having my two girls by my side. We had quite a relaxing day, just stayed home most of the day relaxing which is what I wanted. The girls, Adrian and I went out for a nice coffee and lunch and then Adrian cooked me a beautiful two course meal (we already dessert prepared) when the girls went to bed so I could sit there and have a glass of wine and relax. It was so lovely and very thoughtful of him. I am a very lucky wife/Mother indeed to have such a loving family.

I hope my next post isn't too long away next time. Until then..

Happy Stitching x

Happy New Year

Happy new year to all!

I know I am a bit late with my new year greetings but my time has been limited just of late so I haven't had time to blog or comment on blogs. I have been able to read some entries here and there but not many.
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and new year. We certainly did, having Violet celebrate her first Christmas with us and our families was so wonderful and exciting. Both the girls were very spoilt. Santa did deliver. :-)
I just wanted to thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post about the birth of our beautiful Violet, sorry I've not had time to reply to you. Your comments did make me smile. Violet is 6 weeks old now, she's smiling and growing, very healthy. Tabitha is loving being a big sister! It is very busy in our household at the moment so I've not had any time to do stitching but I have been buying some! Haha. :-) Actually that's a lie, I did finish off Humphrey's corner but I had only a small amount to finish. Hopefully when things settle down and we establish more of a routine, I will be able to sit down and start stitching the recent kit I bought.

I did finish off my humphrey's corner kit that I was working on prior to having Violet. I found some time one afternoon when the girls were napping at the same time. I only had a little bit of backstitch to do and some french knots. Here it is here.

I really love how this one turned out. It is so sweet and whimsical, I love how the backstitch has bought out the picture and it's a bit messy but at the same time it defines the two elephants so well. I mentioned that I will attempt an ornament out of this one which will be my first one. I am still planning on doing that when I have more time and can dust off my sewing machine.

When I started looking for baby samplers, I fell in love with a kit called 'baby hugs' by design works many many months ago. And when I fell pregnant I knew immediately that if I were to have a girl this is the kit I would stitch without a doubt. So, I obviously had a baby girl and this kit was purchased just this past week. It isn't actually a birth sampler as you can tell, but there is so much room to stitch Violet's birth details in that it will be fine.

When I was at the last craft show I went to the sew it all stand and looked through their beautiful dyed fabrics and took notes of the colours I liked if I were to have a baby girl or boy. And then I could match it with my chosen birth sampler. I noted that if I were to have a girl I would buy a beautiful dyed 28 count evenweave called 'frangipani' and I did just that last week too to go with my baby hugs. It is so beautiful! A gorgeous tone of baby pinks and hints of yellow. I think it is going to work so well together. I tried to take a photo so you could see the colours, but it probably doesn't do it any justice. Here are the thread colours the kit is made up of. All very delicious! I am very happy with my choice.

I can't wait to get started on this sampler for Violet, I am not sure when that will be, but I look forward to it all the same.

That is all I have to report at the moment. I hope all my readers are well and happy and that you are all safe in your part of the world. And keeping cool or warm! We are having very hot weather here in Melbourne at the moment so we have been indoors alot with the air conditioning on. It has been around the high 30's and low 40's which is just WAY too hot do even do anything. You can't even breathe when you go outside. Isn't it funny when it's Winter and cold people (well I know I do) dream of nice hot summer weather and then when it's here we complain at times! It doesn't make sense really. I only complain on really hot days though, otherwise I do love the sun on my face and enjoying the long evenings, beach days, icecreams and summer bbq's. 

Until next time,
happy stitching xx  

Its a girl!

Hello all,

Just wanted to share very exciting news with you! I welcomed a beautiful baby girl on Thursday evening, Violet Holly. She arrived right on my due date. She is just beautiful and my family and I are just ecstatic! Tabitha especially being a big sister!
Everything went smoothly but very fast! We are all over the moon with our little girl.
Now for her birth sampler... :)

I hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year!

Happy Stitching x

Christmas cheer and my giveaway winner!

Hello to all my blogging friends,

It is a very busy time of year for me, as I know it will be for most of you too. Our second baby is due next Thursday and I have been busy getting organised buying and wrapping presents for Christmas and a few birthdays here and there so I don't run out of time.
It is such a wonderful time of year though, so much Christmas cheer and excitement. I am pretty tired now though and ready to have and meet our baby. Tabitha is ready to be a big sister. :-)
My giveaway ended at midnight yesterday and I had Tabitha draw a name out of a bowl to determine the winner today. Thank you to all who entered and to those too that just wanted to answer my questions without entering the giveaway. I enjoyed reading all your answers, and they made me smile.
So here it goes............drumroll

And the winner is........
CUCKI!!

Congratulations Cucki! 
I will send you a private message and you can send me your details. Thanks again to all who entered, and better luck next time. :-)

This is my progress on my Humphrey's corner pattern. I am really loving the backstitch and the way it is making the colours pop. I am hoping it will be finished before bub arrives, but I am not too sure about that.
:-)

If I don't post before Christmas, I just wanted to wish to all those that celebrate a wonderful, safe and happy Christmas and new year. I will be sure to make contact with you all again to let you know who our new member of the family is.

I hope you all get lots of stitching time over the holidays!

Until next time,
Happy Stitching x