Stitching, Gifts and Stash

Hello dear stitching friends from a hot, hot Cape Town!  I have stitched and finished another Christmas ornament, making it two ornaments this month!  This cute design is by The Prairie Schooler and is featured in the November 2009 issue of The Gift of Stitching Magazine.  I absolutely love Prairie Schooler designs!

 He is stitched on 28 ct evenweave in DMC threads and finished as a mounted hanging ornament.

I have also been stitching on the Shores of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings - it is one of my stitching goals this year to complete at least a few of the blocks on this piece.  That whale is a big fellow and it is taking a long time to fill in the sea background.  I am stitching it on 32 ct Harvest Beige Minster Linen in DMC threads.  (The colour of the fabric isn't completely accurate on the photo - it is actually a very rich colour and the threads look great on it.)

I have also been inspired to work on Train of Dreams by Heaven and Earth Designs.  It is wonderful to see this beautiful picture emerge, but there is so much more stitching to do!

Last week I went to my favourite quilt shop and bought some fabrics, mainly for finishing, but who knows what use I might find for them!

Carol had her birthday earlier this month, so I sent her a little gift:

Her favourite colour is blue - easy for me to remember, since my favourite colour is also blue - so I put a 'blueish' gift together, including a pinkeep, scissors fob, ribbon, thread, fabrics and a chocolate.

The pinkeep is stitched in House of  Embroidery stranded cotton in a shade called Iris.  The design is taken from Elizabethan Cross Stitch by Barbara Hammet - it is one of my favourite stitching books of all time!

I was also so excited to receive this lovely Valentine's gift from dear Annie last week.  Now I have another scissors to add to my collection - it even came complete with its own pouch!  I also love that beautiful Valentine's coaster! Thank you for the wonderful surprise Annie!

That's about all for now - until next time, Happy Stitching!

Michelle

A few stitching and craft related pics

Another two weeks have gone by since my last post - I can hardly believe it! I haven't been doing a lot of stitching these past few weeks, but here are some stitchy, crafty pics to share.

Aren't these cupcake chocolates too cute? They were the craze around here this Mother's day - I gave some to my mom, but insisted on taking some pics before they could be eaten :) They had a soft chocolate centre.

These cuties where purchased at a different store - can you see the theme here? They had a strawberry filling! I think I should try to reproduce these in Fimo at some stage :)
A few weeks ago Annie showed an Altoid tin that she covered with some of her lovely stitching and I mentioned that we don't get Altoids over here. So, what did Annie do? She sent me two tins of these 'curiously strong mints'. Thank you so much Annie - I'll be on the lookout for something to stitch to cover them! At the moment I'm enjoying the mints, especially the Wintergreen flavour.

I coloured some fabrics a few weeks ago - pink, green, blue and some blue-green. I'm not sure what they will be used for yet :) The colours don't show up so well in the photo - the colours are actually a bit deeper that in the pic.

I also tried to 'variegate' some of the fabrics - this one is green and pink - it should be fun to stitch on. (Once again, the colours are more intense in person than on the photo)
I also coloured some of this dark natural colour - I absolutely love this shade - I am currently using a similar piece for Feather Fairy.
Lastly, a little bit of stitching! I stitched this little Celtic knot design a few weeks ago and still need to finish it into a pinkeep. I will probably use the fabric in the background to finish it - it matches very well with the yellow-golds in the stitched piece.
I am working on another small design at the moment and hope to share it soon.

As you might have noticed, all my stitching plans and goals are deteriorating, so I am contemplating an evil plan. You know the kind - when your stitching mojo/momentum is lost - there is only one thing to do. A new start! I am seriously contemplating a new (big) start of a piece that I have been admiring on a few blogs over the last couple of months. Maybe now is the time to get it started - will keep you posted:)

Enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!

Girl from Alhambra and some Fabric!

Here we are in the second week of January and here is my progress on Girl from Alhambra! She now has a mouth and you can see her nose forming - it is really so exciting to see a face emerging as you work!

I am enjoying this piece so much, I haven't even thought of what I am going to stitch next - I suppose it should be one of my WIPs and I should try to finish it (lol).
I coloured some fabric during my holiday - I don't have a specific use for it yet, but you never know!

I love the blue and the darker natural - maybe I'll find something to stitch on it soon.

I have just heard that it is going to be 36 degrees Celsius tomorrow! Our summer is really here now! (Please wish me luck - I don't like the heat.)

Have a great week and Happy Stitching!