Free Birthday Chart

Hi! As promised, here is a picture of the piece I designed for my birthday (today). If you want the free chart, all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post with your email address and I will send you a pdf of the chart. It does not matter if you have never left a comment on this blog before and you don't have to be a follower either. You can also leave a comment as long as this post remains available, so it doesn't have to be on the exact date.

I hope you like it! If you stitch it - feel free to email a photo to me - I would love to put it on my blog! I stitched it in DMC threads on a 28ct white evenweave, but you can change it as much as you like :)
Here is a pic of some of the sweet treats we had for dessert - chocolate and strawberries - what's not to love!

Some of the beautiful flowers I received.

Isn't this little posy too cute?

That's it for now, have a good week with lots of stitching!

Free Sampler Sneak Preview

Hello from a hot and humid Cape Town! As promised, here is a sneak preview of the little Alphabet Sampler I designed as a free chart for my birthday this coming Sunday. As you can see, I had a lot of fun playing with ribbons to style this piece :)
The model stitching is done and the chart needs a bit of tweaking, so it will be ready in time. If you are interested in the chart, just stop by again and leave a comment on Sunday's post.

Enjoy the rest of the week and remember the most important thing - tomorrow is Friday!

Train Birth Sampler

Finally I can share this! I stitched this train as a birth sampler for my boyfriend's sister's son (I guess that would make him his nephew), Michael, earlier this year. I didn't know when the Christening would be, so I finished it soon after his birth in April and guess what - the Christening was yesterday! The poor sampler was 'hiding' in the cupboard for five months!

Here you can see it laced over board - it is up to his parents to choose a frame. I made a Noah's Ark birth sampler for Michael's older sister, Emma, two years ago, but unfortunately I don't have a photo of it.
I stitched it on antique white Jubilee from a chart in a magazine (I think it was a Cross Stitcher).

There is such a lot of detail in this piece, here are a few close up pics:

The elephant is probably my favourite. There was also a lot of backstitch!

Look at this cute fellow! Did I mention all the backstitching and that I hate backstitching? (Don't worry - the fractional stitches were not far behind!)

Here is another friendly guy. All that backstitch (which I hate) really finishes it off!

And one more in the last carriage! What a difference all the fractional stitches and backstitches make!

You might notice that I did not precisely enjoy stitching this piece, but the end product is well worth it. (Did I mention all the backstitch?)

Well, it is my birthday in less than a week - next Sunday to be precise. I have been 'playing' with charting for years now, but have only shared it with friends and family up to now. I have also done lots of photo charting as a service and have stitched some of my own - unfortunately given as gifts, so no photos!

I have finally decided to share some of my own charting with others. I will have a free chart giveaway on my birthday for everyone who leaves a comment on that post - Sunday 25 October, so watch this space! (It is an alphabet sampler - I will try to post a sneak preview later in the week.)

Enjoy the rest of the week and happy stitching!

Christmas Stocking WIP

Hi from a cold and wet Cape Town! It is storming here today - very unusual for this time of year!


Since my Mary Wigham is having a 'rest' again, I decided to resume work on a Christmas WIP. I started it last year, but didn't get too far :) It is a stocking out of the book 'Donna Kooler's Ultimate Stocking Collection'. It is a lovely book and contains 15 beautiful stockings by various designers.


This one is called 'Teddy the Bear & Friends' and is designed by Linda Gillum.

This is just a photo to show you how much I still have to do on it! I hope to finish it this time and have it ready for Christmas.

The animals have a lot of detail and, yes, a lot of backstitch! I backstitched this bird when I was working on it last year - the backstitching really brings it to life. (You will notice that backstitch is my enemy - I have loads of finished projects just waiting for their backstitch - I certainly hope this piece won't fall into that category when I get the cross stitching done!)

I am also still working on Scheherazade, but I'm still not on her dress! I am trying to build a solid base for the dress before I work towards the top again, but it takes a lot of stitching without seeing a picture :( That is the problem with starting at the bottom! At least I'm still enjoying it very much :)

That's it for now - have a great week!

October Pinkeep Finish

Spring is in the air! Despite today being cooler, we are definitely going into spring here - days are getting longer, flowers are blooming and temperatures are rising.

I stitched this sweet little pinkeep, which is another Freebie on Maryse's blog. It is her October pinkeep and she has it in Autumn shades, so I changed the colours to suit our season. It is finished as a pinkeep and trimmed with dark pink and green braid.
The backing fabric is a pink floral patchwork material, which was in my Mom's stash for about 25 years! Must be one of the first needlework related things she bought after I was born :) She is very glad that I could use it so many years later - it proves stash will never be wasted!

I finished the border of Mary Wigham, so she is having a bit of a rest again while I resume work on Scheherazade (Heaven and Earth Designs).

For those who are wondering what 'Mary Wigham' is all about:

The Mary Wigham chart is still available for download on the Needleprint blog. The chart was originally made available as a 'free' download for a SAL - the aim was to raise funds to preserve the original embroidery. The idea was to donate a dollar per download (there are 9 downloads), or whatever donation, if any, you wish to make. Read more about it on the blog - you have to scroll down a bit to get the link to the download page.

Have a great week with lots of stitching!

Halloween Finish

Firstly I have a confession to make - we do not celebrate Halloween in South Africa! But I do love it! This is my first Halloween piece and I absolutely loved stitching it! The chart is available as a free download on Maryse's blog.

I stitched it on Floba using some of the recommended DMC threads. I used Chameleon Threads Baked Earth for the brickwork on the mansion - I love how it turned out! The roof is House of Embroidery's Winter. The lettering is done in Weeks Dye Works Trick or Treat - very appropriate!
I finished it as a flatfold so that it can be displayed for the next couple of weeks. There is a great flatfold tutorial on Vonna's tutorial blog. Thanks for the great tutorial Vonna!

I was fortunate enough to have some fabric for the backing - it is a Timeless Treasures Fabric and tones in perfectly.

Have a great week with lots of stitching!

Start of a long weekend!

It sure has been a short week! Tomorrow is a public holiday and, like many, many other people, I'm taking Friday off! That means a four day weekend - how lucky can you get :) I hope it is going to provide lots of stitching and relaxing time.

I have been working on Mary Wigham again - I'm really enjoying it again after a few weeks break!
My aim for now is to complete all the sides - only one to go :) After that I will decide if I want to try to complete the piece, or if it needs another 'rest'.

I am also still working on Scheherazade, but being a Heaven and Earth design, there isn't much progress to show yet. The curious thing is that I am enjoying it so much, even though it is still just a big patch of colour!

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Christmas Ornament Finish

Another weekend almost gone! At least I have a small finish to show. This is Country Cottage Needleworks Winter's Eve Christmas ornament from the 2006 JCS Christmas Ornament Issue.
I stitched it in DMC stranded cotton on self-dyed 28ct fabric. The moon is stitched in DMC Precious metal Effects E677 - I love this colour - it is a blend of gold and silver.
I stitched the little sheep in Rainbow Gallery White Wisper thread to give him a fluffy look :)

I worked a little bit on Scheherazade - not that you can see much difference yet! I am still enjoying it very much, even though I can't see a picture developing at this stage.

We had a lovely Spring day here yesterday, but today it is back to Winter! It is as wet as can be with persistent rain.

Only grey skies to be seen!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and Happy Stitching!

A New Start!

Hello from a cold and wet Cape Town - it is back to Winter here! Low temperatures and rain predicted for the rest of the week - like I always say - great stitching weather!

I couldn't resist any longer and started Scheherazade from Heaven and Earth Designs a few days ago. It certainly doesn't look like much now and probably won't for a long time :) I started at the bottom in the middle, so I'm making my way up to her gorgeous dress.
I am stitching it 2 over 2 on a 28ct evenweave, which it much easier for me to see and should make it a more enjoyable stitch. My boyfriend was so fascinated with the size of the fabric that he took a picture of me holding it! To my defence - I left very large borders and I'm not very tall, so it's really not THAT bad :) (I'm thinking of it like stitching a portrait, so it is allowed to be big.)

I am enjoying working on it very much, even though it is just random stitching at this stage. I will definitely alternate this project with WIPs and ornaments so that I can see progress on something!

Until next time, happy stitching!

A Finish and a RAK

I finished Spot of Winter by The Drawn Thread this weekend - it was such a fun stitch! I always feel like doing some Christmas stitching at this time of year and with it's snowman, robins and trees it's Christmassy enough for me! I still have to make it into a little cushion - I have the same frosty blue linen for the backing. I will probably stitch a few more Christmas ornaments over the next few months.

I was lucky enough to receive a RAK from Daniela last week! She knows that I love the Hummel designs, so she sent me this lovely chart for my "collection". I think it is out of print - I have never seen it before. Thank you Daniela!

I am seriously considering a new start! I have a few Heaven and Earth Designs charts in my stash. I purchased this one earlier this year - her name is Scheherazade by Jonathon Earl Bowser and she is absolutely GORGEOUS! I have another one of this artists "goddess" charts which I purchased a few years ago and I think the time has come to start one of them :)

I don't know when I will ever finish Mary Wigham - she took priority over all other stitching (and starts) earlier this year, but now the stash is calling!

Enjoy the rest of the week and happy stitching!

Starr of Mine Finish

I finished my Starr of Mine this weekend - here is the end result:
This was such a fun stitch - I would love to get it in a frame soon! I only used DMC threads and used DMC Precious Metal Effects for the moon and all the stars.

I also started Spot of Winter - I think it should be a quick, fun stitch :) I don't know what I'll stitch after that - I have so many WIPs, but I'm already contemplating a new start!

Not a lot of progress

This has been such a slow stitching week for me! At least I can show this pinkeep that I have just finished for my mom. I stitched this piece for her from the Elizabethan Cross Stitch book by Barbara Hammet a few months ago. It is finished as a pincushion in the book, but the pinkeep finishing appealed to me more for this piece.
I finished the other side to be a pocket for a scissors or needles - or whatever needs a home at the time :)

My progress on Starr of Mine by LHN has been so slow, but I don't think the rest of the piece will take too long - mostly words, border and stars remaining. Who knows - I could have a finish soon!

I have already selected my next project - Spot of Winter by The Drawn Thread. It will be my first Christmas ornament for the year - I always get itching for some Christmas projects at this time of the year. I have a suitable pale blue linen for this project. This should be a quick stitch!

Melissa is having a HUGE giveaway for her 8th year Blogiversary/ 1000th post! What a milestone! The prize is also great - eight charts, fabric, threads, a scissors and more! You can check it out on her blog.

That's it for now - it's downhill to the weekend from here! Happy Stitching!

"Starr of Mine" progress

Here is my progress on "Starr of Mine" from this month's Gift of Stitching Magazine. I am really enjoying this project - LHN pieces are such fun to stitch!
I changed the recommended Crescent Colours threads to DMC, since it's not easy to obtain them over here. I am also stitching it on white evenweave instead of the recommended blue fabric. When I placed all the colours on the blue fabric that I have it just didn't look as good as on the photo in the magazine, so I decided to go with the white. I love the clean, crisp look on the white:)

Lori is having a great giveaway to celebrate her blogiversary. Go onto her blog for more details - some great charts up for grabs!

A new start!

I was losing serious momentum with my Mary Wigham SAL - I was stitching on it for nine weeks and that's about as long as I can last on one project! My original plan was to continue on one of my WIPs, maybe Book of Ink Circles, but then the August issue of The Gift of Stitching Magazine came out! It has a lovely design by Little House Needleworks on the cover and I could not resist. I started it Saturday night and it is such a fun stitch.
I hope to make good progress on it this weekend, since Monday is a public holiday. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Spring Tree Fairy WIP

Weekend again! I've done very little on Mary Wigham this past week, so I decided to share another WIP with you. This is Spring Tree Fairy by Mary Baxter St. Clair and is a full colour printed design by Candamar Designs Inc.
It is an embellished cross stitch piece, so it should go quickly, but it is printed on Aida and as soon as I start work on it again I'm reminded why I packed it away in the first place! I just can't get used to working on the harder fabric again and yet it is such a beautiful design. The thread colours are also absolutely gorgeous.

On this pic you can see how little stitching actually needs to be done. They also make use of full stitches and half stitches in both 1 and 2 ply.

As you can see, she has such a beautiful face! I must really finish this piece :)

Thank you for all the kind words about the little towel I stitched as well as the Fimo roses. I have made some other Fimo pieces - as you can see I only had a few colours to work with! This is my first attempt at the little teapot. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, since I'm not into miniatures, but it is fun to make!

I also made this little pig for no apparent reason! Maybe he can be my stitching mascot ;-)

The good news is that I went to the craft shop and now have a few more colours of the Fimo. Now I can add leaves to my roses and bake them. Other good news - while snooping around in the craft shop I found this delightful little bucket of beads! It's like having a new toy :)

Here is a close up of all the lovely shades and shapes of beads. I hope I can put some of them to use soon.

Have a great weekend - I hope to get some hours in on Mary Wigham - can you believe that the final part was released earlier this week!