I'm Back - With Some Finishes!

 Hallo dear stitching friends!  After a long absence I'm back in blogland again - I even have some finishes to share!  I  have been stitching some of Thea Dueck of The Victoria Sampler's beautiful Christmas pieces.  This is called 'Heirloom Christmas Sampler' and contains cross stitching, specialty stitches, beading and hemstitching.  I had the chart in my stash for years (and even started the backstitching on the tree a few years ago) and the time finally came to stitch it!

 I really enjoyed stitching this piece and just love all the detail.  It is stitched on 28ct cream Quaker Cloth in DMC stranded cotton and Perles, as well as some overdyed floss.

 Here is a pic of the entire piece - it is a bit difficult to photograph, since it is so long.

 Some close ups - I loved 'decorating' the tree :)

 This finish is called 'White Christmas' and is also by Thea Dueck.  This chart was also in my stash for years!  It is stitched on white 28ct Quaker Cloth in DMC stranded cotton, Perles and silver petite treasure braid by the Rainbow Gallery.  This piece also has cross stitching, specialty stitches,hemstitching and beading.  

Stitching these samplers inspired me to start a new Hardanger piece.  It is a runner and is designed by Mamen   of Hardanger Carpacar and is called 'Harmony'.  It is stitched white on white with DMC Perles on 28ct white Quaker cloth.  This piece is going to be absolutely stunning when it is - eventually - finished.  I plan to start stitching some Christmas ornament soon, so it will have to step aside for a few weeks.

 

And finally, I don't think I ever mentioned it, but we had to have our six year old Bullmastiff, Jenna put down, due to cancer.  We miss her every day, but on the upside - we have a new Bullmastiff puppy!  Her name is Lexi and she is a handful :)  Here is a picture of her (on our bed, if you don't mind!) - she is about seven months old now.

That's about it for now - I hope to be visiting all your lovely blogs soon.  Have a great week!

Happy Stitching,

Michelle

Blog on Vacation

Hi stitching friends!  You might have noticed that, yet again, it has been a long time between posts for me.  I just don't seem to have the time for blogging/commenting anymore.  

To top off my distress, a package I ordered from Anita's Little Stitches in April has not arrived yet.  I emailed Anita to find out which mail method she used and she sent me such a rude email in reply!  She claims that 50% of her business is overseas and a package has never gotten lost (and if you believe that you'll believe anything).  I have been ordering stitching supplies from overseas for years and this is the first package I have not received.  Needless to say, I was shocked by her response - I was planning to re-order, but obviously she has now lost a customer. 

Anyway, enough complaining and on to some stitching.  Here is what I have been up to:

I have made great progress on Historic Countries Sampler (from the Gift of Stitching Magazine) and hope to finish it soon:

 The Heaven and Earth Designs bug has bitten me again.  I started Train of Dreams by Randal Spangler last year and took it out again this year.  Here is my progress, not much done, but I already love the way it is turning out:

 Here is what the full picture looks like:

 I also bought a Quick Stitch from Heaven and Earth Designs a few weeks ago and could not resist starting it.  Her name is Ruby and she is a design by Meredith Dillman.  Here is the bottom of her dress.

 This is what she will look like eventually:

So, to conclude, I have decided to put my blog on vacation.  I guarantee I will still be stitching and, who knows, maybe I will be returning to blogging soon!  Thank you to everyone who shared this virtual stitching experience with me - I am so lucky to have made such wonderful friends over the past two years.  I will still be visiting all your lovely blogs as often as I can.

Happy Stitching!

Lots of Love,
Michelle

Mary Glover Finish and Half a Finish

I have not been blogging, but I have been doing a lot of stitching! I finished the Mary Glover SAL, hosted by Emmanuelle, this weekend. This is such a lovely piece, I can't wait to have it framed!

Here are a few close ups:
The colours are so pretty and I love the Rice Stitch band, even though it was time consuming.

I have also made some great progress on Historic Countries Sampler, with half of the countries completed (Spain, Scandinavia, Holland, Ireland, England after the 1700s and Germany).
Here is a close up of Holland:
Close up of Ireland - I really loved stitching this section:
England after the 1700s:
Germany:
Germany also had some specialty stitches, including Queen stitch, Algerian Eyelets, Blackwork, Rice stitch and Zig Zag running stitch:

It is Mother's Day next Sunday, but I could not resist getting these lovely roses for my mom a week early :) Aren't they stunning - I love the pink with the hint of green of the flowers.
Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Mary Glover SAL and a huge WIP

Believe it or not - I actually have some stitching to show! I have joined in the wonderful Mary Glover SAL hosted by Emmanuelle after seeing it on Siobhan's blog. It is stitched on a light, natural colour 28ct evenweave in DMC thread. Some of the threads are in the recommended colours and others I had to change to match the fabric.

Here are a few closeups of the details - I just love the soft colours.
I have also resumed work on a piece I started about two years ago. It is Historic Countries Sampler and was given as a mystery sampler over twelve issues of The Gift of Stitching Magazine a few years ago. I am stitching it on antique white Jubilee in DMC thread. It is a HUGE piece and is made up of twelve 'samplers' summarizing the historical aspects of each country's samplers. The piece in the bottom left is Spain and the piece to the right hand side of that represents the Scandinavian countries. The small band sampler is the first part of Holland. The Holland sampler is quite big, but I am looking forward to it. I am also looking forward to Ireland, which will go at the top of Holland.
In addition to cross stitch this piece contains a lot of specialty stitches that make it even more interesting:

That is enough stitching for me for one post! I also have another 'semi finish' to show, but I will share that in my next post.

Until next time,

Happy Stitching!

Some Stitching and a Gift

I have some stitching (but no finishing!) to show! I'm going to try to stitch more Christmas ornaments this year - my first one for the year is 'Winter Sheep' by Little House Needleworks. He is stitched on 28ct straw evenweave in DMC threads and topped off with a little Christmas tree charm. He is pictured on the fabric I'll be using for the finishing:

This piece I stitched towards the end of last year, but never finished it for Christmas. It is such a cute design by Tra-la-la and is stitched on self-dyed 28ct evenweave in DMC stranded cotton and DMC colour variations. It is also pictured on the fabric that I will, eventually, be using for finishing:
I stitched this piece, 'Beneath Sunlit Skies' by Black Bird Designs, also towards the end of last year. It is stitched on a Natural 28ct evenweave in a variety of variegated cottons. I did not follow the recommended colours for this chart, but instead had a look at the pic, grabbed my floss box with variegated threads, and pulled whatever I liked and seemed would work. It was really fun to do and also a great way to use some stashed threads! (Some of the colours are very soft and don't show up too well in the photo.)
Here are a few closeups:
Last, but certainly not least - I would like to thank dear Edit for the lovely Christmas present she sent me at the end of last year. Look at all the lovely goodies - fabric, ribbon, beads and a beautiful snowman ornament. (The ornament took pride of place on our Christmas tree and looked great!) Thank you again Edit, it was an unexpected and wonderful gift!
That is it from me for now. Hope to have some stitching updates again soon.

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments on my previous post - it is appreciated.

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

I'm Back!

I can't believe it has been more than four months since my last post! A lot has happened in the past few months, though. Firstly - I got married! I don't think I even told you that I got engaged :)

Here are a few pics of my husband and I on our wedding day:

Remember the Hardanger and cross stitch piece by Lee Albrecht that I was stitching? My mom finished it into a ring pillow for me and it worked perfectly and looked beautiful:
In other news, I obtained my Masters degree in medical biochemistry last year and have now started my PhD study, also in medical biochemistry.

Unfortunately, we also had some losses over the past month - my grandmother died two days before Christmas and my grandfather died on the tenth of January. They were married for sixty years (I made an anniversary sampler for them - ironically, my previous post) and they will be greatly missed.

As you can imagine, not a lot of stitching has happened, but I will post about the little that I have done soon.

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

I am still here!

Wow - I didn't mean for it to be more than two months between posts, but things have been really hectic on this side! Thank you so much for all the emails and comments throughout the past few months - I really appreciate it! Stitchers and bloggers are really nice people, so all you stitchy/crafty bloggers are super nice :)

I do have some stitching to show. I stitched an anniversary sampler for my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary in August. It is adapted from a piece in a Cross Stitch Gold Magazine and is stitched on Bone Lugana in Chameleon threads in a Mushroom colour. The details in the heart are stitched in a House of Embroidery thread called "Ajuga". (It is such a lovely shade - I'm looking for an excuse to use it again!)

This sampler has cross stitching on it and also some basic Hardanger - now all it needs is a frame!
I have also received this "one lovely blog" award from Chrizette. Baie dankie Chrizette - ek waardeer dit!
I am supposed to pass the award on to 15 people, but I don't have the time to do it now, so I would like to award it to all of you! Feel free to take it if you want to :) (The rules are on Chrizette's blog)

Well, I hope to post again soon and even hope to have some more stitching to show. I still have a lot of catching up to do on all your lovely blogs, but will do so in time!

Enjoy the week and Happy Stitching!

Giveaway Winners!

Here are the results of my one year Blogeversary Giveaway! I did the draw the old fashioned way - I printed all the names and cut them into strips of the same size, folded them twice and put them in the rose bowl of destiny!

The first name to come out...
Congratulations Edit - you are the first prize winner!

And the runner up prize.....
Congratulations Zsuzsanna - you have won one of the runner up prizes!

And the third prize....
Congratulations Cath - you have won the other runner up prize!

Could the three winners please email me with their postal details - my email address is in my profile.

Thank you to everyone who entered - I wish I could send everyone a prize :)

Enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!

Shores Block 10 Completed!

Can you believe it - the start of another week! I'm trying to concentrate on typing this post while the Netherlands/Slovakia Round of 16 World Cup match is on - very difficult to concentrate indeed! Hope you are all still enjoying the soccer, coming to you from SA - it has certainly produced a lot of interesting results so far - South Africa, Italy, France, America, Australia, New Zealand and England have all been eliminated already!

Wow -The Netherlands just scored another beautiful goal - they are up 2-0 in the 84th minute! Apologies for the running commentary, but soccer fever has taken over the entire country. The Netherlands is also a very popular team here, since many of us have a Dutch heritage, especially in the Western Cape.

I actually have a little bit of stitching to show - I finished block 10 of Shores of Hawk Run Hollow:

I am really enjoying this piece and can't wait to move on to the next block. I am also working on some small stitchy gifts for the winners of my Blogeversary Giveaway. You can still enter the draw by leaving a comment on my previous post. You must also be a follower of my blog and remember - I will post to any where in the world!

Another soccer update - The Netherlands have just beaten Slovakia 2-1 and are through to the quarter-finals - Yeaaahh! Prepare for some more of the Orange invasion!

OK, I'll try to focus now - entries into my draw are open until the end of the month. I will draw the names on the 1st or the 2nd of the month.

Enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!

Blogeversary Giveaway Announcement! (Edited)

Hi from a cold, wet and soccer world cup crazy Cape Town! As I mentioned in my previous post my one year blog anniversary is drawing near and I am doing a giveaway to celebrate.

I am going to be giving one grand prize and two runner up prizes. Here is an approximation of the grand prize:

I will be including some hand-dyed fabric, threads, beads, ribbons, lace, buttons, needles, hand lotion and a hand made scissors fob. If I have time I also hope to add a small stitched gift. The runner up prizes will contain similar stitch related goodies, but on a smaller scale.

So here are the rules - to enter in the lucky draw for the giveaway all you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment on this post only. It does not matter if it is the first time you leave a comment on my blog - everybody is welcome to enter :) Please leave an email address where you can be reached if it is not on your profile. Entries will be open until the 30th of June.

Edit: Please note that the giveaway is open to everyone in all countries - I will post to anywhere in the world!

That's it for now! Enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!

A Small Finish and a Big Start

Yes, I actually have a small finish to show! I stitched 'Small Token' by Blackbird Designs on self-dyed 28ct evenweave in DMC threads and finished it as a pincushion. I absolutely loved stitching this piece - the colours are so lovely and look really good on the fabric. The fabric is coffee/tea dyed and was the perfect size for the stitching and the finishing :)

On to my new start - Shores of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings - I have been admiring this piece on many blogs for quite some time and finally decided to also give it a go! This is my favourite piece from the Hawk Run Hollow range.
Here is my start - I'm stitching it on 32ct Harvest Beige Minster Linen in DMC threads. The fabric is a lovely rich colour and seems to be reasonably close to the recommended shade. You can't see the colour accurately on my pic - it has been grey skies and storming - not great for taking accurate photos. That being said, I am extremely happy about the winter weather, especially after the extremely hot weather we had this summer!
I also noticed that I have been blogging for almost one year! When did that happen? I think this calls for a celebration, so watch this space for an announcement about a giveaway!

That's it for now! Enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!