A Stitching Love Affair

Another update on Chenonceau I have started on the outer border so not far to go! I have also had another start.... Opps! 28 count Ivory evenweave This is another Chatelaine Design called Pompeji, I'm loving the colours so far! I have also had these Teresa Wentzler charts for a long time, so I finally purchased some fabric to start them Magical Night will be stitched on 28 count Ice Blue evenweave and Carousel I have 28 count Grey evenweave. Never ever again will I do a Teresa Wentzler piece on 32 count linen, I value my sanity lol. I have also brought New York by Thea Gouverneur. Now this has 18 count aida in the kit and I will not be using that, mostly because I don't like aida much so I think I will get some evenweave 28 count. It is stitched with one strand and I am considering using 2 strands. Obviously there won't be enough thread in the kit so I will have to match up from my DMC threads . Has anyone used 2 strands? How does it look? ...

Well since I had some time on my hands today, I got out all my WIPs and UFOs to have a look at and cringe about how many I have Basically here is the list: English Garden Sampler By Teresa Wentzler I really like her designs but I really don't like the huge amounts of backstitching and blended threads, in saying that I have 2 of her designs on the go... Summer Carousel By Teresa Wentzler This is my oldest WIP (probably now a UFO) Started around 17-18 years ago Oh Christmas Tree By Lavender & Lace Stitching Accessory Book By Designing Ladies Angel Dwell Here By Mirabilia Santa By Mirabilia New start on 28/12/2016 The Enchantment of Winter By Dimples Designs Roman Building By Unknown Petit Marche de Noel By Cuore e Batticuore Athena By Mirabilia Ballerina Beauty By Dimensions A Cat Lovers Biscornu By Sandra Cox Vanosdall N...

Happy new year everyone!! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas (I know I'm bit late with that...) and I know I'm looking forward to a fresh new year full of plans and resolutions. Here's hoping I can stick to them! I had a fairly quiet Christmas with the family, it was a very hot day on Christmas day, about 30 degrees I think and the last think you want to do is eat a hot lunch! Anyway Santa was very kind to me and brought me sewing machine!!! YAY!! (thanks Mum you're the best) So I have been practicing on it and I will be able to show you soon what I have made. On the stitching front I have swapped the Christmas stocking (I will finish that for this Christmas) and picked up Teresa Wentzler's English Garden Sampler. I haven't picked this up for months, or is it a year...a long time anyway. Before- After- I'm not sure when I started this, probably about 2-3 years ago and as with every TW chart it has billions of 1/3 stitches! Ha...

Unfortunately I wasn't mtb in Tuscany - nice as that sounds... I was much better this week and basically back to full health after mostly 2 weeks of being sick, so it was back to normal cycling training which means not much stitching get done during the week.I have got a bit more done on Tuscany Town. Before: After: I have done the tiny jessicas, which are a little tedious but look really good when done. You realise how many beads there are on this when there a lots of empty squares when the cross stitches have been done! I may start doing some beading soon, just for something different to do. The next WIP is English Garden Sampler by Teresa Wentzler. I can't remember the last time I actually did any work on this, I think I put it in the "too hard" basket because of the blended threads, I find them a real pain, but I guess I will work on it again one day...  This what it will look like when I finish it...one day...  Since I had dragged out my chart for...

Merry Christmas to everyone! I know it's a bit late, but better late than never! I have 11 days off work, so I have managed to get a lot of stitching done and lots of biking. Anyway here are some updated pictures of Handmade, with Love, which I have nearly finished but I have run out of a couple of thread colours which I will get in the next couple of days. Here is also an update on the Carousel Horse by Teresa Wentzler. I now have finished unpicking the old threads in the horses neck and I have redone 2 of the colours. I have also started doing some of the back stitching on the tail, a start of many hours of back stitching! Because this cross stitch is my oldest WIP, I am trying very hard to get it finished. It may not look like it, but I don't like unfinished things! So I am trying very hard to get this finished in 2012 - there, thats my first new years resolution! Here is another WIP I would like to get finished in 2012, and this one is a wonderful Chatelaine design c...