TUSAL - 27th Sept.

Here is this month's update.

I have started a new project as I am missing the speciality stitches in Castles In The Air. I have signed up to the Stitch Specialists and am doing the Tree of Stitches design.
I have nothing much to show yet apart from the trunk which is cross stitch but I will update you when I have done a couple more parts.
I have chosen to work the design on some hand dyed aquamarine 32 ct fabric with black floss.
Bye for now.

Kit review

I have done some more work on this kit although as it is in whites and cream it is difficult to see. I have now reached the 20 hour mark on it.
I am finding the Maderia thread absolutely lovely to work with. It is a thread I have never tried before but it is so soft, shiney and easy to work with that I can see myself using it again.

Bye for now.

Kit review

I have done some more on the kit from Yiota. 15 hours approx.

You can see the peacock coming to life. The top left corner has quite large blocks of one colour but the rest of it has quite a lot of confetti. It does make it very detailed though and I quite enjoy it.

We have had two very windy days here - gale force and it has blown a load of leaves off the trees already so I don't think Autumn is going to be very colourful this year. I'm off to sweep up the debris in the garden and see if I can harvest any of the sweetcorn (which blew down) for tea.
Bye for now.

A giveaway

Over at Between the Stitches there is a giveaway. Gorgeous floss and a coffee design to stitch if you want to know more head on over to between the stitches and take a look.
No stitching at all for me this weekend. I may get a little in later today - hopefully.
Bye for now.

September's Snap

Well I did get my afternoon stitching and here is the result of it.

Only 3 months to go now to the end of it and the year - Blimey!

My tomatoes are all ripening in the greenhouse and taste scrumptious. I have a glut of cucumbers and courgettes.
We have a busy weekend coming up so I'll not be blogging again untill next week.
Bye for now.

Kit review update.

I have made a start on this. I have worked on it for approx 5 hours and I can just see the peacock's body starting to appear. The trees and pheasants are fairly dense in confetti - especially the greys.
Anyway, here is a pic.

The first of my brood went back to school today and already the house is quiet. Thursday is the first day I will be on my own again and I intend to treat myself to a whole afternoon stitching.
Bye for now.

August Snap and a Pulled Thread Needlecase.

Here is August's Snap.

I love doing each part of this. The colours are much better in real life.

I have also had a go at some pulled thread work. It was a cover kit on a magazine many years ago. It is designed by Jane Greenoff and was on a copy of her own magazine - sadly it is not available anymore but it was one of the best mags ever published.
Here is the needlecase.

The flowers are worked in cross stitch, the edge is done in hemstitch and there is a pulled thread panel on it. My heart was in my mouth when I cut the threads but it didn't all unravel and it was suprisingly easy to weave the cut threads back into the fabric. I would love to try something like this again one day.
I have done a few hours work on Yiota's kit now and will post a pic soon for you.
Hope you enjoy your weekend.
Bye for now.

p.s. Thanks for all the lovely comments, it is so good to read them.

New Month - New Challenge

You may remember in my last post that I told you I was doing a test stitch/review for my pal Yiota who makes and sells her own cross stitch kits well here is the kit she sent me.

As you can see, it has my favorite subjects in it - PEACOCKS. I am so looking forwards to starting it and will be getting on with it tonight.
The kit is great. It has some lovely soft Aida in it that isn't at all scratchy (like so many kits) and all the thread is pre-wound onto bobbins so all the preparation has been done. It even includes a needle.

The chart is easy on the eye and big enough that the symbols are clear and different from each other so there shouldn't be any confusion about which colour should be where.
I'll let you know how I get on and if I encounter anything I wasn't anticipating.

Whilst I have been away with a busted computer, I have been cracking on with a needlecase by Jane Greenoff that has some pulled thread work and hemstitch on it. I have completed Augusts Bent Creek Snap and have made a small amount of progress on the blackwork peacock. I will endevour to show you pics of these next time.
Bye for now.