Ta da!

Stitched with silks and fabric supplied in kit.
Completed 18 February 2008.

It was the HAED BB HAEDless Stitching Sampler SAL this past weekend and I managed to finish this last night. The lighting wasn't conducive to a decent photo so I had to wait until this morning to grab one :)

I started this a long time ago and I put it away because I think I was struggling with the instructions and some of the stitches. I was fairly new to linen and specialty stitches back then :) I've had a bit more experience with specialty stitches and linen since those early days so this time around it was quite a quick stitch :)

Next up is my Wiehenburg Quaker Mystery SAL piece. The actual SAL started at Christmas last year but I didn't join up until mid January. It took me a couple of weeks to decide on fabric and thread so it wasn't until late January that I finally started it.



I am using a HDF (Vikki Clayton) silk Gandy Dancer 1113 which is a really nice rust red on CountryStitch Kiwi Illusions "Daffodil" 28 count Jubilee. I'm stitching it over one because the piece of 40 count linen I had wasn't quite big enough to stitch it over two.



The silk is a "solid" colour but you can just see a very subtle variation :)

My replacement parcel from Sew & So arrived on Sunday (yay!) - five days from when they posted it. No sign of the original ones and I don't expect to see them. One thing I know is if I'd received a parcel or two in my mail box with someone else's name on it (even if it had the correct PO Box number) then I'd (a) either send it back myself, or (b) take it in the post office for them to return to sender.

Anyway, one of the goodies contained in my parcel was this ...



Actually, it was just the chart and threads needed to stitch it. I went for a stroll through my fabric stash late last night and pulled out a piece of Kiwi Illusions "Hokey Pokey" 32 count lugana by CountryStitch (link in my sidebar) which I thought might work. What do you think?

Also, while I was rummaging through my stash I came across this ...



I think I stitched this up in 2005 or perhaps 2006!! All it needs is a smattering of beads and then to finish-finish it and it is done! I just need to decide on what colour beads and then find something to attach to the top of the tree. It is supposed to have a Mill Hill treasure but I have a box full of beads in which I'm sure I can find something suitable. I don't have any suitable backing fabric either but I think I will have enough of the fabric I stitched it on to use as backing. That way I can personalise it ... mmmm, thinking, thinking :)

I found a few other lost treasures whilst visiting my stash last night but as this post is already picture heavy as well as being long enough I will leave those to another time :)

As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog and leaving comments. I appreciate them all :)

A beady post, with a little bit of stitching too :)

I made this a few weeks ago and have only just now remembered to take a photo of it! The pic isn't great, sorry, but this one was the best one of the lot :/

It is "La Heather Ice", a Mill Hill La Petite Purse Pin kit that I found whilst rummaging through my bead stash. I wasn't in a stitching mood so I went looking for inspiration :) It was my first experience with the Mill Hill Magnifica beads and I must say it was fun (so much so that I've ordered a couple more kits - lol) and it only took me an afternoon.

It also makes it my first finish for 2007!

Thank you for your lovely comments re Sea of Roses. Michelle, to answer you question, yes, I do find it easier to stitch one colour first then the next. I've tried parking and it just confuses me (I'm blonde - it doesn't take much - lol!). I must admit I do chop and change the way I stitch my HAEDs. Sometimes I'll work in 10 x 10 columns like Verdure (although you will notice from my last WIP pic that I've started going cross country on that) but mostly I'm a cross country stitcher within a page. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I've put her away for now and moved on to DT's An Open Heart which is causing me a little bit of grief at the moment. There is a band which requires you to cut and withdraw threads then reweave. The instructions are excellent and I don't have a problem with the actual process, it is the linen that I'm having trouble with. I am using the recommended linen (34ct Cafe au Lait Legacy Linen) and up to this point I've had no problems. However, though I'm taking this particular band slowly and with great care, the linen is weak and breaks very easily which is so not what I need when I have to reweave the threads! It is also fluffing and just being very difficult to handle.



You can see the section in question - with the green honeycomb hem stitch (please don't look too closely though - there is a slight boo-boo which I'll need to fix somehow). I've got a section of plain cross stitch and then another band of the drawn thread work. I'm expecting it will be a pain but I will soldier on :) As far as I can tell that's the only band with that technique so it should be smooth sailing from the next band on!