Apologies once again for another late post. I did say in my last post that you wouldn't get the usual Sunday update because I would be helping my parents with their Open Gardens event over the weekend. Well, it was very hot both days and it coincided with the Test Match, boxing, Formula 1 and tennis somewhere, but we still raised over £2,700 for charity, so I see it as a good job well done.
So Monday evening I was catching up on the weekend chores, last night was Pilates and so here we are.
This week I shall start with Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose because Friday 25 May was its first anniversary. I stitched like a maniac on Friday night to get the third block done for the week, as I knew that I would not get anywhere near it over the weekend. So here you go!
I'm really happy with it. Although it is going to take me years to complete, it feels like a real achievement even now. It's quite a private achievement too. You've seen more of it than anyone else, as I have very few visitors and it doesn't leave the house, being too large.
Moving on, my other pieces have suffered because of the Open Gardens event. There are some more berries on the Cat, but I spent Sunday morning recovering from spending Saturday afternoon frying in my parents' front garden running a tombola. I keep saying that I really need to work on this, and I do because Friday is 1 June, which only leaves me two months to get this done.
I have made a little progress on this Delft piece, but it has also suffered. It is more fiddly than the first piece, but I am sure that it will be fine when finished.
My next post will be on Monday, because that is the full moon and WIPocalypse posting night, so all the best until then.
I do enjoy it when IHSW comes round and gives me the perfect excuse to hide myself away and do what I want to do. Of course, there are still the usual weekend jobs to be done, but other than that, it's stitching time!
A slight change to the normal order of things, this is a finish of the first of the floral Delft cards that I am working on for Marie Curie. I took this with me to the stitching day and finished it off. It was very much admired by the rest of the group, which gives me hope that I will be able to sell it.
I've already started on the next one, which is a bluebell design with a different border. At the moment, I intend to stitch all four pieces and then finish them as cards in a job lot in order to keep them as nice as possible.
The Cat has had most of my time during IHSW, although I could wish that it had progressed further. It's a very slow piece to stitch, but the deadline for this is 1 August in order to get it framed and to my aunt for her 70th birthday. Looking at my diary, I have about 10 weeks to play with, so I need to start taking this piece more seriously.
Another three blocks on Carnation and the Lowery stand and I are getting on fine. This piece will have reached its first anniversary (25 May) before the next update. I don't remember having any firm plans as to where I would have got to with it by that point, and certainly when I started it, Baby Sophie was not even a twinkle in her mother's eye, so the time lost to the Noah's Ark would definitely not have been factored in!
If you count the part blocks on the right hand side as whole blocks, there are 68 blocks left on Page 2. If I can keep up stitching at 3 blocks a week, there are 23 weeks work left on this page. According to my diary, this post is the update for week 20 of 2012. The update for week 43 is due on 28 October, the official end of British Summer Time, so that's my target for finishing Page 2!
In other news, my car had to have a new radiator this week. I had been having coolant issues and as it was due for its MOT this month, I decided just to get it sorted. Just over £250 later, it has passed its MOT and no longer has a cracked radiator. Also just to let you know, next week's update may not appear until Monday. My parents are opening their garden for charity next weekend, along with other residents of their street, and muggins here will be running the tombola in their front garden both days. Depending on how things go, I may not have enough brain left to post on Sunday.
Hi, this is my usual Sunday evening update, but on a Wednesday. On Sunday night, I was babysitting for my sister, on Monday night I was out at a family history meeting and last night was my Pilates night, so this is my first opportunity to catch up. All the photos are however as of Sunday night.
I worked on the Cat last Thursday at Patchwork Night, as well as on Sunday morning. Progress is being made although it still doesn't look like a cat. The patchwork group are having a stitching day tomorrow, so I will be taking this along to work on in the hope of getting a decent amount done.
Another three blocks were completed on Carnation, which means that the bottom row is done and I have moved up to the next row. Although I have now received and assembled my Lowery workstand (think IKEA flatpack!), I will continue to work from the bottom up so as not to confuse myself. The Lowery is strong enough and stable enough to hold my 27 inch frame at the side, which means no more problems accessing the top of the fabric. It means a slightly different way of working, but I think that the Lowery and I are going to get on just fine.
Finally, my "as well as" Delft piece. All that remains is to finish the border and then turn it into a card. There are another three in the set, so I will have a steady diet of blue stitching for a while. This one will also go with me tomorrow, with a view to finishing it off.
I am still considering my new start. I have a couple of possibilities in mind. Lesley Teare has a series of bird pieces running in Cross Stitch Collection, which I am very taken with. The kingfisher and the owl that have been issued already are lovely and the heron that comes next looks wonderful. Alternatively, there are a couple of Thea Gouverneur pieces in her book "The Secret Garden" that I have had my eye on for some while now. Decisions, decisions!
As well as tomorrow's stitching day, I am also signed up for the International Hermit and Stiching Weekend this weekend so hope to have good progress to show you in my next update.
Well, according to my diary, today is our Full Moon here in the UK and so here is my update post.
The Cat still doesn't look much like a cat, but progress has been made. It has been to work with me again this week, in addition to its normal Sunday morning slot. My current plan is to work the bottom left hand corner before going back over to the right hand side and working up to the other eye.
Carnation is also progressing nicely, with another three blocks being completed this week. The brownish section is part of one of the little girls' hair, but you will have to wait a while to see her face as it is on page 6 of the chart.
While I'm on the subject of Carnation, I have ordered my Lowery floor stand and am keeping my fingers crossed that it will arrive either some time the end of this week or the beginning of the next. Once I have got it set up and got some stitches in, then I will let you know what I think.
Now this is not the new start that I earned by finishing the Fuschias - this is an "as well as" piece. The new start, when I finally decide on it, is going to be for me. This piece is a floral Delft type design from Cross Stitch Collection Issue 181 and will be finished as a card to sell for Marie Curie. I would like to get together a little stash of cards that can be sold at one of our events as my contribution, as baking is not my forte.
On a more cheerful note than my last post, Mum is feeling quite a bit better, enough so that she has been working in the garden when the weather permits, trying to get it tidy and sorted for the Open Gardens event later this month.
