A BIT MORE BARNABEE

Here is part two of Barnabee's Quest by Just Nan. Not much in the way of alterations this time. I moved the bee next to the top writing to the opposite side because I wanted the butterfly on the right this time. I did the bunny's tail in Wisper thread - after all bunnies should have fluffly tails and finally i moved the bees about a little bit on the honeycomb. There are three honeycomb bars in this project and they are all identical. Me being me thought the bees would not stay in the same place so i moved them about a bit and will move them again next time when I do the final bar. These charts are just so interesting to stitch as there is just so much detail and yet nothing takes very long to do.

I have also done some more of Le Temps and will post an update picture on that soon. The next thing in my rota is Taj and I am getting really excited about stitching this one - however - doesnt there always have to be an however lol. I have a round robin piece to stitch and I have my UFO to stitch and I have not yet done part two of the Athena Sal and with part 3 due tomorrow I think I have some things that just have to be tackled before I get to Taj. Hopefully the incentive of getting through them and being able to start Taj will keep me going as none of these projects grab me. The RR I hate before I start - its a picture of lemon slices!!! Athena I am really only doing to keep my daughter company as it is her first ever hardanger piece and well the UFO has been a ufo for a long time because I didnt fancy doing it and I feel no more enthusiasm now than I did then. Oh well guess we all have to do the weeding if we want to admire the garden.

THANKS to all you wonderful people who visit my blog and read my ramblings and also to those who are kind enough to leave comments they mean such a lot and it has been your encouragement that has given me the courage to tackle pinkeeps and such that I would never have dared try before.

Still here

I havent posted for a few days but I just wanted to let you know I am here and still busy stitching.

I put EMS Garden Alphabet on hold for my UFO piece as I remembered I had a real UFO sitting in the draw. It is Coast to Coast by Anchor and was stitched on 16 count Aida many moons ago, before I discovered evenweave. It was all finished apart from the back stitch but as I am not a fan of Aida fabric I think this put me off actually finishing it - so I did this as my UFO this week and got quite a bit of the b/s done - though unfortunately there is still quite a lot to do. This is a collage picture of it before I started on the b/s.

I must have been watching more tv this week as Le Temps has grown quite a bit since the last picture and I am still loving stitching this. My main stitching this week however has been on Barnabee - oh I do love this design, it is sure a pleasure to stitch and such fun seeing each new little group of flowers or little creatures take shape.

Last night Oscar stayed. He woke about 11.30 crying which is a most unusual event. He said his tooth hurt so I gave him Neurofen and he eventually settled back to sleep again. He woke again at 6 this morning again crying and saying his mouth hurt. His lip did look a little puffy and he felt a little clammy so I gave him another dose of Neurofen and he happily went back to bed. I eventually had to wake him at 10am and my gosh what a shock, his top lip looked as though some one had given him a good thump and the whole of the side of his face was swollen up. We were due to take him home this morning anyway so we soon had him in the car and on his way. On getting home his Mum phoned the emergency number and we had to take him to the emergency medical centre in Derby where they confirmed what I thought, the poor wee thing has an absess. I phoned tonight to check on him and mum says the anti biotics seem to be doing the trick and though he isnt eating and is drinking through a straw still his face has gone down a little and he seemed quite cheerful in himself. I hope the little darling gets a good nights sleep and is feeling better tomorrow.

Onesome & Update

I called this Onesome as it is one part of the Papillon Eightsome Reel Design. I did this as my quilt blog for this round of my rota as I wanted to experiment with how some colours would look together. I am trying to find two colours that I both like and feel will work well for when I do Floralie (another Papillon design). I must admit I am rather a Papillon fan lol. The colours I used were Carries Creations in Dried Sage and Dusty Rose. Over the next few weeks I am going to do a couple more Onesomes (other circles from the same design) in a couple of other colour combinations but I really like how this one has turned out.
Lastly though you might like to see an update of Le Temps which is growing slowly. This is my "downstairs" piece - the piece I stitch on when I am not in my stitching room but downstairs watching the TV lol (as I dont watch much TV it doesnt grow very quickly).

I'm Happy Dancing

Here she is at long last my Lavender and Lace Celtic Spring. She was stitched in all the recommended dmc colours but she has been altered so that she faces the opposite way to normal. The reason for this is I also have Celtic Summer to do (she all kitted up but it will be a wee while before I make a start on her - cant face all that gold and beads again for a while lol). Summer and Spring both faced the same way and I wanted them to face each other, hence the change of direction for Spring.

I have also done the first part of the six week Athena SAL that is running on the Polstitches forum. Although the fabric looks white on here it is actually Ice Blue and the Perle threads I have used at in Dragon Floss Unicorn, which is really pretty.

Now I have to sort out a small quilt square to do and then it will be Barnabee - I am really looking forward to getting back to this little chap.

Oh and I just must tell you I had a lovely email from Vicki Mansfield of India Grace Designs and she liked what I had done with India and loved the addition of the beads. Its so nice to know that the designer approves of what you have done with her design.

The Quiltmaker & A Little Reorganisation

I have not had a lot of stitching time over the last couple of days, but nevertheless I can see some progress on QM this time and therefore I am quite happy with what I have achieved.

I am going to get the UFO out tomorrow and intend to stick at it for a couple of days to see if I can complete it this time round. No promises but I am crossing my fingers.

Now for the reorganisation on my rota. After QM I have pastel panel (a new one) and then HAED. After a lot of discussion with my DD who the HAED is for we are going to order more fabric and restart this. I have just had to admit defeat as even with my magnifier I am struggling to see this and feel that it is fast becoming a mess. I was upset at letting DD down as we were stitching two matching pictures together (Such is the way of fairies and Checkmate). However she has said she will be happy to start again too (so that both pictures will still match) if I would like to stitch over two on 32 count. Its still small for me but I know I can manage that. This means that HAED will not be done this time round. As pastel panel was only put in as a break between two big pieces it is coming out (will be back in again soon lol) for now - which takes me on to A Quilt Square which is what I will be doing after UFO and then onto Garden Alphabet... and that is where the next change comes. As my ufo - Celtic Spring - is almost finished I am going to withdraw Garden Alphabet from my rota and it is going to be my next Tuesday UFO SAL piece. So after the Quilt Square it will be on to Barnabee and then Taj.
I can just see you all shaking your heads and thinking "Clear As Mud" lol.

Thanks for all the lovely comments on India, they are so much appreciated.

INDIA

This is my interpretation of India by India Grace designs. The design called for perle #5 and #8 but i chose to use #8 and #12 as I thought the other would be too bulky for my liking. I used perle #8 in House of Embroidery 86 Coral, using the darker shade for the satin star and tulips and the medium shade for the kloiser blocks and little satin flower. I used perle #12, Anchor 06 for the infills and dmc 927 for the eyelets in the centre of the satin flowers. I also added these beads which (though disappointinly do not show up correct here) are exactly the same shade of peach. They are Polstitches hand dyed beads and were a RAK from Terri (thanks Terri) a little while ago. If you want to see what the original design looked like then click here. I hope Vicki Mansfield (the designer) approves of my interpretation.

Right off to put my bits and bobs away and get The Quiltmaker ready for tomorrow. Then its a hot bath. We had a brilliant weekend with our friends in Yorkshire but after a busy weekend which included excercising three lively boxer dogs up on the fens between Holmfirth and Huddersfield this morning I am absolutely wacked tonight.

Sophie, Cali and Amber trying not to show how excited they feel about going out in the car lol.

Tagged

I have been tagged by Julie. I have to say seven things about myself.

1. I hate being tagged never know what to say or who to send to

2. I love dark chocolate but cant eat much at a time so it lasts me ages

3. My daughter taught me to cross stitch --

4. and Now I am teaching her hardanger

5. I love to travel and my dream is to get to New Zealand.

6. I hate shopping - even for clothes --

7. Apart from on the internet at Lekker Threads and Jaynes Attic, where I could spend a fortune lol.

I do not know seven people who have not been tagged by someone else so I will leave it up to you if you could like to be tagged or not.

Did It

I finally got the picture to load tonight; so here is my part of the WFB for Terri. The pictures are all freebies from the blog of Maryse, and are fun and easy to stitch. We all got to name our own house so mine just had to be called after my blog lol.

Did not get much stitching done this afternoon as I was really late getting away from work (about 2 1/2 hours late) but have managed to get on quite well this evening so hope I will have a picture of India to show you tomorrow. Then I think Friday will have to be wfb day.

We will be away Saturday and Sunday and as we will be staying with friends who are not stitchy minded then the only stitching will be done in the car on the journey there and back. Think I will take Le Temps - who in case anyone is wondering is still progressing slowly. She is downstairs as she is easy to stitch whilst I watch the television - maybe if I watched more tv she would grow quicker lol.

Oh How Frustrating.

I came on just to show you a picture of the wee house I have just completed for Terri's WFB (RR) and this silly blog will not let me download a picture tonight. I have never had this problem before and its really frustrating.
I will try again tomorrow.

Right now I am off to sort out India so that it will be all ready to stitch when I get home from work tomorrow.

Sorry Mr Stick but my UFO is going to have to wait for a couple of days because India is really calling out to be started lol.

Charlotte's Body

Oh what a lovely sunny weekend we have had here. A little breezy at times but I can cope with that as long as the sun shines. I had a lovely lazy saturday just stitching and pottering and managed to get the body finished on Charlotte, which was what I had been hoping to achieve. I had intended carrying on and doing some of her hat today but Terri's wfb dropped through the letterbox yesterday and it won lol. So Charlotte has gone away and her hat will hopefully get done next time.
I have not had much time to stitch today but what I have had has been spend on Terri' wfb (a wee fat bird or more commonly called a round robin). Her theme is Home Sweet Home and we are each doing one of the little houses that come free from someones blog (sorry cant remember where but will get the link of Terri and post it when I post a picture).

I have also been typing lists of charts on to the computer (Ive not even managed to finish going through my own yet) ready for the Chart Library. We have well over 200 so far and there are still some lists to come in - though thankfully most people are sending in dribs and drabs as they sort them so I havent had loads to do at once. I think we will be amazed by just how many charts we have got between us lol. I think I could safely stay on the chart wagon for the next 5 years, though I know I wont as there always seems to be "just one more" I really really need.

Thanks once again to all those lovely people who leave feed back, its a real boost at the best of times but when I was struggling to stitch and come on the computer last month you really carried me through - bless you all.

Hurray, Hurray, Hurray.

At long last I got the bottom of the dress done.
Just a little bit of border down the left hand side to go now so hopefully this will soon be one for a Happy Dance.
It is going away now until next week (will be Wednesday as Im out with my Mum shopping on Tuesday and its not something I can stitch in the evenings). Think I will do a wee bit more on hardanger house border and tomorrow I will restart Charlotte.

..... And A Little Bit More

Did a little more on hardanger house today, but its rather repetitive and so a bit boring at the moment. I might do a bit more tomorrow, depends how I get on with my UFO but Thursday I am going to go on to whatever is next in my rota. I think its Charlotte.

Do you like my name at the top. I got this cool and fun link from Su's blog so thankyou Su.

A New Start

Not a lot to tell but thought I would show you a picture of my new start. This is what I have done this afternoon and this evening on the Victorian Hardanger House. A few changes - for a start it should be white, its supposed to be a Christmas House (which it wont be), and I am doing cream on cream, the greys being changed to beige shades (642 and 644). Also the leaves are supposed to be done in shades of green but I am using the same Needleneccessities thread that I used on the church and letting the leaves change with the thread tones.
Did a wee bit more on Le temps and a wee bit on UFO and will probably show you picture updates on those later in the week.

One exciting piece of news - we have booked our next holiday. It is not until November but we are off to Vietnam and Cambodia which is somewhere I have wanted to go for a long time so Im really excited about this one.

Thanks once again to all those lovely people who take the time to visit my blog and especially to those who leave comments, they are so much appreciated.