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.