Fair and Square

I'm pretty sure my Fair and Square partner doesn't read my blog so here's some pictures of the squares i stitched for Louise. I don't know Louise at all and she doesn't have a blog so im hoping she'll like them. Her profile said she liked "short sayings, especially those relating to stitching" so on looking through my stash i thought this was quite appropriateI posted them on Monday hoping to beat the impending postal strike here in the UK in the next few days.This is a fun exchange!

This is what i've been spending most of my time stitching these days. Not the most exciting picture i know! I'm laying out my RR. It seems to be taking a long time! There are only 6 squares but they're 100x100 so they're fairly big. As you know we will be using LHN designs. Mine is going to be a house theme (i love the neighbourhood RRs but have never been quick enough to join one!) which shouldn't be too hard with LHN designs!

A finish and a RR

Thank-you to everyone for their comments on my kilt wearing DH! He was very embarassed when i told him i'd posted pictures of him!!

I finished stitching "The Three Emblems" by Papillon Creations. I stitched this on 32 ct cream belfast linen with DMC115I really like this piece and might stitch it again one day for myself. Do you know what i just realised the other day? I have VERY few pieces that i have stitched in my home. For the most part, everything i stitch goes to someone else. It doesn't bother me, i enjoy stitching for other people very much but i never really took stock of the fact that i have very little in my own home until recently LOL I have 2 big pieces on the go which are for my home...Dollhouse and Cirque des Cercles but who knows when i'll finish them!!

I am soon to start our Heartfelt Friends RR and i am very excited about it. We will be using LHN designs! Thanks to the fantastic Donna for organising it! Donna, im so glad to have "met" you through this stitching bloggers community! My linen arrived this morning and im thinking about starting the outline for my piece. I'm going away on holiday for a week in July (i volunteer at a kids camp every summer - not really a holiday LOL) and so i thought i might get going sooner rather than later. Anyway, i'm not looking forward to laying out the squares but hopefully it'll be okay! I couldn't get my head around the layout so i did a quick sketch! You'll think im crazy LOL. Here it is anyway. I plan on doing a nice pattern down the two vertical sides (probably at the end of the RR). What do you think?

Yesterday was DH birthday and we went out to a great Mexican restaurant in Glasgow. Today we are off biking for the afternoon, making the most of some dry weather! Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for visiting and leaving comments, i really appreciate you all :)

Kilt wearing Canadian

Look at my handsome hubby in a kilt (he's the one on the right)....the Canadian is Scottish at last!

We were at another wedding on saturday (the 3rd in 2 months) and DH was an usher. He was rather wary of having to wear a "skirt" but i thought it suited him! Here's a picture of the two of usIt was a good day!

Anyway, i haven't been doing much stitching in the last week. We had quite a few people staying with us at the weekend as they were up from England for the wedding, so that kept us busy. However, I have pulled out Dollhouse again and did a little bit tonight. Last time i updated on Dollhouse i had just finished the 4th room so as you can see i've started the room on the far right. This is a terrible picture in terrible lighting without a flash but it gives an idea of where i'm up to anywayI can only work on this a bit at a time as i get fed up changing thread colour so often!

I've been bad

I hope my DH doesn't read my blog LOL. I've been bad. Look at my sidebar "to stitch," do i need any more stash? NO! So why did i buy this lot yesterday???

LHN, The Friendship Tree

LHN, Psalm 145

LHN, Daisy Lane Cottage

I have no excuse, or maybe i do....I was having LHN cravings and am suffering from post holiday blues!! I had more than these 3 in the shopping basket but i was good and cut it down to 3 LOL.

To promote some blogs....anyone interested in a Round Robin?? Donna is looking for 3 more people for a RR. Should be good! Check out Donnas RR blog here and leave her a comment if you're interested. I've never done a RR before so im looking forward to it.

Also, if you are stitching Cirque des Cercles Jamie has set up a blog for stitchers. You can see it here. I guess you leave her a comment if you wish to contribute.

It sucks being back at work after 2 weeks holiday. The weather here is horrible and cold too. I had to wear my big winter coat this morning. Scottish summers are so unpredictable. Yuck. I was thinking about our holiday (instead of working!) and came up with the following

Things i miss about Canada (aside from the obvious - family and friends)

1. Maple Dip Donuts from Tim Hortons

2. Swiss Chalet Sauce hmmmm

3. Swimming pools in Back gardens

4. Warm weather

5. Michaels

6. Pleasant and Polite shop assistants/waiters etc

Things i love about being back in Britain

1. British TV (without all those adverts you get in Canada)

2. Public toilets that have doors without gaps at the side and go all the way from the top to the bottom!

3. British Radio

4. Cars of all shapes and sizes

5. A decent cup of tea

6. Hills and green green grass (from all that rain LOL)

Home with lots to show

We arrived home at 5am this morning. It's great to be home but sad to leave behind friends and family, especially our gorgeous little nephew! I'll probably blog more about our trip later in the week but i thought i'd make this a stitchy update...

First things first. Look at this gorgeous pillow that i received in the mail from Anna It has my initial stitched on it. She made this for me as a gift for visiting her blog (5000th visitor draw)

Anna, i absolutely love it!! Thank you so so much! It was so kind of you to make me such a beautiful gift! It is proudly on display in my bookshelf at the moment.

Now here's some things that i have been stitching recently. I have been enjoying working on some small projects. They're all freebies by the way. The first is "Hearts Desire" by Debbie Draper Designs stitched on 32 ct cream belfast linen with Vikki Clayton Silk called "Russian Sage."The second is "The Three Emblems" by Papillon Creations. I am stitching this on 32 ct cream belfast linen with DMC115The third is "MY Treasure" from Dragon Dreams

Im enjoying all these projects so much. I'm keeping it a surprise for now as to what i'll be doing with them!

Here's a picture of some stash i got in Canada. I can't wait to start the Feather Fairy! I have a few big projects on the go at the moment so i'm trying to resist for now but i have all the threads (also bought in Canada) so it's very tempting!

It's going to take me forever to catch up on everyone's blogs - I have about 200 feeds in my google reader! Looking forward to finding out what you've all been up to though!

Holiday update

We are having a great holiday. As you will be aware if you read this blog, i wasn't that excited about coming (MIL issues) but we really have had a great time so far. My nephew is just adorable (i will post pictures when we get back) and it's been great spending so much time with him.

I've nothing exciting to report really. We've just been hanging out with family and friends. The great thing about this trip is that we have actually had a lot of time to just relax. Previous trips haven't been as relaxed. We have had something on every evening but days have been relatively free.

I've got some stitching done whilst here. I actually finished my square for the Fair and Square Exchange but now i have been assigned my partner i am not going to use what i have stitched as i have something more suitable for her (i hope!) in my stash at home. So that will have to be started when we get back. I am now working on my pif gifts and hope to get one completed before we go home. I think i will.

Tomorrow evening we're off to my inlaws condo in Huntsville. It's about 3 hours from where we are. It is a beautiful place, here's a picture of it
There's 9 of the family going up. Should be fun. There's loads to do on site...caneoing, swimming, tennis, biking to name a few. I love going up there. We're staying until Friday and then coming back for my cousin's wedding which is on saturday. We leave for home later on sunday.