Just checking in

It's been over a week since my last post. Im so busy at work at the moment. A lot of projects ive been developing are all coming together at last and im busy, busy as a result. I was also away at the weekend. Remember the camp i went to in the summer? Well, we had a reunion weekend for the kids. Friday night was the coldest night of my life. The weather was so bad. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves though!

There has been little stitching done recently. I did finish this ornament from the 2006 JCS ornament magazine. It's a design by Cherished Stitches.
The rest of any free time i have is going into sewing my tablerunner for the quilting class i attend. I had to miss last Thursday night because i was working, so i am behind. My mum has been showing me what i missed though. Im trying to get this block done before Thursday. I believe this is the logcabin pattern.The lighting is bad in both these pictures. The clocks went back at the weekend. It was dark by 5pm tonight!! I don't like it.

Hope you are all having a good week!

100th post

This is my 100th post! I love blogging!

Work is crazy at the moment and life is generally busy so ive not been stitching as much. I only had 1 free night last week and it's going to be the same again this week. So here is an update on what i have been working on. First of all, Edgar's RR (sorry about the lighting of the photos, it's getting dark so early here now!) Im making this RR up as i go along! Edgar's only preference was to have trees in each square. Im not working from any particular LHN pattern, im just adding things as i go along...which is making for slow progress.

Yesterday i was suffering with my startitis problem that you'll know i have by now. I started this one from the 2006 JCS ornament issue. I think i'll keep this for me when's it's done; for my Christmas tree. I think it's by Cherished Stitches.

Finally here's a quilting update. Im finding quilting class hard going....im generally really tired on a Thursday evening and the lighting in the room isn't great. Progress is slow. I find quilting takes up a lot of time - particularly measuring and cutting. Don't get me wrong....i do enjoy it....but i would prefer to use my machine than sewing by hand. After this class is done my next quilting attempt will definitely be machine stitched! Sorry about the bad light in these photos.

Have a good week!

You all make me smile :)

I was tagged by Lynn, Squazi , Juls and Jaimie for this award! Ladies thank-you so much! You make me smile too. In fact, everyone who visits my blog makes me smile :) I believe the rules are to pass this on to 10 other people who make you smile. I'll use this as a way of promoting 10 of my friends blogs. But with over 130 blogs in my google reader i can assure you that there are many more people who make me smile.

Donna of Daisygirl Stitching

Lesley of Tintock Tap

Edgar of Blacksheep's bit of the web

Paula of Paula's Stitching Place

Hazel of Quietly Stitching

Lauren of I'll cross that stitch when i come to it

Ranae of The Needle and I

Barbara of Mainely Stitching

Mercy of Pretty in Pink

Deb of Lavendar Rose Ramblings

My first ever sewing machine!

One of my friend's told me on Sunday about a sewing machine on sale at Tesco. So, after church i dragged my DH down there. Whilst he was off looking at something else i was trying to decide whether to get it. Just as i thought i'd leave it and do some research first, a lady came up to me. She said she was a sewing teacher and that if i was looking for great value for money she highly recommended it and told me it'd do everything i needed it for. I checked she wasn't a tesco employee in disguise and then i got it!! And......i love it!! Why did i ever hand sew?!! My mum came round on Sunday afternoon and gave me a lesson for a couple of hours and i got the hang of it straight away. I wish i had something to make / finish now though! Unfortunately the table runner i'm making at quilting class has to be hand-sewn.

I had a finishing day on Saturday although i can only show one of the things on here at the moment. This is Lizzie Kate's "Baby sampler" and i finished it as a hanging ornament for my friend. I was really pleased with it.

I'll give an update on my quilting project soon. I have lots of hand-sewing to do tonight before the class on Thursday. This is my only free night this week so i better go and get it done!

Thank-you Harmien!

Thank-you for all the get well wishes. I still have the cold but am feeling much better today.

After a week of no post due to the Royal Mail postal strikes over here, my first day of mail after the strike was GREAT!!! First of all, a BIG thank-you to Harmien. I love Harmien's blog and I have admired Harmien's beautiful threadkeepers for a while and totally out of the blue she sent me one! I don't even know how she got my address! Harmien i was so excited when i seen the envelope with your name and address on the back and i am so touched by your kindness. Thank-you very much. I always say this but i just can't get over how kind and generous my blogging friends are. Now, here is my threadkeeper. Isn't is beautiful? Harmien put my initials on one side and hers on ther other. I still say she should sell these, i bet loads of people would buy one. I just love hand-crafted pieces.
So in other Good Mail Day news, i also received my next RR to work on. This is round 2 of the Heartfelt Friends RR and we are using LHN designs. I received Edgar's from Donna yesterday. I couldn't get a good picture of it but this is a real beauty. I love how he has stitched all our initials in hearts across the middle. Edgar's only specification is that he wants trees in each square. I think i know what im going to stitch for him.

The in-laws left this morning to back to Canada. It was totally fine having them to stay. I felt bad to be so ill for the week they were here and not very good company as a result, but they understood. Whilst im glad to have the place to ourselves again, it is always sad for DH to say goodbye. He gets on well with his parents, especially his dad and really misses him. His mum always gets quite upset when leaving and i do feel sorry for her. She is actually English so she made that move away from her family herself when she got married. I wish all our family lived in the same place but they don't so goodbyes are part and parcel of our life.

I went to my quilting class last night. Just did more cutting out and measuring so i'll wait until i finish my homework (lots of sewing!) before i give an update. Better go and do some work. I'm working (!) from home today to stop spreading my cold germs around the office!

Jocelyn - if you read this, i can't comment on your blog as you havent turned the comments moderation on! Maybe that's on purpose but i just thought i'd let you know anyway. Your blog is great by the way :)

Full of the cold

I woke up yesterday totally fine. We had an appointment at the bank, then i went to work. By lunchtime however, i was fully loaded with the cold. I felt terrible at work...sneezing/stuffed up nose etc and by last night it was even worse...sore throat/earache. I hardly slept last night. So needless to say i had to phone in sick today. I am so gutted to have a cold already...i had one in July as well.

The inlaws arrived on Monday (to a sparkling clean house after a weekend of intense cleaning/tidying time LOL) and everything's been fine. Thankfully they had already arranged to go out today to meet some friends so i am able to just be ill without the thought of entertaining guests!

I made this fob for Lizzy recently and i received an email the other day to say she received it. It's a "With my Needle" design from the 2006 JCS christmas ornament magazine. I finished it in a hurry so i wasn't entirely happy with it but Lizzy seems to like it so i am glad :)


This is what ive been working on recently whilst waiting for the next RR to arrive. It's "baby sampler" from Lizzie Kate and is for my friend who recently had a wee baby girl. The baby was premature so they are both still in hospital. I hope to have this finished for when they get out. I will either finish it as a flatfold or some kind of ornament you can hang. I haven't decided yet. It's such a cute design.So that's about it from me. I'm off to resume my position under the duvet on the sofa with a hot drink. Can you tell im feeling sorry for myself ; )

Stitching and Quilting

I love Saturdays so much. It's 10.30am, i havent been up long, im sitting at the computer in my PJ's with a cup of tea. Perfect.

Im excited to say that i have lots to show! First of all here is what i stitched for Donna for the Fair and Square Exchange. It is a Prairie Schooler design from September's Gift of Stitching magazine. Thought it was perfect for this time of year.I posted it on Monday and it got to Donna in the US on Friday. Good going! I wanted to get it away before all the postal strikes over here. We've been told not to expect any mail until next Thursday! Edgar's RR is on its way to me from Donna, every time an RR is sent there is a postal strike over here, so annoying!

Last night, whilst watching the new series of Ugly Betty, i finished my PS stitching into an ornament for my Christmas tree. Im really happy with how it turned out and i love the fabric i used for the back

As well as all this, Thursday was quilting class number 2. It's so much fun. Cutting out and measuring is hard work though. At one point the room was totally silent (unusual for a room full of 12 women!) as we were all concentrating so hard. Even the tea was ignored...even more unusual for women in Scotland! So we cut out our squares and triangles and sewed the triangles together. We didn't get it all done in class, i had to do the sewing last night. We are hand sewing. This is the middle block of the tablerunner. I believe the pattern is called Shoofly?! You quilters out there can keep me right.Tomorrow we have a super busy day at church so today there will be hard core cleaning and tidying for the arrival of the in-laws on Monday. Not my favourite way to spend a saturday but hey, it's better than being at work. Before i go, has everyone seen the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Club? You should check it out!

Have a good weekend!

Stitching for meeeee

Just a short post to show some stitching at last! This one is actually for me too. I can't remember the last time i stitched something for me! It's from The Prairie Schooler 12 Days of Christmas and as i mentioned in my last post, im making 12 little ornaments. I just need to buy some ribbon so that i can finish it as an ornament, i'll hopefully do that tomorrow. So here is a partridge in a pear tree....

Quilting class number 2 tonight! We begin cutting...wish me luck!

Stashing again

My weekend away for work was fine. I always dread going away and then it's never as bad as i think it will be. I had a lot of free time whilst my young person was in training (and guess how i spent it?!) We were staying just outside a wee village called Comrie (about 2 and a half hours from my home). Turns out this was the village my Gran grew up in and she married my Grandpa there. My great-grandparents are buried there. What a coincidence eh?! The village is tiny but lovely. On saturday afternoon i trecked around the only graveyard i could find to visit my great-grandparents grave but i couldn't find it unfortunately. I did find the church my gran and grandpa were married in though. Lovely isn't it?There were beautiful views from the church's grounds. I'll have to see if my Gran had any wedding pictures taken with this background. There are so many gorgeous places in Scotland. I wish the weather was more dependable and then i'd spend my holidays up north visiting places. So i now have monday and tuesday off seeing as i "worked" at the weekend. Great! I have lots to do. The inlaws arrive from Canada a week today and will be with us for 5days which is bearable LOL! Im working all week so i'll only see them in the evenings, Matthew has taken the week off work. My FIL is lovely but my MIL is hard work, so evenings will be fine for me ;) So im going to do some serious cleaning/tidying/organising in the next few days. I also have to wash my fabrics for the quilting class on thursday and im getting my haircut tomorrow. Im quite sure i'll get time to stitch too and maybe fit a swim in at some point as well. Busy, busy.

Secret stitching is doing nothing for my stitching blogging! I have been stitching but have nothing to show! I have nearly finished the stitching for the Specific Designer Exchange on the SBEBB, i have finished my sqaures for Donna for the Fair and Square Exchange and i also finished a wee gift too. I should get them in the post today so pictures in the near future hopefully! I was bad and got more stash recently. Here's my purchases:

Rather than stitch this as one big piece, i think i will stitch 12 little ornaments. Probably not before Christmas this year though!

I also bought Lizzie Kate's "Baby Sampler." I loved this one after seeing it on Hannah's blog. My friend had a baby on the 27th (one month early) and im going to stitch this for baby emma who is only 3lb11 at the moment and is still in hospital. Before i go has everyone seen the companion piece to Cirque des Cercles? It's called Triangular and you can see it here. I can't decide whether i like it or not. Im curious to see what you CdC stitchers think. Thanks Cindy for the link!