Thank goodness for Friday!

Another busy week at work is over and i'm glad! Unfortunately i have to work on Sunday but im not thinking about that at the moment. Im going to relax tonight, stitch and watch ugly betty!

Here's my latest progress on my tablerunner after last night's quilting class. I finished the logcabin last night. This is my favourite one so far. Here are my 3 squares lined up on my ironing board. I havent completey finished the fan one yet. The light is bad again (stupid winter weather) but the dark colour is actually green.I now have to start working on joining these ones together. I am enjoying learning to quilt and am hoping for lots of quilting books for Christmas as well as a bigger cutting board, my one is just too small.

No stitching this week but i did receive my names for the SBEBB Winter Quaker and the SBEBB Winter House. Im looking forward to working on those. I did receive these lovely squares today from Donna for the Fair and Square Exchange. She also included a JBW designs chart - thank-you so much Donna!! I love this santa and i plan on making it into an ornament for my Christmas tree.

Tomorrow we are going to our friend's wedding at Stirling Castle! Look at it:Isn't this just the most gorgeous place for a wedding?! Im so glad the weather forecast is good for it.

Have a good weekend!

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!

Good mail day

I received my Fair and Square Exchange today from Peg. Thanks Peg it's lovely! I was so excited when i received a comment on my last post from Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks!! Diane if you happen to read my blog again, i love your designs and thank-you so much for leaving a comment, it made my day!!

Today i received this....Yes, i know it's last years edition but in the past ive always just used internet freebies for Christmas ornaments. I was never sure where i could buy single issues of this magazine over here but recently Andrea gave me this link to a place that sells them in the UK. Yeah! There's quite a few designs in here i will be stitching for Christmas!

Next week i have to go away to a conference for 3 days. I really hate going away for work. Im going with my boss and was hoping to travel seperately but no, we are going together. A 4 hour car journey. Im dreading it already. It's just far too much boss-time for my liking. Not only that but it's 3 days of small talk and it's not like your working day finishes at 5pm as there are social things we have to attend in the evenings. Im going to hate it, i know because i had to go last year as well :( The one positive of the whole experience is that the hotel we are going to looks amazing!!

Donna's RR finished!

I finished my square on Donna's RR. Donna i hope you like it. Its an adapted version of LHN's "The Counting House."and here's what Donna's RR looks like overall.For anyone that loves LHN you should visit our Heartfelt Friends Round Robin blog. I am way ahead on the RR (the deadline isn't until October) but i just wanted to work on this until it was finished to get it off my mind as i have a few deadlines before the end of the year (as you can see in my sidebar) and i would like to do some Christmasy Stitching for myself and my family at some point too.

I received this gorgeous biscornu for Hazel on saturday morning as i was a winner in her blog competition! Isn't it gorgeous? This is my first ever biscornu! Hazel, i love it! Your stitching and finishing is just beautiful. Thank-you so much!In other stitching news i received my exchange partners name for the Specific Designers Exchange on the SBEBB and im excited about that! I have already decided what to stitch. This will be my first exchange on this board. Speaking of exchanges, remember the nightmare i was having with my Fair and Square exchange (if not, read about it here)? Well, the squares arrived back to me (they were marked return to sender) and i have now posted them off again to my partner's new address. Im so glad they were returned to me! Im going to do round 3 but i hope it will be less stressful this time round :)

Fair and Square Round 2

Well i posted my squares for the Fair and Square Exchange 3/4 weeks ago now. Unfortunately my partner for the exchange moved house and i didn't have her new address and she isnt having her mail redirected so i don't know if she'll ever get these. Very annoying indeed! So i thought i'd just post these pictures of what i stitched to prove that i did stitch them!! I read that my exchange partner liked houses and trees and samplers so found this chart, which i had to ammend to fit 50x50. It is a freebie from Les Grilles de Maryse. I really enjoyed stitching this and might stitch it again sometime.Ive made good progress on Donna's RR this week! I know it's not due for posting until the 7th October but im keen to get it finished so that i can work on some other things without this being at the back on my mind.
Today is my mum and dad's anniversary and as i found out at dinner the other night that my Dad reads my blog i shall take this opportunity to say "Happy Anniversary to you both!"

SAL and (another) new start

I managed to work a bit on my SAL this week. Progress is quite slow but i only manage an hour, or two at the most, on this a week. Here's my progress picture, my little people now have hair I also have a new start to show. It is an ex-freebie from this site. Im stitching it with DMC 115.
*edit*if you want this chart, it is no longer a freebie but you can purchase it. I also finished and posted my squares for the Fair and Square Exchange. Ive since heard that my exchange partner has a new address though and so i don't know if she'll get my squares or not, because i had her old address. I'll be gutted if she doesn't receive them after all my stitching :(

After moaning about the rain on Sunday, we have had a lovely week. Not hot, but dry and bright. That's better than rain anyway. Because it has been nice we cancelled the swimming plans and have been biking 2 nights this week instead. My legs and bum are so sore after tonights ride. If the weather stays nice we're hoping to get away to one of the Lochs this weekend. We might camp over night on saturday, we havent decided yet, but we'll definitely go away for the day on saturday and take the bikes. Should be fun!

Pinkeep PIF

Im sick. I have a terrible cold and i can't stop sneezing and coughing. Who gets a cold in July?! Me obviously. I have managed to work all week but this morning i called it quits and phoned in sick. I hate taking sick days but ive been getting worse, not better, so it's time to relax i think. I have never felt like this after camp before, must be getting old LOL

I heard from Michele that she received the PIF gift i sent her. Im glad you like it Michele. I made her a pinkeep.

The chart was a freebie called "The Three Emblems" by Papillon Creations. I really like this chart and hope to stitch it again sometime. The backing fabric is just a red material so i didn't take a photo!

I received the name of my next partner for the Fair and Square exchange. I will be stitching for Peg. Peg, i'm looking forward to it! I think i will start looking today for something to stitch for her.

Im off now to lie on the couch and take it easy all day. I intend to stay in my pyjamas all day. Last time i did that the window cleaner arrived and seen me through the window! Very embarassing. Maybe i'll keep the curtains shut LOL

Away for a week

Im off work now for a week and supposedly "on holiday" however, im off to kids camp, that our church runs, for a week. I must be mad LOL. I do it every summer and i do love it once im there but ive had so much preparation to do for it and it is hard work! It's worth it though.

Before i go i just want to say a BIG thank-you for all the blog name suggestions. I have narrowed it down to 3 and i can't decide what to choose! I'll keep the winner in suspense until i get back and by then i might have decided.

In stitching news i received my Fair and Square exchange from Louise.

Lovely eh? I can't decide what to do with all the squares i will receive. I like the idea of some kind of wall hanging or maybe a friendship book.

I also have a new start to show. The picture is a bit blurry.

This is Lizzie Kate's "gift from heaven" from the "make it personal" chart. It's for my friend who had a beautiful baby girl called Mya on Tuesday. I am so happy for her!

Have a good week everyone and i'll catch up with all your blogs when i get back.

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!