STITCHY RECYCLING

Happy Friday everyone, weekend fast approaching, glorious Spring sunshine and warm temperatures, daffodils and crocus in full bloom ~ just perfect!

My sore paws have now recovered from my stitchy day out with DD last Friday and the stash levels are now fully replenished!  I had casually suggested to DD that I thought as we were visiting the Show on a Friday this year to avoid the masses that normally descend there on a Saturday we might find it a little quieter and easy-going ~ how WRONG can one get it ~ it was full to capacity and hard-going and even though we were there for 4 hours when we got home I discovered from the show guide that we had missed quite a chunk of  stalls ~ Oh dear!  DH did suggest going back on the Sunday ~ I passed on that one!!!

I'll post some pics of the new stash on my next post, this one already has picture overload!

It's amazing what you have hidden away and have completely forgotten about?

I didn't want to pillow-finish my last 2 stitches and as they were awkward sizes I had been hunting around the charity/thrift shops in the hope of finding something suitable to frame them with, no luck but when DH resumed his search in the attic last weekend for my magnifying glass for my daylight lamp, he struck gold! 

Lurking in the far corner of the attic (accompanied by the odd spider or two ~ not my scene!) there's a pile of framed pictures including old cross stitch ones, most are up there because they have a horrible orangey-pine frame to them and that just doesn't go anymore with the oak finish in the house BUT . . . .

this one which is an oak finish had a Bent Creek stitch in it ~ The Weathered Garden

which turned out perfect for . . . .

Springtime Social

To balance up the picture I added a fabric trim to the bottom and added those 4 lovely coral shell buttons I bought recently

Next up in the yucky orangey-pine frame was A Country Kitchen Sampler, a Leisure Arts leaflet, which I stitched an eternity ago and had considered selling but I had personalised it with 'Jane's Kitchen' so didn't feel anyone would want it . . . .

By rubbing down the frame which lightened the wood considerably and having a new cream mount cut it has come up a treat for . . . .

Cup cakes by The Historical Sampler Company and now hanging proudly in the Dining Room!

My charity shop hunting was not a complete waste of time though and I did find this little beauty . . . .

It's actually a Key box and when opened up it has 6 hooks inside.  What appealed to me was the colours, a washed cream with burgundy red highlights around the edge and the roses on the top plus it had an aperture to the front to add a photo cross-stitch!

Now, what to stitch to go inside that aperture . . . .

Of course, a bunny or in this case a white rabbit!  I've stitched this from La-D-Da's chart called Briar Rabbit, it should have the alphabet around it and also a border but I think this is just right as it is!

I've used Gentle Art Sampler threads and have matched the colours to the quilt cover in our bedroom.

The hooks are great for holding small bangles and bracelets and I can stack small earring boxes on the bottom shelf.

On that same shopping spree I also found this little photo cube which holds a photo on the top, 4 around the sides and revolves on a circular block on the bottom . . . .

And I knew exactly what was going in this ~ my little set of Lanarte farm animals and these were stitched even longer ago and have never seen light of day . . . .

The only problem ~ I have six animals but only five spaces!!!

Who can resist a fluffy white Spring-time sheep?

Or the sweet smell of a  little piggy?

The gentle mooing of a black and white cow?

The cute quacks from a little 'Jemima'?

And the provider of our daily eggs?

Sorry. Mr. Horse you missed out this time, I have never been a horsey person but he'll still make a nice pin cushion so won't go to waste!

And finally . . . .

Can never resist a bag of buttons and these are soft cream ones and a mixed bag of pretty purples, mauves and silver ~ 25p, well who couldn't???

Thank you for all your lovely comments on Tilly's springtime fun last post, we thoroughly enjoy reading them and are so grateful to you all for sharing a bit of your day with us.

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

AT LAST . . . . . SOME FINISHES!

Five yummy cakes baked, iced and finished!

I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this one, the colours are lovely and pretty and a real tonic compared to the continual gloomy weather here in the UK

Unfortunately the finished design size is not a standard frame size so I'll be searching the charity shops for a second-hand one that I can rub down and give a washed paint finish to.  No luck so far but I did find the cupcakes book shown in the photo below and the recipes inside are just too tempting to ignore!

'Cup Cakes' by The Historical Sampler Company

stitched in the DMC threads provided on 32-count linen

Remember 'I Love You Little Rabbit' ~ my first completion of the year?

The sewing machine had an outing out last weekend and was put to good use, I did my usual pillow finish with a coffee coloured polka dot fabric and natural coloured lace.

Although I had finished Lizzie Kate's 'Love' design I hadn't been able to decide on a finish and couldn't find any matching fabrics or appropriate frames. We have a set of four small cushions in the lounge which are just a plain natural and cream gingham and have been screaming out for a bit of colour so thought this was just the right thing for the first one.  Somewhere hidden in the box of stash are charts with designs of hearts with union jacks so I may stitch those too in the same colours and make a co-ordinating set of cushions!

I had a small piece of the 'I Love You Little Rabbit' fabric left so co-ordinated it with a matching dark brown polka-dot fabric and a spotty blue button and put together 'Coffee, Chocolate & Men' by Waxing Moon.

I dread to think how long this cross stitch has sat patiently waiting in 'that' box but it finally saw daylight and I'm pleased with the result ~ now blogging friends which is your preference ~ coffee, chocolate or men?

For me, none of them have to be rich, but can I live without them? ummmmm! not sure about that one!

A new WIP  started only last night and I'm going to find it hard to put this one down, I wonder if any of you know this design and what this little bunny is up to?  I have a fairly chilled weekend coming up as the men-folk are off to football on Saturday and Twin II has a match to play on Sunday so I hope to have a good stitching session then and post the results next time.

Looks like this little bunny is already chilling!  Gorgeous Tilly, still so affectionate and brings so much joy to our lives, just love her to bits.

Finally, I am going to try and de-stash a little so have set up a sale page of charts and a few kits which I no longer require, there's a link at the top of the page if anyone wants to take a look! 

Thank you for stopping by, it's so appreciated

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

A PIECE OF CAKE . . . .

Happy February everyone!

I, for one, am glad to say goodbye to January this year, whether it was the events over Christmas and the beginning of the year that seemed to have sent a dark cloud over me or just the gloomy miserable weather I don't know but the sooner Spring arrives and some bright weather the better.

So to help lift the mood the planned Winter stitches have been returned back to the 'Please Remember I'm Here & Stitch Me' box and a more colourful zingy W.I.P. has began ~ Cup Cakes by the Historical Sampler Company . . . .

Good enough to eat and very low-calorie too!!!

  Lovely to stitch but the cakes are in pieces at the moment as I cannot decide whether to use the cream thread provided in the kit ,which is very much like the linen colour, or use a brighter DMC white.  I did contact HSC just to check if the photo on the front of the kit had been stitched with the one provided and they assure me it has and WILL show up when I use it with the other colours.  I have decided to leave all the creamy bits until last and then stitch a little with both choices and see which is best.

This cake is a little more caloriffic but how cute ~ DD's 17th birthday cake.

I'm feeling very guilty as even more calories were added in the evening when we all went out to an Italian Restaurant and celebrated but I'm pretty sure I'll get to walk all the extra pounds off this weekend as her birthday wishes were for money so she could have a shopping day out on Saturday and I also get to go to my favourite shop for fabrics and embellishments.

I have finished my L*K 'Love Crazy' stitch from my last post but as I've yet to decide on a finish for it I'll leave it until next time for showing.

Enjoy your weekend ~ hope it's full of stitches

xxx