Just for a change of scenery – I’ve been working on Sea Goddess again. Much as I’m enjoying Thriller, I was in need of a break from black and red! I’m currently working my way down her tail…

A few people have asked me where this design is from – it’s in a book called A Woman’s World In Cross Stitch by Joan Elliott. I’ve been told it’s also been printed recently in one of the British cross stitch mags – Cross Stitch Collection. I believe it was the May issue.

And talking of Thriller – I’m now on the ‘Space Invader’ band! lol….Go on, admit it – don’t they look like Space Invaders to you?

We had a little visitor to our garden yesterday. While I was fetching in the washing I saw a flash of black and white…my first thought was that Chequers had got out, but then I realised it was a rabbit! As soon as it saw me it bolted under the fence into the front yard. I was concerned about it getting onto the road so my next door neighbour and I spent 20 minutes trying to catch it. I eventually succeeded with the help of a piece of apple, and the sweet little thing was quite content to lie in my arms and be cuddled – it was obviously someone’s pet. I couldn’t take it in because my two cats would have thought all their Christmases had come at once, so my neighbour has taken it in and is trying to find out who it belongs to…

I’ve now finished the 2 Mirabilia RRs and sent them off in the mail. Now I just need to decide what to stitch on mine. At the moment I’m wavering between Adia, Cottage Garden Fairy and Scent Of Old Roses. Hmm…decisions, decisions…

In the meantime, here is my latest progress on Thriller…

I’m just loving this one so much!

I’ve finished one of the blocks for the Mira RR, I hope it’s owner likes it! I can’t show it to you yet because she won’t see it until it returns home. Now onto the second one!

I can show you my progress on Beloved though….

I’ve finished the verse now, a bit more of the left border and another urn. Between this and Thriller I’m using a lot of black floss at the moment – amazing how much fun you can have with black floss! Seriously.Who knew?

Feeling human again…

Thanks for the good wishes everyone, they were much appreciated…my cold, nasty though it was, turned out to be short and sharp. Very, very, sharp, but thankfully also very short lived. I had one very rough day on Friday followed by a fretful, feverish night, but by Saturday morning it had more or less burnt itself out and I felt about 90% better.

So, yesterday I felt up to stitching again (you know I must be ill indeed if I don’t want to stitch! LOL) and managed to complete the top band on Thriller….

I’ve also made a start on one of the RRs, but obviously I can’t show you that at the moment. Someone asked about the fabric used for my RR – no, it wasn’t Rainbow Sparkle, although I can see why you might think that. It is in fact SMF Summer Romance, which I think is a very pretty fabric indeed. Perfect for fairies!

No new stitching from me today…I’ve come down with the mother of all colds and don’t feel much like stitching – I feel pretty crappy all round. But something brightened an otherwise miserable day today….

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here before, but I’m doing a Mini Mirabilia RR with a couple of friends. Today my RR came home, along with the other 2 ladies’ pieces for me to stitch on. This is what Vanessa & Shannon stitched for me -

Isn’t it wonderful? So a huge Thank You to both of them for their lovely work! Now I just need to make a decision about what I’m going to stitch on theirs, and what to add as the final block on mine….

Moonlight casts an eerie glow….

I’m having a whale of a time with this piece! It’s just flying along at the moment. You get a better idea of the fabric colour in this picture.

I’ve decided to retire a couple of my WIPs….you know how when you look at a project and just don’t feel the love any more? When you can’t bear to stitch on it? That’s Cinderella. I don’t know why but I have zero urge to work on it. In fact I would go so far as to say I have an active urge to NOT stitch on it. The other retiree is Camelot Sampler. This one I DO still love…in theory at least. But I’ve discovered that I’m not a big fan of over-one stitching. I have the utmost admiration for anyone who can stick with huge projects done over one…but it’s not for me. I don’t mind a little bit every now and again, but big chunks of it give me the heebie jeebies. So, into the UFO drawer they both go…..

I didn’t participate in Guilt Free January this year, but instead I’m having my own little Guilt Free April instead….who knows, it may even turn into Guilt Free May the way things are going! LOL

This is last night’s start on Thriller by Sampler Cove….

I’m stitching it on Silkweavers Sudden Storm, in DMC threads to keep the cost down. It’s only stitched in 2 colours so I’m using one of the DMC variegateds for the blood red – I’m too lazy to go check which one it is at the moment.

A finish….or not?

Hmmmm….I’m not sure about the pink. When I picked it out in artificial light (yeah, yeah, I should know better) and stitched it last night, I thought it looked great. In the cold light of day I’m not so sure. It doesn’t look as washed out in real life as it does in the photo, but I’m still thinking it’s a bit pale. I think I’ll leave it a while and then come back to it and see what I think looking at it with fresh eyes….either that or only display it after dark! LOL

The Forest Is Growing…

Sorry for the blurry photo…I’m not sure what happened there. I used macro and everything. Meh. Anyway, the forest now has a lemon tree and a few other little bits and pieces. That tree seemed to take a disproportionate amount of time, although that’s probably more to do with the fact I was up and down helping DH all day instead of having a long stretch of uninterrupted stitching….

And Startitis hits again!

Mini Quaker – a freebie by Carinne – Stitched with Weeks Dye Works.

This shouldn’t take long to stitch though – a couple of days at most. I won’t even add it to the WIP list.

I wanted to add a quick ‘Thank You’ to all the lovely ladies I’ve done trades with in the last few weeks – you have all been great to trade with!

If you haven’t looked recently, I’ve added heaps more stuff to my trade blog – please take a look!

Two posts in two days – what on earth’s got into me? LOL While browsing round the shops yesterday, I came across this cute little box. It followed me home….

This is why –

What a great project box! It holds enough floss for most projects, those compartments are just the right size for my floss bobbins, and it has a handy drawer for my bits and pieces. It’s also better at keeping the kitty cats out than the plastic floss boxes are – bonus!!

More Beloved….

Have you heard the alarming news about DMC? Apparently they are in serious financial trouble, and may possibly be announcing bankruptcy on Tuesday!! The news sounds very bad indeed – what will we all do if DMC disappears? Even most of the hand dyeds use DMC as a base!