HAPPY DAYS . . . .

After a full recovery by all of us the last week has been just perfect!  A big Thank You to those of you that left get well messages on my last post - really, really appreciated.

My gang of three all went back to school today and I've really missed their company.  Last week was lovely ~ the days have been sunny and warm and that always makes 'Happy Days'.  My twin boys belong to a local church youth group and they have an Easter Holiday Club for the young children and this year Twins I and II were both chosen as group leaders and enjoyed making cakes, candle holders, performing drama and music and having wet sponges thrown at them by the little 'uns.  They celebrated their hard work at the end of the week with all the other leaders with a get-together in the evening with a fish and chip supper.  The normal treat on school breaks is to delay bedtime by one hour but they were both so exhausted from the leaderships that they were more than happy to retire at the normal time!!! (now they may realise just how exhausting it is looking after demanding children)!

DD's bedroom was successfully decorated and is really pretty in pink.  Her big treat for the Easter Hols was to get see her idols ~ Diversity (street dancers and winners of Britain's Got Talent 2009) last Thursday evening down in Brighton.  She has had her tickets since last December and has literally been counting down the days until the big event.  She left midday with her friend and was determined to see them arrive in their tour coach ~ 3 hours later she did and after the show waited for them yet again and was lucky enough to meet several of them and get autographs.  She was on a high all day Friday and when she read on Twitter that they were still in Brighton at a well-known hotel and not leaving until Saturday morning she set her alarm clock early and set off again to hunt them out (what a dedicated fan!!!!)   I was dreading she would get there too late and that they would have made an early get-away so I can't tell you how relieved I was when she rang me midday to say she had met all of them this time and they had each posed with her for photographs!!

And now for me .... with the children all occupied and happy I was able to settle down to a good dose of sewing.  Cluck, Cluck is complete and I'm really happy with it ...

'Cluck, Cluck!!' by The Stitching Shed

stitched on 28count Sand Minster Linen with Anchor threads provided

I was going to frame it and hang it in the kitchen but DH says it will make another nice pillow for the sofa in the Study so I shall find a nice colourful backing fabric and add some heart embellishments.

My fabric for my recently finished Noah's Ark arrived and I have finished that into a pillow, I only added the one embellishment to the front, I was going to add three different ones but it looked too busy ...

'Noah's Ark' by HeartStrings

stitched on 14count Rustico Aida with chosen DMC threads backed with Debbie Mumm Noah fabric and Debbie Mumm white dove embellishment on front

And finally a completion from the bottom of the 'finished' pile from sometime ago ~ Harry Potter!  I knew I wouldn't be able to find the right size frame for this piece so I turned it into a stand up with a star themed fabric and it now stands in the bookcase along with the complete set of Harry Potter books.  I stitched this design from a DMC Harry Potter publication which was only produced in French but was easy to follow, the book has lots and lots of the characters and logos and I would love to add Ron and Hermione to make the infamous trio!  I often think how lucky my children and I have been to actually live the Harry Potter story as it has been told, everytime a new book or film was released we were always there on the day to buy or watch it and with only 2 films left to see now it will be horrible when it's all finished!!!

'Harry Potter' from DMC's Harry Potter Collection

stitched on 14count white Aida with suggested DMC threads

So, what to stitch next?  I can't make up my mind so am stitching a small Lizzie*Kate as a fill-in . . . The Prairie Schooler's 'When Witches Go Riding' is very tempting as is my recent purchase of BBD's 'Midnight Watch' ~ is it too early for Halloween now the Sunshine is finally here ????

And lastly my little sunbathing friend Buttons who's insisting the next stitch should be 'Briar Rabbit' by La~d~Da - it is a gorgeous chart but I've yet to find a fabric I would like to stitch it on . . . .

HAPPY STITCHING . . . .

HOT, COLD, HOT, COLD . . . .

The past few days has had me experiencing extreme hot and freezing cold temperatures and NO before you say it, it's not an age thing!

Monday morning saw our central heating boiler create a mind of its own and when running on timer would not turn off when it should giving us tropical temperatures and having to completely shut it down which then turned the house Siberian!  One minute we were running around the house in next-to-nothing and the next we were all dressed in multiple layers and looking like we had had a bad case of overeating!  A 'friendly'? Engineer came out Tuesday to inspect ..... ordered the necessary part for Wedneday ..... returned Wednesday with the wrong part ..... re-ordered for Thursday which hasn't now arrived and will be back tomorrow - I shall lock the door once he is in the house with the part and hold him ransom until normal service resumes!!!

BUT the good news is to keep warm I decided the only solution was to stitch ... and stitch ... and stitch and as from today Noah's Ark can finally set sail (oh! maybe not, the last thing I want now is flooding).

Noah and Company ~ The Ark ~ HeartStrings, The Artists Collection ~ stitched on Aida Rustico 14count with DMC threads

I am going to turn it into a cushion and have found some Noah's Ark fabric for the backing and ordered some Debbie Mum embellishments to add to the front - a really cute Noah, a whale and of course the white dove.

I've also sorted out another nautical stitch still waiting for the finishing touch . . . .

Bent Creek's Lighthouse Sampler stitched on Lugana 'New Khaki' 28count evenweave with both WDW and GAST

I am now counting down to one of the biggest stitching events in a cross-stitcher's diary here in England ~ The Stitch & Craft Show this coming weekend in London.  It is the one place where many of the exhibitors sell a lot of the American designs and showcase lots of new releases - can't wait, tickets for show and train are both sitting here ready and as long as I've set the Engineer free I'll be there!

HAPPY STITCHING . . . . .

SPRING IN MY STEPS ....

It takes some getting used to .. waking up to brightness, birds singing and daffodils springing up everywhere ~ but I'm not complaining and today made the most of it.  Buttons was out first thing so he could enjoy the whole day sunbathing and I did my 10,000 step walk accompanied by Coldplay and Timberland.

I listed some of my projects for 2010 this afternoon and was disappointed I didn't find anything in my stash suitable to stitch ready for Spring - no bunnies, no daffs and no easter eggs (not good for the diet anyway) but did find two past completed stitches which require the finishing touch - might have a go at that tomorrow.

Is it just me or does Christmas and Halloween just shout out CROSS STITCH?  The design and charts for both these occasions are just fab and there are so,oooooooo many to choose from - the only drawback is packing them away after the holiday has finished.

Noah's Ark had me stitching until the midnight hour last night - as I said in yesterday's post it's such an easy stitch : just stripes and blocks of colour.  There's always one part of a design that I just can't wait to stitch and on this one it's the heart, as you'll see from the pic I purposely stitched everything around it last night so that I can concentrate on that one piece tonight so that's what I'm off to do now before an early night becomes more tempting (perhaps a cappuccino or two will help?) . . . . .

SOMETHING STRANGE .....

Something strange in the sky today and from memories past I do believe it was the SUN!

After yesterday's horrible weather it was a welcoming sight and Buttons and I made the most of it ~ me with a cappuccino and Buttons stretched out soaking up the warmth ~ lovely!!!

Noah's Ark is making good progress and it's a really enjoyable stitch.  I actually started it a couple of weeks ago on blue evenweave as shown on the chart but found recently that I have been struggling seeing the fabric count.  DH sent me to the Opticians and the outcome was I was long-sighted in one eye and short in the other (only me!!!)

I now have a pair of glasses for close-up work and what a difference ~ I don't know how I was ever stitching in the right holes.  Anyway decided to carry on stitching on 14-count Rustico Aida which reminds me of a sandy beach and am happy with the outcome so far.