Cross stitch update (with a finish!)

So, guess what?  There was a lot of telly watching this week, between a fantastic Shakespeare on the box (Richard II) and the Wimbledon men's final, and various other things, so consequently - a lot of stitching. And the houses...are done!

Here's the photo again of what the finished stitching was supposed to look like.  Hopefully later this week I will get it into a frame - I do actually have one ready from my last trip to Ikea.

here's where they were when I left them last time, so you can see how much work I did on the side --all those potted plants and a bit of wall, too.

Of course, once that was done, I needed a new one...

Can you tell what it is yet? 

No, I didn't think so.  It's some cakes:

I have used up a scrap piece of 16 count AIDA (I don't usually stitch on that, prefering either evenweave or linen), but it's a lot whiter than the cream colour used in the photo of the pattern, so I've actually subbed out the cream thread (which doesn't really show on my fabric) for a pale yellow, which I think will work better.   It will have to wait its turn, though, as next week's stitching will be back to the Summer bird. 

Cross Stitch Update

As you can see, I've been working on the right hand side. I've managed to fill in a lot of the small bits at the top where there were only 3 or 4 empty squares in a single colour - now it's just the larger blocks of neutral colours I need to do. Not very long to go now, but it still takes longer than you think it's going to!  And of course, I've switched to my other one for the next week!

Cross-stitch update

A few bits of orange a yellow filled in, but mainly this past week I have begun to fill in the houses on the right. You can really see the stitches when it's in a blank field and is a darker colour!  I also filled in a few missing bits higher up - where I ran out of thread and needed to do 4 or 5 stitches.  There are still some places like that left to do, I admit.

Cross-stitch update

A bit more fill in the path and some of the greens in the vines at the right.  Still a lot to go! There was sewing this week as well, but I haven't photographed it yet - hopefully will finish quilting what I have at the machine tomorrow, and then there will be a photo to share.

Cross stitch update

This hasn't been a week of huge progress, although there was some - the central vines are fuller and I've started the flowers. There was also a bit done in the central path, which may not actually show in the photo as I think it's under where I moved the frame to - not highly exciting, frankly.  Still, progress is progress.  I've been quite tired in the evenings, so I tend not to cross-stitch as much when that's the case, because I hate to make mistakes and have to pull stuff out.

Cross-stitch update

If you are struggling to spot the progress this week, don't worry, there's not a lot to be seen. I only worked on this one evening, I think, so it's just a bit of filling in the path and doorway - I was out at least one night and had one night where I stitched down binding, so there just wasn't much cross-stitch progress. But that's ok.

Cross-stitch update

Quite a decent amount of progress this week, actually, though a lot of the new stitching is in a pale cream, which doesn't show well in a photo. The left hand bottom side is pretty much done now except a couple of stitches in the plant with yellow flowers. I've also done a fair amount of backstitching in the centre of the piece, which always helps things look more finished, I think. Of course, there's still the right hand side to work on!

Cross-stitch update

I didn't spend a lot of time working on the cross-stitch this week, but did manage to get a fair bit of the light brown pavement filled in, and some backstitching in the windows. Slowly but surely. I've been so tired this week, with one thing and another, that a lot of nights I've just watched telly with no cross-stitch!

Cross-stitch update

Very little work this week - just some broen around the planters, really. It's been one of those weeks!

Cross-stitch update

More work on the left hand side, towards the bottom, this week. Not yet at the bottom edge, but approaching it before too much longer. 

Cross-stitch update

Good progress this week - you can see quite a change in the lower left window and greenery. Always nice to have visible progress....

Next week, it's time for something different; I have decided to put away the Winter cross-stitch for the moment - partly because I'm tired of winter - but mainly because it's too frustrating to have two large, intricate pieces on the go at once and I need to make my second piece something either smaller or more simple, with larger blocks of single colours, etc  - or maybe an alphabet sampler - something totally different, at any rate. The whole point of having a second piece is to feel like I'm having a break when I switch and the two projects I have on the go at the moment are too alike in the type of attention they require of me - too many similar colours and too much blending, etc.   Anyway, watch this space, but expect something completely different!

Cross-stitch update

As you can perhaps see, I've done quite a lot of work this week on the lower left - the vines around the lower window, and the start of the shading in the window itself. Also a few places where I've filled in small bits of missing colour. Definite progress has been made!

Wednesday Cross-stitch

This week I moved back over to the left hand side to work - not sure why, but that's what I did. There's not a huge mount stitched, as once again it was a busy week with several evenings not being devoted to stitching, but there's still some visible progress in the window boxes, plants and the door frames on the left hand house. Slowly but surely...

Cross-stitch Wednesday

You can probably tell that there's been a fair amount of progress on the right hand house - as well as a bit of backstitching in the middle house, to add definition. The top of the right hand house looks somewhat unfinished, but that's essentially how it is - it kind of fades away to nothing - same with the left - so the piece is perhaps more done than it appears.  Considering I lost several evenings this week when I might otherwise have been stitching (binding on the baby quilt one night, out to the Panto another), it's not coming along badly...

Cross stitch update

A fair bit of progress this week - filling in the right-hand house and windows, some greenery in the middle and some backstitching on the central house. If only the Christmas angels would progress as rapidly!

Cross stitch Wednesday

Better progress this week than last - and not just because I'm more fond of this project than the angels (though it's easier to read & count, so it does go a little faster) - mostly, it's just that I was actually home, not entertaining company on more nights... It's a bit hard to see the really pale colours on the right, but there is quite a bit more done than when I last picked it up - not just the plants growing between the two buildings, but quite a bit of pale wall as well. Next week, back to the angels...

Cross stitch update

I didn't have a huge amount of time to cross-stitch this week (two evenings I spent doing binding on various projects), but I did manage to make a start on the right hand house, which is all in creams and neutrals, so it doesn't show much yet - hence the close up. Back to the angels for next week, which I imagine will be another week of little progress, considering how busy I am likely to be, but you never know, I could surprise myself...

Wednesday Cross-stitch update

Quite a lot of progress this week, although I wish I had managed to do the backstitching on the tan house, as it really needs it!

Here's how it looked last time I worked on it - you can see that I have finished the sky and worked quite a lot on the central, tan building.

And here's a reminder of how the finished piece will look - still quite a ways to go!

Cross stitch update

A reasonable amount of progress this week - the chimney at the top of the house is done, with lots of sky finished around it (the sky is quite patchy in the finished piece), and I've even started the roofline of the central house. Not bad!

Cross-stitch update

The roofline and the chimney of the darker house are growing, and there's some work done in the clouds and the sky. Seems like slow progress, but at least it's progress...