Avarice Page 10 Finish, Late WIPocalypse.. And Life Update!

Whoo! I am so pleased to get this one done! I really wanted to finish this in time for the WIPocalypse at the end of August but I am almost 2 weeks late! A page and a column and the second row is complete. That's the next task!

This page saw her other arm completed and the next one is confetti hell. More gems. The next row sees the last of the gems on either end then its just lovely block stitching for a good while.

Pics:

My next pic is one of me and the family that I wanted to share from our recent holiday in North Wales. We are on a boat on the middle of Llyn Padarn, a lake in the town of Llanberis. The town is at the foot of Mount Snowdon and the day we were there it was so clear we could see the summit.

From L - R,. Me, Hannah, my husband Jon, Victoria (sticking her tongue out as usual LOL) and Lauren peeking out.

We had such a good time and the sun shone down on us that day :-))

Next, Lauren started pre school this week My baby is 3 1/2 already. She has truly come a long way this year being unwell with one thing and another. Anyway, here she is in her school uniform:

That's all for now, Don't forget IHSW this weekend - hop over to Joysze's Blog and sign up!!

xx

Little Update! (And WIPocalypse too!)

Week 2 of our children's lengthy summer school holidays and we have had not much other than rain! Had some lovely sunny days but the rainy ones seem to overshadow those. Ho hum. Soon off on Holiday :)

Olympic fever has hit Britain with the Opening Ceremony last weekend. I don't watch a whole lot of Olympics to be honest. I can see the attraction for some but for me its take it or leave it.

On Facebook in a HAED group there was a post about Olympic Starts - so I decided to start one. Since finishing Wiz I have worked on Avarice but I wanted another project. I am not disciplined enough to rotate properly though and I find myself working on both projects in the same day.

My Olympic Start:

Firefly - Another Marta Dahlig - was really always on my list for the next start. I did have a brief though that I might want to start Sistine Chapel but I soon put that one away for a little while at least.

3 days of stitching in:

Its all 310 on the first page bar one stitch of 3799. I don;t mind. People said I should stitch it up on black but I want to do the background. Anyway that is about 2000 stitches.

So I worked Avarice too. Further down there is the last update from IHSW but as you can see the carrying threads is really paying off for me.

The bodice of her dress is absolutely beautiful. Is there any wonder I just can;t put this piece down for any length of time??

Anyway, next update is a page finish :)

xx

Weekends, Wiz and a WIPocalypse!

Hello to new followers! Up to 150 now! <happy dance>

This weekend was busy for me for many reasons. It was my 15th wedding anniversary last Thursday 28th and my MIL's 65th birthday the day before. At the weekend we travelled to their home for a garden party as the In Laws are also celebrating 45 years married too.

We stayed overnight in a lovely hotel and it was great to catch up with some people I haven't seen in a long while - some even since I got married. I made a tub of plants for Mum in Law, some lovely alpines and a lavender and she was delighted.

So this WIPocalypse I think I have done rather well. I didn't have a stitch all weekend obviously with being away but I still managed from the last update to do quite a bit on my 2 major projects on the go, Wizard of Oz which I need to finish for my Sis' birthday in 10 days time (Eeeek!) and Avarice got a look in too because when I didn't feel like confetti I block stitched her. Anyway, on with the pictures.

Here is how Avarice stands this morning.

Quite a bit of the way through page 8. I think another 2 good stitchy sessions will finish this page.

Now for Wiz. I got the remaining floss I needed bar one colour which I thought I had but didn't (grr) so I have been filling in. I reckon half the 10 x 10 stitch squares are complete. It is quite hard going at times with the confetti and colour changes,,, especially on the lion!

I love how this one is turning out. My sister will be delighted I am sure. I see all the characters now. The image is better from a distance. I managed to find a square frame for it too. Its one of those deep box frame ones. Think I might mount it and fray the edges of the evenweave to display to give it some rustic charm.

Anyway, thats my lot for this post. Happy stitching!

Official June WIPocalypse Post

This month I worked on Avarice and on Wiz. I said I wouldn't work on Avarice but having had computer troubles and unable to access my Wiz pattern Avarice got a rotation in. I am working it when I start to run out of steam too. Staves off the block.

So here is Avarice.

A good halfway through page 7. Still confetti heavy although the gems are getting smaller. The right hand side is black block work with confetti inbetween and the left is the border and gems. Again I switch from one to the other to stave off the block. That's why 2 needles threaded up in my work.

And a pic of Wiz progress

Dosen't look hugely different - I guess that's cos I am working this cross country. Having said that there are at least 3 complete 10 x 10 stitches squares on there and a few that are a couple of stitches from completion. I have more thread to buy to complete this and the next job is work out what exactly I need.

In other news: Check out this bad boy!

2100 metres of 310 loveliness. I am getting ready to start Firefly - well.. itching to start it! And I wanted the 310 to be the same lot number all the way through. The answer was buy a cone.... Oh dear.... I think I might have to get some blackwork charts... or even design some....

And so to the family:

Lauren is now fully recovered. No further problems from her pneumonia. Hannah the eldest, on the other hand, has fallen off her scooter and broken her collarbone! Geez if it weren't for bad luck we would have no luck at all! Fortunately she didn't need a surgical fix.. a sling and rest should sort it. If only she would rest it!
Victoria (the middle one) is walking around proudly telling people there's nothing wrong with her and she has never been in hospital! Don't tempt fate love....

We are preparing as a family too to go to my Mum In Law's house at the end of the month. Its her birthday and wedding anniversary and there is a bit of a surprise gathering for her (sshhh! Don't tell her!!) so I am busy looking at dresses online and choosing which one!

Phew! That was a long post in the end!

xx

IHSW, TUSAL and WIPocalypse!

Short post today. No main computer! I am posting from my Tablet.
Luckily IHSW< the WIPocalypse and TUSAL all came within days of one another so I can condense into one post. And I am late posting this!!
I worked on WIzard of Oz for both IHSW and the WIPocalypse. I need this piece finished.. and soon! About 8 weeks left. I also came by a posilock stand ready for my next start. Once WIz is done I am starting Dahlig's Firefly.
My ORT jar looks good too.. Lauren is my model for it this month... She is well recovered and was more than happy to pose with it! I will squash my thread down too although there is still loads of space in the jar.
Opinions sought... I often stitch up little cover kits that I get on the front of magazines. I am usually left with threads over. What do you do with them? Do you add them to ORT's? Or put them in your stash to use on a different project? I have a box with some in and I have hesitated to add them to ORt's as it almost seems like cheating??
Anyway onto the pics! I have a feeling they may be skewed... urgh. Once I get my computer back I will turn them.
Turned out to be a longer post than I thought...
xx

Home at last!!

My daughter was finally discharged from hospital today. What a terrible fortnight we have had.

Happy to report she is on the mend, fast asleep in her own bed and happy to be here with her sisters.

We still have antibiotics for her and she has to return for outpatients next week.

My stitching - not done alot! I have some cards to do and I will share a pic of works in progress for the WIPocalypse when I have daylight and can take a decent pic! For now here is one of Lauren earlier, enjoying some ice cream.

Thank you those of you who have been following her illness and saying a little prayer, all gratefully received!

xx

WIPocalypse April

I am still working on Avarice. I haven;t lost steam just yet so I am taking advantage of that. I am a column plus the filling in the picture away from finishing the top line.

Sorry I don';t know why the pic is so dire.

I estimate there are 1500 stitches left there to fill in that page finish.

Next post *should* be a page finish one :)

Til next time

xx

WIPocalypse March report and a sad update

Good things first :)

I picked up Avarice again, and worked some more on page 5. Hope to have page 5 done by the end of next week if I can get in the stitching I want. Double Ice Hockey this weekend or it would have been sooner!

Here she is:

Holding off on a full pic just yet. I want to get across the top before another big one :)

Next up on the WIP list was Eeyore:

Getting some of Roo in now. Been a nice stitch so far - shame the photo is a bit rubbish <glares at camera>

So that's me WIPocalypse stuff done :D

On to some sad news.

This week we said goodbye to our faithful family dog Sinead.
It looks like she had liver and spleen cancer hence why she was so thin at the end not absorbing her nutrients from her food properly.

She was 13 1/2

Here is a pic of her in happier times - enjoying a play in the snow.

RIP girl xx

Until next time - with news of a new family friend.

xx

Feb TUSAL report

I realised about 5 minutes ago that I was due to post this....

Here is my TUSAL jar. Lots of black in it from gridding and some coloured stuff from little swatches and theWIPocalypse stuff I did.

WIPocalypse February - with a twist!

February has come around really fast! It seems like 2 minutes since we were all ringing in the new year!

For my WIPocalypose post there is a slight twist! Nothing is ever simple with me!

My first pic - Avarice. Here she is as she stands after the last IHSW and a bit more besides:

Getting there with her - slowly but surely. I have largely put her down for now.. further explanation down the post!

Pic 2 - an actual finish! I found this kit and I had done a few stitches so I decided to finish it and add it to my WIPocalypse:

A vary sweet small alphabet sampler with ducks and a lovely rose topiary.

My 3rd.. a progress pic. I picked this up having done the black and white on it but he looks less gloomy now!

I love Eeyore. Who dosen't??

My last pic is my twist... I decided to downgrade my stash so  this month I made a massive effort sorting out stuff for ebay and I have (so far) this much... after putting 15 items on ebay already here is what's left to do:

Kits, a frame that I no longer use, chartbooks. embellishments., charms.. all that stuff. Need the funds as we discovered a few urgent jobs to be done around the house.

So there you have it. While I haven't been stitchy stitchy I have been WIPocalypsing... I see a good old clearout as a completion of a task I have been wanting to do and just not got around to it. I have been gridding fabric for a friend too as I can do that almost without thinking about it!

Happy Stitching everyone!

xx

January WIPocalypse

Well I worked on Avarice. I didn't get a whole lot done as once again I have not been well and of course still unpacking boxes means there is a limit to my stitching time.

Anyway I am halfway through page 4 so here is my latest pic of her: