The Craft Room

24 August 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

Hi everyone. Hope you are all well.

The finishing pile is minus 1 stitched finish. Over the weekend I set about finishing my Cross Stitch Nation by Heartstring Samplery in to a drum .... my very first. It did take me 4 hours but I did enjoy it. It is quite a sizable piece and when you think it has to be stuffed, well that's where the time goes. I re-watched and followed Vonna Pfeiffer's Drum Tutorial on Youtube. I finished the top and bottom with Lady Dot Creates Velveteen in Heirloom and the Chenille is Mossy. I do keep stroking the top so it might end up a bit bald.

Cross Stitch Nation - Heartstring Samplery.

-oOo-

Until next time ....

2 August 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

How are you all? Long time, no see!!

I have been stitching away on some projects. First off is All Joys For Thine by Blackbird Designs.

All Joys For Thine - Blackbird Designs.

40ct Vintage Country Mocha Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Used recommended overdyed threads or DMC alternatives.

Stitched 1 over 2.

-oOo-

Another Blackbird Designs. I seem to be drawn to Blackbird Designs at the moment. This one is Joyous Day. It is such a happy design and I enjoyed stitching it enormously.

Oh Joyous Day - Blackbird Designs.

40ct Legacy Picture This Plus linen.

Used recommended threads or alternate threads as charted.

Stitched 1 over 2.

-oOo-

Then I actually pulled a couple of stitching finishes out to be fully finished.

A Basketful of Autumn Time - With Thy Needle & Thread / Brenda Gervais.

40ct Summer Khaki Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Recommended threads except DMC 950, CC Honeycomb, WDW Molasses.

Stitched 1 over 2.

Le Poulet - A French Pincushion (Ooh La La Book) - Blackbird Designs.

40ct Raw Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Recommended GAST threads except DMC 926 instead of Mountain Mist.

Stitched 1 over 2.

-oOo-

Lastly I have just finished the stitching on Growing Love Stitcher's Wallet by Threadwork Primitives. I was gifted this many years ago as a kit. I believe you can still get the chart. The fabric is a 32ct but luckily for me it is stitched 1 over 2. I need some interfacing to finish off the case but I only seem to have black. I'm sure I had some white but it's nowhere to be found. So I'll order some today and hopefully will still be in the mood to finish off next week.

Growing Love Stitcher's Wallet - Threadwork Primitives.

32ct Winter Brew R and R Reproductions linen.(as kitted).

Threads (as kitted).

Stitched 1 over 2.

-oOo-

Until next time …..

28 May 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are all well and still coping under the circumstances.

I have a finish to post. This was finished back in the middle of May. Oops!

This is Sarah Redfearn 1826 by The Scarlett House. I loved working on this and saved my favourite part until last .... the basket at the bottom of the piece. I did change a couple of the threads. Clasic Colorworks Belle Soie Chocolat was changed to Classic Colorworks Belle Soie Tortoise Shell and Classic Colorworks Belle Soie Shepherd's Pasture was changed to AVAS - Soie D'Alger 1814.

Sarah Redfearn 1826 - The Scarlett House

40ct Platinum Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Threads as recommended except:

CC Belle Soie Chocolat to Tortoise Shell.

CC Belle Soie Shepherd's Pasture to AVAS - Soie D'Alger 1814.

Stitched 1 over 2.

-oOo-

Until next time ….

13 May 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

Just thought I would keep you all in the loop and let you know that as of today I am not working. I received a letter from our wonderful NHS to let me know that I should "stay at home". So I handed my letter in yesterday, finished off what I could and am now at home. The letter gives a date of June 30th so I'm hoping I can return to work then, we'll just have to wait and see.

I'm now going to do, like most of you, organise and tidy … and "stitch all the things".

I will leave you with my progress on Sarah Redfearn 1826 by The Scarlett House. I'm close to a finish now, having finished the left vase and moving on to the right hand side vase. What's going to be next?

Sarah Redfearn 1826 by The Scarlett House.

40ct Platinum Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Used recommended Classic Colorworks Belle Soie and Gloriana silk except;

CC Belle Soie Chocolat to CC Belle Soie Tortoise Shell.

CC Belle Soie Shepherd's Pasture to Soie D'Alger 1814.

-oOo-

Until next time …..

22 April 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

Just thought I would clarify the change I had to make on the corner of Noel Sampler.

As you can see from the chart (Photo 1) that I had the symbols are out of line, whereas the chart photo (Photo 2) is correctly positioned. Then the last photo (Photo 3) is my stitched corner.

Photo 1.

Photo 2.

Photo 3.

-oOo-

Until next time ....

18 April 2020

Dear friend and fellow bloggers,

I have been working hard on trying to finish my Noel Sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread ... and here it is. I'm so pleased with it. All stitched with DMC threads. There were some issues ...

First .. I did make a mistake on the top border and therefore was one stitch short on the side border.

Second .. The chart and the chart photo did not match on the bottom left border corner. I adjusted this to match the chart photo which meant the border one stitch to the right.

Third .. I had to take out one of the flower / stars in the box in the bottom right corner as my initials were wider than Brenda's initials that were charted. This was referenced in the instructions.

Noel Sampler - With Thy Needle and Thread / Brenda Gervais.

36ct Parchment Weeks Dye Works linen.

Used recommended DMC threads.

Chart, linen and threads gifted to me as my stitching wish by Julie in memory of our friend Leanne's passing.

-oOo-

I hope everyone is staying healthy and well. Until next time …..

12 April 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you have all been well and coping with the current situation.

Happy Easter!! Are all your Easter eggs lined up ready to eat?

As it is Easter I tried and succeeded in finishing Easter Parade by Blackbird Designs. I didn't have all of the called for thread colours but I converted some to DMC and others to something similar to the chart photo. It is stitched 1 over 2 on cream Newcastle linen.

Easter Parade - Blackbird Designs.

40ct Cream Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Threads used -

DMC 371

DMC 420

DMC 3348

DMC 3726

DMC 3822

Gentle Art Sampler Thread Antique Rose

Gentle Art Sampler Thread Wheat Fields

Weeks Dye Works Cocoa

-oOo-

Until next time …..

5 April 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are all well and doing as you are told! I'm OK but I had to go out food shopping yesterday and I think my stress levels hit an all time high. I was jittery for the rest of the day and even my stitching couldn't relax my nerves. I'm much better today and going out for my walk when I have finished this post. Oh, are your hands a mess? Dry I mean. I can't seem to put enough hand cream on to combat the dryness. It's a good job everyone seems to buy me hand cream for birthdays / Christmas!

I said I would be back with an update of my stitching WIPs … so here I am. The first one is Noel Sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread. This is my main WIP at the moment, my comfort piece. I'm a little bit further along than this photo shows, I just love stitching on this. I found I am a stitch short on the top border but I don't think it will be that noticeable on the final piece. I'll fudge it on the bottom right corner somehow … a unique piece. 😏

Noel Sampler - With Thy Needle and Thread.

36ct Parchment Weeks Dye Works.

Using DMC threads.

-oOo-

The second is Easter Parade by Blackbird Designs. This is going a little slow but I just pick it up now and again. The bunny has his eyelet stitches now and is carrying his basket. I have changed about half the colours as dye lots have changed so I'm picking colours as I go.

Easter Parade - Blackbird Designs.

40ct Cream Newcastle linen.

Threads to be confirmed at a later date.

-oOo-

Until next time …..

21 March 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

… Coronavirus.

This is the worst thing and many of us will have gone through. It is scary but we must think positively.

We are all OK here. I live with Mum and Dad who are both in their mid-70s but thankfully are both in good health. After last years battle with my bowel and subsequently that being taken out I'm OK, eating well again and doing as I'm told by all the scientific experts on the TV.

I am working (in my job I can't work from home) although a older man was sent home last week as he was in the over 70s bracket and my friend has to work from home as she has MS. Friday saw the closure of schools, so 2 more ladies in the office start to work from home as they have young children and can't rely on older family members to look after them now. We are quite a small department in our company so "social distancing" in no problem! Plus we are a close bunch so we do still have a laugh and joke through the day although it does get a bit tense as clients still expect results "yesterday!"

Stay safe everyone, don't go out if you don't have to. Social media, emails and phones are your friends right now.

** STITCH ALL THE THINGS **

Until next time ….. with a stitching update …. stitchy hugs

💖 💖 💖

1 March 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

It's time to see my sampler WIPs.

-oOo-

Sarah Redfearn 1826 by The Scarlett House.

This chart is so pretty. As usual the chart is no reflection on the colours that are charted. I am using most of the Classic Coloworks Belle Soie and Gloriana threads that are charted. I have changed The Classic Colorworks Chocolat to Tortoise Shell and Shepherd's Pasture to Au Ver A Soie - Soie D'Alger 1814. It is being stitched on 40ct Platinum Newcastle Zweigart linen. This was my New Year's Day start and at the moment I am stitching on it about 3 days a week.

Sarah Redfearn 1826 - The Scarlett House.

40ct Platinum Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Threads as charted except:

Classic Colorworks Belle Soie Chocolat changed to Tortoise Shell.

Classic Colorworks Belle Soie changed to Au Ver A soie - Soie D'Alger 1814.

-oOo-

Noel Sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread / Brenda Gervais

I had no intention of started this one this year, in fact I had not even got the chart before the beginning of February!! There was a hashtag on IG (#lostinstitchywishes) for charts that you wished for in memory of the afore mentioned Leanne in my previous post. As I had stitched Baby It's Cold Outside I was really looking for this Noel Sampler. It was probably close to being my 'unicorn' chart. So I was so surprised that Julia (@jlopiparo) granted my wish. However when it arrived, not only did she gift me the chart, she also sent the DMC threads and the fabric. Such a kind and thoughtful gift.

So on the 15th February I started. I had no idea is was so large a project. It's going well and I'm starting to build the house, a red house, a favourite for many including myself. No colour changes on this one and it is charted for DMC.

Noel Sampler - With Thy Needle and Thread / Brenda Gervais.

36ct Parchment WDW linen.

DMC as charted.

-oOo-

Planned Starts

Today I am planning to start and put a few stitches in to Easter Parade by Blackbird Designs as it is 1st March. No other reason except it is meteorologically the First Day of Spring ... I can't wait until 20th March for it to be the astronomical First Day of Spring!!

-oOo-

Until next time .....

28 February 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

I have a day off work today so I'm spending it catching up on blogs and updating my own. It's cold and raining … again … we had a bit of sleet / snow first thing this morning. There are floods in town on the area by the river but not really anywhere surrounding me. I do feel so sorry for the people who are flooded. My Grandma used to get flooded years ago, I can always remember the sandbags by the back door. One time I ran along the path and the man-hole cover was up … yes you guessed it … I fell down the hole!!

-oOo-

I promised you I would be back to show you all my finishes that I collected from the framers.

A lot of Instagrammers are taking part in a SAL, stitching Baby It's Cold Outside in honour of our friend Leanne who lost the fight with breast cancer. I had already stitched it so I decided it would be one of the pieces I would take to be framed.

Baby It's Cold Outside - Heartstring Samplery.

-oOo-

The one piece that will remind me of Leanne will be A Red Cottage. She had stitched it herself and I was so taken with it I just had to get the chart. Another one I had to take.

A Red Cottage - Plum Street Samplers.

-oOo-

I really liked the way this Farmhouse Christmas was framed on the photos I has seen on Little House Needleworks. I tried to recreate it with the frames I had to choose from.

Farmhouse Christmas - Little House Needleworks.

-oOo-

This is my favourite piece ... by far. The Winter Is Past. I love it!

The Winter Is Past - Blackbird Designs.

-oOo-

That's all I have for today. I hope next time to show my WIPs.

Until next time …..

19 February 2020

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

How are you all? Good I hope.

Technology has been the bane of my life at the moment. I've had a new laptop as my other was getting on for 7 years old. Noticeably slow, battery running down far too quickly and the recharger not working all that well, it was time to change. So I'm up and running with a new one now.

Then of course my phone charger started causing me problems, so I was without a phone for a couple of days whilst waiting for a new one. But all is well now.

I have had a few stitching finishes and fully finished items that I would like to share here with you.

-oOo-

First off I finished December 25th Merry Christmas Pinkeep into a pillow. Just a simple finish.

December 25th Merry Christmas Pinkeep by Stacy Nash Primitives.

40ct Woodland Brown Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Used Gentle Arts Sampler Threads as recommended.

-oOo-

In my last post I had stitched a small red sampler from the Ooh La La book by Blackbird Designs. Again I finished in to a small pillow, no trim, nothing fancy.

A Little Bit French by Blackbird Designs.

Ooh La La Book.

36ct Antique Ivory Edinburgh Zweigart linen.

Used Classic Colorworks Cherry Cobbler.

-oOo-

I had waited and waited for this next design to be released and available here in the UK. So when I received it I knew it was going to be my Christmas Day start. It took longer than I thought it would to stitch, there are a lot of stitches in there, the house and the borders especially. Yet to fully finish it but I'm thinking about the type of finish I want to achieve.

Home For Christmas by Plum Street Samplers.

40ct Birch Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Used DMC 168 for the urns, GAST Garden Gate for the borders, WDW Brick for the house / flowers. Otherwise I think I used the recommended threads.

-oOo-

My first finish for 2020 was Le Poulet - A French Pincushion. Another design from the Ooh La La book. Look at that little chicken! The only change I made was changing GAST Mountain Mist for DMC 926. As I think with most people GAST Mountain Mist and GAST Lexington Green were very close in colour so I went with a bit more of a blue tone.

Le Poulet - French Pincushion by Blackbird Designs.

(Ooh La La Book).

40ct Raw Newcastle Zweigart linen.

Recommended threads except change GAST Mountain Mist to DMC 926.

-oOo-

I am working on a couple of samplers at the moment, Sarah Redfearn 1826 by The Scarlett House and have just started Noel Sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread / Brenda Gervais. I will update you on those soon.

I have just had a phone call to say some pieces I took for framing are ready to collect, so guess where I will be going on Saturday!

Until next time …..