February progress

Just a quick update on my February progress. I had a few days of no stitching but I have finally completed the second free chart 8n the Winter Challenge on Needlecraft Haven.

Free design from Aliolka

I have mounted it on a box lid ... more details about what it is for later in the year.

Here's my progress (still on the frame as I am mid stitching) on La Pensèe Positive from Jardin Privè 

I am up to date to the 14th with my Temperature Quilts. I have recorded this week but I might not get them stitched for a while. This is how they look so far.

Day time

Night time

Just a few days left and it will be spring, how quickly the days go, it is nice to see the sun a little more and see the bulbs growing.

Gifted Gorgeouness - February

It's Gifted Gorgeousness time - a great blog sharing idea hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching. A chance to share any gift we have sent or received - we all link our blog to Jo's and can then visit everyone else's blog to see their wonderful gifts. Thank you Jo for organising GG2019.

February is a special month for us, not only celebrating Valentine's Day and our Engagement (photos in my previous post) but our daughter's birthday. Every year I stitch her a little something; this year I've made a Newton's Law bookmark. He is so cute, most years I've stitched Newton or Tatty Ted.

Newton's Law Bookmark
for Philippa's birthday

Unbelievably this year she is 25, so many years, so many wonderful memories which are added to each time we're with her in Cardiff. We're just back from a few days visiting her, always a lovely time. I was very pleased her cake made it, especially as I kept it hidden in the tin/bag until after dinner. It's a lemon and lime cake (homemade) with gin and tonic icing (from Sainsbury's).

Philippa's Cake

Yesterday was Needlecraft Haven's Valentine Exchange, an exchange of friendship. Everyone who signed up stitched a card which had to have a heart included in the design, include a sweet treat and a skein of thread to match the card.

It's an anon exchange with everyone signing their card 'stitching love from everyone at Needlecraft Haven '. I had to wait until today to upload my GG blog as today is the reveal of who sent to who.

I'm quite a practical stitcher and like my work to be useful so I decided to stitch a broach and pin it onto the heart. The hardest part was finding a card the right size and getting the brooch pinned on. I stitched the heart on perforated paper and embellished it with beads.

The sweet treat was Green and Black's Raspberry and Hazelnut Dark Chocolate and the threads were DMC 899 and S899. My parcel traveled over to France to Mary, her blog is Le Coeur Celtique.

My heart card for Mary

The brooch pinned on to the fabric 

The Valentine's Exchange I sent to Mary 

I received a beautiful card from Sue, I'm hoping I will be able to use it on the top of a box as it is too lovely to be put in a drawer. Sue also sent some lovely red fabric with hearts on, some matching ribbon and some stitching fabric that has small hearts in, I have not seen this before. DMC 924 was the matching thread and my sweet treat was a bag of chocolate hearts - thank you Sue for a super exchange parcel.

My beautiful card from Sue

My Valentine's Exchange from Sue 

A month of lovely gifts, February is always a special time, I hope you've had a lovely month too.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

The lovely Jo at Serendipitous Stitching has organised the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop. She is so good at these hops which are a fun way to meet new bloggers and to see each others amazing craft work.

For this Blog Hop we had to send Jo a photo if a heart we had made. She has then sent everyone in the Hop a heart photo - this is the beautiful heart I received.

However I have no idea who it is from ... for this hop we have to visit all the Bloggers taking part who Jo has listed on her blog and say in the comments when we spot our photo - oh what fun it will be to hunt for my photo and discover whose craftwork made this beautiful heart ??

Here's the link to Jo's blog so you can go hopping - Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop 

Thanks Jo for another great Blog Hop,  happy hopping everyone!

I love Valentine's Day mainly because Hubby and I were engaged on February 14th 1986 ... how time flies 😍

Engagement Memories from our Keepsake Book

This year we have celebrated at breakfast instead of a special dinner tonight. We have been in Cardiff visiting our daughter and as a real treat last night we stayed at the Celtic Manor, a hotel I have always wanted to visit. We have to be home this evening and will be busy so our stay was last night which means this morning we've woken up in this lovely hotel.

Celtic Manor

Super King bed

Our amazing room 

It is opening day for Needlecraft Haven's Valentine Exchange today, I'll be opening my parcel once we're home and I'll be posting about the gifts sent and received in my next blog.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day celebrating love and friendship.

Winter Challenge

At Needlecraft Haven we're combining our Monthly Challenge and Four Seasons SAL. This year we have a Seasonal Challenge. Each season Christine, one of our members, reveals a Christmas design and a general design, each design is a free online chart that Christine has found.

We can stitch either or both designs and finish them however we like sending Christine a photo which she puts into an online album. Our photos are revealed in a Gallery at the start of the final month for that season. We can see everyone's work and it gives those still to finish some ideas.

I have finished the Christmas design for our Winter Challenge - a cute snowman from La Comtesse & Le Ponit de Croix  I chose a rustic finish, not something I have done before for a Christmas ornament but I'm very pleased how it turned out.

Winter Challenge

I have completed the first week of February for my two Temperature Quilt SALs.  The photos look a little drab but I think it's because I took the photos in electric light. I'll try to remember to take them in daylight next time.

My nighttime quilt

My daytime quilt

I'll have some more stitching, and baking, to share soon as it's our daughter's birthday on the 17th. We're off to Cardiff tomorrow to spend a few days with her ... it's hard to believe she will be 25 😍

February - two more ornaments

I'm managing to do some stitching with the meds but simple charts as I have to keep rereading and doing one step at a time. Hopefully they will be out my system soon as I have a couple of charts I want to start.

I have finished two more ornaments for my church tree, I cut out a little more on these and added some Dove's Eyes. I'll be making another two of these and three of the other one before looking through my charts for another small design.

Thank you everyone who has pledged an ornament, I'll be putting a list of where they are all from up at church by my tree.

Ornaments 2 & 3

I have completed my two Temperature Quilts to the end of January, we haven't had any heavy snow but some ice and a few flurries. On those days I've added a silver cross. I wonder if February will have any more silver to add.

Daytime Tempersture Quilt

Nighttime Temperature Quilt 

It's exchange time at Needlecraft Haven. For Valentine's Day we're having a friendship exchange, we needed to stitch a card and include a skein of thread and a sweet treat in our parcel. Mine's currently with Postie so fingers crossed my partner receives it soon, I'll share the photos later this month.

My final photo is my Drawn Thread February chart. This is the first time it's been in the frame after I changed the set from box finishes to changeable frameable finishes. It fits perfectly, the frame has suited all the months which I'm very pleased about.

February- The Drawn Thread

I hope you had a very crafty January and your fingers are busy this month too.