February Round Up

Well I haven't any Smalls and I haven't stitched the Topsy Turvy SAL ornament, neither have I stitched any of the designs for the Winter Seasonal Challenge at Needlecraft Haven.

But I have finally completed my Temperature SAL. I was stitching two cake bands for this SAL, a summer band covering April - September and a January - March & October - December for the winter, recording the highest and lowest temperature each day. 

You'll find my finished summer band in my FFO post for November., and here is my winter band, whoo hoo I'm so pleased with it. 

I have been stitching but as I have said in previous posts this will be a year of gifts and I cannot share until given. Hopefully I will have a few bits to share. 

Wishing you all happy stitching and busy needles during the month of March. 

Gifted Gorgeousness in February

 

The 15th of each month means it's Gifted Gorgeousness time, the time each month when we share our latest gifts. These can be gifts given or received, or any item made using fabric, threads, buttons, ribbon, chart, backing fabric that has been gifted.

This great idea is hosted each month by the lovely Jo at Serendipitous Stitching,  if you visit her blog you'll find the links to everyone's Gifted Gorgeousness posts. Thank you Jo for hosting another year of GG, it's great fun posting and reading.

It's our lovely daughter's birthday on Friday but we visited last weekend. It's two 'lasts' - being 20 something and being 'Miss'.

I stitched her a trinket box, an upcycled Pandora charm box, and a mini ornament. I had great fun lining the box with some craft paper.

My next two gifts are the ones I mentioned in my Fully Finished Objects post but I couldn't share. My friend has received her parcel so here they are, firstly a bookmark for her birthday, a little belated as her birthday is actually the end of January.

The other gift was for the Needlecraft Haven Valentine's Exchange. This year we stitched a card and I made a removable ornament card so it can be used every year.

I included some chocolate hearts, a mini roll of Love Hearts and some matching threads.

My final two gifts are not stitching but are another craft I enjoy. I made a cake for our daughter which we took to Cardiff last weekend. 2 candles and 9 hearts - I wonder how many candles I'll need next year hee hee

Our son's girlfriend also turns 29 this year, tomorrow, the day before our daughter, they are just hours apart in age.

I made her a cake, again for last weekend as they celebrated with a group of friends.

I'm stitching a few other gifts which hopefully I can share soon. I have a feeling 2023 is going to be a year of secrets and surprises.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

 It's Valentine's Day which means it's Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop time 💕

This is hosted by the lovely Jo at Serendipitous Stitching   pop over to her blog where you will find a list of everyone taking part in this year's Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop 💕
I'll be hopping around the Valentine's blogs to find out where my photo went ❤ 
I received this beautiful Valentine's photo, are you my Secret Stitching Sweetheart 💕

As well as being Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop day it's also a special day for Hubby and me, in 1986 he asked and I said 'yes' 💍

We haven't changed a bit have we 😂 I can't believe that was 37 years ago.

Have a super Valentine's Day sharing love and friendship 💕

Fully Finished in February

 

I do have two finishes but I can't show any photos as I'm not sure if they have been received... yes they are gifts.

They are both for one of my stitchy friends at Needlecraft Haven, a birthday gift and the Valentine's Exchange. Sadly my friend's mum passed away this week, there are more important things than stitching, the world is tough at times isn't it.

The only photo I have is the cake (I'm never doing black icing letters again) I made for our son, his gaming social event celebrated its first birthday. I was very touched by his social media post.

I'm sure there are plenty of stitchy finishes this month so I'm going to pop over to Rachel's, Ten Hour Stitcher blog later to follow everyone's links.

A catch up ... long over due

I haven't been around for a few weeks, I'll try to read everyone's blogs but apologies if I miss your posts. I haven't been stitching much, I can't believe how much I did last January. My mum has been unwell for a while and was back in hospital as the new year began. Although she is home she hasn't bounced back this time which is a worry. 

This year my stitching will be bigger projects and quite a few for special occasions, this gives two blogging issues: not much to show and most a secret until given. 

Additionally we've been on a cruise, a much needed bit of sun and time to breathe. We had a lovely time but not much stitching. I've written about life on board in my Cruise Life post on my travel blog. 

Hopefully I will have some FFO posts and some GG posts in the next few months, I'm not sure about Smalls, my Temperature SAL is now officially a UFO and I've no chance of doing Topsy Turvy SAL this month. 

All I can do is what I can, my focus will be on the important stitching but I do hope I can keep up with everyone's news. I'll sign off with a photo from our cruise, our cabin steward was very creative!