As summertime begins

It's been a beautiful few days and I have been able to make the most of it doing a few bits and bob's in the garden. Our spring bulbs are looking lovely and now I have cleared away some winter decay everywhere is looking brighter.

On a personal note life turned upside down a bit this week with the hospital calling to say my chemotherapy was being stopped due to the high risk if I caught coronavirus. That said the doctors have decided to do my lumpectomy earlier than initially planned and today I have been to the hospital for my pre-op. It was a very unnerving visit, not just because of the details of my op,  but the worry of the virus. I have been in isolation at home for over 10 days, Hubby and son have been for eight so it felt wrong to be visiting such a public place. The hospital does have many precautions in place, in all four departments I visited the staff were so caring when they themselves must be concerned. I am sure I am fine .... just need to get my head round what's happening next. My op will be (hospital still working due the virus permitting) next Wednesday ..... I did ask if it could be after noon 😉

I have been busy stitching, Needlecraft Haven has it's annual Easter Exchange coming up. We are delaying posting but still finishing our ornaments. Mine is stitched and I hope to finish it soon, I'll share when I can.

I have completed Block 3 of the Needlecraft Haven Stitching the Night Away SAL. I'm really enjoying these designs, this time I used the same thread as Block 2 but the darker part of the variegation.

Finally I have stitched two more flower heads for my bouquet, I have also received some beautiful flowers in the post but I'll share those in April's Gifted Gorgeousness post.

Clematis 

Camelia 

This weekend here in the UK we move our clocks forward into summertime, for a while we will have darker mornings but our nights will be lighter for much longer. I think we will all feel a little brighter as we move towards the summer, although they have said it will be a little cold for the next few days.

I'll close with my spring tree from Jardin Prive, I have all four trees and change them in the frame depending on the season. Stay safe everyone, make use of our wonderful technology to keep in touch with your families and friends .... keep stitching !

Spring

Gifted Gorgeousness - March

It's Gifted Gorgeousness time, the third of the year. Every month on the 15th we post about any gift sent or received or any item we have made using fabric, thread, chart or finishing item that was gifted. This super idea is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, you'll find links to all the other bloggers taking part on her blog.

My first gift was sent to me from my good friend Kat, this great bag is perfect for my other GG. Thanks Kat, it's perfect.

My       bag from Kat

Back in August 2018 Justine very kindly sent me the full set of Lizzie Kate's monthly Flip its. I want to stitch these (and some other monthly charts I have) to be part of a sun screen for our gazebo.

Thank you Justine for my Flip Its

There is a gap between the fence and the gazebo roof and in the afternoon and early evening the sun is so strong through it. Of course I had the grand idea of stitching the pieces and making a quilted curtain .... quilting is not something I have done on a large scale and the curtain would not be ready this year.

So when I'm having a good day we're going to pop to Dunelm and look at buying a cheap pair of eyelet curtains which we can hang using clear hooks. I'm going to make the months into ornaments and then play around with attachment ideas.

I had a nightmare ordering the fabric, I want to do my CCN set and these on the same fabric but in my confused state I mis-read the ordering table so my first piece was too small to do both design sets. Then got very confused ordering a second piece. Huge thanks to Karla at Patchwork Rabbit for sorting me out, great service and delivery.

I'm stitching them on one piece as it's easier to hold but might make four up at a time once done. Here's my first two.

My two finishes so far

It is such a worrying time for us all right now, our hobbies are so important in keeping our minds occupied and happy. Online forums, blogs and communities will be an important to many over the next months, thank you for all your posts and for visiting my little home in blogland. 

Stay safe and stay close to those you love x x

Fully Finished Gallery - March

The Fully Finished Gallery is hosted by Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher and encourages us to finish our projects and although I am quite good at only stitching items I know will be used or gifted to others I am a bit slow at actually getting them fully finished.

This month I have stitched and fully finished three more cards for scouts, I've bagged them all up too and put the peel off stickers in the back so whoever buys them can have a choice of occasion.

RSPCA cover kit

Piglet cover kit

Archie - he fits :-)

The peel offs in the back of each card pack

My eight cards ready in their plastic bags

I think without Rachel's encouragement I would have stitched these and maybe left them waiting to be made up. Now I have eight cards ready for our next Craft Fair (that may not be until the autumn) and hopefully I will do a few more over the next few months.

.......................................................................................................................................

And now for something not Fully Finished but I hope you may help me with. For my Christmas tree at church I'd like to have a 'bouquet of flowers' tree and I'm asking if fellow stitchers/bloggers would like to stitch a flower.

Here's the not FF thing .... just send me the stitched fabric and I will do all the making up. Here's the link to my blog post about it Could you help me make a bouquet?  and here's one of the flowers I have already stitched .......

..... if you'd like to help please leave a comment and I'll reply with details of my UK postal address .... thank you!

Coffee - Let the People Choose

Jo's Let the People Choose this month is Coffee .... perfect for me as I love coffee

Jo of Serendipitous Stitching  hosts many blog activities for us all to join in with, this one is really making me think each month.

In 2011, I cannot believe it was so long ago, three lovely ladies at Needlecraft Haven and I decided to do a Round Robin. It was a first for Julie and Hazel but Tina and I had taken part in these fun stitchings before.

At the time I had a new car and all the interior accessories were pink ... steering wheel cover, floor mats, air fresheners. I decided to make a pink cushion and using Lizzie Kate design I made this chart for my Round Robin. The photo is  bit blurred because I had to screen shot it from an old post in 2011, apologies but I think you can see it still

I loved stitching this, I did the borders and my name before sending it off. Julie, Hazel and Tina chose one of the design squares and stitched their name (I charted the names using LK alphabet) I stitched the final square when it came home .... and that was 'coffee crazy' perfect for me.

Sadly I no longer have my car but I do still have the cushion although no-one uses it as I don't want it spoilt.

My superb Round Robin cushion

Happy St David's Day

Welcome to March, the month that brings signs of warmer days, more daylight and new life as it is the first month of spring. Today is also St David's Day, the patron saint of Wales.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus - Happy St David's Day

It's also the day I traditionally get out my grandmother's vase and have daffodils in our home from now until after Easter.

Spring daffodils in my
Grandmother's vase 

This year I have baked a bara brith as our Welsh celebration, we're not having lamb for dinner but I may have a small glass of Welsh whisky.

Here's a few things I was working on at the end of February, I'm saving full finishes for my FFG post in March.

I finished another cover kit, this was Margaret Sherry's Relax with Archie. I have four of these but he was quite tricky to do from the picture and it needed two kits worth of thread so I could only do one more if I can be bothered.

Fingers crossed he will fit on his armchair.

Archie 

Margaret Sherry's cover kit

Will he fit?

I also stitched two more cover kit. Piglet was a small one to do, every loves Disney and he does look very happy. My other kit was an RSPCA dog, I'd take him home, he's adorable.

Piglet

RSPCA dog

This year I am doing Stitching the Night Away SAL with the ladies at Needlecraft Haven. It is actually a 2019 SAL so we have the full year's charts already but we are stitching one block per month. February's block was blackwork but I chose a pink variegated thread.

Block 2

My two blocks - I will be finishing them individually
but wanted to stitch them all together

My orts jar is filling up, I can see the threads from my February projects. I have quite a few already planned for March so there should be quite a few more this month too.

Two month's of orts

Finally a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has pledged to stitch a flower for my 'bouquet', thank you too for sharing my request on your own blogs.

Can you help me make a bouquet? - is my previous post about my church tree for this year. If you would like to help please leave a comment on that post or on this one and I will pass on my postal details.

These are the two flowers I have already stitched ... I have sorted the threads for the next ones which I'm hoping to do later in March.

Pansy

Lilly

Thank you for all your well wishes, they really do help especially the days after my chemotherapy treatment. This last time I didn't go out for nine days, five of which I was sofa bound, just about shuffling to the bathroom. But now it's passed I am feeling like myself and managing to walk round town shopping.

It is so so hard to hold on to why the doctors give such an aggressive treatment that makes you feel so ill, especially as there will be eight cycles of it stretching into the summer ..... however last week we had some fantastic news .... my latest scan shows the chemotherapy is working!

My next treatment is the 9th, being honest I do not want to go, more needles and horrid side effects but this time I know it is the right thing to do and things are getting better 🌻

Could you help me make a bouquet?

As you may know I take part in my family's church Tree Festival every Christmas where there are 60 real trees all decorated in various themes. My tree is always full of stitched ornaments, if you haven't seen them before here's the links to a few.

The White Tree

Christmas Trio

Joy to the World

Family Tree

This year I would like to do a floral tree - A Bouquet of Flowers. 

Since my diagnosis I have received so many beautiful flowers which have certainly brought a smile to my face and lifted my spirits. This year I'd like to fill my Christmas tree with flowers ....... and I'm hoping you will help.

Each of my ornaments will be a mini hanging pillow with a flower head for each design, here's two I have stitched but not yet made up.

I have used 28ct but the flowers can be on any fabric with a design size of a maximum 3" x 3".

There is no need to make up the mini pillow, if you stitch on a piece of fabric 6" x 6" and send it to me I will make up all the mini pillows using a variety of backing fabrics and ribbons for hanging making a colourful display.

By sending just the stitched piece it should not be too much postal costs.... I live in the UK so some post will be overseas.

It would be absolutely superb if you would help me make my 'bouquet' - please leave a comment if you would like to help and I will reply with my postal address.

Huge thank you 🌹

Gifted Gorgeousness - February

Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching - on the 15th of every month we post about any item we have either gifted or had gifted or have used that was once gifted. Our posts are linked to Jo's blog so we can see each other's Gifted Gorgeousnesses.

Every year Christine (The Alchymyst's Study) hosts a competition to guess how many finishes she will have, how many books she will read and how many pairs of shoes she will buy during the year.

For 2019 I guessed 74 finishes, 47 books and 11 pairs of shoes. To my amazement I was closest as Christine had 73 finishes, read 41 books and bought 12 pairs of shoes. I had no idea I had won until this beautiful parcel arrived - thank you Christine.

I love this mini pillow 

It's our daughter's birthday on 17th but as that is my next chemotherapy treatment we visited her in Cardiff last weekend. You can read about our time away on my Aimetu's - wine, food and travel blog. 

I tried a new style of decorating for her birthday cake. Inside it is a Victoria Sponge, on top fresh blueberries and raspberries, and round the sides melted sweets (boiled fruit sweets on baking paper in a medium oven for ten minutes). It was yummy and made a refreshing change from chocolate! 

I always stitch something for her, carrying on the cake theme I found a Tatty Ted baking design. I attached it to a tin and added some cake decorating tools inside.

Friday was opening day for Needlecraft Haven's Valentine Exchange which this year has been hosted by Mary. 

This was a non-stitchy exchange which is always fun to do. Our exchange parcels needed to include a pair of socks with the design of hearts or flowers and be pink or red. The parcel also needed to include two skeins of thread to match the socks and a signed card. 

After a false start .... I bought blue socks with butterflies on .... I finally sent Christine this exchange parcel, I did also include some heart shaped napkins and a chocolate heart for stirring in hot milk.

Valentine's Exchange for Christine 

My parcel was from Dusty; it was wrapped in beautiful fabric and ribbon. Inside were two lovely pairs of socks, chocolate and sweets. The card really made me laugh, thank you Dusty.

My parcel and super card

Valentine's Exchange from Dusty

Another lovely month for Gifted Gorgeousness, I wonder what March will bring.