Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

Look forward to seeing which you buy Nicola. I couldn't get on with the otter after all, my heart didn't see to be in it, but am saving Aida & threads. I have a cottage chart which I can stitch on the Aida. It is 16 count & the cottage kit uses 16 but I have the chart so did not need to buy the kit.

Charity bag not collected Friday, they're coming on Monday, so went through few more bits & pieces & have another bag for them. Had a few bits & pieces tucked away which I'd forgotten about I keep the stitchy stuff though.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone

Hi Izzi! That's a pity about the otter but there's no point forcing yourself to stitch something you're not enjoying as then you get no pleasure out of it do you? I'm toying with the idea of getting 16ct aida and not 14ct. The mallard is on 14ct and in my big 12 inch round hoop but I think if I go for the 16ct for the other designs I will have enough space round the outsides for framing. Should have thought about that before I started the duck Looking forward to seeing your cottage design. I'm very lucky in that I have all basic DMC colours in two boxes so if I run out of certain ones I can buy them cheaply online to replenish my stock.

I'm currently at my friend, Andy's, house, and alas, Mr Marty Mallard is just too big to take on the train with me so I brought a Mary Hickmott design piece with me that I started a while ago. It's a lovely Brimstone butterfly design with flowers. There are two butterflies in it but have only done the one so far. I'm using an Elbesee easy frame for it but sideways so it fits

Take care everyone and enjoy your Saturday xxx

Ooohh, that's pretty Nicola. A good idea to use the frame sideways I've got some Elbesee frames as well as those with fabric strips. Bought them from charity shops over the years. Did the cottages on the large Elbesee, hadn't used one for long time as been doing smaller things & used hoops. Have got a hoop out for the kitten project.

Hope you had a lovely time at your friend's.

beautiful!!

I've just finished my afternoon shift at work and had my tea. Time to relax for a couple of hours before bed. I did a little cross stitch this morning for an hour or so. Managed to get Marty Mallard's left foot done but not the backstitch. I will pop up a photo at some point possibly tomorrow. Really need to focus on getting some stitching done every day (even if only for an hour or two) this way I will get him finished for my Mum and can start on either the Brown Hare or Red Squirrel xxx

Hi everyone! I'm off today and tomorrow so hope to get a lot more done of my Mallard. Finished the right foot on Tuesday night. My friend, Andy, is coming down to deliver plants for all my work colleagues & family who've ordered from him. I will help him deliver them to peoples houses. So planting my new plants will be a job for late afternoon/early evening. Enjoy your day whatever you're up to! xxx

Hi everyone, what a great idea to start a chat thread Nicola, I love your stitch projects so I had a look at Bothy Threads and I bought Amongst the Foxgloves recently, not sure when I'll start it but I will post pics.

Today I'm headed out for a reflexology session, its free for me too because I am supporting my mother in law through her cancer treatment, we have a wonderful clinic nearby called Penny Brohn its a charity giving free treatments and support for those with cancer and their families.
I am not working now probably until the start of next year, my first op of two for my hips is about six weeks time so I have a lot of time at the moment but I'm not stitching anymore than I would if I were working and I need to remedy that!

I hope everyone has a lovely day

Hi Lulu! I hope you enjoy doing the fox cross stitch when you start it! I'm so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law having cancer. I hope you have a good reflexology session today. Take care xxx

I'm sorry to hear about your mother in-law as well Lulu. Enjoy your therapy session, people like you deserve to get help when you look after a sick person.

Hope to see the foxglove on here soon. I've looked at a few of them but not succumbed to buying one yet. May do when I see yours though

Hope you get more of your mallard done Nicola.

Been out & one way home dropped into local plant place & bought 2 bright red begonias, constant flowering ones. Not heard of those before.

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone.

After several busy weekends I'm hoping to have a fair amount of time off this coming weekend so will tryto finally finally finish my goldwork Jacobean flower!

Unfortunately there are also weeds to be exterminated and a bag of bulbs to be planted....

Good morning all! Just been doing some more of the Mallard. Have done the little backstitch feathers and the backstitch on his belly. I've had to move the feather above his right wing a few stitches to the right to where it should be on the design (purely for framing purposes). Will post another photo once I've done a bit more. I have work this afternoon but I hope you all enjoy your Monday and for those off for the Bank Holiday Monday hope you've had a lovely weekend xxx

Whew! It's good to be back, but I did enjoy my sister's visit -- it meant lots of garden and stitching time, but less lurking here. I know I should be cleaning up the house (did NOTHING for a month! way-hay!), but really only feel like sitting outside on the bench with a . Perhaps I'll take the thread and cardboard outside that I need to make a tassle, so I look busy...?

Welcome back Why should you have to look busy? Just relax and pick up your stitching when you feel like it!

Nothing nicer than sitting sorting out your threads for a new project! Halfway through but oh look at all the lovely colours! (I had to start again as I somehow managed to miss out the number 6 on the card )

P.S. Great to hear from you Serinde! Glad you've had a lovely time with your sister xxx

I quite agree Nicola there's a good feeling when gathering supplies and sorting them out for a new project, I'm looking forward to seeing your lower bookmarks

Serinde I'm glad you had a lovely time with your sister and as for the housework well it'll still be there tomorrow that's what I tell myself anyway

I have officially decided that I will honour my sister's visit by continuing her determination to expand working time in the garden on good days. It's astonishing how much we got done, simply because there was another person there to say, 'oh, come on, another five minutes'. Since the forecast is for rain all day on Monday, I will start the tidying process then. (That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.)

Enjoy your time in the garden Serinde!

I'm staying at my friend Andy's this weekend (I help him sell his plants on Sunday mornings at Stonehaven car boot sale) and I've started my first flower bookmark. Not done enough to warrant a photo being posted but I love the designs and the colours. The other good news is that in two weeks time I've asked him if we can have a day trip up to Banchory (over the Grampians via the Cairn o' Mount it takes just under an hour to get there and I love Royal Deeside) and Banchory has one of the best craft shops in Scotland called Meg's Attic! So I will definitely be having a nosey in there and maybe get some supplies!

http://www.megsattic.co.uk/" target="_blank

Ha, well. Thunderstorms, would you believe? Pretty rare in this neck of the woods, I'll tell you. It came through THREE times for good measure. Luckily no hail or harm done. And now it has stopped just as the Beer Festival begins.

Meg's attic looks good! And I'm sure the bookmark will turn up on the "smalls" thread?

Serinde wrote:Meg's attic looks good! And I'm sure the bookmark will turn up on the "smalls" thread?

Oh absolutely! I'm doing them inbetween my Wrendale projects as an on and off thing so they probably won't be finished for a while. I've never stitched bookmarks before so I'm learning as I go!

Just went through my two boxes of DMC threads and wrote a small list of the ones I'm needing to stock up on. Will get an extra red in case I do anything Christmassy. As I said in an above post I will be visiting an absolutely superb craft shop in Banchory called Meg's Attic next weekend so don't know whether to wait and get my threads there or buy them online. Will make note of prices and see what theirs is when I get there. Itching for more 14 count white aida but I may get that there too just need to be patient