Turtle Trot SAL Update 10

Hello there!!

I dread to think how many blog posts I have to catch up on...feedly says 499+ but I think it's likely to be over 1000, probably way more!

Thank you so much for all your kind comments and warm wishes about our little girl.  She has finally gone to sleep as I sit and have a coffee...usually my coffee goes cold while I give her milk, so I wasn't sure what to do with myself as I had left my book at home.

My apologies that I need to catch up, I'm not sure whether I will read the posts or just clear them and start fresh. As all mums probably know, even with 2 adults there never seems to be time for anything. Any spare moments are spent preparing for the next time the baby needs something or tidying up the bottles left all over the house! Sleeping when the baby sleeps is a myth in our house. She only sleeps during the day when we are pushing her in her buggy for miles and miles. My legs have never been so tired but it's better than listening to the crying when she wants to be walked about.

And therefore, my update this month is that there is no update. Not a single x in any project. But that's ok!  The stitching will still be there when she's not clinging to mum any more and wants to go play by herself, or when I get an offer of a babysitter so I can have a little 'me' time!

Turtle Trot Update 9

Hello!

Thanks so much for all the comments on our little girl.  It's really hard work and we've all got colds at the moment, but we are getting used to each other now and the sleepless nights haven't been tooooo bad!

Since we have backup from my parents today, I've got 5 minutes to do my SAL update... yay! (it may be the last one this year though... stitching time has been non-existent since baby arrived!)

So here's the one I'd been working on during the middle of August.  Not got very far with it, but done a little bit since I fancied a change of project.  Here is the start of Bluebell Lane, a Derwentwater Design:

Hope you are all well!
Until next time!
:)

She's Here!

I know, it's Turtle Trot time, and there will be an update on that coming soon.  But first...

Our little girl arrived a couple of weeks ago, weighing 6lb 7oz (it felt like a LOT more, and the birth part was horrendous).  We are calling her Scarlett.  Here are a couple of the first pictures of her.  She eats non stop and so she's a bit plumper now than in these photos.  Although she looks quite big, she's tiny... the little people who have visited so far were asking if she was a doll!

Parenthood is pretty challenging... we are both shattered!  But she has a wide range of farmyard noises that are keeping us laughing through it all.  We adore her.

A Stitchy Question

Hello all,

I wanted to ask you a question.  I have so so so many cross stitch magazines from the times when I used to have a subscription as a present.  However, in each one there might only be one or two things I'd like to stitch, and most that I'm not sure I'll ever get round to!  I wondered if you guys keep the whole magazine or if you rip out only the designs that you like and recycle the rest?

If you tear out the designs, how do you store them? by category or some other way?

I really don't want to start ripping them up, but there's a nagging voice telling me how much space I'd make if I did this.  Also, being able to go through and see the designs only might encourage me to stitch on them I think...so I wondered what the rest of you stitchy folk do?

Thanks!
Jo

Turtle Trot SAL Update 8

Hello!

I can't believe we are part way through August already! Eeek!

Things are slowing down a bit here for me, I'm sleeping a lot more now we are getting closer to my due date, so although I feel like I've had some time for crafty bits and bobs, most of my effort this month has been concentrated on the same piece... and that is this one which I started last month... Ugly Duckling.

Here's an update piccie:

I'm parking this one now for a bit to make a start on another piece from my SAL list.  Hopefully by this time next month there will be a new distraction in my life (and thank goodness it's cooled down a bit here)!  But until then, I'm off to catch up with a mountain of blog posts!

Bye for now! :)

Turtle Trot SAL Update 7

Hello!

Firstly, thanks to those of you who left comments last month, they were lovely and motivating.

Not only am I posting this one on the right day, I'm pleased to report there has been plenty of stitching this month!

So here's the progress, I have 2 finishes!  The cat and snowman are both complete design wise but I've not decided what I will do with them yet.

Then a new start for me, the Ugly Duckling piece as I fancied the lovely bright yellow in the design and thought it would be fun.

And finally the cottage piece that I've been working on.  A bit frustrated as I've made a mistake but I am struggling to see where the problem is... grrrrr!

Until next time! :)

Turtle Trot SAL Update 6

Like the Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, I'm late again!

But the good news is that I feel like I've made some progress at least this month... woohoo!

I've mainly spent it stitching on a different project in my list for a bit of a change - so I present the Cottage piece, still in progress, but looking a lot better after being shoved in a bag for years and years.

Otherwise, things are progressing well... I've got just over 2 months to go with the pregnancy, the baby is doing heaps of wriggling - little bony bits keep making shapes in my belly - but we aren't quite all sorted and ready for our new arrival yet! I'm grateful that it's cooled down a bit since yesterday as I'm finding it hard to sleep in the heat.

That's all that's happening here really, I'm waddling and a bit awkward and doing lots of resting and stitching whilst I still have the time for it!

Hope you are all well and I shall be catching up with your blogs this week :)

Turtle Trot SAL Update 5

A couple of days late again, I don't know where the weeks are vanishing to. I'm finishing my volunteering at the end of May so I'm hoping that a couple of extra days a week will give me more stitchy time and prep time to get ready and organised for the baby arriving.  Off topic, but we ordered the pram at the weekend and it's arriving this week... eek! first big purchase and it's all getting more real now!

As for the SAL Update... well, the Seashells have hardly progressed - I have put a few stitches in but not much, but the cat is doing well!  Here are the update photos!

Seashells

Cat

A bit of news...

Hello Blog friends!

I thought it was about time to share with you a little bit of news... and that is that I am pregnant :)

Baby is due at the end of August, so I'm just over halfway now.  Apart from the terrible nausea in January, I've been feeling pretty well... a bit tired now I'm getting bigger, but mostly happy, excited and in total denial about that birthing part.

And so, the massive clearout of our little flat beings over this Easter weekend... we are going to have to be quite ruthless I think, but we will both feel much better afterwards.  At least there's a chocolate egg and a yummy doughnut to get me through the weekend.

:-)

New Stash

Hello everyone

As promised, here's a little update with the new stash that I bought at the Creative Stitches show a couple of weeks back.  I'm pleased with myself that I didn't go too mad (frankly, I've got more than enough stuff as it is), but I did manage to pick up these few things:

Random offcuts of fabric - A pack of greys and blacks in a good variety of counts, and a pack of neutrals and browns, again some tiny but mostly large varied count pieces.  At £4 each, I grabbed them!

A selection of cards from The Nutmeg Company.  I can't describe how much I love these cards.  Whichever show I go to, I always seek them out and make sure I pick up something from them because they are so different and people always love the cards I have made from this range.

Something a bit different for me - these are cards made with different pieces of fabric, and stitched like quilted pieces.  I spotted them as something which was a bit more unusual and thought I'd pick up a couple of simple looking ones and give it a try.  They also had a wide range of books on the subject for people who wanted to take things further.  I've not seen this sort of thing at shows before but I thought it looked beautifully effective.  There's not huge amounts of info in the kits, but these were designed by Sally Holman, Priory Farm.

And that was it really! I did also do a workshop with the Royal School of Needlework, but that piece isn't yet finished so I will save it for another time.

TTFN!

Turtle Trot Update 4

Hello everyone,

Firstly, thanks for the comments that some of you left on my last post - my apologies that I didn't get to reply, but thank you!

I'm still plodding along with the Turtle Trot, which is somewhat slowed down by trying to work on projects for book reviews for the Significant Seams blog...too many projects, not enough time!

However, it being a bit more summery, I decided to pull out the seashells again (which I am hating, I think it's the stiff fabric and the too small needle) and to do a bit more on the cat whilst I've been sitting at home or on the tube.  So, here are my updates for those!

More posting in the next few days about the things I picked up at the Creative Stitches and Hobbycrafts show just over a week ago.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Jo

Longer Days and Stitching Shows

It's so much nicer for there to be more daylight time now - I'm hoping to get lots of stitching done this summer.  However, I seem to be also trying lots of other different things out - I've had another go at knitting, although I really can't get on with it, but I wanted to try again.  Last week in our evening knit and stitch group, I had a go at needle felting for the first time which was brilliant until I stabbed myself in the finger, and I'm planning to have a go at crochet, which I've never tried, and see how I feel about that.

Next weekend, a friend and I are due to visit the Creative Stitches show at Excel London.  I'm not too sure what to expect, I believe it's going to be a bit different from the show I usually go to at Ally Pally in October.  We managed to get 2 tickets for £8, so even if it's more feature based than shopping, I think it's still worth checking out.  Hopefully I'll report back to you all after next weekend!

Have a great week everyone!

Springtime

I'm so pleased that spring is here.  London has been lovely and mild the last week or so, and we've had a couple of glorious days over the weekends with the beautiful sunshine.  We managed to try out the Emirates Cable Car which runs from Royal Victoria to North Greenwich, and although I don't like heights so much, we had such a beautiful view over the Docklands that I'd definitely recommend it!

At the moment I'm fighting an absolutely stonking cold, so I hope that will clear up soon as I'm not sure I can spend another day in bed coughing the whole time.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get some fresh air and lots of fruit and veg and fluids as I catch up on some of the TV I've recorded and not got round to watching.  I hope I can get back to the stitching soon!

Turtle Trot SAL Update 3

Only a day late and I am pleased to say that I've made a little progress, hooray!

Still just working on the two pieces so far but hope to start on another next month :)

Turtle Trot SAL Update 2

Oh deary me.  I have failed miserably to put a single stitch into any of my SAL projects in the last month.  There has been too much going on with putting together the Valentines window display for the shop.

Hopefully I'll make some progress this month!

Paine Free SAL Update 1

Not too much to say about this one... I am enjoying it but haven't got too far yet.

Here's the link to the chart: http://www.painefreecrafts.com/cross-stitch-charts/55-tea-ceremony-snipz-esmira.html

And here's my first update:

Tea Ceremony Update 1

Not a good start... Turtle Trot SAL January Update

Oh deary me.

I'm not sure what happened.  One minute Christmas was miles away and I signed up for a couple of SALs thinking it would be fine and straightforward.  The next, Xmas and New Year have been and gone, I'm back in the middle of things at Significant Seams and my husband went on a work trip so I went to stay with my parents.  While I'm on the train I realise I've not done the update so I snap a couple of pictures actually on the 10th so I can record my accurate progress to post as soon as I can.  And then I come back from visiting my family feeling rubbish and put off posting until I can face turning on the big computer.

So here we are today.  Although the post is late, the photos are actually from the right time - i.e. the 10th Jan.

I've only worked on a couple of my pieces between December and January.  There was way too much sightseeing with the husband so I barely picked up my stitching as my eyes were so tired by the end of every day!

Cat Update 1
So much unpicking and restitching...grrrr!

Snowman Update 1
Coming along nicely!

Happy New Year!

I'm a bit late with this, I know... but the good thing is that I've had a nice break and spent some much needed quality time with the Hubby.  We have been out and about doing lots of fun things, which I'll tell you all about when I've grabbed the photos from my camera in the next few days or so.

But for now, I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year and to say thank you again for following my little blog - I really do appreciate all of you who take the time to come and read and leave comments.  I'm pretty backed up on the blog reading with over 800 posts to go and look at, but I am going to make a start right now :)

Hope 2014 brings you all that you wish for!
Jo