Tuesday Stitching

Or more appropriately - lack of sewing!
It was my turn to host the group yesterday ~ I should have made lemonade scones but the good intentions fell by the wayside and it was good old M&S biccies instead.  I think perhaps I should make them to take when someone else is hosting and I'm not trying to do several other things simultaneously. 
We were 3 members down ~ 1 holidaying, 1 poorly and 1 overrun with work ~ hopefully the latter two will get back into the swing when they are feeling better/less stressed.  We did have an interloper ~ the lovely C joined us.
It was time to draw our names for who we will be stitching for this Christmas ~ the first time we have managed to draw on the first shot, we usually have to re-start due to someone picking their own name!  I am very happy to be stitching for my partner, not that I wouldn't be for any of the ladies ~ some are just easier to match with projects.
I would like to say a huge thank you to all those who have left comments on my last post regarding Grace ~ whilst I have not yet decided I have certainly been given some food for thought.  You are all very kind and I truly appreciate that you have taken the time to pass on suggestions.
Tomorrow I have a day off work and the lovely C and I are off to the Pins & Needles show at the Arena, we're also booked in to do this workshop with Carol from Just Quilting.  I'm quite looking forward to it, I just need to make a list tonight of things I "need".
Happy Wednesday.

Kate

Oh Blogger!

I have a dilemma ~ Grace the lovely Sampler Lady has a mis-placed title!

Can you see that "Needleworker" is set to the left?  I'm not happy about it ~ but my dilemma is whether or not to unpick?
I know that I should as it's glaring however unpicking 1/1 is a w ee bit scary!
She's been like this since Wednesday and I am no further forward in my decision making.
In less depressing news I have laundry blowing on the line ~ one of my most favourite things!
LM has gone off on a run with the TVR Car Club down to Masham ~ I decided that my jobs should take priority over joining him today ~ lots of laundry/shopping/HW to do and I would like to start a new week all up to date.
The week ahead has much in store:
Tuesday Sitching Group at our house ~ we will be making the draw to find out who our Christmas partners are ~ have I bitten off more than I can chew in attempting to organise this!
LM is off to Stratford for business ~ I wish I could go with him.
I have my next hair appointment.
A trip to Pins & Needles, and hopefully
a decision on the dilemma!
Have a great week.

Kate

Teeny Snips

Take a look at these ~ Teresa's holding a giveaway which includes the cutest thread snips I've ever seen:
How sweet are they?

Kate

Look what arrived at my house!

I found it when I called home briefly after work yesterday before meeting friends for dinner ~ I knew what it was but still had to open the envelope to check.
It's absolutely beautiful, filled with gorgeous projects ~  not one that I don't like ~ how can I resist making a start on something!
Thanks to Sally for the advice on where to order ~ She pointed me in the direction of Anita's Little Stitches and what fabulous service.  Ordered Thursday last week and arrived yesterday.

Dinner was a chance to catch up with some old work colleagues, unfortunately one could not make it.  We had a lovely meal at Zizzi's in the Metro Centre, it was great to catch up on their news.  We all worked for the same company a couple of years ago.  It has been refreshing to hear that they, like me, feel that even though we are in temporary contracts it has been a very uplifting experience to break free of employment that was a bit oppressive.

We have plans for the weekend ~ LM and I are going to the Living North Live tomorrow, we've been to the Living North Christmas Fair for several years now but this will be our first visit to the Spring Fair and we're looking forward to it. GB1 and a friend are off to see the X Factor Live Tour at the Newcastle Arena ~ excited just doesn't come into it!  GB2 will no doubt just be doing the teenage thing!
LM also has a TVR Car Club run on Sunday ~ I'm not sure if I will be going yet as I have a wee backlog of housey jobs that I would like to clear before the start of next week.

I shall leave you with a picture if our goldfinches feeding on the thistle seed ~ aren't they gorgeous.  Only managed to catch three of them this time, we can have up to eight at times.  There was also a blue tit who was obviously camera shy as he's gone!  Not sure if the lovely spring weather we have had is going to hold out for the weekend ~ I hope so.  Enjoy your weekend!

Kate

Catch Up

Last week was my first week back to full time work and it passed very quickly.  The office is very quiet and the pace of work extremely sedate ~ quite a change from most of the other places I have worked!  This is not a complaint ~ I'm just pleasantly surprised that work can be completed within contracted hours!

It was our EG meeting on Saturday and there was a good turnout, the guest speaker told us about her life of collecting and the inspiration that brought to her work.  She brought with her a whole host of collectibles and some of her hand stitched/made items that were inspired by them. 

There was much action around the sale table due to the batches of upholstery/curtain fabric samples that were for sale.  I bought a couple of batches ~ not entirely sure where I will use them however one idea is for a covered journal/notebook ~ just don't hold your breath!  This is one of them ~ the other one is very similar but brown/cream mixes. 

I have done very little stitching over the weekend just a wee bit on my Sampler Lady.  There is plenty of planning going on at the moment and hopefully I should have some finishes to show very soon.  One will be the pincushion I completed for an exchange on The Friendly Stitchers group ~ need to wait for this to arrive with my partner first.

Tuesday stitching group was a very merry place to be last night ~ it wasn't a full compliment but we did have a lovely evening with plenty of friendly ribbing going on.   Unfortunately I did a little too much chatting which lead to mis-placed stitches that had to be reversed and then my thread did a major knotty-thing ~ so I put my stitching down.  Concentrating instead on consuming homemade cheese scones made by our lovely host ~ I could get a gold star for cheese scone eating!

I took Buzz to show off, this is the final item to be completed from a class that the lovely C and I recently attended at The Crafts House - Isn't he cute?
You can see the other items I made here.
He was made using fabric yoyos, the wings are layered with wadding and he has a stinger made with bungle bugle beads. 


LM has been to the North West today for a meeting and has more travel on the horizon during the next couple of weeks.  GB1 has completed his first two shifts at work and is now eagerly awaiting the tinkle of coinage into his bank account ~ or in other words payday!  GB2 is being laid back as per usual ~ he's a bit like Dylan from The Magic Roundabout.  I find this a little worrying at times ~ like today when he has a mock GCSE exam!

I have more pictures to share but I shall leave them until another day ~ off to do a bit of blog/group reading before bed.

Kate

Look who came to dinner

We are fortunate where we live in that we get visits from lots of lovely birds ~ at times the visitors are less glamorous than this guy.
Isn't he gorgeous?
We haven't seen him for a very lomg time and a couple of weeks ago he returned ~ as bright and beautiful as ever.  He even brought his lady friend with him.

Don't they make a lovely couple.
Please excuse the state of our shed - we're hoping that we will have warmer, drier weather this spring/summer and be able to complete all the overdue garden maintenance. 
And a quick update on Grace ~ My Sampler Lady ~ I was able to work on her at stitching group on Tuesday. 

I finished the border and added linen & pins ~ she looks a little more at home now.
It's been a little bit non-stop this week ~ I'm pleased that Friday has arrived!  LM has business in North Yorkshire today, I would have gone with him had I still been part-time.
I have my Embroiderer's Guild monthly meeting tomorrow which I'm looking forward to.

Happy weekend!

Kate

PMM!

Or in other words ~ Proud Mummy Moment!
The wonderfully talented GB1 had his first ever interview on Monday, his first ever trial shift on Tuesday and now has his first ever job!  Oh goodness ~ where did my baby go?
I am soooo proud of him ~ he went out several times armed with CV's and enquired in many and varied outlets in the Metro Centre looking for part time work and his perseverance has paid off. 
Work officially starts Saturday.
WELL DONE GB1 ~ Love Mum x

New Start.....

...unfortunately not a stitching one!
My temporary assignment finished on Friday so I have to say goodbye to my lovely 3 day working week!  However, it's hello to a new assignment as of 9am this morning - back to full time working - will I cope?
Have a great week.

Kate

Artistic Friday

Friday lunchtime I set off for The Crafts House to submit myself to the process of being artistic ~ please remember there are degrees of artistic! 
The lovely C and I were booked onto a Spring themed class to make 3 things in 3 hours.  We always have the best time with Sandra, there's no pressure, the banter is great, quite often side splitting and the "refreshments" are out of this world homemade goodies ~ Friday we had lovely scones and yummy carrot cake.

First project was to make a bunny ~ we dressed her using papers then added paint for her arms, legs and face.  Finally she has a fabric bow in her hair and a button to adorn her dress.  She is then fixed to the lid of a jar ~ I think mine will be used for holding some of my stitching charms.


Next we made a bumble bee from fabric yo-yos ~ mine still requires the assembly to be completed so no picture just yet.


 Finally came the cutest little bunny peeking out of a watering can ~ there was a choice for finishing the bunny, you could either use papers in the same way as the first project or you could use paint.  Mine is painted a lovely green with added polka dots.  A wire hanger with beads strung and a dangling heart add the finishing touches.


We had another wonderful afternoon - thanks Sandra! 
Our Tuesday stitching group have another painting session booked with Sandra in mid April which I am really looking forward to.  If you're in the North East, or just visiting I can't recommend The Crafts House enough ~ it's always worth a visit.

Kate

Sampler Lady Update

Here she is ~ her bobbin pedastal is now complete and the flowers are growing.  I think I shall call her Grace. 
Not many stitches added yesterday as secret projects with deadlines were top of the list. Both are now stitched and the first one should be hitting the mail early next week. 


Goodnight.

Kate

Road Trip!

Well day trip really ~ I decided that a trip out somewhere with my lovely friend C was in order as shortly I will be returning to working full time and won't have the opportunity for weekday jaunts. We didn't want to go too far and decided that driving range should be about an hour from home ~ this gives quite a few options, we could go west to Carlisle/Penrith, North to Jedburgh/Berwick, east is not an option as we're practically at the coast! We settled for south and having looked up the places in North Yorkshire with market days Ripon became the destination of choice. Picture from Google Images.

Thursday morning was bright and sunny but very cold, there were a couple of issues on the journey ~ a sat nav that peeled itself off the windscreen ~ note to self, must clean car!, and the horrid roadworks on the A1.

As we were looking for parking we spotted a couple of "must" go into shops ~ and we did!  Castle Furniture Store, a huge shop with furniture of all shapes, sizes and colour and also lots and lots of giftware, clocks, plaques, planters etc.  We spent ages here drooling over many many things ~ eventually I bought this ~ a present for my LM as it's his favourite.

I did have a photograph of the lid showing it's legend "Bee Happy" but it was very out of focus!

C bought a little plaque for her daughter.

We wandered around the market ~ did I mention that it was very cold? ~ Lovely plants & flowers, wool, fabric, foodstuffs and this fabulous little coffee boot!

What a great use for a wee Smart car!
This, by the way, is the only photograph I took on the day ~ I carried the camera around but it really was too cold to contemplate stopping still for too long!
We lunched at a warmer coffee shop - did I mention that it was cold?

Just off the Market Square was Abode - another shop filled with yummy goodness, pillows, vases, candles, spice jars, hearts in different styles and colours and lots besides ~ more drooling!

And over the road was The Curiosity Shop or it might have been The Curious Shop ~ lots of antique bits and pieces and they had a lovely "make do and mend" window display with lots of vintage knitting/crochet/quilting and sewing patterns, cards of darning wool, a clothing ration book etc.  Having always wanted to own some vintage thread bobbins I bought these.

Also of note was The March Hare Gallery on Duck Hill ~ what a fabulous address!  Full of artwork, pottery, handmade cards etc.
We managed, eventually, to find Barnyarns and got in just before closing to have a look at what they had to offer.
All in all a lovely day and definately a place I would return to quite happily.
It's stitching group for me tonight - I have a small amount of stitching to complete on one of my exchanges and then I shall be working on The Sampler Lady.  Picture post to follow later in the week.

Finally, take a look at Irina'a Blog aside from all the lovely work Irina is currently running a fantastic giveaway.

Chin up, we're almost halfway through the week!

Kate

ORT to have shown this before now!

Here's a picture of my ORT's for my unofficial TUSAL - this should have been shown 4 March but I forgot!

February's offerings - the small glass bowl was a charity shop find.

Year to date - Can you see the colour change from the previous month?
I've put the combined months into one of those Christmas baubles that can be used for display.  I think I may need to find a larger receptacle!

Kate

Sunday Sunday

Saturday was a busy day ~ GB1 was at a Forensics Masterclass at Northumbria University as part of the Gifted and Talented Scheme run in schools.  While he was there we had the opportunity to attend an open event run for parents to get an insight into what to expect when he goes to University.  How to get information on courses/funding/accommodation etc, tips on useful websites and they also did a Q & A session at the end.  Although GB1 has absolutely no intention of going to a local university ~ too close to the olds for his liking! ~ it was useful.  We will attend open days at the places he decides he would like to study at closer to the time.

We popped to a local garden centre, bought more bird feed, had lunch there too, followed by a trip to the coast ~ to see the sea!  I love the sea, well any water really and it didn't disapoint ~ the sun was shining, the sky was a lovely pale blue and the waves were rolling in.  It always brings peace to my soul.  Note to self ~ remember to take the camera out with you!

Today I'm hoping for a calm and peaceful day ~ I do have chores but they will be interspersed with stitching and a little stash sorting too.

Enjoy your day.

Kate 

A New Month & New Treasure

As promised here are some pictures of the book I found on the sale table at our last EG meeting.

The front cover

This is the back cover - I love the stylised DMC motif

Model pictures ~ my favourite is Mod 6

More model pictures ~ I particularly like the edging on the right

and finally some stitch diagrams.

I'm not sure that there will be any practical application from owning this particular book ~ aside from the fact that my capabilities with the french language would have to be considerably improved ~ it's just lovely to pick up and look at from time to time.  At some point all the items on the EG sales table have been treasured by their previous owners ~ I am happy to be the new owner of this little treasure. 

Have you recited your white rabbits for the 1st of the month?

Kate