Valentine´s Day

Hi and good morning stitching friends.  A very happy Valentine´s Day to you all.

Having a DH with half a gram or less of romanticism in his make up, I just popped outside to gather and rescue some pretty yellow freesias battling against the wind of yet another dark rainy day and so treat myself to their beauty and delightful fragrance.

This week I have made myself a new ipad cover,

using a little unknown cross stitch design I found on the Internet and odds and ends from my stash,

I added some lace and trim, sequins and beads and lined the cover with some soft red velvet.

I still like my cover with the cats made years ago but it is now rather worn and difficult to wash

and having said that, this new one looks like it might be difficult to wash also.

Linking this post to Supermom no cape stitchery party.

Thank you for stopping by and looking.  I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Sheryl

Smalls SAL - January

Good morning blogging friends,  Today is the first check in of the year for the Smalls SAL hosted by Heather at Stitching Lotus.  If you would like to find out more about this group which you can join at anytime during the year, just click on my sidebar button.

At the beginning of the month I joined the Round in Circles Hardanger SAL hosted by Mabel Figworthy ...another button on my sidebar .... and this is the first little design.

The pattern was stitched on 28ct. evenweave fabric with white perlé #12 and #8 and as this was the very first design, we just did Kloster blocks, eyelets, satin stitch and star stitch.

  I wasn´t sure what to make the design into but thinking that Valentine´s Day is soon, a heart ornament might come in handy as a gift.

Thank you to all who commented on my last post with the blurry photos which I will try to improve but I am curious to know how other bloggers post photos to their blogs as I have had quite a few problems with the clarity of photos when downloaded from computer files.  Any advice?

  See you next week.

Sheryl                                              

Box of Delights

Hello blogging friends,  I have been having problems downloading photos as they result blurry, sorry about this, I will try and get the problem sorted out when I see my technician next week.

 I at last had time to frame the blackwork design `Box of Delights¨ by Elizabeth Almond.

There are lots of different small patterns to embroider, so you can choose the ones you like best and the number you want to stitch depending on what your finished project is.

I wanted to cover a small tray I had bought at a local thrift shop some time ago because I didn´t like the hunting picture depicted and for my `Box of Delights´ I chose blues and purples to match some tiles in my kitchen.

Starting before Christmas, in a hurry as always, I miscalculated the number of rows needed to fit the tray and had to unstitch one vertical border of stitches and add on another row of patterns.

I had a piece of glass cut to fit the tray and cover my embroidery.

I enjoyed doing this embroidery and like the end result although I should have done the surrounding embroidered edge in a dark colour but not black which I think too heavy for the colours I chose..........
 more blurry photos.............

Hope all our American friends keep safe and sound during the worrying blizzard warning announced for this weekend.    Until next week.

Sheryl

End of 2015 Stitching

Hi everyone and a very Happy New Year to you all.  I should have done this post days ago to complete my stitching for 2015 and include any one of these following small patterns as part of the December Smalls SAL.........but somehow the time just disappeared and I woke up to find that we are now in January.

I expect everyone has seen on various blogs these past weeks this free design of the Twelve Days of Christmas offered by Paulette Stewart at the The Plum Street Samplers and which I decided to stitch as a table runner.

I chose these DMC colours and had to use 40ct linen as my local shop didn´t have a lot of choice and no 28 or 32 ct.  I started out OK but...

With several designs stitched, I realised I didn´t like the colours, but there was no turning back and I did find a pretty trim that I thought might help me like the work more.

With a strip of fabric added between patterns and the trim sewn in place, I started to like the table runner a bit more.

and with a rush, I managed to finish it in time for Christmas but still not happy with the colours and as nobody seemed to notice  or comment on it at home, I think this table runner will be put away indefinitely.

Thanks for passing by, always grateful for your visit and comments.  until next week.

Sheryl

Happy Christmas giveaway

Hello everyone,  I didn´t hold a giveaway for my blogaversary last month, so in appreciation of those who take the time to visit and leave a comment I thought I would say  thank you by celebrating a surprise Xmas giveaway.

All the comments made on my blog posts during this month of  December and up until yesterday entered in the giveaway. And what am I giving away?  well the four little mug rugs with a red crochet edging seen on my last post.

I numbered the entries in their order of publication (so starting from the 8th Dec) and the winner, chosen by Mr. Random Number Generator is

.......... Number 9,  Carol from Stitching Dreams.  Congratulations Carol. I will be in touch with you requesting your mailing address.

I also promised to show in more detail my crochet tea candle holders which are very easy to make and I think make a nice decorative detail.

The pattern is of a snowflake and therefore I started making a couple in white but then added a couple more in red.  The tutorial can be found here in two parts and although it maybe isn´t in your own language, you can follow the lady easily as she makes the snowflake very slowly and clearly.

I ordered some battery tea candles from Ebay as we can´t get them here and of course they are much safer than normal candles.

My last photo says it all.  May you spend a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.

Sheryl

Advent Calendar Blog Hop

Hello friends and visitors.  Welcome to Day 17 of the Advent Calendar Blog Hop hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  Jo asks us to show some Christmas stitching and to describe our Christmas Eve.

I have stitched quite a few gifts this Xmas and started with this skinny legged Father Christmas which I made into a bell pull.

I found the design on the Internet here and then made a few placemats.

and then with crochet hook in hand, added an edging to these Christmas mug rugs or maybe champagne rugs!

and then made a few red tea candle holders which I will show in more detail next week.

My Christmas Eve, here in Spain, is spent mainly in the kitchen because the 24th December is when families gather for a long and large evening meal instead of that of Christmas Day.

I usually prepare a typical English meal of roast turkey and all the trimmings but also have to include the traditional Spanish (DH) fare of a delicious seafood soup which is coveted by all and sundry but which takes forever to make and then roast lamb.  This year I have got clever and shall order the Spanish menu from a local restaurant and so halve my work load and be able to greet and enjoy my family when they arrive instead of being banished to the kitchen amongst the pots and pans.

On arrival the grandkids lose all appetite when they see that Santa Claus has once again remembered that nana is English and therefore has left gifts under the Xmas tree and so they don´t have to wait  until Kings day on the 6th Jaunuary when the three kings deliver gifts to the Spanish.
At nine o´clock we listen to the King of Spain´s Christmas message and then dine.

After our supper the gifts are opened and all chaos let loose for the rest of evening while adults chat and watch television.

I do hope you are all enjoying this Advent hop and wherever you live, will spend a very enjoyable Christmas Eve.  I will leave you with a typical Spanish Christmas carol.

Until next week.

Sheryl

Gift bags

Hello everyone, Just popping in quickly today with some photos of a few small bags that I made at the weekend.

Due to our horrible wet weather, on Sunday I decided to try and finish some Christmas sewing so to be able to concentrate on getting decorations put up and important shopping done this week.  Hate leaving everything to the last minute when the shops are packed.

I found some sparkly fabric that I think was part of a child´s fancy dress in bygone times and decided to add a bit of lace and ribbon to sew up a couple of small bags for I don´t know what, but that always come in handy.

I made two different types although I like the drawstring fastening best.  Have loads more of the fabric left for other projects.  As they are neutral colours, I am linking this post to Wendy´s Simply Neutrals.

Twelve Days of  Christmas update.

I am still busy with this free design by Paulette Stewart, we are now up to the Tenth Day and I have started sewing the surround as it is going to be finished in a rush if I want it done for Christmas.

So many lovely Christmas things that fellow bloggers are making, I am taking note of designs to do next year.

  Thank you for passing by.  Hope you will visit again next week on the 17th when I am taking part in the Advent Calendar blog hop organised by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching,  Good idea to pop over and see what the other participants are doing.

Sheryl