Easter Treasure Hunt

 Hello, and welcome if you have hopped by here on the Easter Treasure Hunt. For a full list of participating blogs please visit Jo at Serendipitous Stitching

Here is my Easter themed stitching. This little cutie is a free design from Durene Jones' Facebook page

The letter you need for your Treasure Hunt is:-

And the next stop is:-

Elfin Stitches

Gifted Gorgeousness March

 Well that came around fast! It is time for the March edition of Gifted Gorgeousness, the monthly blog hop where we show off our gift related crafting. For a full explanation see Jo's blog

Just the one thing to show this month. This little pillow I stitched for Barb for her birthday

The design is free one from Kincavel Krosses though I swapped in my own colours. The little rosette decoration is just a length of the ricrac gathered and rolled.

February Gifted Gorgeousness

 Running a little late with my GG post this month. 

If you aren't familiar with GG pop on over to Jo's blog for a full explanation, but in a nutshell it is a monthly show and tell of gift related crafting.

So what do I have to show this month? 

I took part in a Valentine's Exchange on Needlecraft Haven. This is the beautiful card and stitched pillow I received from Mary

I sent to Clare but I forgot to get a photograph before I posted it so you'll need to check out Clare's blog to see it

I also made this shirt for David this month

Check out the little Kylie and the Machine label I tucked under the pocket

 

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

 Hello and welcome to the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop organised by Jo. Pop over to her blog at Serendipitous Stitching to see a list of all the blogs taking part.

Here is the Secret Stitching I was sent. 

Isn't it lovely? So delicate and pretty, I wonder who stitched it

I'm off now to see who got the one I stitched

New Year - New Gifted Gorgeousness

 The first Gifted Gorgeousness of 2021. And also my first post since the last GG of 2020. Whoops.

For more details of Gifted Gorgeousness please see Jo's blog here

So many gifts to show this time around as both my Birthday and Christmas have fallen in the last month.

For my Birthday I received some wonderful gifts, including these wonderful hand knitted gloves from Julie and  a set of really useful bookmarkers from Clare. (I don't know why it's flipped this photo over, you'll just have to lean your heads!)

and my friend made me this stunning runner

At Christmas I was just as lucky receiving these amazing goodies from lovely stitching friends 

Clockwise from the top - chocolate  and star shaped ornament from Julie, square ornament from Mary, stitched coaster from Clare and bundle of sparkly fat quarters from Karan

And this fabulous book from Barb

My daughters bought me this funky sewing themed fabric and rainbow sewing shears

As well as the usual geeky haul

a Marvel Heroes "Pin-up Boys" calendar, a "Sexy Jean-Luc" mouse mat, and a cat's backsides colouring book!

I was also lucky enough to win a pre-Christmas Instagram giveaway and recieved these two wonderful prints 

The "Wonderful" poster is from Pengelly Art, and the awesome "Penguin in a Jumper" Lino Print is from Liquorice Lino

I kind of dropped the ball with the gifts I made for people, and completely forgot to get pictures of most of them. I made quite a few roll up "tool pouches" for friends and family, some with sewing accessories and some with make up brushes. I didn't photograph them all, but here are the two I made for my girls.

I made a set of table mats for my Sister and Brother-in-law. I forgot to photograph them too, but she sent me this picture to show that her cat approves

Well that about wraps it up for the GG part of the post. The other thing is my annual Finishes/Reads/Shoes tally. It was a bit skewed for last year as you might imagine, but the final total was 95 finishes, 37 books and one pair of shoes. Nobody guessed anything like that (not surprising) but Julie was closest to the number of finishes (she guessed 104) so I'll pop a little prize in the post at some point. I've re-set the counter, so feel free to have a guess for 2021.

The Last Gifted Gorgeousness of The Year

 Hi and welcome to December's Gifted Gorgeousness post. See Jo's blog here for full details, but essentially Gifted Gorgeousness is a monthly chance to show off anything we can shoehorn into the category of "gifts".

As is usual in December a lot of what I've been making I can't really show yet, but I can show you the ornaments I sent and received in the Needlecraft Haven Ornament Exchange

Here is the ornament I sent to Julie

And here is the truly beautiful Christmas tree ornament that Clare sent to me

Also I made me and the girls matching Christmas t-shirts, because we aren't too old for that right?

Online Advent Calendar Day 6

 Hello and welcome to day 6 of the 2020 online Advent Calendar as hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching

I haven't really done a lot of specifically Christmas crafting this year, but here is a picture of this year's Christmas door wreath, made using foliage from our garden, which sort of counts (as always, please refrain from observing that the door needs painting).

And here is a Christmas table runner I made last year, and which miraculously remained unstained enough to use again this year

The discussion topic for this year's Advent calendar is your favourite book for this time of year. Although I read voraciously I don't really have any particular seasonal favourites so I thought I'd mention a couple
of the books that the girls used to love when they were small

Mog's Christmas by Judith Kerr has Mog the forgetful cat, at first upset and confused by all the busyness of Christmas (she is particularly alarmed by a tree walking around), but eventually everything calms down ("the tree had stopped walking about and made itself all pretty")

or there is this one

Eloise at Christmastime by Kay Thompson (Illus Hilary Knight). We only discovered Eloise by chance, picking up the book purely because our elder daughter is called Eloise, but were utterly charmed by the adventure s of this precocious little rich girl, who lives with, and pretty much runs rings around, her nanny in New York's Plaza Hotel

Gifted Gorgeousness November

Hi and welcome to November's Gifted Gorgeousness (if you don't know what GG is by now, visit Jo's blog for a full explanation, but, in a nutshell, on the 15th of the month we show our gift related crafting)

As usual November is a month when I've made lots of things but can't show any of them yet, but I do have a couple of exchanges to share. Firstly there was the Needlework Haven Hallowe'en Exchange. I showed the Fob I stitched for Mary in my last post, but here is the lovely double sided initial fob I received from Clare.

We also completed the postponed Needlework Haven Easter Exchange at Hallowe'en

Here is the ornament I made for Justine

And here is the very pretty one I received from Julie

 finally a small "make" I added a fur collar to this purchased denim jacket for Naomi

Trick or Treat Blog Hop 2020

 Hello and welcome to the Trick or Treat Blog Hop 2020 as hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching

Some Spooky Stitching for you to enjoy

This is "Witches Cat" by Durene Jones, stitched over 1 and finished as a scissor fob. (you can find the chart on Facebook here) 

This post has been brought to you by the letter F

For your next letter please go to visit Beth

Gifted Gorgeousness October

 Well that came around fast! It's Gifted Gorgeousness time again. Time to show our gift related crafting. For a full explanation see Jo's blog here

Two spooky things to show this month, both of which I made for Eloise.

First this shirt. 

I started with a vintage (1970's) blouse pattern for this, but I re-drafted the collar and sleeves, and added piping down the centre front.

Then there is this dress

This is partially self drafted, using elements from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book and my own bodice design.

In both cases the fabric is from Art Gallery Fabric's "Spooky and Sweet" collection, and it was gifted to me by Minerva in exchange for a blog post.

There are other spooky makes in the pipeline, but I'll show them next month

Gifted Gorgeousness September

 It's Gifted Gorgeousness time again, where we share our gift related crafts. For a full explanation, and a list of all the participating blogs please see Jo's blog here.

A little bit of stitching to show this month. It was Clare's  birthday last week. As you may know, Clare decorates a themed Christmas Tree at her Church each year, and this year her chosen theme is a bouquet of stitched flowers, so I stitched her this little pansy, then I stitched it again on plastic canvas and made up a matching brooch for her.

Double bonus GG points for this one because the chart was in an Italian Cross Stitch magazine that Naomi bought for me when she was studying in Siena.

I can also include this dress I made for myself as the fabulous gingham effect and floral fabric was gifted to me by Minerva. The pattern is the Rockabilly Dress from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book

That's about it for this month. Hoping to be more productive for the October update

Still Catching Up with Alice

 Here is my latest block finish for the Alice SAL. This is "Painting the Roses"

The back stitch on this one was insane!

Next up "The Duchess"

Gifted Gorgeousness - August

 Welcome to August's Gifted Gorgeousness, the monthly showcase for gift related crafting hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching

This month I can show the pieces from the Cyberstitchers Christmas in July Exchange I took part in.

Here is the Needlebook I sent to Theresa (It has her initials on the other side)

And here are the wonderful stitched goodies I received from Deb.

and finally a little cross stitch I did using a free design from Durene Jones

Summer Blog Hop - Stitching Friends

 Hello and welcome to the Stitching Friends Summer Blog Hop. 

This Blog Hop has been arranged by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching. We have all been allocated a "Stitching Friend" to tell you all about, and to choose a design for. Have a read about this blogger and see if you can guess who it is. (If you're really stumped the answer is right at the bottom of the post)

This blogger lives in France, and loves to take part in exchanges and blog hops. Because of this she stitches a lot of "smalls", but she also has some much larger projects on the go, including a stunning Chateleine design, and a sampler combining LHNs Little Sheep Virtues and CCN's Sheep in the Meadow

She stitches a lot of sampler style designs, and loves Just Nan. 

In addition to stitching this blogger also enjoys embroidery, knitting and crochet, and she is a superb quilter.

I thought this blogger would enjoy the design "Compagnie de Moutons" from Jardin Prive as it has lots of lovely sheep as well as traditional sampler motifs.

Add caption

Pop on over to her blog to see a list of everyone taking part in the Blog Hop.

Have you guessed yet?

The mystery blogger is Mary from La Coeur Celtique

Quick Alice Update

I'm about a month behind on the Alice SAL, but I just finished up block six - the Dormouse and the Hare.

Next up, Painting the Roses Red.

Gifted Gorgeousness July

Well another whole month has slipped by and it's time for Gifted Gorgeousness again.
For a full explanation of the Gifted Gorgeousness Blog Hop, where we show our gift-related crafting, please see Jo's Blog.
This month's finishes are quite similar to last month's
Some sewing:-
A dress for me. The pattern (New Look 6301) was free with my magazine so that counts right?

and a rainbow cushion for Naomi (pattern can be found in Sew Magazine)

Some silver-smithing:-

A couple of  claw set sea glass rings

and an assortment of different rings for Eloise

Maybe next month I'll have something a bit different to show

Gifted Gorgeousness - June

It's time for another Gifted Gorgeousness, where we show anything we can manage to shoehorn into the category of gift gifts we've made or received, or projects we've done using gifted materials. See Jo's blog for more details
This month I've done quite a bit of sewing again.
I made Naomi a couple of high/low hem skirts (Pattern hacked from New Look 6434), using up fabric I had in my stash.

 The chambray was originally bought to make my husband a shirt, but he wasn't keen on the print

I don't know what this crinkle pleated slinky satiny stuff is but I do know it was a swine to sew

I also made this outfit for Eloise, the skirt is McCall's 6931 and the top is New Look 6483. The fabric is from Micheal Miller and is called "Kiss of the Spiderwoman"!

 I've been playing with silver again as well. I made a sea glass pendant for a friend's birthday, and some captive rings for Naomi

That's about it for this month. Hopefully some actual stitching next month!

Alice Update

This month's character in the Alice SAL was the Mad Hatter.

I also made this mixed media picture of a sardine tin this week, following a tutorial on the Seasalt website.

In un-related news I planted a Kiwi plant in the garden when Naomi was very small (they were her favourite fruit). It has grown like a triffid ever since without so much as hinting at a kiwi, but today, after 18 years it has flowered!

And in case you were wondering, here is this months not-so-uplifting sentiment from the calendar the girls made me