Slowly but surely!

Finally braved the cording on Maggie last night (I've been too terrified of ruining the whole thing to try it!) and it isn't so bad - but it is slow going. Now I've started it might get quicker, but I'm so looking forward to finishing this! It's been on the frame since March 2006, and since then I've had two babies, finished all sorts of other things and taken up at least two new crafts.

On the other craft front - have been playing with charms and beads to make bracelets, and also finished an ambitious asymmetrical three-stranded necklace - photos to follow!

Updates and new finishes

Finally finished the backstitching and French knots on Maggie the Messmaker last night, and am now left with 'only' a daunting amount of cording to go. I've never done cording before and it looks fiddly, as you have to lay the cord (after making it) on the picture and then tack it down in swirls and squiggles. I'll start with the smaller areas first and work up to the big bits! Here she is in all her backstitched glory...I really like the lacy detail on the tablecloth. The cording will show the detail on the sewing machine, scissors and tablecloth, and will also form trails of yarn from the sewing box in the top right hand corner.


I've also been at the bead box again, which is growing ever larger in the corner - there are so many gorgeous ones out there, and so many lovely books for inspiration....below is a necklace and bracelet set with pink freshwater pearls, a lampwork focal bead and seed beads for a friend; a bracelet made from lampwork rose pillow beads inspired by a picture in a magazine; a more deliacte bracelet with tanzanite/pink bluebells and glass leaves from the current Beads & Beyond magazine; chunky charm bracelet with red crackle glass rounds, Tibetan silver leaves and flower charms and a Czech glass ladybird; and a turquoise ribbon & thong necklace with dangle made from a lampwork tube bead, a random round and some glass cube seeds.

Getting organised!

No more progress on Maggie but I have taken advantage of the long weekend to have a really good sort out of my stash of magazines and charts that I've been saving. I Freecycled* a HUGE pile of magazines and have been scanning all my loose charts into the computer, which has got rid of 5 huge files. The plan now is to scan anything I may want to do from future magazines as soon as I get them...let's see how long that lasts!

One plus of all this activity is that I've been really harsh with my stash of charts - scanning page by page is quite time consuming so I've forced myself to be realistic about what I'll actually do. I still have 6Gb of files though...

* anyone else having a clearout of stash may like to do the same! All crafty stuff seems to go within minutes, and mine was collected within the hour. Lots of charities also keep an eye on the Freecycle network so you could donate your unwanted stash to a worthy cause. See http://uk.freecycle.org/ for details of groups in your area.

Progress report!

In the last couple of weeks I've managed to get down to some work on Maggie at last. I've almost finished the basic black backstitching, then there are some details to add in three or four different colours, and then finally the cording which I've never done before. It can't be that difficult, surely! I'm looking forward to posting completed pics, as the end is surely in sight now...

I've also completed the design for my parent's Ruby Wedding sampler, and I'm being stern with myself - I can't start it till I've finished Maggie. I'm also working on the Fumitory Fairy from DMC, as my 'portable' project.

I have so many projects on the go, I really ought to organise myself....but then it wouldn't be so much fun!

Mother's Day gift

This pin is themed specifically for my mum! The charms are a Welsh dragon, a Welsh lovespooon, a Green Man, a daisy (my daughter), and Celtic knots. The red stones are garnets as she was born in January, and then I added some glass beads to chunk it out a bit. I did try and fit in a sheep and a Snorkmaiden (for my other daughter, named after the author of the Moomin stories) but that seemed a bit OTT. The ladybird spacers (in between the garnets on the right hand side) mean me....in case she forgets who made it! Next up is one for me, with lots of different ladybirds.

Crafty afternoon!

My lovely other half took Daisy off to his mum's this afternoon and it's amazing how much you can get done without the 'assistance' of a toddler! As well as the ironing I made bara brith - fruit teabread - and microwave fudge, finished the penguin bag and experimented with a kilt pin brooch kit I bought on ebay a couple of months ago. I didn't take a photo of the fudge but here's everything else...

Useful websites

I was having a trawl through cyberspace today in search of design paper and discovered two amazing sites where different grids can be downloaded for free, along with some other useful stitchy tools:

http://stitchpoint.com/eng/tool/grid/_intro_graphpaper.php - under the tools link at the bottom of the page you can also find a fabric calculator and quite the best alphabet generator I've come across.

http://www.cyberstitchers.com/StitchingTools/GridPaper/index.asp?processForm=0 - not only can you download different grids, but you can also upload your own image behind the 'paper' so you can see how it looks. How clever is that???

This week - as well as thinking about sampler design - I'm playing with kilt pins and beads. Will post pic of whatever I come up with. Ribbon scarf is 30cm long so far, and the weather today was positively springlike. Still, winter always comes round again...

No stitching today but...

...I have spent the afternoon making gingerbread teddies and date and banana loaf with my daughter. She has decorated the teddies with jelly tots and smarties, stuck on with lemon glace icing. Both recipes were from Cooking With Daisy, by Josie Klafkowska - a fab book written in memory of her little girl who died suddenly, so not only do you get great food, you raise money for charity too. Buy it here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Daisy-Josie-Klafkowska/dp/1847241603/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235412107&sr=1-1!

Have also started a new wrap in Louisa Harding Kimono Ribbon, a really nice pink/purple/black colourway - I'm making it wide and long so that I can have it as a scarf or a wrap, even if I don't manage to finish it till next winter....

Good finishing week

Managed to start and finish 3 baby pics in the last week, so am feeling all pinked out! One is for my new niece, and the others are to add to my mum's Rogues Gallery. Framed them myself today and am quite pleased with the way they've come out. Pics below! The larger sampler is on evenweave and the smaller ones on 14-count aida, and the difference between the shoe pictures is amazing. I've never done the same chart on different fabrics before so it was quite revealing.

My clever sister pointed out today that it's our parents' Ruby Wedding this year - not till September but at least I have plenty of time to work something out. I've found a Historical Sampler Co. kit I like (have done similar ones twice already) and also an Anchor one, but I may design something Welsh for them instead. Will see how inspiration strikes!

Guard This Keep - finished!

Am really pleased with the way this has turned out as - I may have mentioned this - I hate rayon & metallic threads and most of this design was made up of them. I may have to re-think my attitude towards them! The pic doesn't really do it justice as it's all shiny and sparkly. Hopefully my mum will love it, I'll be sending it out to her next week. Ynys Haf, the name of their house, means 'Island of Summer' and as far as I know it's a sort of Welsh Avalon.

Before getting back to poor neglected Maggie, I've started on some mini birth records for mum as well as she likes to keep track of her grandchildren. I've chosen the baby shoes design for Tove (meant for a Christening) from a back issue of Cross Stitcher, and also the baby feet design from another of the mags for Catrin, my niece. I'm doing the shoes one for Catrin's mum as well. Will add pics when complete!