Stitching away

I am currently stitching my fingers away trying to finish a cross stitch picture so if I'm quiet for a while you'll know why. I have shown this before on my blog and the last time it looked like this.









I have done loads since and the end is in sight. I haven't done an awful lot of cross stitch - think I'm too impatient as it's very slow going - lol ! I would like to have this finished as soon as possible as I have lots of hand work lined up.







For a bit of fun I have entered a quilt into the weekly Quilting Gallery Competition Click the link to see all the quilts.













I have entered my olympic Challenge quilt which has appearred on here several times. It was hand-pieced during the Olympic Games in 2008 and contained a piece of every fabric in my stash at the time. I'm sure if I did the same again now it would make a far bigger quilt - lol ! Think my stash has grown somewhat since then :-)

I have never done this before and I am just hoping I will not be last in the voting - argghh - lol !!




With a bit of luck I will be able to show you my completed cross stitch next time. I have lots to show you too but am trying to limit my computer time to get this done. Fingers crossed

A well overdue catch-up post coming up.
I am feeling so much better due to a combination of decent painkillers and physiotherapy - can't wait to get proper back to normal. I have actually managed to get some quilting done but first want to re-cap over my other stuff that I have done whilst my back/leg was really bad.

First up a little knitting. Couple of baby cardigans and a hat for DD Jess's boyfriends new little brother due to be born tomorrow ( Easter Sunday )



This is a really pretty lilac cotton yarn ( not photographed terribly well ) This went to my friend Julies new grand-daughter ( Amber Lily - who I made the little wall quilt for )



A crochet UFO that had been hanging around for a while with about a half-hours work left on it. DD Jess is now the owner of this.



A new crochet project started - this was one I could do when I was flat out on my back. The instructions for this came from Attic24 blog. Not sure of the exact address as it's on my other pc but you will find it if you google it. She has some lovely tutorials on here and it is the only crochet blog ( amongst hundreds of quilting ones ) that I read.




Just using up some odds and ends of a cheapie acrylic yarn for this. I would love to do it again some time with some soft cotton. But haven't got too far with this yet. Think I have 35 hexies done. I will know how big this will finish when I run out of yarn - lol ! Haven't worked on this for a while but feel in the mood to do a few more since I pulled it out of the bag to take a photo.

What's next ???? Oh yes...

Bought a new metal tumbler template to try out and was very brave and decided to cut into my precious Japanese fabrics.

Only a small quilt this - doll size. Really enjoyed it as I had not done sewing on my machine for a while.

Pressed seams open for a change and they lay lovely and flat.

Trimmed and bordered..

This has been hand quilted now - I will show you soon.

A forgotten about cat block was dug out and had the stitching finished off. A couple of little borders added and this is ready for quilting. Might layer this up later and have it ready to take to my Quilt Group.

And lastly for now - you may know that applique is not my friend. I love the look of it but am not too good at it. This year I want to do more using different methods to see what I like the best. I don't mind machine applique but really want to do more hand work. So I made a few basket blocks using a freezer paper method. They came out ok but after 14 blocks I'd had enough. These will NOT become a big quilt - lol ! Maybe a bag or wall-hanging !

Well I've run out of time and I wanted to tell you about a little swap I've been involved in and a giveaway I've won but that will have to wait.

Hope you all have a great Easter - we have a busy couple of days ahead but I'm hoping to find a bit of stitchy-time here and there...

Take care xx