Another Little Pillow!

Like the little pillow in my previous post this one was also stitched last year, and again I have only now got around to finishing it.  I was so excited to win Forget Me Not Sampler by Mary Garry’s Sewing Cabin on Ebay at the beginning of last year, and wanted to start it straight away, but with these MG designs being hard to find I didn't want to risk having it sent to me in Dubai and it going missing in the mail!  I didn't want to have to wait until my next visit home to pick it up to bring back with me either, so had it sent to my Mum instead and asked her to scan and email me a working copy.  

The fabric I have used is 48ct Raw Gander Linen, stitched over two with the listed DMC threads.  I was due an eye test at the time, and knew I was needing a new prescription, so this was a bit struggle for me to stitch on the 48ct, and I will definitely be thinking twice in future before personalising over one on 48ct!  The darker fabric for finishing is from Blackbird Designs Blueberry Crumb Cake.  The leaflet also comes with a little pincushion design, which I will have to stitch one day too.

Thank you for popping by - I love to read your comments!  :)

A Little Pillow Finish!

Yep, another little finish!  That's two this year - WHOHOO!!!  

I stitched this last year when I was joining the ladies at Needlecraft Haven, in Barb's parlour.  The ladies get together on Wednesdays to stitch on a design of their own choice from either Little House Needleworks, Country Cottage Needleworks or the Sampler Girl.  It's been over a year since I've joined in, but must do again soon as I managed to stitch three of the many Little House Needleworks charts I have.  This is the first of the three that I have got around to making up.  Spring is one of the four Monochromatic seasons.

I have substituted the listed fabric and thread, and have stitched it over one on 32ct Antique White Belfast Linen with Forbidden Romance Polstitches Dragon Floss, from the Saying it with Thread range.  This is the first time I have used ric rac for finishing, and wasn't sure which would have been the best way to attach it really. but I decided to hand stitch it because I didn't know if I would like the look of seeing a machine stitch running down the centre of it.  I thought the little buttons finish it off just right!

I know I've said it all before, but I really do hope to be back again soon with another little finish, and as always, thank you for popping by!  :o)

A Little Finish!

I have a finish at last!  It's only a little something, but it was a really enjoyable stitch, which I have finished as a scissor fob.  All the stitches are specialty stitches, and although it's only a small design, it took a little longer to do then expected because of the specialty stitches.

The design is a complimentary one from Keepsake Stitches, which you can find here.  I substituted two of the Gentle Art Sampler Threads, as they didn't show up enough on the 32ct Putty Belfast linen that I chose to stitch it on.  For the beehive I used Crescent Colours Finley Gold, and for the date on the back I used GAST Harvest Moon.  I've made a little change too.  Instead of stitching the bee on the chart I've attached a tiny brass bee charm.  Both sides are joined together using the four-sided square stitch.  This is the first time I've joined two pieces together using the four-sided square stitch, and I wasn't too sure at first if I was going to like it as much as when I've whipstitched back stitches together, but I actually think now that it looks really nice!  

We are off on our travels again soon, so I won't be stitching for a while (and just when I had found my mojo again)!  We have to return home to the UK for a couple of weeks to finish emptying our home for letting, a job we didn't quite get finished when we were there at Christmas.  We are thrilled that our first tenants will be my brother and sister-in-law.  They have recently sold their own home, and have asked if they could rent ours for a period of time, which is great for us, as we know it will be well looked after.  I'm excited to see what postie has delivered for me too, as I have placed a few orders to be sent home while I've been here, so that I can pick them up to bring back with me.  It will be like Christmas all over again...lol!

I know I don't post very often these days, but thank you for popping by I really do appreciate it!

Bitty Bowl Pincushion

I wasn't expecting to be back so soon, but wanted to show this cute little pincushion that I finally got around to finishing recently.  If you've been a regular follower to my blog in the past you may remember me mentioning how much I love pincushions and that they are one of my favourite finishes.  So about a year ago when I came across the tutorial for this cute little pincushion in a bowl I just had to make one to add to my collection of pincushions.  I was so excited when I spotted it because I recognised the little bowl straight away as I had already bought several from Crate and Barrel here in Dubai.  Until recently I didn't have all the supplies I needed to finish and attach the metal label, but here it is at last - my first attempt!  It's so sweet, I love it, and will definitely be making more!

Popping by to say hello!

The past eight months have just flown by - I can't believe it was the end of May last year when I last blogged which just before I left to go home to the UK to surprise our eldest Jason for his 30th birthday!  Since then I've been back home again for Christmas.  We didn't fly until the 12th December so the lead up to Christmas was a bit hectic with buying presents etc.  Christmas was great though!  Colin, I and Matthew had an invite to spend Christmas with Jason and Nic, with Nic's family in Wales where they had their wedding.  It was Jase and Nic's turn to spend Christmas with Nic's family, but the invite meant we could all spend another Christmas together!  We had lots of fun and games, but could only stay for a few days as we had a lot to do when we returned home, so the Christmas festivities were over early for us this Christmas!  

During our visit home in the summer we had decided that while we were home over Christmas we would prepare the house for letting.  We didn't quite manage to do all we had set out to do but we were nearly there!  The first big job was to pack up the boys rooms and to hire a long wheel based van so that we could drop Jason's stuff off to him in London and then on to Brighton to drop Matthew's off for him.  We couldn't believe how much we still had at home belonging to them both.  As we were going to clear the house completely they both had bedroom furniture too, although Matthew hasn't really got the room for his yet, so that will be going into storage with our stuff while we are still here in Dubai.  It's been one heck of a job clearing the loft, garage and house of all the stuff we don't ever use or need, but I have to say it is such a wonderful feeling!  It shouldn't be too long before we pop back home again to finish off what we started, but what's left to do will be a nothing compared to what we've just been through!

This week I'm having a bit of a breather before I start packing up the villa we are renting here in Dubai as we are on the move again!  The landlord has given us notice to leave.  Apparently he has a son returning to Dubai who needs the villa, but we actually believe that this is an excuse to have us out so that he can increase the rent a lot higher if he was to get new tenants in then he could do with us if we stay!  We've already found a lovely villa which is about an hours drive from Dubai, at Al Hamra Village, Ras al Khaimah.  We already have the keys so we can move at our own leisure as we have until the end of February to be out.

Sadly I have no finishes to show having not done any stitching for all these months, but here are a few family photos instead.

Christmas Day - Matthew, Colin, Myself, Jason, Nic and Chota.

The Christmas table.

I can't remember what the young adults called it, but they had us all playing a game with a cereal box.  The rules were that you had to pick the box up with your teeth without touching it or the floor.  After each round the height of the cereal box was reduced by an inch, and those that couldn't do it dropped out of the game.  It was so much fun with music playing and us all cheering each other on!

This is me.

And this is Matthew, the last of the young males to drop out.

The champs!  Myself, Nic's Mum and one of the cousins.  We had to call it a draw between the three of us because the box couldn't be reduced any more!

Cereal box before and after.

Cheese and biscuits (including Stinking Bishop).  Our contribution towards Christmas.

Two days after returning to Dubai Colin had a quick business trip to Muscat, Oman.  As it was just one over night stop I went along with him.  This was the lovely view from our hotel room.

If you are still there I hope I haven't bored you too much!  Hopefully I'll be back before too long with some stitchy finishes to show once we've settled after the move.  :)