Organisation and a new kit

I've had quite a busy week, with no much time for stitching unfortunately. But I did have a lovely time last Sunday with all of my DMC threads. I finally got round to getting them all out and putting them away again in numerical order. I'm lucky to have quite the collection of DMC, but it was making it more difficult to find the ones I needed! I'm glad they're all organised now for easy access. They list the threads required in Cross Stitcher magazine in numerical order, so it should make kitting up projects a lot easier.

I have just started on my new kit that I bought with my Christmas voucher for SewandSo.com. It's called Highland Walkies from Bothy Threads. It was on my wish list for a long time so I was so pleased I got to purchase it. However, I was a little disappointed when I opened it because the threads were just draped over the thread holder, not secured, so the threads were in danger of mixing up. I spent most of the time when I opened the kit sorting the threads and only got a few stitches in. I'm sure I'll have a progress picture for next time. 

I've still got my Christmas sampler on the go. I thought about packing it away until next December, but I don't like leaving a project unfinished. Besides, if I finish it soon, it will definitely be ready to display next Christmas. I've got a couple of new projects on the bench, but I'm going to finish some before I make another new start.

I hope you're staying warm. It's been very bitterly cold in Bristol lately, I'm very glad for tea and stitching!

Best wishes,

Bekca

xxx

Back With A Bang

Hello hello! Thank you for your lovely welcoming messages on my last post, I knew there was a good reason I was missing this community. I've always found readers on blogger so friendly and I'm so pleased that hasn't changed :)

To get back into crafting and cross stitching, I decided to have a good old clear out. I needed to do this anyway, as Lawrence will be moving in to the flat next month and the poor boy will need a bit of space! I created a huge pile of glorious mess in my attempts to tidy up:

I managed to clear the box you can see above and fit in everything that was left into my craft tower. I was ruthless, donating bits where I could and chucking scraps that I no longer had use for. I even threw out a couple of WIPs that I knew I didn't have the heart to finish. It's a clean crafting slate. 

I have three old WIPs that only need backstitching done to finish them, so that will be what I'm working on over the next week or two! Then it will finally be time to go stash diving and find pretty new projects for me to get stuck into :)

Best wishes to all,

Bekca

xxx

Stitch From Stash Update: June

Good morning fellow stitchers :) I'm back again for another SFS update, this month has certainly flown by. I have finished the cross stitching on White Magic, but I'm yet to do the backstitching. I unearthed a Solo project from awhile back that I'm halfway through the backstitching on. But I'm afraid I've packed up both of these projects in preparation for my move to Southampton, so no pictures to share.

I haven't spent any money this month, but I do have a new start to show. This is how far I've got with LHN's Miss Peepers, a chart I bought in my first stash splurge a couple of months back.

I'm using some of the allocated DMC colours, but not all of them. This was supposed to be a project for Southampton but I couldn't resist starting a bit early!

In other new, I got the job! I'm going to ALDI today to sign the contract and I start in about a week and a half. I'm so pleased! It's so exciting to be moving to a new city and starting a new job and finally beginning the next chapter in my life :) So yes, I've been packing up a storm. I'm limited to one suitcase for the summer, so I had to severely condense my stitching stuff. I've narrowed it down to this . . .

Box of Anchor threads so I've still got a varied choice, but it's not as bulky as my DMC boxes. A selection of fabric, a hoop and a thread holder. A cute mouse kit and a couple of other charts. Miss Peepers is in the project bag at the front, which also contains needles, pin cushion and scissors. 

This is what I've got to last me three months over the summer, before I get my own place and can move all my stuff in. Hopefully it will all last for that long!

I hope you're enjoying warm, sun-filled days, just like we are in the UK. Best wishes to all,

I'm baaack!

Gosh, that was a longer break than I intended to take! Sorry for the unplanned hiatus, but I'm returning to the stitching world now and I'm so excited about it :)

I meant to post about Europe shortly after returning, but it became one of those things you only remember last thing at night, or when you can't get to a computer. I shall put up a post tomorrow with a few pictures from my adventures. I had the most wonderful, amazing, incredible trip and it's given me a thirst for more travelling.

Also this week, I'll be sure to post about my stitching progress. Even though I've taken an extended break from the blog, I've still been putting needle to thread most days. Pictures will be up this week.

I really needed to relax with my stitching lately, as I've had to make a few adult choices. My third and final year at University starts in a fortnight, and to give myself the best chance at getting top grades, I decided to leave my job at Cath Kidston. It was a hard choice, because it is a wonderful company to work for and I've made great friends. But I came to Winchester in the first place to achieve a decent degree, so I need to put my heart and soul into that this year. Of course, it will mean I shall have to stick to my student budget so I can last the year! I'm sure that will be no problem :)

I love that during my absence, my blog came to find me! Thank you so much to Elisa over at Old Ragged Threads for sending me a birthday parcel :) I've been very good and tucked it away until the big day, although I'm itching to open it :P I turn 21 this year, how mad is that?

Thank you all for not abandoning me. I've been running The Stitching Lion for so many years now, and I don't plan on giving it up any time soon :) I cannot wait to see what you've all been up to this summer, I'm going to get started on my blog reader right this minute.

Best wishes,

 

Time Well Spent

Good afternoon every one! I hope you've all had a lovely Friday and have got a pleasant weekend ahead :)

I'm making it my mission over the summer to make more time for craft and get a few things done. I counted my stitched-finished, but not finished-finished projects this morning. The magic number was 23!

(Only a few of the finished pieces I have lurking!)

I'm sure some of you will recognise some of the pieces above, I'm sure most of them have been featured on the blog at some point. I said to myself, it's high time I get these stitched pieces out on display. They've been hiding in a box for long enough! So, as I had a day off from work today, out came the scissors and the iron and I managed to tick three designs off my to-finish list :)

First up is Mississippi Riverboat by LHN. I think this might be my favourite finish of the day. The simple frame design fits the simple life of the characters. Really pleased with how this one turned out. I'm hoping to get it up on the wall soon.

The second piece made it up on the wall straight away! I know the pattern was from an old cross stitch magazine, either CrossStitcher or The World of Cross Stitching. I stitched up this one awhile ago and I smile every time I see it. 

The final design fitted perfectly into a frame I picked up at a carboot sale last summer. Gingerbread Cottage by CCN is such a sweet little design. I've put this one away so it can be displayed at Christmas time. I hope to create more Christmas themed projects soon, so I can decorate my room accordingly :)

Coming up soon, pictures of the 5 projects I've got my needles in at the moment. Quite unusual for me to have so many on the go, but a couple were inherited from my sister and I couldn't wait to get started on them. I hope I have many more posts about finished items. My room is going to be full to the brim with my creations and I can't wait :D

Best wishes to all, 

Getting the Job Done

Picture the scene. It's a drizzly Sunday morning, no more Uni work to contend with, no work at Cath Kidston today. You've got a whole two days ahead of freedom and you decide to get a few jobs done. The type of jobs that take a little time, but are very satisfying.

This was my Sunday yesterday. I filed away the last of my Uni work, did a little cleaning and had the best time organising my thread boxes. Call me crazy, but it was so relaxing to spend time sifting through all my threads and finally getting them into some form of order.

Some of you may remember that when my sister decided she didn't have time for stitching any more (I know, it's practically blasphemy! :P), she donated her stuff to me! She gave me a whole box of various threads and I had to go through and check off the ones I didn't have on my list. Then it was bobbin winding time! It's not my favourite job, but I had the grand prix on in the background :)

Look at all those lovely colours! Going through my boxes really made me appreciate just how lucky I am to have an abundance of crafty goodies. I try not to waste anything and any odd threads that didn't have numbers have gone into a pot, ready to be used to make up some card designs.

After a couple of hours, I was delighted by my efforts. I've got DMC threads in the two larger boxes, and the small box contains Anchor threads and a few unknown colours wound onto bobbins. I think they look quite pretty in a strange way :)

I'll be back soon with a post detailing all of my projects that I've got on the go at the moment. I've got one more meeting at Uni and then I'm officially on summer! I'll have to keep up with my independent studies of course, but there will be plenty of time for craft. I'm itching to get my sewing machine out and have a good play on that :)

Best wishes to all,

 

PS I have now also officially caught up with blog reading since the start of the year! Now I'm all up to date, I'll be sure to comment a lot more :)

The Big Tidy

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my last post! It really puts a big smile on my face when people take the time to write such wonderful things. I really do appreciate it, thank you so much :)

My mum and sister visited me in Winchester today and we had a ball. Mum treated us both to lunch at Ask Italian and we bought cakes from the bakers too. I didn't buy much round the shops, just a couple of soup spoons, how glamorous!

Mum dropped off my craft tower before we headed into town. I really disliked having my craft stuff in two places, never having what I needed in the right place. My mountain of craft junk was getting out of control. Just to give you an idea . . .

Yeah, not good.

BUT half an hour later and a bin nearby, I managed to sort everything out into this arrangement of loveliness . . .

Is it me, or is everything better when it's a bit more organised? :)

Come back soon to see what treasure I discovered in the depths of my crafty cavern!

Best wishes to all,