First finish of 2011!

Mid (ish) January and I've actually finished something! This butterfly will be on its way to Love Quilts UK on Monday. Now, back to Beatrix...

I stayed up until 4:30 this morning to watch Andy Murray in the Australian Open - disappointing match as he won far too easily!! His opponent hardly made him break sweat but the next round should be more exciting. I'd love to see him win this Open...

A quick update

I'm stitching this Brushstrokes Butterfly in a SAL with some of the girls from Stitch Clubs (see the link thingie on the top right) and I'm killing two birds with one stone because I signed up to stitch a pink square for Love Quilts UK. I was going to stitch it in vareigated pinks but didn't have any - what I had was a bit too orangey for my liking so I'm just using different shades of Anchor pinks instead.

I've also joined the 2011 Up 4 a Challenge SAL (http://up4achallenge.blogspot.com/) where I've listed 15 UFOs/WIPs which I want to at least work on, if not finish, in 2011. Top of the list is Beatrix which I haven't picked up for a couple of weeks. I know I won't finish all of them because some are pretty big with very few stitches in, but it's a start!

Here's my list...

1. Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler (large)
2. Spanish Sampler (Periphaeria free 2008 project) (large)
3. Juggy Bug 2008 Year Sampler (medium)
4. Brushstroke butterfly (http://www.cyberstitchers.com/) (smallish) Not the one above, I've got another one started!!
5. Duck in rain (Cyberstitchers, I think, though I can't find it!) (medium)
6. Cameo Silk hardanger by Judy Dixon (medium)
7. A Garden in Blue by The Design Connection (medium)
8. Spots of Fun by Debbie Draper (11 stitches in - a long way to go!) (medium)
9. Spanish Rouge by Sampler Cove (1 line stitched!) (extra large!!)
10. Un-named freebie hardanger piece, cutting to be done (small)
11. A Walk on the Beach by Dimensions (smallish)
12. Cottage by Janlynn (small)
13. Blue Waters by Heritage Stitchcraft (medium, but it's got those stupid side-ways half stitches)
14. Hardanger Diamond by Suzanne Parnell (small)
15. Musical Comfort by Janlynn (medium)

Ummm... help!! :-)

First progress of 2011!

I very rarely make new year's resolutions (and if I do, I never stick to them) but this year I do hope to update this blog more often. So, hoping to start as I go on... here's my latest photo of Beatrix, taken at the end of December and I have stitched a bit more on her.

I also took a photo of the Spanish Sampler which I haven't worked on for a while but hope to finish this year:

My last finish of 2010 was a square for Love Quilts UK, for a little girl called Laura.

I really enjoyed stitching this, even though there are large blocks of one colour. It was a good one to stitch while watching TV.

TUSAL, TUSAL, TUSAL!!

Typical me, I take the photo then forget to post it!! Anyway, here's the first TUSAL of 2011. I decided to empty the 2010 one and start again, just to see how much I stitch in a year. Not much so far, as you can see...

This is where I finished off in 2010, next to a cute Christmas card :-)

Oh dear...

If I say that I've been far too busy to post, would you believe me? No? No, me either... :-)

Mind you, I have been a little bit busy recently, what with trying to stitch Christmas squares for Granny's Quilts and some to make up into cards for MT's craft fayre next week. I'm also baking like crazy for the fayre and I've been stitching on BPQS and a new square for Love Quilts. Hmmm... maybe I have been busier than normal...

Good news that Mam's now settled in the home, though she's starting to forget me a little bit. I'm more concerned that she's contented in Argel, to be honest. She's chatting away to the staff and seeing as they're around her 24/7 and I visit once a week, I'm happy about that.

Right, on to the pictures. Stupidly, I didn't take any of the cards before I sent them off (and I know that two of them have already sold!) but here's Beatrix as she was about an hour ago...

I'm not too sure about that brighter blue but I'm not frogging it and I'll try to limit its use. Still really enjoying stitching on this, I'm glad to say :-)

Another oops!

Well, my plan of posting regularly has obviously gone out the window but I'll try and do better in the second part of the year.

Have done quite a bit of stitching on Beatrix, which I'm thoroughly loving:

I've also done a couple of squares for SOLAK, for a quilt that will hopefully go to my Mum! Photos are fuzzy but hopefully show off the leaves. I've stitched these a couple of times now - they're fun to stitch and look really lovely.

Another update

I'm quite surprised at myself at how much I'm managing to stitch on this piece - shows how much I'm enjoying it!

I'm currently watching Joanna Lumley's program about travelling down the line and I can feel myself getting itchy feet! I haven't been away on holiday since 2005 and wouldn't mind just a few days away to somewhere like Malta or Guernsey, though my dream holiday is an Alaskan cruise. Ah well, maybe when my mortgage is paid in 2014...